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Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music. Hip hop music, also referred to as rap music, is a Music genre typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rap which is accompanied with Modern hip hop production utilizes samplers, sequencers, drum machines, synthesizers, turntables, and live instrumentation. A sampler is an electronic musical instrument closely related to a Synthesizer. A music sequencer (also MIDI sequencer or just sequencer) is software or hardware designed to create and manage computer-generated music For the early "drum machine" computers that used a rotating cylinder as their main memory see Drum memory A drum machine is an The phonograph, or gramophone, was the most common device for playing recorded Sound from the 1870s through the 1980s Though the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music, it most commonly used to refer to the instrumental, non-lyrical aspects of hip hop. This means that hip hop producers are the instrumentalists involved in a work.

Contents

Concept

Hip hop instrumental music is classified as music based around a clearly defined drum beat with looped musical segments on top, from either sampled music or originally sequenced.

The pipeline of hip hop production involves one or more of the following:

History

Origins

DJs (starting with Kool DJ Herc) began using several breaks (the part of a funk or jazz song in which the music "breaks" to let the rhythm section play unaccompanied) in a row to use as the rhythmic basis for hip hop songs. A bassline (also spelled bass line) is the term used in many styles of Popular music, such as jazz blues funk and electronic Music for the low-pitched Kool DJ Herc's breakbeat style was to play the same record on two turntables and play the break repeatedly by alternating between the two records.

The emergence of samplers and sequencers allowed the beats to be manipulated with greater precision and granularity and recombined in more complex new ways than was possible with vinyl alone, which gave birth to hip hop production.

The 1980s

Kurtis Blow became the first hip hop artist to use a digital sampler, the Fairlight, in a song. Curtis Walker (born 9 August 1959) better known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is one of the first commercially successful rappers and The Fairlight CMI (Computer Musical Instrument was the first polyphonic digital sampling Synthesizer. The Roland TR-808 was introduced in 1980. The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer was one of the first programmable Drum machines ("TR" serving as an Initialism for Transistor Rhythm The 808 was heavily used by Afrika Bambaataa, who released Planet Rock in 1982, which gave rise to the fledgling Electro genre, along with the genre's own pioneers Derrick May and Juan Atkins. Afrika Bambaataa (born Kevin Donovan on April 17, 1957) is an American DJ from the South Bronx, who was instrumental in the Planet Rock The Album is an Old school hip hop album by Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force released in 1986 as a collection of previous Electro ( electro-boogie, electro-funk) is a Genre of Electronic music directly influenced by the use of TR-808 and Funk Derrick May, also known as Mayday and Rhythim is Rhythim, is an Electronic musician from Detroit Michigan U Juan Atkins (born December 9, 1962) is an American musician He is widely credited as the originator of Techno music specifically The song interpolated Kraftwerk's "Trans Europa Express. Kraftwerk (ˈkʁaftvɛɐk German for " power plant " or " Power station " is an influential Electronic music band from " In 1983, Run-DMC recorded "It's Like That" and "Sucker MCs," two songs which relied completely on digital beats, ignoring samples entirely; much like early songs by Bambaataa and the Furious Five. Run-DMC was a pioneering hip hop group during the 1980s founded by Joseph "[The Reverend] Run" Simmons, Darryl "D "It's like That" is a hip hop Song performed by Run-D The E-mu SP-12 came out in 1985, capable of 2. 5 seconds of recording time. The SP-1200 promptly followed with expanded T-burc & EDK recording time. One of the earliest songs to contain a drum loop or break was "Rhymin and Stealin" by the Beastie Boys, produced by Rick Rubin. Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin (born March 10 1963 in Lido Beach New York) is an American Record producer and is currently Marley Marl also popularized a minimal style of using one or two sampled loops in the late 80s. Marlon Williams (born 1962 in Queens, New York City) better known as Marley Marl, is considered one of the most important and influential hip-hop The Akai MPC60 came out in 1988, capable of 12 seconds of sampling time. The Akai MPC60 (" MIDI Production Center 60" was an electronic Musical instrument produced in 1988 by the Japanese company Akai Dr. Dre with World Class Wreckin' Cru recorded 'Juice' and 'Before You Turn The Lights Out. Andre Romelle Young (born February 18 1965 primarily known by his stage name Dr The World Class Wreckin' Cru was a 1980s Electro-hop group from Compton, California formed by the Eve After Dark nightclub owner and established DJ Alonzo ' The Beastie Boys released Paul's Boutique in 1989, an entire album created completely from an eclectic mix of samples, produced by the Dust Brothers. Paul's Boutique is the second Studio album by hip hop group Beastie Boys, released July 25, 1989 on Capitol Records The Dust Brothers are the Los Angeles -based Grammy Award winning producers "E De La Soul also released 3 Feet High and Rising that year. De La Soul is a Grammy Award-winning hip hop group They are best known for their eclectic sampling and quirky surreal lyrics and their contributions to the evolution 3 Feet High and Rising is the influential debut album from American hip-hop trio De La Soul, released in 1989 Their producer at the time, Prince Paul, mixed sounds from funk, rock, disco and even children's records. Paul Huston, better known by the Stage name Prince Paul, is an American Disc jockey and hip-hop Record producer.

