| There are essentially three ways to make a hip hop | | | | other side of the hip hop beat making coin. If you're all |
| beat (well, in our opinion anyway) and that means | | | | about lyrics, in other words you're more of a rapper or |
| there are three different ways to spend your money. | | | | lyricist then a producer type, then why not grab some |
| But the good news is that not all the music tools are | | | | great samples to get started? There are super cheap |
| expensive, and in fact some are a downright steal, and | | | | (under $30) software programs that provide a huge |
| this means you can find a hip hop beat maker that | | | | catalog of samples so you can lay your lyrics right |
| doesn't empty your pockets. | | | | over them. They're called royalty free beats and |
| The First Way: This is the classic 'I want to be a | | | | they're worth checking out. This will save tons of time, |
| producer and make hip hop beats for the best rappers | | | | you don't need to mix the sounds (already pre-mixed |
| in the world!' or better yet, 'I want to be one of the | | | | to perfection) and it will give you time to work on your |
| best rappers in the world!' Okay, this reasoning is okay | | | | passion, which in this case would be writing great lyrics. |
| because you gotta have your dreams, but some | | | | The Third Way: This is the way we like because it's |
| people think they can buy their dreams. That is, 'if I | | | | dirt cheap (under $30) and you get to write your own |
| spend a lot of money then I'll be a professional.' This is | | | | beats in a easy to use interface with 16-tracks, a piano |
| a very naive way to look at making a hip hop beat | | | | key-set and a drum machine. The beats are easy to |
| and frankly it's unrealistic. | | | | make with a marker that runs across the measures |
| I fell for this blunder myself and spent a lot of money | | | | so you can add the sneer, cymbals, bass drums, bass |
| (over 2k) to find out that I didn't need to spend that | | | | lines, piano parts and synthesizer sounds in just |
| much money to make a good hip hop beat. The | | | | minutes. Then you can export the sounds to mp3 and |
| reason? There are plenty of hip hop beat makers that | | | | run the lyrics through a simple software recorder. |
| don't break the bank, and better yet, don't have a long | | | | This third way makes the most sense, especially if |
| learning curve and although I can mix pretty well now, I | | | | you're starting out, and some of the hip hop beat |
| don't think it was wise of me to start with a high-end | | | | makers actually help you to mix the music with tips |
| software program (ProTools) when I simply didn't | | | | and hints and video lessons. If you think buying samples |
| know what I was doing. This first way will get the job | | | | is a little too simple and uninspiring, and spending a |
| done if you have some talent, but it's a tough way to | | | | couple thousand dollars is a little too unrealistic, then this |
| go when you're a beginner because most of the | | | | third way will be the best and most essential music |
| plug-ins are unnecessary, especially when starting out. | | | | tool for making quick hip hop beats and throwing them |
| The Second Way: This way is on the completely | | | | out for the music world to judge. |