Lets pretend were in the lab putting together a smash hit record using hip hop samples and hip hop sounds. Lets put a blue print together on how a top producer might dig through the crates to create a top solid hip hop beat using drum loops and samples. We'll call him producer X and we'll take this adventure of making a beat with producer X. These same things probably happen every day in recording studios all across America. First lets take a look at the arsenal of tools producer X is using. He has a Yamaha Motif Rack sound module, Estonia ASR-10, MPC 2000XL, Vestax PMC- 05, Digidesign Digi 002, Moog Minimoog Voyager and the new MPC 2500 that he hasn't taken out of the box yet because he still loves the ease of his MPC 2000xl.

Producer X start out hunting for sounds by flipping through a crate of dusty wax vinyl records of progressive rock albums from the 70s and some soul classics of the 70s and 80s. He listens to about 10 minutes of different tracks per record looking for the perfect sample. He finds a soul sample from the old 70s group the LeMonarchs (fictional name) from their 1973 smash hit song Dirty Damn Shame, (Love Gone Wrong).

 Producer X begins sampling and chopping the song up. X runs an audio cable from his turntable jack to his Vistax PMC-05 mixer. X does some basic EQing to fatten up the sample. He samples a four bar guitar/vocal loop from the song into his new MPC2500 he just took out of the box. He proceeds to the MPC 2500's sample trim mode, he chops the sample into an 8^th note. He then copies the sample and assigns it new pads and re-trims, finding another 8^th note section, repeating the process until 8 pads are filled. He finds that his MPC 2500 chops samples way better than his ASR-10 ever did and that he can get more creative with the capabilities of the MPC 2500.

 Producer X begins tapping different pads on the MPC 2500 trying to create a different melody interpolation of the sample. After finding a melody he likes, he begins editing the intro of the song. Skipping through the Lemonarch's biggest hit he finds a piano stab. Producer X assigns the piano sample to a pad, he triggers it on the first not of the eighth bar creating a turnaround into the start of the sequence. X then samples a chunk of the original hook vocal track phrase from the record.

 He's got the sample looped and locked and he listens to the melody and sample a few minutes. He loads up a few drum kits from soundcrafting.com and few kick drums and snares he purchased from Loopking.com. He plays those drum underneath the sample and it sound like a recipe for a hit song. He lays the snares on the 2s and 4s of each measure before laying a stuttering kick drum pattern on the 1s and 3s, X then programs a triplet hi-hat pattern using the MPCs note repeat function.

Producer X puts the finishing touches on the beat by adding a few synth lead lines from his Yamaha Motif sound module. After laying down the whole beat and sequencing the track, Producer X listen to his finished product and is pleased with his beat.

 

If you are a hip hop producer it is important that you use the proper hip hop drum samples. A lot of producers make the mistake of using the incorrect drum sounds when they are building their tracks.  One thing that is important when using the correct drum samples you must first determine what type of production you are trying to achieve. If you are doing east coast beats that will probably be a different set of sounds compared to creating a dirty south beat.  Make sure you try layering your sounds. If you're using a hip hop file like a certain type of kick drum, or a certain type of hip hop snare drum, try layering it with different type of snare or kick drum when creating the hip hop beat. Try doing the same thing with your keyboard patches. If you're using triton patches, ASR patches, Roland Fantom Patches, try layering the same programmed sequenced sound with similar sound that gives it more dimension. So try two string sounds layered together or two piano sounds layered together or two keyboard synth sounds.  You have to utilize your hip hop tools to bring out your best music production. 

