I have been listenning to some of y'all mixes...and what I find dissapointing, is..that there is no variation in the drums. The same pattern, is used for the intro, body, and hook of the song...is it just me..or should the drums be engagin..change up's...breaks...full of life...after some time..the same pattern can get boring...currently..i'm plannin to put bblock outta his misery..block...my mix has 4 seperate patterns! (clue)...peace.

has to do with the software. (edit: fuck it what am i saying: lol i change things up a LOT.)

well, i still think i could push it more though. still agree with you.

Word. Is Cool Edit the only program that you make use of? I find that Fruity Loops has served me well, as far as programming drum patterns goes. What I do, is, I will program my original pattern, the one, with the most bounce and vibe. I will duplicate this pattern into pattern no. 2 and keep the kick and snare relatively the same, while changing up the other elements, so that I put a different spin on the same rhythm. I will then, duplicate this pattern, and continue working, until I have 4 patterns that can be used to..fill those times, when the flow is hard to catch. peace.

do you switch back and forth through diff patterns during the course of a song? (i have fruityloops, but only use it to script drum patterns at this point, then stick them in cool edit)

Yeah I usually try to change my shit up but I probably could have more variation. I usually add more shit when my beat is used for a song. In FL it is so easy to change patterns.

FL has served me well. Yo, you should enter a track for the March 9th producer contest. It's the remix of Eminem's I am...let's see what you got, who knows, maybe you'll take the crown.

peace.

I might...I don't really do remixes. I might try to put something together though. I did a few contests before..everyone likes to dick eat though. We'll see.

>I did a few contests before..
>everyone likes to dick eat though. We'll see.

SAME EXACT REASON I don't enter anymore - do YO thang man...

Too many yes men out there who tryin' to be down...

Word, but during voting, you don't know who did what, so...the best man wins. Don't you think?

peace.

I think cats had a reasonable beef. But if the songs are posted in a poll anomously there's no reason why things won't be fair.

Agreed. I'm excited bout this contest, as it is the first one I'm entering. If I get 1 vote, it's a success for me.

peace!

I did the remix...Probably won't win but whatever it's hot.

it better be, cause you were talkin playa. haha peace.

Everyone wants to be in the biz now. But in actuality, only 10% of the cats trying to get signed are actually above average talent-wise.

Word..Also, I do gotta give a shout out to cats doing this for fun. The software makes it easy...well..if you know what you are doing, it's easy, however...I wonder if the increase in interest will make it more difficult for cats to elevate and be noticed.

peace.

I try to make that bangin' ass 4 bar pattern (or even 8 bar) and then create slight variations on it...just for effect...

Structure wise, if I can help it, I like to have somethin' in the hook spots that ISN'T in the verse spots...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
COMING JUNE 2004:

™ presents:



featuring: , , Eternal, , ,
, & Plee.

First single debuting in April...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**********************************
That woman up there on the left
told me to tell y'all that she's
gonna drop a new album when she's
good and ready...
I wouldn't get in her way if I were you...
**********************************

Word, I feel that...i been wondering about your work lately..I'm sure you have come a long way since your first load of work. Hit us wit something...my interest is genuine, especially since I became more involved with production, my favorite music to listen to right now...is the work of my peers.

peace.

until April...and June...

peep the sig...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
COMING JUNE 2004:

™ presents:



featuring: , , Eternal, , ,
, & Plee.

First single debuting in April...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**********************************
That woman up there on the left
told me to tell y'all that she's
gonna drop a new album when she's
good and ready...
I wouldn't get in her way if I were you...
**********************************

i got some drumsticks in my car, and once you figure out the <4 second loop
you can drum the whole damn song

I feel you, I am becoming bored with the same pattern....I suppose times will call for more variation..one would hope.

peace.

okay . . . give me a lil while

right on! i listenned to your music...feelin it mayne. Looking forward to a lot more from you. I think you're ready to release a disc, that will be well recieved. I believe in you dawg, keep it coming.

peace.

Alot of cats don't really know how to approach arranging. I found that when I got more into arranging my songs then the variation in drum programming became necessary for the song to reach it's potential.