The 1990s and on

Public Enemy's Bomb Squad revolutionized the sound of hip-hop with incredibly dense production styles, combining tens of samples per song, often combining breaks with a drum machine. Public Enemy, also known as PE, is an influential hip hop group from Long Island New York, known for its politically charged Lyrics, criticism The Bomb Squad is an influential Hip hop production team known for their work with Public Enemy. Their beats were much more structured than the early more minimal and repetitive beats. The MPC3000 was released in 1994, the AKAI MPC2000 in 1997, followed by the MPC2000XL in 2000 and the MPC2500 in 2006. Akai MPCs (originally MIDI Production Center, now Music Production Center) are a popular and well respected These machines combined a sampling drum machine with an onboard sequencer and became the centerpiece of many hip hop producers' studios. For the early "drum machine" computers that used a rotating cylinder as their main memory see Drum memory A drum machine is an A music sequencer (also MIDI sequencer or just sequencer) is software or hardware designed to create and manage computer-generated music The Wu Tang Clan's superproducer Rza is often credited for snatching the eye of hip hop from Dr. Dre's more polished sound in 1993, with his more gritty sound with low rumbling bass, sharp snares and unique sampling style. Robert F Diggs (born July 5, 1969) better known as RZA (pronounced) is an American Music producer, Rapper, and occasional Andre Romelle Young (born February 18 1965 primarily known by his stage name Dr With the 1994 release of Notorious BIG's Ready to Die, Sean Combs and his assisting producers ushered in a new style where entire sections of records were sampled, instead of short snippets. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21 1972 – March 9 1997 popularly known as Biggie Smalls (after a Gangster in the 1975 film Let's Do It Again Ready to Die is the Grammy Nominated and Billboard Award Winning debut Studio album by East Coast Rapper The Notorious B Sean John Combs (born November 4 1969 known by his Stage names Puff Daddy, P Records like "Warning" (Isaac Hayes's "Walk On By"), and "One More Chance (Remix)" (Debarge's "Stay With Me") epitomized this aesthetic. Isaac Lee Hayes Jr (August 20 1942 – August 10 2008 was an American Academy Award winning soul and Funk singer-songwriter Musician DeBarge was an American Music group, whose repertoire included R&B, soul, Funk, and later gospel. In the early 2000s, Roc-a-Fella in-house producer Kanye West made popular the "chipmunk" technique, which had been first used by 80's electro hip-hop group Newcleus with such songs a "Jam on It". Roc-A-Fella Records is a United States record label founded by Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter. Kanye Omari West (ˈkɑnjɛj born June 8 1977 is a ten-time Grammy Award -winning American Rapper, Record producer and Singer. Newcleus is a group that came in on the first wave of Electro in the early 1980s This technique involves using a digital pitch shifter to make a vocal sample very high pitched, resulting in a vocal sample that sounds similar to the singing on the television show "Alvin and the Chipmunks". Alvin and the Chipmunks was an American Animated television series to feature the singing characters The Chipmunks, produced West adopted this style from J Dilla and the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, who in turn was influenced by Prince Paul, the pioneer of the style of speeding up and looping vocal samples to achieve the "chipmunk" sound. James Dewitt Yancey ( February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006) better known by his stage name J Dilla or Jay Dee, was an Robert F Diggs (born July 5, 1969) better known as RZA (pronounced) is an American Music producer, Rapper, and occasional Paul Huston, better known by the Stage name Prince Paul, is an American Disc jockey and hip-hop Record producer.

Elements

Sampling

Main article: Sampling (music)

Sampling is integral to hip hop production. In Music, sampling is the act of taking a portion or sample, of one Sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or element of a new recording Samples are usually taken from vinyl and imported into samplers/sequencers.