A hip hop drum wav file is only as good as the producer using that sample. It doesn't matter if you're using fruity Loops (FL Studio 7), MPC 4000, MPC 2000, MPC 60 or the new Roland MV8000, your musical working environment must be conducive to creativity. If you're using a music computer for recording, the best situation is to have that music computer dedicated to music and not for online usage if your budget can spare a 2^nd computer just for music. I recommend that hip hop music producers subscribe to a magazine like electronic musician, Scratch magazine, Mix magazine, Remix magazine, and/or keyboard magazine. This will keep you up to date on a lot of the new technology of music and beat making.  If you're making beats on the MPC 2000xl think about joining a yahoo music group dedicated to the MPC 2000xl. The Yahoo groups for Reason, MPC and Fruity loops are great resources for beat makers. If you record beats on your computer there are also groups for Sonar and Pro Tools.  I advise a lot of new producers to join forums for music production. There are a lot music forums that deal with the MPC 1000, Sp1200, MPC 500, and other keyboard workstations.

A great investment is buying an extra monitor for your computer. Many computer musicians find that a second monitor helps increase their productivity. It can be used as a dedicated mixer screen, for example, or to display virtual instruments while keeping your automation tracks visible in the main screen. Keep in mind that most sequencers like Reason and Akai MPC offer at least some degree of customizability, so take time to hide any parts of the interface you don't use. If youre not sure what anything is, use the documentation to find out before you get shot of it, it could be something useful.

 If you are looking for good hip hop construction kits, there is no better place on the internet than soundcrafting.com. The best place on the net for Loops is Loopking.com.We have drum samples and chop samples in the flavor of 9^th wonder, timbaland, dj Premier, Pow Low Don, neptunes, beathustle, kanye west and many other  hip hop producers.  We also cover the styles of some hip hop s greatest underground hip hop producers. We also carry loops that have the style of underground hip hop production.

Finding or diggin in the crates for the right drum sounds is the key to creating a professional sounding beat, especially if you're making hip hop rap music. A wack track is a wack track no matter how much polish you put into the mix. You have to use the best quality loops and drum sounds you can get your hands on. Remember Soundcrafting if you are looking for quality drum .Wav sounds and hip hop drum .WAV sounds. If you think your drum sounds are missing something you may find they sound better layered up with other drums and percussions. Most good hip hop beat makers layer up multiple samples on the same type in order to achieve a full sound. Experiment by loading up four snare sounds triggered by the same note and playing with the individual volume levels of each.

We got you covered when it comes to mpcsounds and sound samples.  If your kick drum doesn't sound hard enough, it may be intrinsically lacking bottom end. Unfortunately, no amount of EQ will help in this situation as it cant add frequencies that aren't there. Look for another Kick drum sound to use instead of layering with another sound. The same goes for other drum sounds. It's important to have a good sound in the first place before you carry out any processing. You gotta have dope sounds to make dope beats. We have all the sounds for samplers.

If you're using drum samples and software sampler sounds, you also need dynamic tools that are important when dealing with drum sounds. You have to get your hands on the best compressor plug in you can find. When it comes to good plug ins some of it comes down to personal preference. A free compressor is Kjaerhus classic compressor. The ways in which your hip hop drums are compressed vary from producer to producer and project to project, s Try a few different setups to see which suits you. For example you might find compressing drums individually gives you the polished sound you require.  This works well with MPC 2000xl and MPC 3000 with 8 outs where you can track all your sounds individually and not two tracked.

The main drum sound you need processing on is your kick drum and snare drum in hip hop. It doesn't matter if you're using an ASR 10, Triton, Trinity, SP1200, MV8000, AIFF, WAV, Fruity Loops (FL Studio), or any sound library.

With Scratch Magazine, coming to a quick end, it made me think about the future of hip hop music production.  Scratch was an attempt to glorify the beat making skill, unfortunately it worked out as planned. I think the problem with Scratch is it didn't give it's readers the knowledge base they probably required. It should have had more tutorials and information on how to make beats. It should have been more like Keyboard Magazine and Electronic Musician, than the XXL magazine for producers. It should have instructed producers on how to put together a bangin beat. Where to get top quality hip hop sounds, hip hop samples, Akai Sounds for your MPC sampler, drum samples, drum sounds and synth sounds. I think Scratch Magazine focused too much on glorifying the same four or five producers. You can only talk so much about DR. Dre, Timbaland, Kanye West, the Neptunes, and Jermaine Dupri. Ive visit some local hip hop studios and I would find a copy of Scratch in the lobbies. Scratch could have been a catalyst for Hip Hop music production.

