HIP HOP MUSIC PRODUCTION

Who can define what hip hop music production is today. In the early 80's hip hop was defined by the boom bap sound of music coming from the New York boroughs the Bronx, Brooklyn and Harlem.  But today Hip Hop music can be heard from Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Los Angeles as well as smaller urban areas all over America.   The Mpc drum machines like the akai MPC 1000, MPC 2000, MPC 2000xl, and MPC 2500 are being compared to the guitar of this generation of musicians. Any good hip hop producers knows he must have a large hip hop sample library to be successful in this game. There are now hip hop production music magazine dedicated to hip hop production like the world famous SCRATCH MAGAZINE. 

A lot of producers are using sampled drums like the ones available at this website. Sampled drums have replaced the drummers of the 60's, 70's and 80's. Drum machines moved into the for front of music production in the 80's when musicians like Prince starting doing all the production on their albums and not using session musicians. This spilled over into hip hop music. Roger Linn created the Linn drum machine back in the 80's, which was followed up by him partnering with Akai to create the MPC 60 which led to the very popular drum machines series we have today by akai. Other companies have followed suite like Roland, who came out with the Roland MV 8000 which is it's version of the MPC. Today's Rap music production is also heavily controlled by computer software. This music computer software is being used on a daily basis create soulful hip hop creations everyday across American studio labs. Some of the most popular hip hop music creation software is Fruity Loops which is now also known as FL Studio.  Fruity Loops is an affordable music creation software. FL Studio is a great hip hop tool for those with a modest budget to work with.

Another key software production tool that many hip hop producers are turning to is the program Reason which is made by Steinberg the company that makes Cubase recording software. There are also many other software samplers that are similar to Reason. If you are new producer considering which program or hardware beat making tool to choose you must consider what you're trying to achieve. I recommend you speak with people who use both software samplers and hardware samplers to decide which vehicle works best for you.

Most music makers will tell you that software is the future of music. I agree, everything seems to be going the way of the music computer. There are hit hop hop records being made today on lap top computers. You just need to decide what tools for hip hop you're going to choose. Hip Hop music is the Rock N' Roll of this generation and if you're thinking about getting into music production there is no greater opportunity out there now than rap music. Getting started in hip hop music starts with you listening to what is going on in the music. Listen to the type of drum samples and drum sounds the producers are using. Hip Hop music changes almost everyday, literally. Producers might being using hard hitting snares in their music one week and then somebody has a hit record with nice crisp "Clap" and everybody switches to claps, then someone comes along and uses a Finger "Snap," and everybody is using snaps in their beats. So, you have to keep listening to what people are doing in their beats to stay current.

Beats are only one element of hip hop. There is also the Rap or vocal element of hip hop. As far as recording vocals and the overall recording and mixing of your production there are many choices to explore and consider. A popular recording software is Pro tools by digidesign. But many people are also using programs like Cakewalks Sonar, Steinbergs Cubase, and Logic.  Once again your budget will help you decide which program best suites you.

If you want to pack your sampler with heat I would suggest you consider some of the sound kits on soundcrafting.com. Many producers have come to love our sounds. Check out our free sounds page and you can download some free sounds to test drive before you purchase. We have software sounds as well as mpc sounds, MV 8000 sounds and WAV sounds that will load into Fruity Loops as well as Reason. We specialize in hip hop and all major samplers. We have run ads in Electronic musician and Keyboard magazine. We are known around the world as the leader for hip hop samples and hip hop sounds for hip hop music production.