How to Make Hip Hop Beats

This article will teach you how to make your own hip hop beats. A hip hop beat is essentially all of the elements of a hip hop song minus the vocals. You will learn to build up your track from scratch into a full fledged professional beat.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• drum loop or MIDI
• bass loop or MIDI
• samples
• sample CD
• effects

Effects midi loops bass soft synth samples

1. Make a drum groove. The first step in creating a hip hop beat is the drums. Your drums can either be a drum loop or you can design your beat using MIDI. Your drum groove should be four to eight measures long. If MIDI intimidates you, there are many sample CDs available on-line that offer royalty free grooves and drum loops. Royalty free means that you can use the grooves from the CD without having to get any other permission from the original artist or be required to pay any royalties.
2. Add a bass line. A bass line is a very important component of a hip hop beat. This should compliment the drum groove you made in step 1. The bass part should be repetitive and catchy. Like the drum groove, your bass line can consist of a pre-recorded loop or you can make an original bass line using MIDI. Many sample CDs are available if you are not ready to make your own bass line from scratch just yet. There is no shame in using pre-recorded grooves or bass lines. All major producers have used a pre-made groove or bass line at some point. Some do so exclusively.
3. Add orchestration. Orchestration is a term referring to the musical elements that will support your drums and bass. Orchestration can be anything from short violin stabs, to guitar chords, or funky horn hits. Use melodic or rhythmic material that is catchy and integrates well with your beat.
4. Add samples. In addition to orchestration, most hip hop beats contain at least some element of sampling. Sampling involves taking a snippet of a pre-existing recording and adding it to a new original beat. The downside of sampling is that it is illegal to sample someones copyrighted work without their permission. To get around this you can ask local artists if you can use their work for your beat. It will be much easier to get permission from a local up and coming artist than say, Kanye West. This is also great because you can help create a local "scene" by networking with other artists.
5. Add effects. The last element of your hip-hop beat will be the effects. Adding reverb, delay, or compression can totally change the feel of your beat and give it a unique character. There are an endless number of effects out there to choose from. Be creative and experiment until you find a sound that is distinctive and unique. That's it. If you have all of these elements, you now have your own hip hop beat!

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to take the legal matters regarding sample clearance seriously. The last thing you want is to have your beat go viral on the Internet and then get sued by a record company. Don't use any material in your song that you do not have the legal right to use.