How To Make Rap Beats - Tips For Newbies

In this article I'm going to explain how to make rap beats for producers just starting out. Making beats is one of the most fun and rewarding things to do in hip hop. It's not that difficult to make an okay sounding track, but its very difficult to make tracks that sound professional. There are a ton of different things you should be doing to help bring your music to the
next level.

Here are a few tips:

Learn The Piano

If you don't want to get into sampling, and would rather make beats completely on your own, its going to be vital that you start taking piano lessons. I took piano lessons coupled with a music theory course in my college and it payed huge dividends in my music.
Understanding the basic structure of music if very important if you want to really start making beats on the next level. When you're good at the piano, you'll be able to put together better sounding melodies, chord progressions, and generally be able to do a lot more.

The Most Important Advice I can Give

The most important piece of advice that I can give you is that if you want to make good music, you have to understand what good music is. Listening is the most important thing you should be doing for beat making. I've read countless interviews with Timbaland, The Neptunes, Dr. Dre, etc. The general consensus from the best producers in the hip hop industry is that
active listening is the best way you can get better.

When you listen to a track - really listen to it. Isolate the different elements of a song and analyze them. For example, listen to just the drums of a track first. Note how they are panned, the rhythm - does it change up, if it does what part of the song, how much reverb did they add to the hi hat, etc. Next, move and isolate other instruments in the track.

Download some random instrumentals from the greats (Dr. Dre, Timbaland, Just Blaze, The Neptunes, Scott Storch, & The Runners) and dissect their beats. Listen to each sound individually. Everything from the hi-hats, to the kicks, to the snares. And notice if they did any switch ups or breaks in the beat, if so understand where and why. It will all make sense once you begin getting hands on when you make beats. Good luck on your beat-making.

Also if you're looking for a great low priced beat making software I recommend DubTurbo. Its only $44.95 and it comes pre-loaded with 2,500 sounds. And you can download it instantly.

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Beatmaking Offers Extensive Music Experience

Among the many different ways to experience hip hop/rap music, there is no other art form in hip hop culture that allows one to immerse themselves more extensively than beatmaking. And among the various elements that make beatmaking a uniquely intricate art form, I have found that there are three major characteristics that most underscore its uniqueness.

The first characteristic that jumps out at every beatmaker is the meticulous nature of the various processes that beatmaking requires. Because beatmakers are one part musician and one part programmer, we have to control a number of different steps in the musical process that DJs (and traditional musicians) simply do not. For instance, prior to the compositional phase of the musical process, beatmakers are enjoined with the task of finding and/or making sounds to work with. And in beatmaking, after the compositional and arrangement processes are completed—processes, I should add, that require any number of programming steps—many beatmakers (myself included) transform into defacto mix engineers, as we further lock in the sound and sonic impression that characterize our individual styles and sounds.

The reliance upon technology in the creative process of beatmaking is another major characteristic that, on one hand, helps define beatmaking's uniqueness, and on the other hand, leads beatmakers to experience hip hop/rap music more extensively than fellow artists within hip hop culture. In beatmaking, the connection of creativity and technology is paramount; it's a force that binds beatmakers to the perpetual pursuit of creating and manipulating sounds. Moreover, as witnessed by beatmakers' staunch product and brand loyalty to leading electronic music production instrument (EMPI) manufacturers, the connection of creativity and technology in beatmaking serves as a form of identity and, in many ways, a badge of musically creative honor.

The depth of analytical study that's involved in beatmaking is the third, (and perhaps most important), characteristic that most underscores beatmaking's uniqueness, and prompts beatmakers to experience hip hop/rap music in quite an extensive manner. Beatmakers engage in a high level of self-imposed study. In the constant pursuit of a higher skill level, we study a great deal—often much more than traditional musicians. Indeed, all beatmakers necessarily study the fundamental techniques, methods, and practices of the beatmaking tradition as well its history, in particular, the lineage of styles and sounds from beatmaking's inception to the present. And while most traditional musicians will never study the art of beatmaking, even once in their life time, most beatmakers regularly study the elements and processes of other music traditions outside of hip hop/rap. In fact, for beatmakers, no music form is forbidden territory; wherever we find inspiration, we use the styles, techniques, methods, and practices of our tradition to convert such inspiration into hip hop/rap form.

Here, it should be noted that the level of analytical study involved in beatamking leads to time-intense and style-focused practice. And it should be further noted that whenever we work on the creation of our beats, we enter into a ritualistic-like cycle that's every bit hypnotic as it is therapeutic and creatively meticulous. It also bares mentioning that precisely because of the analytical study component of beatmaking, many beatmakers become, subsequently, serious purveyors of music history. Thus, no matter how you look at it, in the final analysis, beatmakers represent a new kind of multi-skilled musician.

5 Top Beat Making Tips To Make Your Beats More Professional

Beat making, the best loved part of making a music track, well for me anyway. Get the drums wrong and the tracks fails. No one can listen to it, no one can dance to it. So instead of making a "waste-of-time-track", try out these tips to get the most out of your beats:

Beat making tip #1.