Sampling is controversial in modern hip hop. Seeing as sample clearance can take substantial parts of profit out of record sales for artists who sample, producers opt to create completely original recordings using computer-generated beats. Another solution is to overdub or re-record the sampled part with a live musician and then interpolate it enough to disassociate it from the sampled material entirely. Overdubbing (the process of making an overdub, or overdubs is a technique used by Recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded The fees associated with the latter solution and the costs associated with the former can be significantly lower than sample clearance fees.

A particular brand of "sped-up" sampling which famously used by Roc-A-Fella artist Kanye West (and less prominently Just Blaze, Danny! and various other hip hop producers from the post 2000 generation), is now popuarly considered as its own style of hip hop production. Roc-A-Fella Records is a United States record label founded by Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter. Kanye Omari West (ˈkɑnjɛj born June 8 1977 is a ten-time Grammy Award -winning American Rapper, Record producer and Singer. Justin Smith (born in Paterson New Jersey on January 14, 1978) better known as Just Blaze, is an American Hip hop music Danny!, also known as D Swain (born Daniel Keith Swain August 18, 1983 in Killeen Texas) is an American Hip-hop Although Wu-tang clan member RZA introduced this style of production before Kanye, it is Kanye West's vast amount of production work with artists (such as Common and Jay-Z in recent years) that has popularized the use of sped-up samples. Robert F Diggs (born July 5, 1969) better known as RZA (pronounced) is an American Music producer, Rapper, and occasional Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr (born March 13 1972) better known by his Stage name Common (and previously known as Common Sense) is an Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4 1969 better known as Jay-Z, is an American Rapper and former CEO of Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella

While the majority of producers sample a relatively default niche of 1960-1980 soul, R&B, disco, and funk records, any record of any genre from any era is often fair game for sampling. Soul music is a Music genre that combines Rhythm and blues and Gospel music, originating in the United States. Disco is a Genre of dance-oriented music whose origins are hard to define Funk is an American musical style that originated in the mid- to late-1960s when African American musicians blended Soul music, Soul Jazz records from every era are also sampled. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States Producers such as P. Diddy, Dr. Dre have been known to sample blues artists such as Bill Withers. Sean John Combs (born November 4 1969 known by his Stage names Puff Daddy, P Andre Romelle Young (born February 18 1965 primarily known by his stage name Dr The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression Bill Withers (born July 4, 1938) is an American Singer-songwriter who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985 Due to the aforementioned concerns with clearance fees, many producers opt to seek out very rare and obscure records to lend their records a unique style and to avoid being forced to pay a clearance fee. People Under The Stairs openly acknowledge not clearing their samples, hoping that the record companies whose artists they sample don't take action. People Under the Stairs are an Underground hip hop group from Los Angeles, California.

Beats

Main article: beats (music)

The drum beat is another core element of hip hop production. A beat is the basic Time Unit of a piece of Music; for example each tick sounded by a Metronome would correspond to a beat Its speed and complexity dictates the pace and impact of the recording. While some beats are sampled, others are created by drum machines such as the Roland TR-808 and the Alesis SR-16. The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer was one of the first programmable Drum machines ("TR" serving as an Initialism for Transistor Rhythm The Alesis SR-16 is a popular Drum machine that was originally introduced in 1991 and is still being produced today Others yet are a hybrid of the two techniques, sampled parts of drum beats that are arranged in original patterns altogether. Another mainstay in hip-hop is the use of the Ensoniq ASR-10 synthesizer to provide beats, particularly by The Neptunes and the MPC 2000. The Ensoniq ASR-10 was a sampling keyboard produced by Ensoniq between 1992 and 1994 The Neptunes (or "Neptoons" is the name for the record production duo consisting of

Since the percussive element of hip hop music is the very punctuation of its sound, the sounds a producer chooses to represent the percussion are important. Some producers have drum kits all their own, such as Dr. Dre, Timbaland, Swizz Beatz and Neptunes. Andre Romelle Young (born February 18 1965 primarily known by his stage name Dr Timothy Z Mosley (born March 10, 1971) better known by his Stage name Timbaland, is an American Record producer, Kasseem Mike Dean (born September 13 1978 better known by his stage name Swizz Beatz, is an American Record producer and Rapper. The Neptunes (or "Neptoons" is the name for the record production duo consisting of Some drum sounds, such as the TR-808 cowbell, remain as historical elements of hip hop lore used in modern hip hop to lend a more credible and mature sound to the recording.

Studio parts

A producer's studio is the environment where they produce music. It can be as varied as a four-track sequencer and a collection of tapes or a multi-million dollar studio loaded with advanced sound processing hardware.

