5 to 6 elements...and you have a banger?

[The Konductor]

Ok, so what I've noticed is that the majority of hip-hop only has five or six tracks coming in and out to make a song complete. And most of the time only the drum track and maybe two others will play at the same time.

The kick, snare, and hi-hats I'll count as one element.
Then you have a deep/bass sound coming from the left side of the keyboard.
Then something from the middle.
Then a sound/effect from the right hand side of the keyboard.

Is that how ya'll see it? And if so, then why does it seem so hard sometimes to come with a beat thats complete. I have so many drum patterns, but I cant always find the right sounds to make a song. I know alot of it has to with the fact that most of us don't have and emcee flowin on the track. Which makes the beat sound void.

What do ya'll think.

 

[Greg Savage]

thats all it really takess

why it seems so hard for some and not for others

1. they dont have the Ear for it

2. they dont have the Experience

Tyte Track can be Drum Snare,, Bassline and Synth

its really all how you structure the track good layering material helps and a decent mix catchy lines

 

[Cold Truth]

umm since when was bass placed in the left? pan bass dead center!

anyways, the issue, my friend, is you, all due respect. how long you been at this? you seem to have alot of issues newbies have, so i am assuming you have limited experience. lets be honest; unless you have prior musical background, its going to take you some time to develop.

my suggestion: take your drum patterns and play over them. thats it. pick a piano, rhodes, organ, etc sound and simply play for, say, 20-30 minutes to start your session. just play and when you develop the basics of a melody, focus on that riff or whatever and develop it. once you get the main riff and/or chord progression, do the EXACT same thing with the bass, except play to your kick drum and to accent the melody- NOT overpower it.

the beat, at thispoint, is basically set. now the bellks and whistles need to be added... try some sparse percussion elements- shakers, triangles, tamborines, congas. try and find a complimentary sound to your main riff, and play around with counter melodies to the main riff, and use this to build a chorus.

once this part is done, a sparse stab here, a fill there, perhaps a faint string line follwijng the bassline note for note.........

you know nnxt, it really doesnt matterwhy its harder for some then others, the simple fact remains that thats just the way it is, whether you "get it" or not, so if you couold just please offer whatever help you may have to offer without and leave at that... because they need help, whatever the reason, and tahts all we need to give them.

 

[ALLEYCAT]

check out the melody .

Making a banging drum pattern is th easy part, the thing that makes it that perfect club banger is the melody. Or as u said, something from the middle. U have to try create a catchy melody which will stick with the listener. Just my opinion

 

[Greg Savage]

you know nnxt, it really doesnt matterwhy its harder for some then others, the simple fact remains that thats just the way it is, whether you "get it" or not, so if you couold just please offer whatever help you may have to offer without and leave at that... because they need help, whatever the reason, and tahts all we need to give them.

Cold he asked

"Is that how ya'll see it? And if so, then why does it seem so hard sometimes to come with a beat thats complete."

so i asnwered that question.. and what i said was unbiased and True so i dont see why your trippin

And Konduct i know what you Mean about basses being Panned To the left or the Right But most of the time in those Cases there is More than one Bass in the track and the main one is Center... the ones that in the left or the right are not panned hard right and hard left.. there just Panned Slightly some are even Modulation if you listen to Battlecat you will hear that

 

[Cold Truth]

^^^^^^ gotcha. completely understood. i hope my pm explains myself adequately.

*edit, once i re-read the question and your comment, it makes perfect sense what you were saying, and within its context. sorry, my apologies!

*respect

 

[CampO]

lol I think U guys Aint followin the cuz of the way he said it I think he meant when he said the left side that he was talkin bout the lower octaves , think he may not of known how to explain it maybe

But ya I hear you I have problems sometimes with adding fills , or a breakdown , or Bridges .

YOu dont really gotta Crowd a Track up Just some Nice Drums then your Lead intrument for your melody maybe some strings can also try switchin up the melody to a different instrument and a nice bassline should do it if you feel like its boring throw a acapella over it .

 

[shadeed]

Personally, I feel that the best thing I ever did to add new elements to my music is to learn music theory and regularly practice playing keyboard and guitar.
The best advice I have is to look at yourself as a "musician" instead of a "producer" if you are producing hip hop/R&B because hip hop is one of the few genres where you will be actually pushing buttons and programming drums, other producers in rock etc are actively involved in shaping the overall sound of the musicians that are playing.

 

[monumental]

i agree i look at myself as a musician, the more of a musician the better you can play and communicate with others musicians. Making a better producer, i think there should be more bands in hop and or live instruments in all mainstream/underground hip hop.

 

[soulscientific]

I agree with shaheed too. You got to look at it from a musician stand point because a producer is a musician!! There are other elements to a beat also that can't be overlooked like breaks at certain times, when to take out instruments, intros, endings, breakdowns, etc.. If you don't study music and listen to All Styles of music, especially live bands, then you miss out on adding the "musical" stuff that goes inside producing.

Peace

 

[Kevin A]

my suggestion: take your drum patterns and play over them. thats it. pick a piano, rhodes, organ, etc sound and simply play for, say, 20-30 minutes to start your session. just play and when you develop the basics of a melody, focus on that riff or whatever and develop it. once you get the main riff and/or chord progression, do the EXACT same thing with the bass, except play to your kick drum and to accent the melody- NOT overpower it.

the beat, at thispoint, is basically set. now the bellks and whistles need to be added... try some sparse percussion elements- shakers, triangles, tamborines, congas. try and find a complimentary sound to your main riff, and play around with counter melodies to the main riff, and use this to build a chorus.

once this part is done, a sparse stab here, a fill there, perhaps a faint string line follwijng the bassline note for note.........

Don't sleep on that. Cold just gave you a golden key to enter.

 

[Pinnacle]

My advice would be to just have fun with it and the track figure itself out.

 

[Kevin A]

Could he know what I'm talking about?

My advice would be to just have fun with it and the track figure itself out.

That would not make the difference between stuff sounding good, and stuff sounding right.

 

[joeburnem]

My advice would be to just have fun with it and the track figure itself out.

There's the key, right there. Just do your thing.