For the longest I would sample and make a few 2 or 4 bar sequences. Then I got into making complete songs. I try to add breaks, dynamics and subtle things along the course of a song for variation. I also, do alot of 2 part arrangements and tempo changes. For me the fun lies in arranging a song and building things up.

word, i agree. my favorite aspect of production is...you never quite know what you will end up with. i always start with scratch, i like to sample my own drum sounds, mix em up, so on and so forth..and then take obscure sounds and shape them using filters, effects, etc. at the end of the track, i usually have an interesting combination of sounds that works great. i also like to create attitude and emotion with my ish...gotta fit the rappers attitude imo. i learned this from pete, when he broke down the concept of song for me. i guess, i will eventually learn how to create, exactly what i hear in my mind..but i'm not ready for that just yet.

peace.

>i guess, i will eventually learn how to create, exactly
>what i hear in my mind..but i'm not ready for that just yet.

I still want to improve my rhythm and drum programming. I prefer not to quantize anymore so I get more of myself into the drum programs. I haven't gotten to the point where I can translate and idea from my head to the beats yet. I plan on focusing on that more on my next project. I'm really trying to create "my sound" on that one.

Word...you know what I do that helps? I will label certain beats, or sounds in my mind, with letters...such as..."bla, bla bluuuhh! bla bla bla BLUHH!" and I will actually write that down, and keep repeating it to myself as I'm programming my sound. I do this with samples as well..for examples..if I am trying to get a sound like the Dec. 4 horns...i will write something like..."taaa, ta ta taa taaa" using as many letters as I need to for notes, and time. It has worked well, and it helps me remember the beats that I did hear in my mind, because going back to a beat you think you have in your mind, will often result in a mess.

peace.

that's not a bad idea...lol

word, it's like, sound notation.

peace.

a lot of it comes with arranging complete tracks and realizing keeping one groove on repeat is NOT going to do the job in most cases.

i take great pride in my arranging talent...but i still think there's something to be said about some heads having a great musical sense that doesn't get to properly be expressed due to their equipment or know-how of the equipment.

off the chronic. dre hooked those drums up lovely. the pattern in the hook is waaaaay too funky.

Dre's drums are NIIICE! that is truly the only way I can describe his drum programming. I love his drums, they always got so much bounce and pop, cat def knows what he's doing. He is quickly becoming one of my favorite producers...I don't think hip hop is what it is..without Dre. The man is a legend in my eyes.

peace.

this is hip hop...if somebody is dancin' to your song, they don't want you to change the beat up

what sense does that make?

i make music to move to, not just to listen to for technique

learn somethin' lil scrapper...see you march 9th.

this IS hip-hop. Most of the songs that we refer to as classics have absolutely no switch ups. Aside from stuttering a snare or dropping out an element here or there, I'm not trying to have four different patterns.
I'd rather make four different songs from those patterns.
I'm all for hip-hop beats that sound to interesting but smoetimes all this variation bullshit starts to take away shine from the emcee.
Anybody looking for crazy variation should look into jungle.

but...the rhythm & bounce can remain the same...you'll see. march 9th!

peace!

I understand both perspectives. It comes down to how things are executed.

It all depends on what the vibe of the track is. You gotta know when to vary the pattern, when to simply give the illusion of a change by muting and unmuting certain parts in the right spot in the arrangement(standard hip-hop technique), and when to let that shit ride!

------------------------------------------
Everybody seems to think I'm lazy-
I don't mind, I think they're crazy.
Running everywhere at such a speed-
Till they'll find, there's no need.

-John Lennon

well said sirs..haha.

peace.

>this is hip hop...if somebody is dancin' to your song, they
>don't want you to change the beat up
>
>what sense does that make?


Man you just stuck in the past, this aint 1992. Your a dinosaur!!

HIP HOP drums need to stay locked in the pocket. I cant see too many MC's who could get a flow on with the drums all jungled out.

Yeah I think subtle change ups get the job done. No drastic shit.

both you and block underestimate drums...hip hop is the drums...i just wanna see what cats gonna bring march 9th, hoping for some tight beats.

peace.