Recording

In hip hop, a multi-track recorder is standard for recording. Multitrack recording ('multitracking' or just 'tracking' for short is a method of Sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create Digital ADAT tape recorders have become standard over the years. Alesis Digital Audio Tape or ADAT, first introduced in 1991 was used for simultaneously recording eight tracks of Digital audio at Alternatively, a producer can use a PC as a multi-track recorder, with or without external hardware (outboard). A personal computer ( PC) is any Computer whose original sales price size and capabilities make it useful for individuals and which is intended to be operated

Vocal recording

Generally, professional producers opt for a condenser microphone for studio recording, mostly due to their wide-range response and high quality. A primary alternative to the expensive condenser microphone is the dynamic microphone, used more often in live performances due to its durability. The major disadvantages of condenser microphones are their expense and fragility. Also, most condenser microphones require phantom power, unlike dynamic microphones. Conversely, the disadvantages of dynamic microphones are they don't generally possess the wide spectrum of condenser microphones and their frequency response is not as uniform. Many hip-hop producers typically used the Neumann U-87 for recording vocals which imparts a glassy "sheen" especially on female vocals. But today, many producers in this musical genre use the Sony C-800 tube microphone, vintage microphones, and high-end ribbon microphones tuned for flattering, "big" vocal expression. Compressors, both software and hardware, are also prevalently used during recording and post-production. Dynamic range compression, also called DRC (often seen in DVD player settings or simply compression, is a process that reduces the Dynamic range of

Sequencers and Samplers

See also: Music sequencer and sampler (musical instrument)
The AKAI MPC2000 sampler
The AKAI MPC2000 sampler

A sequencer or a sequencing device or module is used invariably with instruments. A music sequencer (also MIDI sequencer or just sequencer) is software or hardware designed to create and manage computer-generated music A sampler is an electronic musical instrument closely related to a Synthesizer. One of the most popular sequencers in old-school hip hop was the Akai MPC60, whose successors MPC2000, MPC2500, MPC3000, and MPC4000MPC1000, have been quintessential in modern hip hop production. The Akai MPC60 (" MIDI Production Center 60" was an electronic Musical instrument produced in 1988 by the Japanese company Akai Since a sequencer triggers instruments instead of simply playing back music, it is used in more sophisticated production environments than the basic "two turntables and a mic" configuration that most live hip hop is produced with. A sampler is used to play back samples that will not be interpolated as a media. Most sequencers, like the aforementioned Akai MPC products, are also samplers. Among standalone samplers there are the ShaBoo 3000 S-series samplers, the Roland S-series samplers, and others.

Digital audio workstations

Main article: DAW

DAWs and software sequencers are used in modern hip hop production as software production products are cheaper, easier to expand, and require less room to run than their hardware counterparts. Some producers oppose complete reliance on DAWs and software, citing lower overall quality, lack of effort, and lack of identity in computer-generated beats. Sequencing software often comes under criticism from purist listeners and traditional producers as producing sounds that are flat, overly clean, and overly compressed.

Popular DAWs include:

Synthesizers

Main article: Synthesizer

Synthesizers are used quite often in hip hop production. Digital Performer is a full-featured Digital Audio Workstation / Sequencer Software package published by Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU of They are used for melody, basslines, as percussive stabs, and for sound synthesis. The use of synthesizers has been popularized largely by Dr. Dre during the G-Funk era. Andre Romelle Young (born February 18 1965 primarily known by his stage name Dr G-funk, or Gangsta Funk, is a type of Hip hop music that emerged from West Coast Gangsta rap in the early 1990s Modern use of synthesizers is rampant by producers such as Jim Jonsin,Cool and Dre, Lil Jon, Scott Storch, and Neptunes. Jim Jonsin is a producer and song-writer currently working for Atlantic Records. Cool & Dre are a team of hip hop producers from Miami Florida, consisting of Marcello "Cool" Valenzano and Andre "Dre" Christopher Lyon. Jonathan Mortimer Smith (born January 27, 1971) better known by his Stage name Lil Jon, is an American producer, promoter and Scott Storch (born December 16 1973) is a Canadian Record producer. The Neptunes (or "Neptoons" is the name for the record production duo consisting of Often in low-budget studio environments or environments constrained by space limitations, producers employ Virtual Instruments in place of hardware synthesizers. Virtual Instruments are also now running ramped in high-budget studio environments.

