Make Hip Hop Beats: Getting Started
Anyone who has access to a computer with speakers can make hip hop beats. Most people who are just starting to get into it do not know where to begin. These 5 steps will help to get you setup and you will be able to make hip hop beats in no time.
1. Access to a computer with USB or Firewire ports.
Every computer these days comes with USB or Firewire ports. These are necessary to make hip hop beats because they will enable you to connect your MIDI controller (piano/keyboard) to your computer.
2. Buy a MIDI keyboard or controller
Purchase a MIDI controller or full MIDI keyboard online or from a local music store. These days, you can get a full-featured keyboard for as little as $100-$150 which will do all that you need it to do to make hip hop beats.
3. Buy music production software.
4 Rap Beat Tips For Producers
If you are new to producing instrumental rap beats, there are more than likely lots of unanswered questions in your mind. Check out these quick tips to help as you develop as a producer:
1. Draw inspiration from other beats, but create your own style.
Everything we create is a culmination of what we hear, and more so, the sounds that we personally take interest in. It is important that we focus on the things we like about other rap beats, while making our creations unique.
Listen to lots of music. Find the musical elements which really touch your soul. Incorporate these elements into your music by combining everything you like about the music you listen to.
At the same time, do not attempt to directly copy any other works. Learn to draw from these resources without re-creating them verbatim.
2. Practice your rap beats like you would any other skill.
It’s Not Always There…
Just wanted to share a quick idea with artists and producers who may struggle with writer’s block and lack of inspiration from time to time.
I know that we would all love to wake up and be “in the zone” everyday. We want to wake up equipped with an incredible source of creativity that enables us to make amazing music with little effort. We would all like to make a rap beat or write a song smoothly and easily, every time we try.
Unfortunately, this is an unrealistic desire.
Making Beats – The Importance Of Melody
I would like to talk about a skill that I consider to be absolutely crucial to being a good producer – the ability to create good melodies in your rap beats.
What do all the greatest songs – in any genre of music – all have in common? They are all driven by a great melody. A melody is a set of single notes in succession that form a musical line. The musical notes in a hook to your favorite song, a guitar phrase, and succession of single piano notes are all examples of a melody.
Melodies don’t have to be “catchy” to be effective. A melody that displays a deep, powerful emotion can be a great piece of music without being “catchy” or “poppy.” For example, if you are producing a deep beat about a death or lost love, it can be driven by dark, emotional melodies that don’t necessarily “stick in your head,” but rather portray the emotion of the song successfully through effective melodies.
So what can you do as a producer to become better at producing great melodies for your hip hop beats?
Leasing A Beat Vs. Exclusive Rights
I receive lots of questions, but perhaps the most common pertains to the differences between leasing a beat and buying exclusive rights to a beat. Hopefully this post will clear some things up.
Leasing A Beat
When you buy a lease license to a beat, you are basically “borrowing” it from me to serve as the instrumental for your song.
You have the right to record your vocals to the beat. Once your song is recorded, you can then begin to distribute it to the masses.
At Adamack Pro, I allow for up to 3,000 profitable or nonprofitable copies of your song to be distributed. These can be distributed via CD, DVD, digital download (iTunes), or by any other physical or electronic transfer of the song.
So, what kinds of things do not count as distributions?
As mentioned earlier, a distribution is defined as any physical or electronic transfer of the song. This does not include streaming video or audio (such as Myspace, YouTube, or Facebook), as these kinds of media do not actually transfer the song file to someone. The song is simply streamed, and there is no recipient of a file. So, please feel free to post your songs on steaming sites without concern for the distribution limit.
When you buy a beat lease, you will need to give me (Adamack Beatz) credit for producing the beat. You can either do this with a verbal “shout-out” on the song (in which you say something like “Produced by Adamack Beatz!” or you can give me written production credit in the CD booklet, song info, description box on Youtube, or as part of a status update on Facebook or a tweet.
When leasing a beat, I retain full rights to it, and may continue to lease it to other artists, until someone purchases Exclusive Rights.
Exclusive Rights To A Beat
Exclusive rights grant the buyer full ownership of the beat they have purchased.
At Adamack Pro, exclusive rights pricing is typically a lot steeper than lease pricing. This is because I will lose my rights to lease the beat, and I am surrendering my rights to distribute the beat in any other way. Here are a few key points pertaining to buying exclusive rights to a beat:
- After your purchase, I will immediately remove the beat from the internet. No other artist may buy beats which were sold exclusively.
- I will then send you a contract which will legally grant you ownership rights to the instrumental.
- Next, I will send you the tracked-out, separated WAV files to every sound in the instrument. This is so that the beat can be mixed perfectly with your vocals.
Please also be aware that my contracts allow you to re-sell exclusive rights to the beat if you no longer need it. This can only be done once. Please do not confuse this with leasing, as I do not grant you the rights to lease the beat.
Exclusive rights licenses are valid indefinitely, so the beat is your property until you decide to sell it.
Conclusion
The decision to lease a beat or purchase exclusive rights will ultimately come down to you. However, I would like to offer a quick word of advice:
I find that a lot of the time it is best to lease the beat first, and create your song. Gather feedback about your song and decide if it is worth purchasing full rights to. If the song is doing very well and you think you would benefit from owning it, then go for it. By the way, I will refund your leasing money if you lease the beat first and end up purchasing exclusive rights!
I hope this helped to clear some things up about the differences between buying leases to beats and purchasing exclusive rights!
-Adamack
Producing Rap Beats – Finding Inspiration
Do you produce rap beats? If so, you have more than likely hit a wall at times when searching for inspiration in producing beats.
Inspiration is what powers our creativity and channels it into our music, art, or any other creative specialization. There are lots of ways to become inspired to make powerful rap beats, and I would like to share with you a few personal discoveries:
1. Times of extreme emotion:
Have you lost a loved one? Break up with your girlfriend/boyfriend? Get a job promotion? Times like these create powerful emotions within us, whether they are positive or negative.
Although these situations can range from extremely unfortunate to incredibly great, there is inspiration to be drawn from them. I personally have created some of my best rap beats as a direct result of personal trauma or enlightened times.
When you learn to channel this inspiration, you can reach beyond your personal limits and create amazing things. It is very important that you do your best to utilize these situations and create rap beats which directly reflect your emotions.
Adamack Pro Blog Section
Just a little brief rundown of things I plan to include in the blog section of Adamack Pro:
- Tips and Techniques for Producers and Artists
- Personal Thoughts and Opinions
- Artist Spotlight posts for artists who create exceptional music over my productions
- New mainstream song downloads and videos
- Software and Hardware Reviews
Plus more! Check back frequently.
Tim
Welcome To Adamack Pro!
Hey what’s up? This is Tim from Adamack Pro. I am a music producer, and you may have heard some of my work at my main website Open Minds Entertainment, or at my personal Soundclick page at Adamack.com.
First off I would like to thank each and every artist out there who supports my music productions. I am incredibly thankful of you, and I could not function as a producer without your support.
That being said, welcome to the site!
I have created this site to serve as a simple, quick, and secure way of browsing and buying beats. The process is as simple as clicking on a song to listen to it, clicking the “Buy Now” button at the bottom of the player, and checking out with Paypal, eCheck, or any major credit/debit card. You will then receive an email link to download your beat instantly. That’s it!
If you have any questions or concerns, please check out the FAQ section. If your question is not answered here, feel free to Contact Me.
Thanks and best wishes with your music career!
Tim Adamek
www.adamackpro.com