If youre looking for dope samples, then Soundcrafting is the right website for you. We carry a large sample library of drum kits for MPC series samplers, especially drum kits for the MPC200. We also have drum kits for the acclaimed MPC4000.  If you're looking for hot hip hop loops then you need to checkout Loopking.com.

When I hear beats produced by a lot of young up and coming hip hop producers, I hear a lot of copy cat beats. So many producers are too heavily influenced by the hottest music producers that are out right now. For hip hop to continue to be successful, producers are going to have to push the envelop somewhat and try to create the next wav of hip hop beats. Theyll have to change up the basic Claps and Snaps that too many southern producers are using right now.  More young hip hop producers need to search out new and innovative sounds for samplers, more cutting edge hiphop sounds that are going to make beats spark.  So many young producers have not figured out the basis for creating hip hop music which is the ever forgotten tool of  diggin in the crates. I can only imagine that there are less and less vinyl records out in the market place as time has passed by.

The drum kits and sound kits that producers use are very important. If you are going to make dope beats youve got to have dope sounds. Whether you using Wav drum sounds or Aiff drum sounds in your sampler, that makes no difference.

 

The definition of a drum loop is a section of audio containing drums played rhythmically or via MIDI that repeats within a musical arrangement. Also, a portion of an audio piece of music or sample,  when repeated allows the sample to sustain beyond its original duration.  Loop construction is a production method that utilizes repeating regions, called loops, to build an arrangement.

Hip Hop drum loop construction is the hottest things going in music these days. Hip Hop loops allow you to assemble performances and sounds from a diverse array of sources and mix them into your own production style. Loops are short sections of musical arrangements that are repeated to make up a longer part.  You will usually hear examples of loops in 1, 2, and 4 bar patterns, bass lines, synth lines, and drum patterns. Any section of music can be turned into a loop.  Sampling is the forebear of modern loop construction. Some samplers that have been known for loop and beat construction is the MPC 2000, MPC 2000XL, MPC 3000, Akai MPC 1000 and MPC 500. Also many people use the hardware sampler, Roland MV8000.  Loop constructions have their beginning in two technologies. Early drum machines like the TR-808 and early MIDI Sequencers that were used to repeat music patterns. By putting together various music patterns into a string of programmed patterns can change to match arrangements in your loop construction. Producers like Pete Rock were famous for carefully editing and sampling small snippets of music and putting them together to make a totally different music arrangement.

 If you sample drums from CD and records called  Crate Diggin  there is an abundance of material out there for you.  When sampling music from vinyl you may find that you get a lot of low-end noise.  This can be removed with a high pass filter set to a low cutoff frequency  around 30Hz, for example. Don't set the filter too high though, as youll start removing frequencies from the sound itself, which is to be avoided unless you want to intentionally thin it out. When using drum sounds that you've recorded or sampled yourself, make sure they're accurately edited. Short, percussive sounds are susceptible to timing problems if not sliced correctly, so use an audio editor like WAV Lab to cut them up.  One problem you run into sampling music for hip hop beats is live musicians can't keep time as well as computers and music sequencers. So when you sample music played by live musicians and loop it along with the rest of your track, you may find that it goes out of time. This can be avoided by cutting the sample into individual beats and playing it back along with the rest of the tracks. This is known as chopping samples.