Always use quality products. Whether you are making top beats or grime riddled tunes, quality sounds will show your intention to your future. Can't be bothered and bedroom musician are what hissing, and clicks within a beat promote. Now most of us are bedroom musicians, but you always should be giving off professionalism. That is the point, you can be a bedroom musician but still produce quality tracks. A poor sample library is the easiest way into any recycle bin. Hardrives are now large enough to have thousands of quality sounds. If you are downloading on dial-up get a download manager to pause downloads if they are too big. Let nothing stop you in pursuit of finding quality sounds.

Please Note it is quite hard to make grime tunes without them sounding like a distorted mess, and that is why NIN (Nine Inch Nails) are so good. There is more processing and more quality within those tunes to make them that dirty. As a side note, 8-bit Commodore 64 sounds are cool within the right quality drum sounds, but by themselves they are nostalgic but can not seriously carry a track without help.

Beat making tip #2.

Ask any woman how to make their hair feel fatter/ fuller bodied/ better...and they will say...layer. That is exactly the same with any sort of beat or percussion noise. I have a great little note that I give myself when I try to find a great beat...don't look, there is no such thing as finding the perfect beat. I have found that there is always something wrong with anything that I download. I have to alter the sound to make it useful. I have to layer. Sure the sound I downloaded is say a good kick, but it should be fatter. So what do I do? I figure that I need a lower end kick, and apply that, to get a little bit deeper/ fatter I will also incorporate a sub bass sound. It is not uncommon for producers to layer beats up to 5 times with various other percussion loops complimentary to the initial loop. I have to say it is uncommon for producers not to layer.

Beat making tip #3.

Taking tip one and tip two into consideration, what else can we do to make a beat feel...fatter, more sub level? EQ? Well yes, and no. There is no amount of EQ to put onto a beat for it to sound deeper. Why? Well EQ will only work on frequencies that are already there. There are many a musician (a large percentage) that will EQ everything. That is not good. You have then got a situation where every sound is fighting for a place in the same mix. So adding EQ to something that has not got the range in the first place will do nothing. So what do you do? Either get rid of the kick that you downloaded and get one with a bit of sub boom in it, or do tip 1 and 2- there is no other way.

Beat making tip #4.

The kick is the favorite sample going, and unfortunately it is the most troublesome. This is seen in the Dance and Electronic music scene. BANG BANG BANG, goes the thudding kick and nothing else is recognizable within the beat. So what do we do to avoid over kickness? Make sure that the kick is playing on a separate channel so that it doesn't interrupt anything else, and you don't interrupt anything else when you alter it. Apply some compression to the kick, then adjust the make-up gain so that it starts to settle in and ultimately sound right with your other loops.

Beat making tip #5.

To sparkle up your beats why not add some processing power to them? Adding a slight amount of Overdrive can make your flat beat beef up a little bit more. Adding some Reverb can also add some depth, however it can also loose the drums original Oomph, and make the drum sound farther back within the track so be careful when you reverb. Add and remove, add and remove- always keep on checking the beat within the track at many different points to see if it sits well throughout the track. The newly processed beat might sound really funky next to your bassline, however if you have vocals, the bass and beat combo might sound too overpowering. Always check and monitor any processing that you do.

Big Beat Music and Some Tips For Making It

Big beat music is probably the most widely known style of electronic-based music in America. Groups such as the chemical Brothers, fat boy Slim, the Crystal method, and the prodigy are all pioneers of big beat.

Obviously it is a wide genre of electronic music. However it does have the few defining characteristics. Fast, heavy, distorted and punk influenced pop, jazz, techno and rock sounds along with psychedelic music influences characterize the style. Obviously certain groups, and artists were influenced more strongly by some more than others.

Fat boy Slim is more funky. The prodigy are more punk. The Chemical Brothers and the Crystal method are more techno.

Creating big beat is all about big sound. The drums should be distorted and loud. Vocals should have a punk edge, and also be distorted. Intense bass lines and synthesizer loops are also characteristic of the style.

Fast drops of elements, explosive addition or return of elements, wind and droning noises and extreme work in the stereo field (speaker position of elements to left and right) are also common. This is style of electronic-based music I first got into. The prodigy's 'fat of the land' album is still a favorite.

Try to assemble a collection of odd noises. Record tools banging, power tools running, and try spinning a mic at the end of its cord to get some weird wind noises.

Pick a general style to base the song on. Punk, Funk, techno, anything. Pick something you are comfortable with. Then push it. Make the Drums the focal point. Use the other elements to compliment the beat and throb of the bass. Rather than using the beat and bass to pace the other elements.

Try using effects you don't normally use, or ways you normally don't use them.

A common technique in Big Beat is starting with a repeating instrument hook, then bringing the beat on strong.

Big Beat tends to make a lot of use of the add one element at a time technique. Meaning you build the sound over the course of a minute or so, by adding in one element, letting it ride a few seconds, then adding another.

