Beat Music

The beat is the fundamental infrastructure of any musical composition. Stringing single beats together often resulting in a wild concoction comprised of beauty, harmony, and groove. Beats can be contrived anywhere - whether a footstep, a scratch, an unintentional motion, it can all be used as an ingredient in the greater mix. Beat music has its roots in the Pop genre, but is a highly coveted talent in Hip-Hop and R&B. The production of beat music can be found in doo-wop, rock n' roll, and soul. The musical possibilities for beat production are endless!

Author: Beebob, http://www.beatsmusicworld.com, 2010

What Guru Will be Remembered For

When you think about the legendary career of the now deceased Guru, what will be remembered most about him? When you think about his music, the first thing that comes to mind has to be his near mind-boggling lyrical abilities.

He turned out some of the best rhymes of all times, and he did it using intelligent, well thought out lyrics that displayed a great depth of understanding and a wide range of interests from religion and spirituality to other social issues. His Jazzmatazz series produced some great collaborations and helped to steer the course of rap and hip hop, but his works as a member of Gang Starr were more well known.

Was Guru One of the Most Underappreciated Rappers of All Time?

With the tragic passing of Guru it's time to ask if he was one of the most underappreciated rappers of all time. Within the industry and amongst other artists, Guru always was held on a lofty perch. He had amazing lyrical abilities and was at the forefront of innovation in the game.

However, he never reached the commercial success that a wide variety of other, less influential and less skilled rappers and artists did achieve. Therefore, amongst the public he just may be the most underappreciated rappers of all time. It's time to look back and appreciate his great artistic skills and the many things he was able to achieve over his career.

http://www.beatsmusicworld.com, 2010

Rap Legend Guru of Gang Starr Dead

Of course you've heard by now that rap legend Guru of Gang Starr has died. It was a tragic passing of one of the best artists in the game. He unfortunately succumbed to cancer after a long struggle. He had previously undergone cardiac arrest and then had been in a coma.

His death marks the end of one of the great MCs in the history of rap and hip hop. Guru's real name was Keith Elam, and he was 43 years old at the time of his death. Over his career he was a part of many Gang Starr albums with DJ Premier and also released his own works in the Jazzmatazz series and various other solo projects as well.

http://www.beatsmusicworld.com, 2010

The Joy of Sound Sampling

Playing with sound samples never gets old. Sampling is recording a short sound (like a few spoken words, a car engine, or even toilet flushing) and turning it into music.

The better beat-making software comes with audio editors and the ability to work with samples. Many have a library of dozens or thousands of samples, and the ability to create new ones. The beat making software can take that new sound sample and speed it up, slow it down, and play it back as musical notes all up and down the scale.

Turning random sounds and turning them into a beat or melody is fun, interesting, and sometimes hilarious. You may not win a Grammy this way, but you'll certainly amuse your friends.

Author: Beebob, http://www.beatsmusicworld.com, 2010

Make Infinite Instrumentals With Beat Making Software

Experimenting with beat making software, even if you're not a musician, can still be lots of fun. Many beat making software programs, however, can also do instrumentals. This opens up an entire additional world of fascinating experimentation.

The better beat-making software has a virtual keyboard for you to tap out your basic melody. Then the fun really begins. The beat making software can imitate dozen of musical instruments (some even have hundreds) to play your melody. You can hear how the tune would sound played on piano, brass, strings, chimes, even synthesizers.

Next, you can add audio effects to the melody, such as echo, reverb, and pitch and tempo controls. You can produce a near-infinite variety of unique and unearthly instrumentals this way. This is often how professional musicians find the sound with just the right mood and atmosphere for a particular song.

Author: Beebob, http://www.beatsmusicworld.com, 2010

Beat Making Software: Fun for Everyone

There are dozens of beat making software programs available on the internet. Many people don't bother even trying them. After all, they're not a musician, and that's who those programs are made for-right? Well, yes... but they're also designed for amateurs, which includes you, to play around with and have fun.

Give beat-making software a try. It's incredibly fun, even if you have no idea what you're doing. Experimenting with different drum tracks and trying to create a good, multi-layered rock, dance, or hip-hop beat is surprisingly addictive, and you'll find you've spent hours at your computer without even realizing it.

Some of the common uses for beat making software for non-musicians include:

* - making remixes of favorite songs
* - making comedy or parody music (the worse it sounds, the better)
* - making sound effects for other uses (games, websites, podcasts, etc.)

Author: Beebob, http://www.beatsmusicworld.com, 2010

Professional Beat Making Software: Amateur Overkill

If you're an amateur musician looking for a beat making machine, professional software used by the studios may seem the obvious choice. After all, it's the most powerful and flexible beat making software available, right? But professional beat making software also has several drawbacks for a beginner you may want to consider.

First, professional software is by far the most expensive, easily costing hundreds of dollars. Second, it's often overkill for amateur musicians. Designed for music industry experts, the terms and labels are often very technical, full of industry jargon you may not understand. It's filled with exotic tools and features that you may not be familiar with, don't know how to use, and probably don't need anyway.

