Local Hip Hop

the beat sound a bit thicker and grimier. I also leave a bit of 'air' on the tail end - this acts like 'sonic glue', giving the beat a more sampled feel.

4-The basic beat is now complete and ready to send into the arrange screen, later on I'll use this pattern as a template for other sections of the song, were I'll add snare fills and rolls.

STEP BY STEP The loop 1-When using sampled breaks, I always make sure they're either royalty-free, original or so obscure they wont be recognized. That way I dont have to worry about sample clearance. I'm a fan of busy drums so I'll usually choose an action packed two-bar drum break.

2-Now you must match the tempo of the drum break to the tempo of your song. You can do this with any beat-slicing program.

3-Later on, after you've added vocals and such you can use this drum break, were its needed throughout your song.

MELODIES, STABS, SAMPLES AND SYNTHS Just like every other style of music, hip-hop's gotta have hooks Melody or bass: it's hard to say which one you should start work on first, because hip-hop is at its best when its simple - great tracks often have a bassline but no melody or vice versa. And sometimes the bassline is the melody.

Most hip-hop is still created using samples as the main musical hooks, but while these samples were, for a long time, almost always sections from classic records, these days they're usually far more obscure, edited and processed. Its no longer enough to sample a section off an 80's rare groove hit and whack it over a beat.

While hip-hop is still very much a sample-based discipline, there are plenty of excellent synth-hop tracks out there. If you've heard Kelis' milkshake, you'll know how funky a good synth line can sound with the right tight beats.

The critical thing to remember is not to over-egg your production pudding. If you take away one thing from these lessons, its that hip-hop is meant to be simple but effective, so always try taking out sections or notes before you start adding more. And remember hip-hop is all about bringing seemingly disparate elements toegether - Run DMC's sampling of Aerosmith on Walk This Way, for example - so dont be afraid to experiment. Even harp solos and steal band recordings make excellent melodies in the right hands.

Finally keep in mind that in hip-hop you can never go to far wrong if your riff plays on the first beat of a bar, is quickly muted, and then picks up again from around the third beat. Seriously, this is a winning formula - try it out!

BASS,BASS,BASS Busy, bouncing or not at all... its up to you!