 If you have a sample you really like but thats too short for your purposes, there are a few things you can do to stretch it out. The first thing is to timestretch it in your sampler or sample editor, although this option is not available in every program. Alternatively, you could loop the tail portion of the sample, though this works best with longer sustained notes.  When building your sample library its not always important to use just Hip Hop and R&B samples for your hip hop music production. You may also want to result to using rock music samples, classical music samples, jazz samples, country music samples and other forms of music, even ethnic hybrids. Be resourceful and creative and try different things

 

 Loops can be 1 bar loops, 2 bar loops or four bar loop patterns. Loops can be rhythmic drum loops, bass line loops, synth and keyboard loops, or full musical composition loops for music production.  Today's type of loop construction is based on two types of technology, sequenced loops and sample-based loops. Sequence loops are normally created with a drum machine sequencer or computer based program. A sequencer repeats patterns that will loop to form longer parts. By combining various patterns into a string of sequences the producer and/or programmer can create an arrangement suitable for songs.  Sampling is the other form of loop construction creation. Producers normally sample pieces of music into a sampler, like the Akai MPC series or Roland MV-8000. With the ability to manipulate the samples and edit them within the sampler, producers can make slick musical production from diverse snippets of music.

Usually, an audio sample from a record has a fixed tempo at which it was originally recorded. The problem sometimes with working with audio samples is matching the correct tempo of the sample. You can speed up the tempo of the sample, which in some cases changes the pitch of the original sample.  Some of the newer samplers like the MPC 2500 allow you to speed up the sample without altering the pitch of the sample. In the past, producers would sometimes slice or break up the sample into smaller pieces and trigger each section via MIDI.  Some of todays software programs like ACID and ReCycle takes some of the work out of the old manual process and provides all types of features to ensure smooth looping procedures. 

 One of the basic looping techniques are to use loops to build a brand new arrangement out of and audio track you have recorded a certain tempo. You want to select the loop you have created and make sure there are no glitches in the loop. Programs like Logic can calculate the tempo of the new loop, if you don't calculate the tempo you can by defining the duration of the segment at one bar.

 These hip hop music production tips and tools may be valuable to some producers and absolutely useless to others. Thats just the way it is.

1. Fattening up synth sounds: You can make synth patches fatter sounding with the addition of more voices. If your synth has loads of oscillators, turn them on one by one to see how they affect the sound.
2. By using effects like reverb, chorus and overdrive can add dynamics to your over all synth sounds. Learn how your effects work on your synth inside and out.
3. If you want to create synth sounds that really amaze and stand out, try using automation to sync an oscillator's pulse width modulation to the beat, or set an envelope to control the speed of an LFO assigned to filter cutoff.
4. If you want to make your synth sounds more expressive, tie parameters such as cutoff frequency to controls on your MIDI controller such as velocity, aftertouch or mod wheel.
5. Some synth sounds demand a great deal of processing power; get around this by exporting single or multiple notes as audio and loading them into your sampler.

 

Lots of producers are working with ground-breaking drum samples. The Neptunes, Just Blaze, Jazza Pha, DR. Dre, and Jermaine Dupri are just a few producers with blazin hot drum sample production skills. Drum samples are the foundation of a good hip hop beat. Rap producers like DR Dre created his signature sound by replaying old samples and adding todays hot drum mix under the new replayed beat. This is one approach to adding hard hitting drum sounds to your mix. There are many ways to approach using drum samples. If you work with the MPC you can sample break beats and chop of the break beats to make one shot samples to reload back into your MPC to create drum kits for other beats.

Sampled break beats were intrinsic to hip-hop development in the early days of hip-hop music production. Most hip hop beats from back in the day were built around the beatboxes or drum machines rather than breaks. The drum machine was embraced because samplers where expensive to use. Nowadays producer are playing and programming most of their beats from scratch, because they do not want to share royalty checks with the sampled artist.  The hip hop sound of today does not rely as much on breaks because most of the great breaks have been sampled to death. If you sample a famous James Brown break today it would probably be dismissed and rehashed on your part, because it has been done before.

 The key to effectively laying down a hot drum track in being intricate but not to complicated. Try experimenting with your drum patterns. A mistake a few producers make is using the same drum sounds and drum samples over and over in each beat. I got a demo once that had12 songs on it. The producer used the same sounds on every beat it sounded like I was listening to a remix of the same tune. Hip Hop was created by mixing other genres of music in a creative fashion. Now hip hop is feeding on itself and a lot of the creativity is dead. As hip hop becomes more about computers and lap tops, software programs, and technical jargon I can only hope that the creativity can rise above the rest of the mess.