Make Your Own Rap Beats Just As Good As the Professionals

I'm sure by now you have heard about of producers making professional quality beats from production software that can be downloaded on to your computer easily. A lot of the beats you hear hot rappers on today were made in this exact same way. You can produce a platinum radio single (the beat anyway) using very inexpensive beat making software that comes with support and detailed video and manual instruction.

You want to do your beat using one of these beat creation programs because they are fully stocked with pro quality drums, effects, keyboards and sounds that the main stream producers use to sell beats for thousands(sometimes hundreds of thousands) of dollars. Grab one of these programs and find a few sounds that you like.

Start with a cool instrument sound, like a piano or a cello, for the beginning melody. This will be used as the main melody of the track. Creating the main melody of the song first, before you add drums or base is the easiest way to start because this is the melody that will carry the beat. Then put in some drum patterns to build the beat around this melody. At this point I would find some effects that can be put with the main melody. Select some that sound really cool but really subliminal so that people will discover new sounds in the beat the more times they hear it.

Also try just listening to your favorite beat a bunch of times each time writing how many instruments you hear and how the placement of the instruments are in relation to one another. Also notice the difference in instrumentation between the chorus, the verses and the bridge as sounds will switch in and out on each of those parts.

Good luck and I hope this will at least inspire you to understand that you can and you will become a professional in no time! If you are new to making beats I would recommend that you don't spend thousands on hardware. Its all about software nowadays DubTurbo is what I use. Its very effective, and low in cost. And it has 1000's of sounds. Click here to see it for yourself or read my complete DubTurbo Review.

5 Top Beat Making Tips

Making beats on the computer has got the reputation of being easy and simple. It is to a point, it is very simple to get ideas down and manipulate them. However, to actually start computer music making, you need to do it right, rather than what you think is right. Here are 5 tips to help you on your way:

1. Sometimes the best way to add variation and excitement to a chorus is to apply an effect or two. Heavy delay, reverb or even some chorusing can be applied to spice things up, and once you add some automation to your music they are removed very easily.

2. Find big tracks, the genre setters to find out what works and what doesn't. This is essential because your arrangement and the genre rules will be the lifeblood of your music, so get it right the first time around. So what do you do? You go through each track and write down when things come in, when things go out, build ups, drop outs. A musical piece is always built up in blocks and follows a formula. Sometimes those rules are bent but they will still keep with a set of rules.

3. Don't keep on applying element after element for your build up- its a beginners mistake. Music is all about groove and vibe and too many cooks spoil the broth. Nowadays we are seeing more tunes that are coming out minimalist, some even using basic sounds. If you listen to a track and something doesn't "speak" to you, take it out. Sometimes less is more.

4. Sometimes editing the actual music structure is better than editing the musical sound. How often do we hear the same 4/4 kick and snare? It becomes refreshing change when something comes around that is different- a double kick, or even a 1 kick loop. Just taking away or applying something extra adds enjoyment.

5. If you ever try to create a vocal track, it is always best to record a "radio edit first"- about 3min 30sec. Why should you do this, rather than give a major music work out? If you created a long track first, it won't get played, or DJs will mix parts out so that they can incorporate your song into their sets. Also if you create a long track first, and then shrink it down, you have to loose something. That is usually a cool hook or riff that you really enjoy. So create a short track first and then create a long version.

Beat Making Software DUB Turbo - Is It The Best?

If you haven't heard of DUBTurbo beat making software already then it's time you got educated on why this software is breaking new ground where beat making software is concerned. It doesn't really matter too much what kind of beats you like making. Rap beats, hip hop beats, dance, reggae, whatever, DUBTurbo does an awesome job of creating any style of beat. Let me give you a few reasons why DUBTurbo differs from other beat making software.

You can try it for 60 days risk free. If for any reason you don't like it just ask for a refund. You can download it instantly and use it right away. There's no waiting around for it to turn up in the post or difficulty fighting through shopping crowds only to find out it's damaged and has to be returned. It's extremely easy to use even for somebody that has never dabbled with beat making software before and it comes loaded with 2,500+ created samples. If you find you need more beats or samples then you can buy lots more or even import and use your own.

You can export your finished beats to 44.1 stereo 16bit PCM.wav format. In layman's terms this is the same quality of sound that goes on to CD's or into studios. You can then convert these into proper mp3 format if you want to. The thing is with some online beat makers that allow you to export your sounds as mp3 is that a lot of these online beat makers samples are already in mp3 format which means the original sound has been compressed and therefore the quality reduced. When you export your finished beat the mp3 sounds you have mixed together are then all compressed again so by the time you actually get your beat downloaded the sound quality is nowhere near as good.

The DUBTurbo website and members area:

There are various free training videos available to watch in case you were to get stumped at any point and lots of FAQ's. You can also buy extra sounds and beats here. The price. For a limited time DUBTurbo is being sold for a $10 discount which means you get all this for only $34.95.

Anybody that has already bought this so far is also entitled to 20 years of free upgrades which is great because with version 1.5 being released soon if the price goes up you won't have to pay anything more and this goes for any further updates for at least 20 years. So is DUBTurbo the best beat making software? Why not give it a try today and see for yourself exactly why DUB turbo is the only beat making software you will should ever need.

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