He recently released a Splice Originals sample pack that he produced with his group The Love Experiment.<\/a> He’s also the instructor of Soundfly\u2019s new online course, “The Art of Hip-Hop Production,”<\/a> which you can get a 20% discount on by using the promo code SpliceHIPHOP.<\/strong><\/p>\n In this blog post, Charles Burchell offers his five tips on producing hip hop.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been working as a producer for the past ten years, and over the course of that time I\u2019ve taught hip hop production all around the world in various contexts. One of the most frequent questions I get asked is, \u201cHow do you become successful as a producer?\u201d The answer is simple in theory, but difficult in execution.<\/p>\n If you want to be a successful producer, you have to work on music everyday and master your workflow, which will enable you to create more music faster and make a positive impact on your career. Here are five tips that, to me, are essential for hip hop producers.<\/p>\n How many beats have you finished this week? This month? This year? The more beats you finish, the more you\u2019ll be prepared when you meet the artist of your dreams and they say, \u201cSend me some beats.\u201d I\u2019ve heard tons of stories of producers showing up to sessions with 600 beats or sending an artist a beat tape of 40+ beats. Your beats are your product. It\u2019s your job to have enough inventory ready to sell, once there\u2019s a demand for your product.<\/p>\n So what\u2019s the best way to stock up your inventory with dope beats? Two things:<\/p>\n Don\u2019t forget that quality is more important than quantity, so as you work on creating and finishing more beats, it\u2019s important to put all of your creative facilities into every track you produce. Ten bangers is better than a thousand beats that sound like trash. However, you’ll find that the practice of creating and completing more music consistently in itself will eventually improve the quality of your work.<\/p>\n When you’re making as many as ten beats per week, it’s important to title them in a way that makes them easy to find. How many beats on your computer are saved with names like \u201cdsfhsdjfsdk,\u201d \u201cdope beat 1,\u201d or \u201cfizzle sauce?\u201d Try using a description consisting of the beat plus the date (ex. \u201cwavy trap 2.22.19\u201d) instead. This will make it easier to find sessions until they actually become songs with proper titles.<\/p>\n At the end of every month, you can make a folder for all of the beats that you made that month. You can organize your sessions by month (ex. \u201cMarch Beats 2019\u201d), or even into categories based on genre (e.g. boom bap, trap, pop, etc.).<\/p>\n Once you have consistent clients, it\u2019s also a good idea to have a folder for each of your clients so that you can easily access their sessions when you\u2019re working together, and add ideas that you think suit that client specifically.<\/p>\n Organization is a producer\u2019s best friend. Keep all of your sample packs and drum kits in clearly labeled folders on your desktop \/ hard drive, or just use Splice and make repacks of your favorite sounds<\/a> for easy access. It may sound like a lot of work at first, but you\u2019ll be glad once you\u2019re sitting in a session with your favorite rapper and they ask you to play some beats.<\/p>\n If you’re in a creative rut, try making a track in a style that you’ve never produced before. If you make a lot of boom bap-style beats, make a trap beat or an R&B track to mix things up. Listen to other styles of music regularly. Having the ability to produce in different styles and genres will allow you to work with a wider range of artists.<\/p>\n Some of the greatest hip hop producers are flexible in their ability to take what they do and apply it to any style. When you expand your sonic palette, you never know what new influences might start creeping into your production.<\/p>\n Speaking of expanding your sonic palette, if you\u2019re looking for some interesting sounds to inspire your next track, try checking out my new sample pack<\/a> with my group, The Love Experiment. The pack features tons of live instruments like horns, strings, keyboards, vocals and drum loops that will help take your track to the next level.<\/p>\n I hear a lot of producers brag about not having any musical training or music theory knowledge. This sounds cool in a sound bite, but what they don’t say is that when a production calls for something outside of their skill set, they usually have to call a musician who either knows how to play an instrument and \/ or understands harmony at some level.<\/p>\n It never hurts your production process to learn how to play an instrument, whether it\u2019s taking up sax, guitar, piano, or even drums. You\u2019ll expand your general knowledge of music by learning how to become proficient at an instrument, and you\u2019ll have a new palette of textures to work with. This can also help you stand out from the crowd.\u00a0If you want to get started right away with picking up some beginner theory, check out Splice’s cheat codes for reading sheet music<\/a> or Soundfly\u2019s free online course series, “Theory for Producers.”<\/a><\/p>\n You could have the hottest track the world has ever heard, but with a bad mix, it just isn\u2019t going to pop as hard and reach people emotionally. Remember that hip hop is typically a minimalist genre – less can be more. Here\u2019s some advice for whipping up a great-sounding rough mix quickly.<\/p>\n In today\u2019s fast-paced music market, artists are recording and releasing more content than ever before, so can\u2019t afford to overthink every track. This is particularly true in hip hop, where many emcees enjoy the raw energy of freestyling to a beat and capturing their performance the moment inspiration hits them. If an artist is excited to work with you, they\u2019ll want to start recording as soon as they feel the vibe, and aren\u2019t going to wait for you to get your snare tuning just right. Honing your workflow and developing the skills to create high-quality work at a faster rate will ensure that your music will make it into the hands of the right artists in no time.<\/p>\n Hip hop has grown into the most popular type of music in the world, but there are still some things that make producing hip hop unique to other genres. In our six week course, we’ll explore how to create beats from the ground-up, the cultural components that make hip hop unique, and the tools you\u2019ll need to both build a better track and kickstart your career. If you\u2019re interested in learning more, you should head over to Soundfly and sign up for our new course “The Art of Hip-Hop Production”<\/a> and get pro help in making your next mixtape.<\/p>\n
\n1. Hip hop producers need a lot of tracks, so sometimes finished is better than perfect.<\/h2>\n
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2. When you\u2019re making a lot of beats, it\u2019s critical to stay organized.<\/h2>\n
3. Diversify your sound by exploring different genres.<\/h2>\n
4. Too many producers assume that there\u2019s no value in learning an instrument or music theory (wrong).<\/h2>\n
5. Learn how to quickly get a decent rough mix.<\/h2>\n
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