Drum Sampling: collecting drum samples.
0 Comments Published by the missing link on 9.06.2006 at 6:19 AM.
So, how is it done?
Ok, first of all - you need a serious bank of samples.
thought 30 bass drums samples will do? definitely not. i have more than 5 gigs of drums samples, and i keep collecting them.
What are we looking for?
1. shiny clean laboratory created high quality samples.
2. dirty and grimy samples.
3. hip hop sounding drums.
4. other drums - could be sounds made for electro\trance music, old drum machine sounds, synthesised samples, rock drum samples, and generally weird noises we might find useful or inspiring.
Where do we find all this?
1. that's the easiest. there are so many drums sound on the Internet.
if you spend enough time looking you can always find more free samples.
2. drum kits and banks for sell.
Tip: Download everything you find. don't filter out samples that you don't think are useful, or samples that sound bad or dirty. I'll explain later.
3. BEST: old records. just hook up your turntable (or even grandma's old one) to your computer and record drum shot off the songs.
4. Cd's also work well. just go over all your Cd's, and sample even full songs, then go over the song in your favorite sound editor (this one's mine - a free simple one), look for quiet spots and 'clean' hits - a free bass drum, a clean snare, a hat, crash, cow bell... whatever you can find.
Notice: - these are be your most used and most powerful samples. get as much as you can. i guess these days young kids have more MP3's then Cd's, but try to ask around - take albums from your older brothers, from friends, parents, start buying, whatever... Don't sample off MP3's, unless its a really good shot and the file is 320Kbps.
5. synthesize sounds. there a lot of ways to do this, I'll have another post about that.
6. record sounds. beatboxing, banging on pots, clapping your hands, whatever.
What do you do with those sample?
First of all, make sure you have a Directory ready on your hard drive (i recommend having a separate hard drive for samples, more about that in the optimization post).
You need to have a separate directory for each category you think of - BD (bass drum) , SD, HH, percussion, rides, drums machines, real drums, etc.
Its really a pain in the ass trying to find a bass drum in a general mixed directory, when you have thousands of wav files.
Speaking of which - try to keep all your samples in .wav or aiff format files, 44,100Khz, and 16 or 24bits. If you have the time, its a good idea to make sure all your BD samples are mono, it might save you a lot of trouble later.
Next thing you wanna do is edit the samples. try to chop them up in your wave editor and
1. cut the quite parts out.
2. try to keep all the tails, not chopping the sample before it ends.
3. if there's a little bit of noise before or after the sample, keep a couple of milliseconds of it. I'll explain later.
4. If you are editing a loop, try to keep all the samples you chop in the same directory. you could use this later as a chopped loop. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll talk about that in some other post).
5. normalize them. make sure they are playing at the highest volume without being distorted.
(Sometimes i use the normalize function, some time i manually turn up the gain step by step to avoid distortion).
6. play with them. try to get as many different samples from each sample. Try EQing, or compressing, cutting, reversing, putting it through equipment you have - tubes, amps, compressors, effects, anything you can think of.
Creativity starts here, with the samples you use. unique sounding samples might inspire you while working on a beat, or make your work sound more interesting and unique.
Sound like hard work? Well, it is. What i usually do is when i hear a song with a great sample on it, i save it to my hard disk and leave it in a "Ready to chop" folder.
Every 8-10 weeks, when i have a bad day and none of the beats i'm working on sound good (more on this here *link coming soon*), i'll just sit and chop up samples the whole day. i enjoy it very much, i don't know if i'm sick, are are we all sound freaks and gearsluts.:)
I'll have some free samples out of my own collection posted from time to time, and i'll have some links to great free resources on the net, so keep posting.
I know most samples you buy for money suck (why is that??), but i hope i would able to recommend some banks one day, it is the easiest way to get clean samples.
Ok, first of all - you need a serious bank of samples.
thought 30 bass drums samples will do? definitely not. i have more than 5 gigs of drums samples, and i keep collecting them.
What are we looking for?
1. shiny clean laboratory created high quality samples.
2. dirty and grimy samples.
3. hip hop sounding drums.
