Hip hop - RnB inspiration

[Stig Eliassen]

I've got a gig to produce an album with a female artist. Mostly RnB, but she also loves hip hop, so I'll have to dive into both genres to learn. Any tips on where and how I can learn about these genres? It could be anything - albums, songs, artists, samples, techniques, equipment, etc...

Why I got this gig is beyond me

[albee1952]

I would ask the artist what are some of her favorite performers, and go buy those CD's and listen a lot.

[nst7]

DR Ford, who posts on here a lot, has recently made a video on this, available at Groove3.com. You may want to check it out:

http://www.groove3.com/str/from-drop-to-top.html

On this site, you're probably better off paying the 30 day all access pass, and watch as many videos as you can, rather than paying individually.

[DrFord]

NST-

<3





I also agree with Albee... have the artist make you a "mixtape" of her favorite stuff.

"I love the drums on this song... the bass on this...."


See if you can get a feel for her flavor. I usually start by picking a market demographic of hip hop genres geographically...

New York Hip Hop (Sample based hip hop - Dj Premier, Kanye West, RZA, Jus Blaze, Swizz Beats)

or Dirty South 808 style hip hop which also formed the Duggie and Jerk sounds (36 Mafia, Lil John)

Chicago / Detroit (North Mid America) - Stones Throw Records (Home of Slum Village and Jill Scott and the AMAZING J Dilla a.k.a. Jay Dee ((founder of the un-quantized drum style))

Or Live Hip Hop like the Roots

Or West Coast Hip Hop like Dr. Dre, The Dream, and of course Pop inspired hip Hop cross over Hollywood stuff...

It's allot to process, but if you can pick a genre of hip hop first.

The other nice thing about hip hop is that you can always hire Producers like myself to make you tracks, and then send you the PT files, which you can then record, mix, master on your own.

I make tracks and many of my clients bring their own they have purchased online, or from friends.

Best of luck, and remember, when in doubt - it all starts with an MPC and some vinyl.

[Stig Eliassen]

I would ask the artist what are some of her favorite performers, and go buy those CD's and listen a lot.

That I have done. She says that she loves this and that artist, but doesn't want to sound exactly like them. So I said "no worries - you can't, and nor can I make you sound like them". She actually loves what I've done with the demoes, but I feel like I'm on very, very thin ice on this project.

DR Ford, who posts on here a lot, has recently made a video on this, available at Groove3.com. You may want to check it out:

http://www.groove3.com/str/from-drop-to-top.html

On this site, you're probably better off paying the 30 day all access pass, and watch as many videos as you can, rather than paying individually.

I think I have bought all videos they have and downloaded them to my 'puter, including DrFord's. Very good tutorials indeed.

I also agree with Albee... have the artist make you a "mixtape" of her favorite stuff.

"I love the drums on this song... the bass on this...."


See if you can get a feel for her flavor. I usually start by picking a market demographic of hip hop genres geographically...

New York Hip Hop (Sample based hip hop - Dj Premier, Kanye West, RZA, Jus Blaze, Swizz Beats)

or Dirty South 808 style hip hop which also formed the Duggie and Jerk sounds (36 Mafia, Lil John)

Chicago / Detroit (North Mid America) - Stones Throw Records (Home of Slum Village and Jill Scott and the AMAZING J Dilla a.k.a. Jay Dee ((founder of the un-quantized drum style))

Or Live Hip Hop like the Roots

Or West Coast Hip Hop like Dr. Dre, The Dream, and of course Pop inspired hip Hop cross over Hollywood stuff...

It's allot to process, but if you can pick a genre of hip hop first.

The other nice thing about hip hop is that you can always hire Producers like myself to make you tracks, and then send you the PT files, which you can then record, mix, master on your own.

I make tracks and many of my clients bring their own they have purchased online, or from friends.

Best of luck, and remember, when in doubt - it all starts with an MPC and some vinyl.