Author: Beebob, http://www.beatsmusicworld.com, 2010

Beat-Making Shareware: A Beginner's Best Bet

If you're an amateur laptop DJ, you've got three broad choices for beat making software: freeware, shareware and professional software. For a beginner, Shareware is the best way to go.

First, shareware is cheap. Depending on the brand, it usually costs between $20 and $50-much less that professional software, which can cost hundreds of dollars.

Second, unlike freeware which is famous for containing spyware, adware, and other malicious programs, purchased shareware is generally clean, safe, and secure.

Third, shareware is often designed for amateurs. The layout is straightforward, the language plain and simple, and the tools easy to use. It has all the power and features you'll need, while leaving out strange and complicated tools you probably wouldn't use anyway, and only serve to confuse you.

Author: Beebob, http://www.beatsmusicworld.com, 2010

Beat Makers, Beware of Freeware!

If you're a beginning just starting to compose rap or hip hop music, free beat-making software may look very tempting. But before you download it, here are things to make you think twice.

First, freeware tends to be inferior, with less power, flexibly, and features than shareware or professional software. For example, it may contain only an 8-track sequencer instead of a 16- or 32-track sequencer.

Second, free software is notorious for containing hidden spyware, adware, Trojan horses, and other malicious programming that can damage your computer or get it hacked.

Third, free software is not supported. There's no 1-800 tech support hotline for you to call. If you have technical problems, you're on your own.

Author: Beebob, http://www.beatsmusicworld.com, 2010

Make Rap Beats Just Like Famous Rappers with the Help of a Simple Computer Program

If you are a fan of rap music then chances are that you have been following it for quite some time. There were the early days when NWA ruled and taught the world how to make rap beats to the sensation of Eminem that showed rap music knows no color to the style of Lil Wayne who is never afraid to mix things up and show that rap is all about diversity. A true rap fan is someone who loves the beats at the heart of a good song and can really appreciate the hard work that goes into producing rap music.

Rap music is actually a fairly new style of music. It grew from a simple street music to a phenomenon that has taken numerous rappers from the projects and turned them into multimillionaires whose faces are recognized around the world. Rap music has discovered a following of loyal fans who understand the music goes far beyond explicit lyrics and who all want to learn how to make rap beats .

One of the biggest names in rap music from the 90s was Death Row Records. Death Row was the label for Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre and Tupac. Snoop, Dre and Tupac ruled the airwaves in the 90s and set the standard for how to make rap beats . They were the west coast crew that spoke about real life in the hood. They talked about guns, drugs and women. They told stories about the streets and about how difficult it was to stay right when you came from the mean streets of Compton and Long Beach.

During this same time, the east coast saw some big names, too. The Notorious BIG, Puff Daddy (as he was known back then) and Jay-Z were all big names from the east coast that had their own style of how to make rap beats. They, too, talked about how life was when you were living fast and everyone around you was dying young.

There came a turning point in rap music with the deaths of Tupac and Biggie. Rap music was changing. New names were coming on the scene and rap became more about mixing up beats and got away from the heavy bass lines that used to be key to rap music. At this time Eminem hit the scene and nothing about how to make rap beats has been the same since.

Slim Shady held nothing back. He talked about his life, his family and how he felt on almost every subject you can imagine. He is still putting it out there telling the world how he feels. His beats were crazy and everyone wanted to know how to make rap beats like him. He liked to shake things up with melody lines and mixes that were quite different than the beats of the early and mid 90s.

Today, rappers are trying all types of new things. Rap is still about the beats. There is always an amazing baseline that leads the song, but these days rappers are not afraid to try new things and add in beats of all kinds.

No matter which era of rap you like, you can create your own music and beats. If you have the skill to string together some amazing raps then all you need is to add in a beat and you have your own rap song that could one day end up topping the charts. Creating beats is very easy if you use a computerized program. A computer program lets you become the DJ and will even help you in learning how to make rap beats. You can mix beats just like you would if you were in an actual recording studio. These programs are easy to use and will have you creating your own rap hits in no time. Maybe one day your name will be a part of rap history.

Author: Beebob, http://www.beatsmusicworld.com, 2010

What to Look for in a Music Production Machine

BPM Control

BPM stands for beats-per-minute, which establishes the tempo for your song. For example, a slow love song would have tempo of 70 BPM, while fast dance music could have a tempo of 200 BPM or higher. A music production machine that allows you to quickly and easily adjust the BPM of your song is a useful and powerful tool.

MP3 Export

Make sure the music production machine you choose has the ability to export the completed song to MP3 format. The MP3 format is open-source, meaning anyone can use it for free, and is compatibly with almost every digital music player on the market. Many music production machines will only export the completed song to an obscure and proprietary format that is only compatible with a handful of digital music players. Unfortunately, a lot of musicians don't realize this until they've completed their song and try to distribute it to their friends. When they find that can't, or that it's very difficult and/or expensive to do so, it can be very frustrating.

These are just the basic any decent music production machine should have. Other great (but non-essential) elements to look for in a good music production machine include large sample & sound libraries, VST plugins, and built-in audio production tools. In general, try to get a music production machine with as many extra features as your budget can afford. But don't settle for a music production machine without any of the elements mentioned above. Sooner or later, you'll regret it.