4. other drums - could be sounds made for electro\trance music, old drum machine sounds, synthesised samples, rock drum samples, and generally weird noises we might find useful or inspiring.
Where do we find all this?
1. that's the easiest. there are so many drums sound on the Internet.
if you spend enough time looking you can always find more free samples.
2. drum kits and banks for sell.
Tip: Download everything you find. don't filter out samples that you don't think are useful, or samples that sound bad or dirty. I'll explain later.
3. BEST: old records. just hook up your turntable (or even grandma's old one) to your computer and record drum shot off the songs.
4. Cd's also work well. just go over all your Cd's, and sample even full songs, then go over the song in your favorite sound editor (this one's mine - a free simple one), look for quiet spots and 'clean' hits - a free bass drum, a clean snare, a hat, crash, cow bell... whatever you can find.
Notice: - these are be your most used and most powerful samples. get as much as you can. i guess these days young kids have more MP3's then Cd's, but try to ask around - take albums from your older brothers, from friends, parents, start buying, whatever... Don't sample off MP3's, unless its a really good shot and the file is 320Kbps.
5. synthesize sounds. there a lot of ways to do this, I'll have another post about that.
6. record sounds. beatboxing, banging on pots, clapping your hands, whatever.
What do you do with those sample?
First of all, make sure you have a Directory ready on your hard drive (i recommend having a separate hard drive for samples, more about that in the optimization post).
You need to have a separate directory for each category you think of - BD (bass drum) , SD, HH, percussion, rides, drums machines, real drums, etc.
Its really a pain in the ass trying to find a bass drum in a general mixed directory, when you have thousands of wav files.
Speaking of which - try to keep all your samples in .wav or aiff format files, 44,100Khz, and 16 or 24bits. If you have the time, its a good idea to make sure all your BD samples are mono, it might save you a lot of trouble later.
Next thing you wanna do is edit the samples. try to chop them up in your wave editor and
1. cut the quite parts out.
2. try to keep all the tails, not chopping the sample before it ends.
3. if there's a little bit of noise before or after the sample, keep a couple of milliseconds of it. I'll explain later.
4. If you are editing a loop, try to keep all the samples you chop in the same directory. you could use this later as a chopped loop. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll talk about that in some other post).
5. normalize them. make sure they are playing at the highest volume without being distorted.
(Sometimes i use the normalize function, some time i manually turn up the gain step by step to avoid distortion).
6. play with them. try to get as many different samples from each sample. Try EQing, or compressing, cutting, reversing, putting it through equipment you have - tubes, amps, compressors, effects, anything you can think of.
Creativity starts here, with the samples you use. unique sounding samples might inspire you while working on a beat, or make your work sound more interesting and unique.
Sound like hard work? Well, it is. What i usually do is when i hear a song with a great sample on it, i save it to my hard disk and leave it in a "Ready to chop" folder.
Every 8-10 weeks, when i have a bad day and none of the beats i'm working on sound good (more on this here *link coming soon*), i'll just sit and chop up samples the whole day. i enjoy it very much, i don't know if i'm sick, are are we all sound freaks and gearsluts.:)
I'll have some free samples out of my own collection posted from time to time, and i'll have some links to great free resources on the net, so keep posting.
I know most samples you buy for money suck (why is that??), but i hope i would able to recommend some banks one day, it is the easiest way to get clean samples.
The most important thing about hip hop production is Drums.
They are the most powerfull elemnt in hip hop music, usually much louder then most elements in the mix.
Good drum programing with good samples will make your beat -
1. professionaly sounding. even if other elements are not as great.
2. punchy and energetic.
3. fresh sounding or old sounding.
What defines a good drum track?
Well, it depends what are you aiming for. In old school or underground hip hop, like J5, pharcyde and similar artists, you want to get this warm dirty feeling.
When you are more into clubs, you want a lot of punchy drum machine sounds.
But really great hip hop drum tracks are timeless. take Neptunes, Dr.Dre, Timbaland and Kanye West for an example. they all have this sweet warm feeling, it sounds clean and smooth, but still punchy and energetic.
And what's the secret, you ask?
Well,
1. the programing - its fluant. hard to explain, i will post more about this in the future.
2. the samples.
