Hip Hop War Report

Archive for the ‘Hip Hop Beats’ Category

Do you want to make your own hip hop music? If so then you’ll probably want to start off with some great royalty free hip hop beats. By beats I don’t mean just drums, I mean sound effects, guitars, and many other sounds. Of course it will be up to you to put together these different beats in an interesting way. That’s where your creativity comes into play.

You can use hip hop beats for more than just hip hop music. You can use these sorts of samples in all kinds of music if you want to get more experimental. You could use a hip hop beat sample as the basis of a pop song, a rock song, or an electronic techno type song. The possibilities are only as limited as your imagination.

The key is to get a large amount of hip hop beats to use that are completely royalty free. Royalty free means you can use them for any purpose you want (including making a hit record that makes you millions of dollars) and never pay a cent in licensing fees.

The really cool thing these days is that you can actually download 1000s of hip hop beats online instantly. There’s no reason to wait for a CD to come in the mail. There’s no reason to try to find good royalty free hip hop beats at a store. You can get them all online and you can get them at a better price online (and all high quality beats will come with a 100% guarantee.)

Instrumentals rap beats and hip hop music tracks are a key part of any rappers career. After all, you may have the sickest lyrics and smoothest vocals, but without solid beats, you’re dead in the water. Here are some important questions to ask before you buy any rap instrumentals…

Are these instrumentals royalty free? What type of license goes with it?

Before you buy the instrumentals, you need to make sure the person has the right to sell them. There are two rights granted when you purchase beats: non-exclusive, which allows the producer to sell additional copies of the instrumental; and exclusive, where you and only you have rights to use the beat in question. Naturally, non-exclusive tends to be cheaper because the producer can simply resell it as many times as they want. However, the world is a big place, so this may not be an issue.

Are these instrumentals rap related?

You’d be surprise how often producers promote their tracks as rap beats, when really it’s country music (or some other non-related genre). Make sure you can hear at least some of the beats before you buy (unless they have a money back guarantee).

Can I record over and produce these instrumentals? If not, who will help?

This is huge. Even if the music can be downloaded for free, it’s a waste of time if you can’t record over it. Some beat makers double as music producers and may be able to help for an added fee. Barring that, explore the producers section of hip hop forums to see if anyone can help. When it comes to instrumentals, rap beats tend to have a tempo between 90-110 beats per minute (BPM). Make sure you stay in this range, at least initially.

If you want to buy instrumentals rap tracks for sale can be purchased in bulk from sites like Beats365. While it costs over thirty bucks, you are receiving a large number of instrumentals that can be used for all your recording needs. These tracks that are sold in bulk tend to be non-exclusive, though at that price, it’s a bargain to say the least. Make sure you are able to answer all these questions prior to buying instrumentals, rap beats or any music you intend to use commercially.

It’s All About The Bass Line

Have you ever been in a club, all sweaty and hot, and heard that one track that makes everyone jump to their feet and run to the floor? Did you ever wonder exactly what was it that made it stand out? It’s all about the bass line.

Hip-hop songs are usually driven by the bass line. Slow and rhythmic, or fast and thumping, hip-hop beats can be created by starting with a good 4 bar bass line. Add a hand clap every half bar and you’re in business. Of course, you will want to throw in some hi-hat cymbal and a good melody created on your keyboard. If you want to get all fancy, you might consider an arrangement of horns and/or strings. Personally, I don’t like my beats all cluttered up with a bunch of meaningless propaganda.

Short and sweet is the way I program my beats, but I always start with the bass line. You can also overlay the bass track by using 2 or 3 tracks of the same bass sound to really create a thumping sound that will shake your speakers. This process is called overdubbing.

The 808 bass is the deepest most heart-pounding bass you can find and if you use it in your track, the honeys are sure to shake what their mama gave ‘em. The hand clap or the finger snap is always a safe option when creating a hip-hop beat. Blend it in with the track, but don’t overdo it. Something like boom, boom ,boom, clap, and so on. You could also use variations of the bass line to fatten up the track.

Flow-ability

After every 4 bars, you want to include a breakdown in the beat, where the beat goes in a slightly different direction.

I’m not really a rapper, but I like to flow a little bit on the track to make sure that the delivery matches the beat. That is what your clientele will be looking for: smooth, flow-able beats that they gotta have to flow on.

Next you want to create a hook, or chorus for the song. This part of your track can be similar to the breakdown or it can be altogether different from the rest of the beat. It’s entirely up to you.

The important thing to remember is that your track must be a cohesive unit. The beat can’t be jumping from one path to another recklessly, there has to be a pattern, and the more bass you add, the better.

When you create a hip-hop beat, keep flow-ability in mind. The track should not be so cluttered up that you can’t fit some tight ‘spit’ within the bars. Bust a few fresh lines to put the finishing touches on your new creation. If you find that you cannot flow with it, then the track is probably garbage.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Finally, the most important element in creating a hip-hop beat is practice, practice and mo’ practice. Jordan could never have shot a free throw (and made it, yo) with his eyes closed during a game if he had not practiced religiously, shooting 1,000 free throws a day.