LEARN TO MAKE RAP BEATS

Now lets move up to around 2005. A lot of hip-hop beats enthusiasts are hearing about well known hip-hop music producers who produce their music with just one musical software. I will not reveal which producers they are or which hip-hop music software they make use of. Hip-hop beats fanatics, know who I am referring to. But these rap producers started a new tendency in the hip-hop music production world: making hip-hop beats on of good sound quality, with a tiny budget.

Today, you do not need to get a single piece of software. It is possible to make your beats online for free after you pay a onetime fee. This is great especially if you are just getting started in music production.

This is a good way to hone your beat making skills. Like I said earlier, you don't need to buy expensive equipment. You do not need to have a super performing computer with a big memory bank. You do not have to have experience in beat making. All you need is a ordinary PC and an online connection. Save your hard earned dollars for later.

If you are interested in such beat making tool, make sure you look for one that will only charge you a small onetime fee, and no recurring fees. A good online beat making membership website should have at his disposal most of the software version of typical hardware equipment. You want to be able to sequence your music; track and mix different instruments; play with a virtual keyboard; have access to a multitude of high quality sounds and most of all, be able to record and save you music in mp3 format.

As someone who might be new to making music, or might look for an economical way to create and learn music production, it is preferable that you find a site where you can make beats online that also offers instructional music and piano lessons and video tutorials to assist you in the music process.

Once you become a member to such online beat making site, you will be creating music you like, at tiny fraction of the cost I paid when I first started.

Common tools for the task include audio editors and wave sound compatible sequencers and plugins. There are free audio editors like Audacity that you can download at a moment's notice. These types of programs are usually a snap to install, so if you haven't used one, don't worry; you'll get it installed within seconds in most cases, even if you're not all that comfortable with computers. Editing in a program like this, although very powerful and accurate, is not as hard as many make it out to be. There are usually some simple operations that need to be performed to trim and crop, nothing more!

You can also develop your drum samples in programs like Propellerheads' Reason and FL Studio. Simply make the changes you want in the programs using the in-built editors, effects units and reverb before exporting just the channel for that one sound and its associated effects. Then crop it up if you set the length to be the whole song, otherwise export just a single bar or beat if the sound occupies that amount.

Sampling is another popular method that has helped DJs, music producers and beat makers find quality drum samples for the last 20 years and even earlier than that. Extracting these sounds from records from the 60s, 70s, 50s and earlier also is good for locating uncompressed drum samples, as these decades did not have the loudness war that is evident in every chart-entering song of the modern.

Synthesizing drum samples is another option for the budding music sample connoisseur. The machines with this capability also date back many decades, including old Roland and Korg drum groove boxes with synthesizer functionality. Usually, a number of parameters are there to be modified by the user, and the traditional sound offered by that particular box usually remains with any changes, generating a nice mix between the structure of that sound and the special characteristics assigned to it.

When it comes to then sculpting your own sounds, you can use many processing techniques. Equalization and compression are two common choices for professional and amateurs alike. One tip sometimes given by those with experience is to limit the effects to sculpting and not loudness. Changing the tone of a sound is different from changing its level indiscriminately.

If you're interested in getting a beatmaker, the best advise I can give to someone who is new to the beat making game, is to get a beat maker that works well and doesn't take a lot of time to learn. Here are the five reasons you don't need and don't want to spend a lot when buying a beatmaker for the first time.

You're New To Making Beats:

The thing about inexpensive beatmakers, is that not only do they work well had have every feature you need to get started in one quick package, but they also don't leave you scratching your heard for three months before you finally figure out how to make a beat. The fact of the matter is that you don't want a beatmaker with a ton of bells and whistles because you won't know how to use half-of them, and the other half you don't need anyway.

It's About Having Fun:

An expensive beat maker also means you will be frustrated when trying to figure out all the plug-ins and effects that usually have a pretty high learning curve. Just enjoy yourself and have fun, and this is exactly what a cheap beatmaker will provide for you.

Plug and Play Baby:

Another nice thing about inexpensive beatmakers is that they are plug-in-play. This means you simply purchase the software, download it or use it online with their servers, and presto! you're making beats in just minutes. Just minutes! Believe me, if you buy expensive hardware and software with all the bells and whistles, there is no such thing as 'plug-n-play.' Yes it is easier than it used to be, but you'll find yourself frustrated and let's not forget that expensive beat makers require expensive computers. Not so with the inexpensive beatmaker solutions available today which you can use perfectly as long as you have a good internet connection.