3. layers
on the next episode i'll write about how to collect drum samples.
They are the most powerfull elemnt in hip hop music, usually much louder then most elements in the mix.
Good drum programing with good samples will make your beat -
1. professionaly sounding. even if other elements are not as great.
2. punchy and energetic.
3. fresh sounding or old sounding.
What defines a good drum track?
Well, it depends what are you aiming for. In old school or underground hip hop, like J5, pharcyde and similar artists, you want to get this warm dirty feeling.
When you are more into clubs, you want a lot of punchy drum machine sounds.
But really great hip hop drum tracks are timeless. take Neptunes, Dr.Dre, Timbaland and Kanye West for an example. they all have this sweet warm feeling, it sounds clean and smooth, but still punchy and energetic.
And what's the secret, you ask?
Well,
1. the programing - its fluant. hard to explain, i will post more about this in the future.
2. the samples.
3. layers
on the next episode i'll write about how to collect drum samples.
Favourite Producers: #1: Timbaland.
0 Comments Published by the missing link on 9.05.2006 at 11:11 PM.
Timbaland, a.k.a Tim Mosley, was my favourite producer when i was young.
He has it all - groove, soul, hype, a unique unmistakeable sound, and loads of hits.
I remember there was a time 90% of the stuff on MTV was produced by him.
Here's a list of songs produced by timbo, that every producer must know. So if you're young and didn't get the chance to hear these before, get your youtube working (most of these have great hype williams video, from the good times)
Aaliyah - Are you that somebody
Missy - Get Ur Freak On, the Rain,
Ginuwine - pony , What's So Different?
Bubba Sparxxx - Ugly
Justin Timberlake - Cry Me a River
If you have a chance buy all of the albums of all of these artists. damn, they don't make 'em like this anymore. If a link is broken - let me know.
I'll update this post later with more stuff...
- Great timbaland style samples
- Timbaland's equipment, tips, tricks and technique
- Pharrell williams and missy elliot...
- Great pictures of Aaliyah. i would so marry her if she were still around.
He has it all - groove, soul, hype, a unique unmistakeable sound, and loads of hits.
I remember there was a time 90% of the stuff on MTV was produced by him.
Here's a list of songs produced by timbo, that every producer must know. So if you're young and didn't get the chance to hear these before, get your youtube working (most of these have great hype williams video, from the good times)
Aaliyah - Are you that somebody
Missy - Get Ur Freak On, the Rain,
Ginuwine - pony , What's So Different?
Bubba Sparxxx - Ugly
Justin Timberlake - Cry Me a River
If you have a chance buy all of the albums of all of these artists. damn, they don't make 'em like this anymore. If a link is broken - let me know.
I'll update this post later with more stuff...
- Great timbaland style samples
- Timbaland's equipment, tips, tricks and technique
- Pharrell williams and missy elliot...
- Great pictures of Aaliyah. i would so marry her if she were still around.
notice/intro: this post is not technical. it will not teach you anything. but i bet you wonder sometimes... "am i talented enough? do i have what it take to be a big producer?"
We all try out best to get success, be it making a living from music, getting rich from it or being famous. and we all wonder what makes successful producers successful, and will we ever get there.
Well, i have been successful (depends on how you define success), and i have know a lot of successful producers, some of them personally, some of them just by following their work and interviews in the past 10 years. i also got to know a lot of people before they became successful, a lot of them were friends, which i shared a lot of thoughts, fears and theories with.
these are things i believe makes a producer or a beatmaker destined to success.
Most of them are related to talent, so you can't really put your finger down or tell if you have it or not.
That means if suck, you can still lie to yourself and keep living a lie, until you find out the hard way that you suck.
If you have the ability 2 b honest with yourself, and you don't have at least
half of these, this might be a good time to quit. stop reading this blog and go look for another hobby.
1. rhythm/timing/musical ear.
i ain't gonna explain, if you don't have that go find something better to do.
2. Groove. what's groove? ok, when you clap your hands to the beat, or sing, ot play any instrument, your body is trying to repeat a movement very precisely. but since we are not computers the time between each clap or note we play is not exact. we can't clap every 2.2 seconds exactly, it would always miss the beat by a 0.0026 seconds or something like that...
