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key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:15 am
by tripwire22
its weird working at a slower bpm that 140 and people are asking me to make them hip hop beats and im having trouble getting the drums to sound right any tips?
Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:22 am
by LFpHUNK
use the right sounds
Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:25 am
by tripwire22
yeah but i mean arrangement wise doesnt fit right to me
Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:27 am
by LFpHUNK
in what specific way?
Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:35 am
by Mushroom Buttons
Crunk is 140 as well.. haha. Hmm.. break the rule and go slower/faster than typical hip hop tempo? Try chopping drum breaks instead of programming drums. Or use your dubstep background as a way to separate yourself from the usual hip hop sound. There's no limit to it. I mean, there are plenty electronic sounding hip hop beats out there that I can imagine a dubstep head getting into.
I'm sure there are plenty of people influenced by both dubstep and hip hop in here (including myself), especially in the hip hop section of the forum. They'd be able to help.
Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:36 am
by knell
808 + clap

Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:37 am
by LFpHUNK
Mushroom Buttons wrote:Cbreak the rule and go slower/faster than typical hip hop tempo?
oh they got rules now? damn. shit. fuuuuuuuuuck.
rily dough, da ryte key is Ab mInor.
Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:40 am
by Mushroom Buttons
They dont??!?

Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:43 am
by LFpHUNK
Mushroom Buttons wrote:They dont??!?

shiiiiiiiiiit. do they ? or dont they ? come on fool i needa know i dun wana get in trubles!!
Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:48 am
by Mushroom Buttons
u joined the forum exactly one month after me around the same time, creepy eh?
Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:49 am
by LFpHUNK
look outside your window.
Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 8:14 am
by komanderkin
what helps me figure out the basics of a genre i've never produced before is to pick like 3 or 4 tracks i admire and try to recreate them. a bit tricky with hip hop sometimes, because a lot of it is based on chops and samples, but it will certainly help you figure out how the drums work and how the bass works. after that, it's much easier to build up your own style over that foundation.
Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 9:33 am
by collige
What type of hip-hop are we talking here? A RZA production sounds completely different from a Bangladesh or Drumma Boy one.
Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 9:44 am
by Synephonix
I've been making hiphop for over twelve years now.
Some tips i use:
Work on a double tempo. Like if you want to make a 92bpm beat use 184bpm. This way you have more room
to place the drums. It's pretty much the same as producing dubstep though. Just the steps are shorter.
Good luck, pm me if you need more help

Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:56 am
by k00sh
Im thinking 160 BPM, although it depends what hip hop you mean dude!!
Think of bone thugs n harmony they have a lot of slow songs
and then think of say Eazy E
and Dre
and Snoopy
theyre faster and use different beats
id say you write your snare and bass rhythm first,
id use a rhythm like this
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
bass snare bass snare
and then put some hats in between, maybe on the & beat.
i dont have any software to try that beat, but i tried tapping it and i like that drum beat at least

Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 5:27 pm
by tripwire22
collige wrote:What type of hip-hop are we talking here? A RZA production sounds completely different from a Bangladesh or Drumma Boy one.
i was thinking more like Flylo Samiyam Dilla style
Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 5:38 pm
by Wrigzilla
Ok, here's a few tips:
Chop up breaks and reinforce them with additional kicks and snares.
Sample your drum at 22khz 12 bit, it gives them a nice bit of grit.
Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 5:42 pm
by kp mike
if you're going it golden-era style, do it how Ced Gee did it, (I think that's his name, the guy who remixed alot of 45king's stuff)
sample a break, cut out the kick/snare/hihat/ride etc. crush the sample to 12 bit. do your beat and layer an 808boom underneath.
Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 7:03 pm
by narcissus
you just gotta get the groove/swing right and make it swagger... ain't to hard... but then again i listened to hip hop for years before i ever heard dubstep, so to me it's even more natural.
Re: key to hiphop beats?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 7:17 pm
by Basic A
Seriously, I get a rip or two, but hasnt anyone listened to Twiztid?
Mike E. Clark, the producer with thier label, is a fucking genious producer... They remind me everytime I listen to them that thier no real formula for a style aside from the bpm... So much atmosphere in thier productons, you gotta paint the picture the MC is trying to communicate... To many hiphop artists have lost that value in quality productions, it seems like more n more if its not the typical lil jon lead and some thumpy envelope subs, the MCs are stumped by it...
But, Best bet with hiphop IS too wank through some crunk leads and experiement with very long, keyed kicks for your bassline until you get the feel of the simple stuff, then move on too the real deal... If you listen to alot of crunk/radio hop/old gangsta hop, youll here how the bass just kinda boom-boom, Boom-BOOMs... It always comes off the like a pitched kick too me...
The variation of bar patterning is pretty big too, MCs expect to adopt a new flow every 8 or 16 or so, and if your beat doesnt change slightly too match, things can sound off...
And you can never go wrong with the old Wooo-yeah samples over some breaks, haha... 70-90bpm breaks usualy= tight old school hiphop beats.