The Beatmaker Basics:

A good hip hop beat only has a few simple ingredients. A bass drum, hi-hat, sneer and cymbal part. That's it. So why spend a ton of money to make this type of sound when you can spend much less and do the exact same thing. Also, the more expensive beatmakers will require some sound mastering experience, and unless you have experience with mixing hip hop beats with 8 to 16 tracks, you're going to be in for a very big surprise.

It's About Talent:

If you have musical ability and inspiration you don't need an expensive hip hop beat maker. All you need is some perspiration and some beatmaker software that won't require a crazy learning curve. This is because talent comes from within, and you can't buy talent with expensive beatmakers. This is the fifth and most important thing to remember before you break the bank on a beatmaker you may later decide you don't have the talent to use and you could have learned that by spending under fifty bucks.

When you're in the market for any beat making software, there are a few requirements that you should consider - It should be inexpensive (especially if you're a beginning in beat making), easy to use right out of the gate and lastly, should come loaded with everything you'd ever need to help you get up and running right away.

Don't be fooled by any beat making software that is inexpensive. Price doesn't always mean that something is better. If you're a newbie to making beats, the last thing you should be concerned about is buying high end equipment that you don't know how to use, which is why I would advise that you find something that can fit your budget.

Once that requirement is fulfilled, you should find software to make beats that is simple and easy to use. Buying high end equipment that is made for more seasoned beat making veterans can consume a lot of your time (big learning curve), and that time could be better spent with easy to use software that has you cranking out hip hop and rap beats, one after another!

With the last requirement, you should make sure that the program or software you're looking at buying comes preloaded with everything you need to make beats. Some pieces of software or equipment only do certain things. Finding one that is loaded with everything you need will enable you to literally produce beats right out of the box.

So, if you're in the market and want to find the best hip hop beats software, make sure you take the 3 requirements I mentioned above. Do that, and you'll be well on your way to becoming the next top hip hop and rap producer out there!

We ourselves are discouraging our children from opting for arts, culture & music as a career. Envious of the progeny of our nearest & dearest ones studying medicine, engineering or IT, we force our children to pick the same career, which they may be least interested in. We don't want our children to be what they wish to be, and where they can excel; rather we wish them to be, what they don't want to be and remain average. We want to create doctors, engineers and managers at the cost of our fine tradition of arts and culture. This is a catastrophic development.

We are ignoring music, arts & culture education at the primary level, secondary level, and undergraduate level. In India music is provided very little support as an academic subject, and music teachers feel that they must actively seek greater public endorsement for music education as a legitimate subject of study. Hence, music advocacy is to be promoted significantly. It is our collective responsibility to preserve our inheritance and to develop it into a rich legacy for future generations.

Modernity does not make tradition redundant. We are the offspring of a complex and rich culture, and music has played a crucial role in synthesizing it. It merits more than a disinterested glance by the authorities in colleges and universities. One is amazed at their callousness and quite dumbfounded at their ignorance when they talk of abolishing the subject from their syllabus. They argue that 'unnecessary' subjects require monetary props and they want to save their beloved country some much needed cash. We are not the victims of any financial crisis but of pure, unalloyed prejudice. Who will take up cudgels on behalf of us musicians who languish on the dusty shelves of modern education in India?

Of course, a new education policy has been announced by our Govt. Sadly, only technology, polytechnics, industry linked training centers, medicine, management etc. have been the point of discussion. What about our culture, arts and music? Philosophers and pedagogues variously define education. This is said to be the sum total of a man's character. Education in the Indian tradition is not merely a means of earning a living; nor is it only a nursery of thought or a school for citizenship. It is initiation into the life of spirit, a training of the human soul in the pursuit of truth, and the practice of virtue. However in the present context it is a means to earn one's living. Education should not merely be treated as a means of empowering people to get jobs for livelihood. The Indian Education Commission (1964-66) asserted that education ought to be related to the life, needs and aspirations of the people and thereby made a powerful instrument of social economic and cultural transformation.