Now, i believe that every person has a unique signature of his "soul" or whatever, that make him miss the beat in a different way, a different amount of time, and that's groove.
when two people tap the same beat on a drum machine, or play the same notes/riff on a piano, the result will FEEL different. one will make a neck break, an ass move, and one will... not.
The catch - I know people who program drums on a computer. totally quantized. and some of them have kind of a groove, which others, using the same machine and the same samples, can't achieve.
So you either have it or you don't.
the only way to know, is when your shit is playing in a car or in the club. if the girls are moving to it, that's good (most of the time). if they leave the floor, that might be a reason.
3. Hype. look at pharrell Williams. i don't know if he's just that cool, or if he has a really good management team. enough said.
4. Patience. let me tell you something. they say pharrell Williams, dr. dre, timbo, all get something like $100-200K for a beat. even if they only get 1/4 of that, that's a lot of money for a beat you sometime make in ten minutes.
Why do they get so much money?
because they are famous and their name is a trademark, a brand.
Well. why is that?
I'll tell you right now - because they don't fail.
when you pay whatever you pay pharrell, 95% of the time, you will get a hot banging beat.
you will get a professional beat, guaranteed to be a hit, if you just market it right (and make a good song out of it).
and people are willing to pay such amounts, because they don't wanna take a chance, and they know that pharrell or timbaland or whoever they pay never made a bad beat.
yes, they had some beats better than other. but a really bad beat? that's hard to find if you take close look at these guys' history.
my tip: don't be greedy. don't release beats that are not perfect. and don't release beats before you are sure you are making professional sounding beats (and this might take a year or two since you start). don't be tempted by money, or by thinking you might get more clients if you give a free beat. Bad beats don't open doors. they close them.
imagine your sucky beat spread on the Internet, then people who hear it might not want to work with you, and not even give you the chance to explain. even when you are better, they might not know that what they are listening to is an old beat you made before you got better.
5. Persistence. this is probably the most important. i know talentless people who just did it long enough. suck enough di*ks, lick enough ass, sell enough shitty beats for $1.99, have enough friends who made it, or just keep trying until you get lucky.
I do not believe in luck, i believe in hard work, and having a plan. So don't wait for stuff to happen. do stuff yourself. no one will hear your beat, unless you make them, and if they do they won't recognize its your beat and that you are talented unless you make them understand. market your self (and go back to 3 - hype).
6. Pop education. if you listen only to rap music, i don't know what to say to you. you are not a musician. a real musician is made of 99% influence, and 1% of talent. 5% if you are really genius. Listen to popular music - rock, folk, hip hop, r&b, electronic, house... learn to appreciate the beatles, britney spears, puff daddy, linkin park, miles davis, aerosmith.... learn how to use chords, learn about songwriting, structure, arrangements, hooks and verses. educate yourself. it's free, you have tons of shit on the net (here is a good start), and all you really need is top just listen to loads of music, as much as you can. try to analyze what makes a song great, what makes a hit. what makes it funky or energetic, or sticky or memorable. or what makes it bad.
Stuff that might help, although not really necessary:
Creativity. that's when other beatmakers AND people on the streets say "wow i never heard something like that before".
Character. think timbaland. pharrell. you know their beats the second you heard it the first time.
Sound. make sure your beats get mixed and mastered well (what's that?)
When mixed bad or mastered bad, it might even fuck up your groove.
thump, sub bass, punch, are all affected by the way the song is mixed and mastered, and they all have to do with groove.
To be continued....
We all try out best to get success, be it making a living from music, getting rich from it or being famous. and we all wonder what makes successful producers successful, and will we ever get there.
Well, i have been successful (depends on how you define success), and i have know a lot of successful producers, some of them personally, some of them just by following their work and interviews in the past 10 years. i also got to know a lot of people before they became successful, a lot of them were friends, which i shared a lot of thoughts, fears and theories with.
these are things i believe makes a producer or a beatmaker destined to success.
Most of them are related to talent, so you can't really put your finger down or tell if you have it or not.
That means if suck, you can still lie to yourself and keep living a lie, until you find out the hard way that you suck.