Love it, Daniel. Thanks. I haven't even heard of many of these - I'll dig in and absorb as much as I can. Unfortunately, I don't own an MPC or a turntable (that's what a vinyl player is called in english, yes?). I do have an AKAI S5000 and Structure though, and I'll have to make do with what I got. Or...I could buy a turntable if needed. BAWLS!!! What about RIAA?

Another aspect of this that I know nothing about is what I'm allowed to sample. I mean, I've heard that one can sample x seconds of other artists to use in a commercial release, but that doesn't sound right to me. What if I sample a famous hook/melody/line that everyone's heard? That can't be right. That's like feeding off of other's hard work and creativity.

I haven't thought about hiring others to make tracks. Maybe I will - could definitely learn something from it. Thanks a lot, guys. Much appreciated - I'll Toast to this!

[nst7]

Stig,

Don't feel that you're at a disadvantage because you're from Norway! Have you heard of the songwriting/producing team Stargate? They're also from Norway and have done a bunch of huge hits for American hip hop artists. Check out their discography here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_(production_team)

If they can do it, so can you!

Oh, and regarding sampling, you can not use even a fraction of a second of a song without running into copyright issues. Best to stay away from that for now.

[Stig Eliassen]

Originally Posted by nst7

Stig,

Don't feel that you're at a disadvantage because you're from Norway! Have you heard of the songwriting/producing team Stargate? They're also from Norway and have done a bunch of huge hits for American hip hop artists. Check out their discography here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_(production_team)

If they can do it, so can you!

Oh, and regarding sampling, you can not use even a fraction of a second of a song without running into copyright issues. Best to stay away from that for now.

Yeah, I have heard about Stargate. They did pretty well when they were based in Norway, Trondheim. Artists from all over flew in to work with the guys, and especially vocal production from what I've heard. They are an inspiration regardless of genre.

I don't feel like it's a problem that I live in Norway, but I know so little about RnB and hip hop. I'm always eager to learn though, so I'll probably do allright. I hope

Thanks for the support :)


From Stig's iPhone using Tapatalk

[aka21stCentury]

I lock two sequencers on two machines one in 6/8 the other 4/4. You have to calculate the BPMs so the ones line up.

Chris Rock made a very astute observation on the Rodney Dangerfield memorial DVD about the emphasis on the 4 beat. Well this is because it is the bottom of the egg-roll and the 6 comes together here where there is the slightest pause before the one hits, we want to hear that pause but sequencers don't account for this. So we blink our eyelids or throw a shoulder forward to humanize the groove. Think 6 against 4 and all is well. Or vice versa.

[Stig Eliassen]

I lock two sequencers on two machines one in 6/8 the other 4/4. You have to calculate the BPMs so the ones line up.

Chris Rock made a very astute observation on the Rodney Dangerfield memorial DVD about the emphasis on the 4 beat. Well this is because it is the bottom of the egg-roll and the 6 comes together here where there is the slightest pause before the one hits, we want to hear that pause but sequencers don't account for this. So we blink our eyelids or throw a shoulder forward to humanize the groove. Think 6 against 4 and all is well. Or vice versa.

Cool tip. I don't have two sequencers available, but there are ways to do this in PT I would think. Thanks.

[aka21stCentury]

Not with Pro Tools or DP.

REAPER used to be able to embed a Project within a project. That is supposed to be coming back. So I am interested in that DAW. But prefer DP or Pro Tools. I had Performer and Vision running on a single powerbook once 6/8 & 4/4. But it was unstable. No one listens to us polyrhythm writers. Know how to calculate the BPMs so the ones line up?

If you get stuck. Try a 6/8 part just for the heck of it over 4 but think in long phrases.

Bob Marley's inspiration: Jorge Ben, he would listen as a youth late at night to a Rio station when he lived in Kingston. (Then he moved to Baltimore for a time before going back to merge R & B, Samba Nova, into his unique style of reggae.)