Music has also remained the victim of State Govt.'s horrendous apathy and neglect. As the result of the deliberate, inexplicable intentions of the Punjab Govt. posts of lecturers in music from various Government Colleges like Govt. Barjindra Collge, Faridkot, were abolished. They declared that such subjects were an unnecessary surplus and a drain on the treasury. Later on, following an agitation by the Student and Teacher Unions of Punjab, and keeping in view the upcoming elections, the Govt. of Punjab changed its mind and a few posts were reinstated.

Our academia in India has failed to attract students who are genuinely interested in music. Life has changed in the last decade. We cannot apply the same decadent vision to our education system. Our educational institutes are offering the same old fashioned, hackneyed, outmoded two/three year courses & examination programs in arts, culture and music. A revision is mandatory and it should be accepted without any raising of eyebrows. We will have to design new state-of-the-art curricula to urge students towards the study of art & culture, especially music.

The United States of America and some of the European Countries have outlined National Standards for arts Education to be followed by every student and teacher at the primary level, as well as the secondary level art education.

• Students should be able to communicate at a basic level in the four arts disciplines-dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts.
• Students should be able to communicate proficiently in at least one art form.
• Students should be able to develop and present basic analyses of works of art.
• Students should have an informed acquaintance with exemplary works of art from a variety of cultures and historical periods.
• Students should be able to relate various types of arts, knowledge, and skills within and across the arts disciplines.

There is a set of national standards in music education also, which most teachers adhere to:

• Singing alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
• Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
• Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
• Reading and notating music.
• Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
• Evaluating music and music performances.
• Understanding relationships between music, the arts, and other disciplines outside the arts.

The Indian Government and private institutions should also include these musical standards in their Education system. Teachers should establish these standards in classrooms beginning in a kindergarten general music class, and ending in undergraduate level general, band, choral, or orchestral classes.

In today's 'global village' scenario, the higher education system of developing nations like us must seek integration with universal learning. The concept of internationalization of higher education in syllabi, teaching and research should be implemented. Our institutes must introduce some new ultra modern courses in music.

Small duration Courses:

Music playing and performance courses should be offered at college level, e.g. Guitar/Sitar/Tabla Intermediate (duration 3 months), Music performance, Flute Ensemble etc. 3 months duration Courses in different instruments like Sitar, Tabla, Harmonium, Sarangi, Flute, Violin, Guitar, Synthesizer, Drums etc. Different courses in different genres should be offered e.g. Classical, Folk, World Music, Fusion, Bollywood, Light Music, Western including Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Romantic, Opera, Operetta, Zarzuela, Rock, Grind core, Heavy Metal, Punk, Pop, Rhythm & Blues, Rap, Jazz, Electronica, Break beat, Drum & Bass, Ambient, Electro, Down tempo, Electro, House, Trance, Techno, UK Garage, Reggae, Calypso etc.

We must host in our college, graduate and undergraduate programs in musicology, evolutionary musicology, ethnomusicology, bio-musicology, music technology, zoo-musicology, music therapy, musilanguage, and music education.

Courses in Musicology (Socio-musicology, Zoo-musicology and Evolutionary Musicology): including:

Music Archeology, Music Appreciation, Introduction to Musicology, Methodology (research methods) of Music, Philology of Music, Orchestration, Counterpoint and Fugue, Acoustics of Music, Aesthetic Philosophy, Composer or Genre, Topics in Music Literature, Introduction to Music Bibliography.

Courses in Zoo musicology: including:

Fundamentals of Sound and Music of the World, World Music Theory and Musicianship, Musical Cultures of the World, World Music Performance Organizations, Psychology of Music, Experimental Research in Music, Anthropology of Music, Music of different countries, Music and Mind, Historical Readings in Ethnomusicology, Material Culture of Music, Interpretive Theories and Music.

Courses in Music Technology: including:

Degree Course in Creative Sound Engineering & Music Technology, Degree in Audio & Music Production, Live Sound Courses, Music Writing, Music Business, Music Publishing.

Music Therapy Courses:

A university in Australia is offering a course in Music Therapy which includes: - Applications of Music in Therapy (child clients, adult clients, contemporary contexts), Research in Music Therapy, Music Psychology Research, Music Therapy Skills (guitar, voice, groups and verbal counseling skills, improvisation skills, working toward performance and songwriting, vocal improvisation, receptive methods), Clinical Training in Music Therapy, Guided imagery and music (therapy that combines music and deep relaxation states to explore and guide thoughts and feelings).