If you have the ability 2 b honest with yourself, and you don't have at least
half of these, this might be a good time to quit. stop reading this blog and go look for another hobby.
1. rhythm/timing/musical ear.
i ain't gonna explain, if you don't have that go find something better to do.
2. Groove. what's groove? ok, when you clap your hands to the beat, or sing, ot play any instrument, your body is trying to repeat a movement very precisely. but since we are not computers the time between each clap or note we play is not exact. we can't clap every 2.2 seconds exactly, it would always miss the beat by a 0.0026 seconds or something like that...
Now, i believe that every person has a unique signature of his "soul" or whatever, that make him miss the beat in a different way, a different amount of time, and that's groove.
when two people tap the same beat on a drum machine, or play the same notes/riff on a piano, the result will FEEL different. one will make a neck break, an ass move, and one will... not.
The catch - I know people who program drums on a computer. totally quantized. and some of them have kind of a groove, which others, using the same machine and the same samples, can't achieve.
So you either have it or you don't.
the only way to know, is when your shit is playing in a car or in the club. if the girls are moving to it, that's good (most of the time). if they leave the floor, that might be a reason.
3. Hype. look at pharrell Williams. i don't know if he's just that cool, or if he has a really good management team. enough said.
4. Patience. let me tell you something. they say pharrell Williams, dr. dre, timbo, all get something like $100-200K for a beat. even if they only get 1/4 of that, that's a lot of money for a beat you sometime make in ten minutes.
Why do they get so much money?
because they are famous and their name is a trademark, a brand.
Well. why is that?
I'll tell you right now - because they don't fail.
when you pay whatever you pay pharrell, 95% of the time, you will get a hot banging beat.
you will get a professional beat, guaranteed to be a hit, if you just market it right (and make a good song out of it).
and people are willing to pay such amounts, because they don't wanna take a chance, and they know that pharrell or timbaland or whoever they pay never made a bad beat.
yes, they had some beats better than other. but a really bad beat? that's hard to find if you take close look at these guys' history.
my tip: don't be greedy. don't release beats that are not perfect. and don't release beats before you are sure you are making professional sounding beats (and this might take a year or two since you start). don't be tempted by money, or by thinking you might get more clients if you give a free beat. Bad beats don't open doors. they close them.
imagine your sucky beat spread on the Internet, then people who hear it might not want to work with you, and not even give you the chance to explain. even when you are better, they might not know that what they are listening to is an old beat you made before you got better.
5. Persistence. this is probably the most important. i know talentless people who just did it long enough. suck enough di*ks, lick enough ass, sell enough shitty beats for $1.99, have enough friends who made it, or just keep trying until you get lucky.
I do not believe in luck, i believe in hard work, and having a plan. So don't wait for stuff to happen. do stuff yourself. no one will hear your beat, unless you make them, and if they do they won't recognize its your beat and that you are talented unless you make them understand. market your self (and go back to 3 - hype).
6. Pop education. if you listen only to rap music, i don't know what to say to you. you are not a musician. a real musician is made of 99% influence, and 1% of talent. 5% if you are really genius. Listen to popular music - rock, folk, hip hop, r&b, electronic, house... learn to appreciate the beatles, britney spears, puff daddy, linkin park, miles davis, aerosmith.... learn how to use chords, learn about songwriting, structure, arrangements, hooks and verses. educate yourself. it's free, you have tons of shit on the net (here is a good start), and all you really need is top just listen to loads of music, as much as you can. try to analyze what makes a song great, what makes a hit. what makes it funky or energetic, or sticky or memorable. or what makes it bad.
Stuff that might help, although not really necessary:
Creativity. that's when other beatmakers AND people on the streets say "wow i never heard something like that before".
Character. think timbaland. pharrell. you know their beats the second you heard it the first time.
Sound. make sure your beats get mixed and mastered well (what's that?)
When mixed bad or mastered bad, it might even fuck up your groove.
thump, sub bass, punch, are all affected by the way the song is mixed and mastered, and they all have to do with groove.
To be continued....