Live instrumentation

Live instrumentation is not as widespread in hip hop, but is used by a number of acts and is prominent in hip hop-based fusion genres such as rapcore. Rap rock is a fusion genre of rock and hip-hop. It blends vocal and instrumental parts of hip-hop and various forms of rock including punk and rock Before samplers and synthesizers became prominent parts of hip hop production, early hip hop hits such as "Rapper's Delight" (The Sugarhill Gang) and "The Breaks" (Kurtis Blow) were recorded with live studio bands. " Rapper's Delight " is a 1979 single by American hip hop trio The Sugarhill Gang; it was one of the first hip hop hit singles The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop and Funk group known mostly for their biggest hit " Rapper's Delight " the first hip hop Curtis Walker (born 9 August 1959) better known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is one of the first commercially successful rappers and During the 1980s, Stetsasonic was a pioneering example of a live hip hop band. Stetsasonic was an American hip hop group formed in 1981 (see 1981 in music) in Brooklyn, New York. Hip hop with live instrumentation regained prominence during the late-1990s and early 2000s with the work of The Goats, The Roots, Common, DJ Quik, and OutKast, among others. The Goats were an Alternative hip-hop Quartet from Philadelphia Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots are an American hip-hop band from Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr (born March 13 1972) better known by his Stage name Common (and previously known as Common Sense) is an David Martin Blake (born January 18, 1970 in Compton, California) better known by his Stage name DJ Quik, is a Rapper Outkast (typeset as OutKast) is a Grammy Award -winning American hip hop duo based out of East Point Georgia, a city Instrumental hip hop is hip hop music without vocals. Hip hop music, also referred to as rap music, is a Music genre typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rap which is accompanied with Hip hop as a general rule consists of two elements: an instrumental track (the "beat") and a vocal track (the "rap"). The artist who crafts the beat is the producer, and the one who crafts the rap is the MC. In the Music industry, a record producer or music producer has many roles among them controlling the recording sessions coaching and guiding the musicians organizing In this format, the rap is almost always the primary focus of the song, providing most of the complexity and variation over a more or less repetitive beat. Rapping (also known as emceeing, MCing, spitting, or just rhyming) is the Rhythmic spoken delivery of Rhymes wordplay and

Instrumental hip hop is therefore hip hop music without emcee accompaniment. This format affords the producer the flexibility to create more complex, richly detailed and varied instrumentals, with less emphasis on vocals. Songs of this genre may wander off in different musical directions without the vocal constraints of the MC.

Instrumental Hip Hop

Purely instrumental hip hop tracks were not popular throughout the 1980s, but producers have made and released hip hop beats without MCs since hip hop's inception. The release of DJ Shadow's debut album Endtroducing... in 1996 saw the beginnings of a rise in instrumental hip hop. DJ Shadow (born Josh Davis, June 29, 1972) is an American music producer, DJ and Songwriter. Endtroducing is the debut Studio album by hip hop artist DJ Shadow. Relying mainly on a combination of sampled funk, hip hop and film score, DJ Shadow chose to describe his music as "cinematic hip hop", and he has influenced countless producers and musicians from many genres ever since. Funk is an American musical style that originated in the mid- to late-1960s when African American musicians blended Soul music, Soul A film score is a broad term referring to the music in a film which is generally categorically separated from songs used within a film In recent years, artists such as RJD2, J Dilla, Pete Rock, MF Doom, Danny!, Madlib, and Blockhead have garnered critical acclaim with a number of instrumental hip hop albums. RJD2 (born Ramble John "RJ" Krohn on May 27 1976) is an American music producer, Singer and Musician James Dewitt Yancey ( February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006) better known by his stage name J Dilla or Jay Dee, was an Pete Rock (born Peter Phillips, June 21 1970 in Bronx New York) is an American DJ, Record producer, and Daniel Dumile (duːməleɪ is a British born American hip hop artist who has taken on several Stage names in his career most famously MF Danny!, also known as D Swain (born Daniel Keith Swain August 18, 1983 in Killeen Texas) is an American Hip-hop Madlib ( M ind A ltering D emented L essons I n B eats (born Otis Jackson Jr Blockhead (born Anthony "Tony" Simon) is an American Hip hop producer based in Manhattan, New York

Instrumental hip hop has yet to be fully recognized as a genre unto itself, and is often lumped in with trip hop, downtempo, electronica, or industrial music. Trip hop is a music Genre also known as the Bristol sound or Bristol acid rap. Downtempo (or Downbeat) is a laid-back Electronic music style similar to Ambient music, but usually with a beat or groove unlike Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary Electronic music designed for a wide range Industrial music is a loose term for a number of different styles of Experimental music, especially but not necessarily Electronic music. This may in part be because it is so hard to classify, as when a hip hop beat is separated from rapping and varied enough to hold a listener's attention by itself, it can go off in many musical directions.

External links

See also

Hydra Entertainment is a Hip hop Record label specializing in Instrumental hip hop. Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer.
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