Music Education courses:

This program should be designed to enhance the knowledge, skills and understanding of both current and prospective music educators. One can learn through academic study and practice within an international context.

Institutions must start offering courses which are universally recognized and acclaimed. Each course must provide an opportunity for all different kinds of musicians to pursue their own work. A student should also learn about the wider context of music. One of the primary aims of the course should be to facilitate students' understanding of their contemporary musical world, in short its wide historical and contemporary context. At the same time, Music Degree pathways should offer considerable crossovers and opportunity for collaboration, so that a student is enabled to explore and use the most advanced techniques of contemporary music. Throughout the course, a student should be encouraged to choose his/her own area of focus and identify his/her own distinctive musical personality. This personal evolution of potential will easily lead to a body of composition, performance or written work that will, in turn, open doors both to existing career paths and the creation of new market niches. A creative vocational approach arms graduates with diversity of experience, backed with a strong skill base and theoretical underpinning.

Step 1: Master the Basics There are three areas in a rap that you must deal with: The delivery, rhyme scheme and world play. Delivery - The delivery of your words includes the flow, cadence and tone of your voice. You must be able to follow a beat and create a rhythm. Speak clearly. Make sure you sound out all of the words. Be cool. Your choice of language needs to be fluid. Your words should literally flow as you transition between literary devices. Your distinct style as a rapper will be developed in part by your delivery.

Word Play- Your use of words will determine how original you sound. Enjoy yourself and be creative. Comparisons: Metaphorical: Comparing a pair of apparently contrasting things without use of the words like or as. Simile: Comparing a pair of things, including the terms like or as in the comparison. Pun: A comical way to use words and bring attention to words that have a double meaning, or words that sound alike but mean something different. Double entendre: Employing a double meaning in your language choice, generally with a bawdy intent. Allusion: An implicit reference to someone, somewhere, or something. Generally it refers to literary works, TV shows, movies or pop culture elements. Learning more about literary techniques and devices is very simple. Either search the Web or go to your local library and pick up a book.

Rhyme Scheme - A rhyming scheme refers to the rhythmic thread that runs through your rap. Internal rhyme: Rhyming with the middle of a line is a type of rhyme. End rhymes: rhyme which occurs at the tail end of multiple lines of verse. Half rhyme: the consonant sounds rhyme without any rhyme in the vowel sound. Multi-syllable rhymes (also called "multis"): rhyming between various syllables within a phrase or verse.A large vocabulary is needed in order for you to play with words. Start studying and use that dictionary.

Step 2: Begin - When you know the elements needed for a flowing rap, you can flex your ability. Train your ear by playing rap and hip-hop.

Compose. It is true that freestyling means that you do not have pre-written lyrics when you rap; but to improve, you must practice rhyming and word play by creating verses. If you commit to memory several groups of rhyming words, your lyrics will flow more smoothly. Eventually you will learn how to improvise rap on the fly. It is inevitable that you will make mistakes. When that happens, don't stop rapping. Don't pay it any attention or keep on going with what comes next - continue with your rhythm. Anticipate what you will say next. Think about what you are going to rhyme next, and try to keep the flow going.

Remember to avoid getting ahead of yourself since you risk losing track.

Select a topic or theme and then simply begin laying down a rap around it. Just state whatever you think of. In all likelihood, when you first begin you won't make a lot of sense, so practice alone. Your own style needs to be found and used. Do not copy other rappers directly, but use them for inspiration. Rap about things that are familiar to you. Choose any topic you'd like, remembering that your own experiences will ring truest. Hyperbole and creative license always have a place.Because you want to entertain others with your lyrics, it's okay to make them up as you go along.

Step 3: Rehearse - Rehearsing instills greater confidence while building skill. Wherever and whenever you can, just continue to rap. Rehearse alone. You will eliminate any awkwardness if you're alone. Rehearse while watching yourself in a mirror. Either in front of your friends or with your friends, practice rapping. Enjoy yourself and, at the end, ask for a frank critique.

Freestyle Rap Battles - Rap battles are a great means of rehearsing and sharpening your freestyle skills. In a freestyle rap battle, rappers are the contestants. The rapper with the best delivery, lyrics (boasts, insults and witticisms), and overall performance is the winner. Normally the crowd determines the favorite, so you must fight to get them on your side.