Yes. but if you want to get somewhere with this talent you have (or not have), read "Will I Ever Make It?"
ok, lets go. fuck MPC.
i know its a must in the U.S., kind of "You're not a real producer if you don't use MPC like alchemist or premiere do". but in the real world, if you wanna start makin beats, all you need is this computer U'r using to read this blog.
Today even if your machine is old it probably has enough resources to deal with beat making.
The first thing you will need if you wanna start making beats on your PC, is a sequencer. I use logic audio 5.5.1, which is kinda old, but works fine for me. you can get cubase SX3 if you need more technology (although i find that it distracts me from being musical).
another tool is Tracktion. supposed to be very simple to learn, and very cheap (but umm i know y'all just gonna get logic or cubase for free...umm.. somehow.. so, fckit).
Next you will need VST plug ins. VST plug-ins are virtual tools you add to the sequencer. they emulate everything you would find in a studio - guitars, pianos, synths, samplers, and effects.
You usually just dl them as a .dll file and put them in the VST PLUG INS directory of your sequenser, but some of them have instarllers.
Some related stuff you will learn from future posts here:
- Where to get great VST plug-ins for producing hip-hop
- How to use them well in hip hop and r&b, and how to get that urban organic sound outta them
- Where to find free VST plug ins
- Why VST plug-ins suck, and what to do about it.
- How to get the best out of your computer, and
- Optimizing your PC for audio
- Equipment you need and don't need.
(any more stuff you need to know? just ask... i promised to tell everything i know).
i know its a must in the U.S., kind of "You're not a real producer if you don't use MPC like alchemist or premiere do". but in the real world, if you wanna start makin beats, all you need is this computer U'r using to read this blog.
Today even if your machine is old it probably has enough resources to deal with beat making.
The first thing you will need if you wanna start making beats on your PC, is a sequencer. I use logic audio 5.5.1, which is kinda old, but works fine for me. you can get cubase SX3 if you need more technology (although i find that it distracts me from being musical).
another tool is Tracktion. supposed to be very simple to learn, and very cheap (but umm i know y'all just gonna get logic or cubase for free...umm.. somehow.. so, fckit).
Next you will need VST plug ins. VST plug-ins are virtual tools you add to the sequencer. they emulate everything you would find in a studio - guitars, pianos, synths, samplers, and effects.
You usually just dl them as a .dll file and put them in the VST PLUG INS directory of your sequenser, but some of them have instarllers.
Some related stuff you will learn from future posts here:
- Where to get great VST plug-ins for producing hip-hop
- How to use them well in hip hop and r&b, and how to get that urban organic sound outta them
- Where to find free VST plug ins
- Why VST plug-ins suck, and what to do about it.
- How to get the best out of your computer, and
- Optimizing your PC for audio
- Equipment you need and don't need.
(any more stuff you need to know? just ask... i promised to tell everything i know).
aiight, lets make this FAQ style. questions? just ask and i'll answer. i'll try 2 make it short, i like to get to the point quick, i'm kind busy.
Who are you? why baduist?
I'm a professional hip hop producer from a far country out of the united states.
and umm, i like "Baduizm" by erykah badu. what's yo' izm?
What do you mean "professional", and for how long have you been doing this?
Well, i mean that i make a living out of making beats (or at least did for a while, until i decided i can make easier money doing other stuff - some related to music, some - not so much).
I have been making beats since i was 11 y.o., my first pro level beat being @ age 15-16. that means I've been doing this for more than ummm 12 years.
Are you any good? should i be taking your advice?
well, as mentioned later on, i was related to a lot of professional hip hop made in my country. i have been around for years, dealing with all aspects of hip hop making - beats, production, recording and equipment, marketing, and more.
i have worked in one way or another with most big scale hip hop and R&B acts in my country, and with a couple of artists overseas (mainly U.S). unfortunately for business related reasons i can't give away to many details/names, but i am going to tell you all the secrets you want to know - in all aspects of making and producing hip hop.
I know what you are looking for, i was also starting out lacking a lot of info, and wondering, how stuff are done, what equipment is used, "how the pros are doing this"... "what would dr.dre do to make this beat better?"
so, why this blog?