 Check out our Drum sample and hip hop samples and I think you will find we have a strong sound library of loops and sounds. If you are looking for snaps, claps and snares or Kick drum we have you covered. We also have cool hip hop loops for your music production. A major key to staying current in hip hop is having a strong set of sound kits at your disposal. If you buy from us you will have current up to date sounds for production.

Producers using Hip Hop samples are at an epic these days. Producers like iconic figure Prince Paul helped usher in this trend in early 90s. Now producers like Kanye West and Just Blaze have taken it to another level. These young producers have continued the art form of sampling music. Hip Hop samples have been the foundation of hip hop production for years. Whether you have producers like DR Dre replaying different interpolations of beats or Kanye straight jacking the sample and looping it, sampling is at an all time high. Todays hip hop production is about Hip Hop sampling. There are various ways to look at getting into sampling music.

If you work the MPC series of drum machines like the Akai MPC 500, Akai Mps 1000, Akai MPC 2000, MPC 2000XL or MPC 2500, you have all the tools for sampling heaven. With use of the analog inputs you can sample directly into the akai mpc from various out put sources like a record turntable or a CD player. A friend of mine who is a hip hop producer says he likes sampling from vinyl because the records have already been mastered and that gives him the warmth he is looking for in his samples. If you are an accomplished musician with a good ear you can play along with the music you sampled. You can also fatten up your samples by adding a little EQ to the sample. You can also filter out some of the low end of your sample so you can replay more intricate drum patterns and bass line along with the sample.

Not every record is financially a good idea to sample. The original publishing owner without a lot of red tape will not clear some old hit records. Some publishing owners want a 100% of the publishing on some samples. You can also sample one shots like Kick drums, snares, hihats, EFX, percussions, and other elements from records, which is sometimes more obscure and harder to detect where the sample came from.

 With a great website like loopking.com and soundcrafting.com you buy samples on line in WAV format that are royalty free to help with your beat making. These hip hop tools are a great asset to many producers. All the samples on Loopking are in WAV format. When using a MPC you are normally sampling audio directly into the MPC and converting it over to a WAV. One of the great things about sampling is that no two producers hardly ever use the same sample the same way.

I have met and heard from various producers who do not like working with Hip Hop loops. A lot of producers like to create beats from scratch using keyboards, drum machines and live musicians. Some producers feel that using hip hop loops is stealing or biting off of someone elses style. Here at Loopking we feel that Loop construction whether your using Fruity loops, Cool edit pro, Ejay, Sony Acid pro and any other list of programs is a great way to enhance your music production.  You mainly find loops in Trance, techno music and Hip Hop.  Some of todays hottest producers use loops to enhance their musical landscapes. If you just take a loop and loop it repeatedly without adding anything to it then all you have is a loop created by another musician. But when you start adding your own flavor to the loop with various drum kits, synth sounds, percussion sounds and etc., then you are starting to get creative.

Loopking.com sells royalty free loops, drum loops, hip hop loops, guitar loops, keyboard loops and sound kits. You can use these hip hop loops a lot like you might use a sample that is a sample from a vinyl record or CD. All the loops we sell are available as an instant download or CD-ROM. The Hip Hop loops come in various tempos and forms for various samplers and programs like MV8000 by Roland, the Akai MPC and NN-XT by Reason.

If you want your beats to hi harder try using hip hop loops to make your beats standout. Do not be afraid of using loops, because we are in music culture of sampling anyway. If the sample or loop is hot use it to make the beat you are working with hot. There is nothing wrong with using loops and I suggest more producers start investing in loops and samples like they do their sound library of drum sounds.

Beats are the backbone of hip hop. Keep it simple. The most effective hip hop beats is one that listeners can follow. Sound placement is very important in hip hop production. Too many sounds in a beat or sounds out of key in a beat is a recipe for disaster. The original hip hop music of the 70s and 80s was built on the break beat, so remember to keep that in mind when producing your beats.

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