Things You'll Need:
- A passion for Hip Hop music.
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Step 1
Get the levels right. Most professionals will start with compression & EQ on the bass track to eliminate the extreme highs and lows of the bass. It is important to level out your bass line so that it doesn’t bottom out your beat when you mix in the drums. The most common thing to do is mix the bass line at the same volume level as the bass drum. To really get this right you will need some studio quality monitors or studio headphones. Computer speakers won’t cut it if you are looking for a really professional sounding Hip Hop mix. Yamaha makes some of the best monitors on the market.
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Step 2
Korg TritonIt’s not what you play it’s how you play it. Keyboard workstations include the minor imperfections of an instrument due to the fact they use multi samples. Most software programs do not, so usually you have to spend a great deal of time tuning your bass track to make it seem realistic. This is especially important when trying to achieve a plucked effect associated with funk music. A lot of Hip Hop music producers wonder what the secret is, when actually it is a keyboard doing the work. So save yourself the time and effort. If you want these sounds in your beat, pay the cost to be the boss!
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Step 3
Change ups & break beats. Since the rhythm is usually associated with the bass line’s interaction with the drums, an easy way to add transitions to your beat is to change up the bass line occasionally. You could either add something to the end of the pattern to distinguish it from the previous patterns, mute notes, or mute the entire bass track for a certain number of bars. This changes the beat up and adds a break to the rhythm.
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Step 4
Subsonic bass. A critical component to most Hip Hop beats is the sub bass line. This is a very low frequency, almost inaudible rumble that you cannot even hear very well without a subwoofer. Adding a sub bass line balances out the entire bottom end of your mix and makes your mix sound more professional.
