Take a moment to picture yourself listening to a hip hop instrumental beat. I am not talking about any hip hop beat; think about one you created for yourself. Something you created, your own masterpiece, a gift you made for the world. Something that you can copy without fear of a lawsuit for copyright infringement. A sound that you know is completely original. All you have to be concerned with is what the next beat is going to be.
It is actually easier to create your own hip hop instrumental beats than you may believe. It is easy to purchase CDs with instrumental beats on them or simply download some free beats, but there is nothing more rewarding than using your own creativity to create your very own beat.
Why are hip hop instrumental beats so popular? Similar to most art forms, it evolved through time from different forms of beat making. It was in the late 70s that people scratched vinyl LPs (records) to create a one of a kind sound. Not long after this people began using sampling, which is using a small part of a song and mixing it with various instrumentals to create a one of a kind beat.
It was in 2004 that sampling was phased out as a result of the U.S. Court of Appeals decision. Prior to this ruling, “small” portions of a song could be used or “sampled” without any fear of copyright infringement. Now, making hip hop instrumental beats from scratch has become very popular. To do this people use drum machines, keypads, sequencers, etc., in combination with specific PC software.
When creating an instrumental beat, you want to include a 2-4 bar intro, a 16 bar verse, an 8 bar hook, and a 20 bar bridge (this varies from song to song). The first thing a DJ does is lay the drum track using kicks, snares, and high hats. Next, he takes the time to lay down the bass guitar and lead guitar tracks, which can either be placed on the same track or on separate ones. The next thing he does is to add sounds like claps or cow bells. Finally, he takes the time to create the hook.
There are some hip hop beat designers who begin by working on the hook. If you understand how the hook works, you understand how important its role is when making hip hop instrumental beats. The hook is the part of the beat that gets repeated between each verse. A wonderful part of creating hip ho instrumental beats is that you can create a sound that is totally unique, that has great beats with hooks that people will appreciate greatly.
You need to know a little bit about music scales if you are going to incorporate a keypad, which most hip hop instrumental beats include. Then you want to add some horns, piano, or organ. Make sure you pan each track so it sends signals to either the right or left channels, because if all the beats are centered it will not sound the way it should. Finally spend some time nipping the EQ, and include some special effects. However, it is vital that you are careful not to put too much into your beat.
