So you think music production is pretty cool and think you might want to try it out? Here’s a list of sites where you can quickly (5 mins of playing around) and easily get a taste of production. Most of these are flash based, and all of them run in the web page, so there’s no download necessary. Playing with these will give you a pretty good feel of how you program drums in software like Reason and Fruity Loops and even get you familiar with hardware machines since these try to mimic the original machines. All links open in new window.
There are several clips on Youtube of people playing Still Dre by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre on the piano. People keep commenting that they want the notes for the song. Well, hiphop-producer.com brings you the notes both in music literate and non-music literate notation. Above is the Youtube video by haze206 we’re referencing.Piano sheet music notation for the music literate
This beginner tutorial will guide you through the steps of recording vocals over a beat on your computer using Audacity (free). This is great if you’ve written some ill rhymes and want to spit over a beat, but don’t know where to begin. This will cover basic recording, noise reduction, and compression.
Open the equalizer, and from the pop-up menu, select “Make Preset.” Call it “Perfect,” because it is, and set the following levels, from left to right (skip the Preamp section):
If you’re digging through the web for free sounds, here’s a list of 10 sites that will keep you busy. Most are music focused, and some are more general huge databases of sound effects with music sections. Enjoy!
Free Sound Project - Huge collaborative database of user uploaded Creative Commons licensed sounds. They emphasize sounds only and not complete songs. Geared towards music.
Find Sounds.com - Search engine for all kinds of sounds, not just music related sounds.
Sound Snap.com - “Online sound library and community for sound designers and producers.” Houses all types of sounds with music loops and music samples being their largest categories. Read the rest of this entry »
This tutorial is for people who are interested in hip hop beat production, but don’t have the slightest clue where to begin. This will take you through the steps of creating a drum pattern, which will give you a pretty good introduction into beat making. All the software used in this tutorial are free.
By the end of this tutorial you will have covered:
A recent Forbes article Hip Hop Cash Kings lists the top 20 earners in hip hop. The expected main stream stars like Jay-Z and 50 cent topped the list with $34 and $32 million respectively, but eight producers are holding it down in the top 20.
#4 Timbaland $21 million
#5 Dr. Dre $20 million
#8 Kanye West $17 million
#9 Pharrell Williams $17 million
#10 Scott Storch $17 million
#14 Lil Jon $14 million
#16 Jermaine Dupri $12 million
#17 Swizz Beats $12 million
Producers are beginning to gain significant exposure and more share of the fame and fortune from the artists they work with.
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