The Alchemist Beats?

[Bobby Ffitch]

hes been one of my favorites for a long time. i think his drums are ill, theyre pretty simple but they have tight timing and they hit hard.

and his basslines to me are part of what defines him. theyre pretty simple, but they fit in really nicely with his samples and drums, and they fit real nice in the mix.

i dont know if you can just study a lil and become alchemist. if it was that easy to make beats like him there would be a million lil alchemists running around.

a lot of times hell have like two beats on an album, and they will be the hottest tracks on the album. thats whats ill. a lot of the stuff he did with dilated peoples is amazing to me, his drums sound really nice with evidence's flow.

 

[dakotathecanuck]

I agree...I really like his stuff w/ Illa Ghee.

 

[Hi-Lo]

I really admire how he does his beats.. But I don't really know how to get that sound? Can any body tell me a little bit about what he uses and how to get that sound..
BTW this is really important cause a dude I know is willing to give me 2,500 dollares if i can make som ALC sounding beats.. Thanx.

If you want to know how to make his beats, you gotta study his stuff man.

I can give you a few pointers...unlike a lot of producers, he relies mostly on the asr-10 and rarely uses an MPC. He prefers muted and non-distinctive but deep and strong kicks, and rarely uses rolling hi hats or snares, although he does use snares to give his drums some swing...on that note, his drums are much more flexible and swingish than most mainstream producers, thats one of his trademarks...uses scratching a lot...sample heavy production...doesn't use all that many vocal samples but when he does they're short and high pitch shifted...most importantly, he's known for his basslines. Al probably more than any mainstream producer uses his basslines to anchor his drums, and almost always has a 4 or more chord bassline placed prominently, if not as the main instrument, in his final mixes....he also uses his basslines as a direct extension of the melody or to complete the main sample melody, see "bangers" f/ lloyd banks off of 1st infantry for an example.

thats to give u a head start, the rest is up to u. just as a piece of advice though, catering your entire production style to one artist or building your style around one existing producer really isn't the first step in the path to mainstream success..

 

[Sanova]

good shit

 

[samuelock]

i don't hate the alchemist.

but i don't really like grimey beats. it just (no offense) sounds the same as every other grimey beat. sure, a different sample, some different drums, but grimey grimey grimey.

me personally, i like high quality stuff. sounds crisp, clear, yea.

 

[dakotathecanuck]

Yo Hi-Lo thanks I found that really helpfully.. Peace.

 

[Bobby Ffitch]

i don't hate the alchemist.

but i don't really like grimey beats. it just (no offense) sounds the same as every other grimey beat. sure, a different sample, some different drums, but grimey grimey grimey.

me personally, i like high quality stuff. sounds crisp, clear, yea.

techno-lover.

 

[dakotathecanuck]

techno-lover.

bwahahahahaha.. thats classic.

 

[dakotathecanuck]

does anybody have any more ALC vudeos. Oh yea thanks ALOT yall causee i got 2,oo in pocket right now.. I guess i pulled of alchemist beat well enough

 

[Bobby Ffitch]

congratulations on the sale. any chance we can hear a finished product at some point? im trying to see how you pulled that off...

 

[dakotathecanuck]

ya. just give it a week till i find out a few things

 

[Sanova]

find out a few things? thoguht u made the beat already

 

[Authority]

his beats in short words are Slap........

just strait up slapp

 

[bluchippa5]

I was just listening to some old Alchemist yesterday, if you really listen to his work a lot of his techniques really remind me of primo, if you listen to a lot of both

There was once a video up, it was more a day in the life type joint, not too many techniques

http://www.alchemistbeats.com/

http://funktheworld.net/music/Interviews/Alchemist.WMA

More interviews
http://funktheworld.net/music/

I get the same feeling. I hope he does alot of the production on the mobb deep album. I havent heard beats like his since Da Beatminerz and Primo. He has that east coast feel that I love from that fuckin time period. I hope da cat blows up...

 

[Burna]

I agree. In some cases its not all in the digging, its how u flip the sample. Like "hold u down" I've had the original for a while meaning to sample it, which i still can cuz he really only sampled the vocals, the beat is way different.

also..

Alchemist does his thing cuz its his thing, If he still uses the asr10 thats him, he probably does that to achieve a sound that is somewhat identifyable to him, why you would want to imitate another's originality is unbeknownst to me, but at the same time, do what u gotta do to get that money.

Cosigns.

 

[bigdmakintrax]

key is finding samples with the bassline in it, and at least some part of the song that is at least about 4 bars loopable, it all starts with the record he picks....at least I think so, even though he could probably use the technique with almost any....he just knows the pieces of the puzzle to cut....and his ear is definitely focused on certain things when he samples....again at least thats what I pick up on ....and the rest of a lot of his patterns etc...were more prevalent among what you heard back in the 90's hip hop but his sound stuck longer....but like I said before if you sit down and listen to about 20 or 30 of his tracks back to back you kind of find yourself trying to decide in your mind...hold on is this premo....but again 2 cats coming from almost the same zone as far as what were techniques........drums are simple but effective, not until late have this whole issue of, switching your drums up crazy come to the table as proof of a good track or production skill, but I guess that makes it interesting tho...but yeah like most legends drums are hard and heavy also simple but not too many switchups and crazy breakdowns...alchemist is a legend.