I try to stay accesible as much as i can, and along the years have become a man of advice to many producers - begginers and more expirianced.
i get at least 50 demos week and try to listen to most of them. i know about 40 people who won't buy one peice of equipment before consulting with me, and until i switched my cellphone nuber i was getting used to spending at least 30 minutes everyday troubleshooting studio problems on the phone. most of my time online is spent giving advice, tips and tricks about production.
i guess it will just be more efficiant and less time consuming to have all the info here, instead of answering the same question 1000 times a moth. + i might be getting a couple of bucks for this instead of spending phonecalls;-)
Yeah, but why gove away your secrets?
I guess my ego bothers me no more about this, and i'm more confident about my talent. the better you guys become, the harder i have to work, and push my limits further, and become more creative. and that's a good thing... yes it is. i'm sure it is. so.. No holdbacks. all the cards on the table, no secret weapons, no exclusive sample banks... it's all about talent now.
Whats your background?
when i was 11 i started a home studio in my room, with my brother, and consumed to much music. decided to make a living out of that.
age 16 left school, to study sound engineering. then some music theory, while building my own project studio. meanwhile i formed a big hip-hop collective that later became responsible for producing for 80% of the hip hop artists and groups in my country.
age 20, worked for a well known artist in my country as a house technician / engineer in his studio, while producing my group's debut album.
Would you produce my next song? Can i buy a beat?
if you're any good, you can contact me at baduist@primenetworks.co.il, and if you have anything interesting I'll make sure my agent contacts you so you can work out the details.
Who are you? why baduist?
I'm a professional hip hop producer from a far country out of the united states.
and umm, i like "Baduizm" by erykah badu. what's yo' izm?
What do you mean "professional", and for how long have you been doing this?
Well, i mean that i make a living out of making beats (or at least did for a while, until i decided i can make easier money doing other stuff - some related to music, some - not so much).
I have been making beats since i was 11 y.o., my first pro level beat being @ age 15-16. that means I've been doing this for more than ummm 12 years.
Are you any good? should i be taking your advice?
well, as mentioned later on, i was related to a lot of professional hip hop made in my country. i have been around for years, dealing with all aspects of hip hop making - beats, production, recording and equipment, marketing, and more.
i have worked in one way or another with most big scale hip hop and R&B acts in my country, and with a couple of artists overseas (mainly U.S). unfortunately for business related reasons i can't give away to many details/names, but i am going to tell you all the secrets you want to know - in all aspects of making and producing hip hop.
I know what you are looking for, i was also starting out lacking a lot of info, and wondering, how stuff are done, what equipment is used, "how the pros are doing this"... "what would dr.dre do to make this beat better?"
so, why this blog?
I try to stay accesible as much as i can, and along the years have become a man of advice to many producers - begginers and more expirianced.
i get at least 50 demos week and try to listen to most of them. i know about 40 people who won't buy one peice of equipment before consulting with me, and until i switched my cellphone nuber i was getting used to spending at least 30 minutes everyday troubleshooting studio problems on the phone. most of my time online is spent giving advice, tips and tricks about production.
i guess it will just be more efficiant and less time consuming to have all the info here, instead of answering the same question 1000 times a moth. + i might be getting a couple of bucks for this instead of spending phonecalls;-)
Yeah, but why gove away your secrets?
I guess my ego bothers me no more about this, and i'm more confident about my talent. the better you guys become, the harder i have to work, and push my limits further, and become more creative. and that's a good thing... yes it is. i'm sure it is. so.. No holdbacks. all the cards on the table, no secret weapons, no exclusive sample banks... it's all about talent now.
Whats your background?
when i was 11 i started a home studio in my room, with my brother, and consumed to much music. decided to make a living out of that.
age 16 left school, to study sound engineering. then some music theory, while building my own project studio. meanwhile i formed a big hip-hop collective that later became responsible for producing for 80% of the hip hop artists and groups in my country.
age 20, worked for a well known artist in my country as a house technician / engineer in his studio, while producing my group's debut album.
Would you produce my next song? Can i buy a beat?
if you're any good, you can contact me at baduist@primenetworks.co.il, and if you have anything interesting I'll make sure my agent contacts you so you can work out the details.