At online sites such as YouTube or in person, observe other rappers freestyling. A few filler lines need to be written. The fillers can take the place of your original lyrics should you forget them or freeze up. Make use of humor. Make good use of your sense of humor to get the crowd laughing. Perfect opportunities for humor are unexpected comparisons or one liners. Rap about your own world. Use anything you wish, such as individuals, encounters, events and clothes.

Rapping about your immediate surrounding shows that you are making up original verses instead of pre-recorded raps. Refer to current activities to make original allusions and play with words. Use another rapper to play off. Spin off of what your rival says, reverse it or state your refutation. You can stay with common or connected subjects.

Don't get your feelings hurt; take it all with good humor, even the insults. Some of the best freestyle learning opportunities are rap battles. Actually, you should feel free to apply freestyle battling strategies anytime you freestyle.

The Way to Freestyle Rap - Suggestions: Learn the fundamental literary methods, like rhymes, metaphors, similes as well as allusions. Take notice of your style of delivery. Memorize various rhyming words and compose emergency verses. Do not allow errors to prevent you from freestyling. If you make a mistake on a rhyme or verse, keep going and work it into your next line.

If you want your impromptu rap to be really outstanding, rap about your current environment and situations. Conclusion Freestyling lets you express yourself and improve your ability to rap.

The best rappers are masters at rapping freestyle. Showing off at live performances or rap battles are things you can do once you have good skills, but with these skills if you aspire to be a major recording artist with hip hop or dirty south beats, just make sure you get the best and most current sounding beats and your skills as a rapper on top of these great hip hop beats will have you sounding like a superstar and get you signed!

Having original beats makes you as an artist or producer very unique. Self-produced beats can make or break an artist. Unless you got grands to drop on a single (or even k-0k from Timbaland and Kanye), you can make your own beats just as good as pros with the right software.

When you learn to make your own beats, be it rap, hip-hop, or even R&B smooth jams, you can express exactly what you want through the whole song. Beats show your personality and convey what you're all about as an artist. It's like when a graff artist throws up a whole piece production, he wants to show you something, what he's thinking. He's putting out a message and gets respect for it.

Now, I had my share of mainstream Hip-Hop brag-o-nomics, and if you want to show that you're the best, then you gotta get some beats that have that feel. If you want to share an idea, the whole beat's gotta share it too. You know what beats you want yours to sound like-they just got that swagga you love.

Now, a couple tips from a veteran Beatmaker - Two ways to produce fresh beats

(I'm getting older so I spend less time making beats, but I used to pump out 5-10 beats a day. Now, out of those 40+ beats a week, only a handful would actually make it to full production.)

Tip #1

Inspiration comes most often when you immerse yourself into music. You can pull a grip of ideas listening to random music genres. Sometimes I'd get ideas for hip-hop while listening to Marvin Gaye or even a completely different genre like electronic music.

So first, I say you go listen to some music you like and get inspired by like Anthony Banks or Timbaland (I even listen to electronic music to catch some of the tricky elements they use to make dope dub and bass). There will usually be something that sticks out in a track that makes your brain go nuts with ideas. It might be one single sound or a drum pattern from some congas or sticks you hear in the background. Maybe the bass line or 808 hits and you say, "Dag, I want that in my music."

Anytime you feel the juices flowing, don't sit there and let 'em go away, GET UP and put it down as fast as possible. You'll start goin from one idea to the next. Next thing you know, you got five mins. worth of a fresh track (edit it later). Let that creativity flow.

Tip #2

Some of my best beats were made when I was just foolin' around tryin' to come up with new synth sounds or messin' around on the piano or MIDI. I'd get some sound that sounded so dope, the riff didn't have to be complicated at all (sometimes even just one note). On the piano, I'd hit some chord or some sequence of notes that struck my creativity.

I'm no piano expert and I wouldn't really even consider myself a musician-I'm a producer. I can sit down at a piano and play basic chords that I make up and I can pluck out some riffs and melodies with my right hand, but I've had no training. It's pretty easy to make your own beats if you got the right software-but super difficult if it's wrong.

There's tons of cheap and free software you can use to get just the sound you want, but not all are created equal. Some programs take a while to learn, few are easy. Some pump out rotten beats while a select few churn out the illest sounds and drums you've ever heard coming out of your speakers.

Having good software makes it so you can quickly piece together a complete track from scratch in no time and have it come out sounding professional. It's vital to make you own rap if your strapped for cash and ever want to go anywhere in the rap game.