Author: Beebob, http://www.beatsmusicworld.com, 2010

What to Look for in a Music Production Machine

If you want to make music-whether you're a professional musician or just an enthusiastic hobbyist-it has never been easier or cheaper to do so. Gone are the days where you needed a professional sound studio full of expensive equipment just to produce one song. Today, you can access a music production machine online for cheap or free that give you all the power of a professional audio lab on your home computer... assuming you get the right one, that is.

There are dozens of different music production machines currently available through the internet and, like any product, there is a wide range of quality from excellent to abysmal. When selecting a music production machine, what should you look for? How can you tell a good one from a bad one? To help you decide, this article will list the must-have features any music production machine worth its salt should have.

Sixteen-Track Music Sequencer

Make sure the music production machine you eventually decide on has a music sequencer with at least sixteen separate tracks, preferably with individual volume controls for each track. A lot of smaller, cheaper music production machines have only an eight-track music sequencer. This is fine if all you need is to create a simple beat line. But if you want to create a full song, you'll need additional tracks for the instrumental melody and vocals, and eight tracks just isn't enough for all that.

Some music production machines (usually the more expensive, high-quality types) have thirty-two tracks. You might need this if you are a professional musician, but if you are an amateur or a beginner, thirty-two tracks is probably way more than you'll ever need or use.

Virtual Keyboard

If you're composing a complete song, not just a beat line, then you'll need to insert an instrumental hooks and the main melody at some point. The easiest way to do this is to tap the music out on a virtual keyboard. Virtual keyboards can generally be used to play other instruments beside piano, and the more the better. A virtual keyboard that allows you to sample a sound and they play it back as different notes is a useful bonus, but not strictly necessary.

Continue...

Author: Beebob, http://www.beatsmusicworld.com, 2010

Step Four: Mid-Notes

This is where you add the various mid-notes, such as kicks and snare drums, to create the distinctive sound of your rap beat. If you want to create an intricate or complex rhythm for your song, now is your chance to do it.

Step Five: Instrumentals

By now, your rap beat should be mostly complete. Although you can still change it if you want, doing so will cause problems further down the road. It's best to make sure you're happy with your basic rap beat at this point before moving on.
So far, you just have a beat line. No matter how good it is, it is not a song. Adding instrumentals is where you add the melody of the song. For your first sixteen-bar segment, start with eight bars of pure beat, just to establish the rhythm. Then, in the next eight bars, add an instrumental hook to establish the melody and grab the listener's attention. Next, extend that instrumental melody to a full sixteen bars (the length of a lyrical verse), and loop or it for the duration of the song.

Step Six: Lyrics

Now it's time to add the lyrics. It's best if you record them while listening to your, as it will match the rhythm, melody, and energy of the music better. It's also a good idea to keep them on a separate track-that way, you can easily adjust or even replace them later quickly and easily.

Step Seven: Audio Effects (Optional)

This is the point at which the final mix of the song occurs. Use audio effects, such as reverb or echo to help establish the mood and atmosphere of your song. Adjust your equalizer settings, volume levels, speaker balance, and so on.

Remember, this is just a very brief tutorial on how to make rap beats. It's a good staring point, but if you really want to learn how to make rap beats that will get radio play, read books on music theory, take lessons from professionals, and practice, practice, practice. Just knowing the basics of how to make rap beats don't mean you know how to make rap beats for the next platinum hip hop album.

Author: Beebob, http://www.beatsmusicworld.com, 2010

How to Make Rap Beats in Seven Simple Steps

Making rap beats has never been easier. Ten years ago, to make rap beats you needed a professional sound studio with lots of advanced (and expensive) sound equipment. To make rap beats today, you only need to find audio production software online for cheap or free, and you can make music on you laptop in your bedroom. One thing has not changed, however: knowing how to make rap beats still required talent, training, and practice. Many would-be laptop DJs open their audio software excited and ready to make hip-hop music, only to realize that they have absolutely no idea what to do, or even where to begin. If you're one of these people, this article will give a very brief introduction on how to make rap beats.

Step One: Before You Start

It's best to write your lyrics ahead of time, so that you know how where your song is going and how to build it. Make sure you understand the basic structure of a rap or hip hop song. Lyrical verses that are sixteen bars long is the industry standard. The instrumental hook at the beginning is commonly eight bars long. Keep this in mind when creating your rap beat.

Step Two: High Notes

The first thing you should do is set down your high tones. These are most commonly cymbals, but you can also use chimes, whistles, bells, etc. It doesn't need to be too complex. The main goal of laying out your high notes is to establish for yourself the basic tempo and BPM (beats-per-minute) that you will build your song around.

Step Three: Bass Line

Next, add your bass line, the "booms" or low tones. Using the tempo you established earlier with the high notes, flesh out the basic rhythm of your rap beat. Again, it doesn't need to be that complex-it just needs to regulate the beat of your music.

Step 4 to 7 in next post.

Author: Beebob, http://www.beatsmusicworld.com, 2010