Help! I have a Diva Client...

  • Thread starter Thread starter vineband
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vineband

vineband

nothing but a harp
Just recently I took a job producing a young lady who wants to craft a 3 Song pop demo complete with drum programming. Up to this point in my life all i have made is rock/alternative/metal/acoustic singer songwriter/ demos. I am writing the songs with her and making acoustic guitar/vocal/and click track demos. We have good songs and a good idea of where we want the songs to go, but i am ignorant when it comes to finding guys that can write good beats and help me infuse some more poppy elements...

Is there a world of difference in the Hip Hop world vs. the Pop world of beat writing?

Is it common to have songs written and then hire someone to write a beat for that tune or is it usually the other way around?


I should add that i am planning on using a combination of real drums/bass and programming. Think Avril Lavene, Kelly Clarkston, Gwen Stefani.... more guitar based than keyboard in general.

Any atlanta contacts?

Thanks for any insight into this world you guys can offer....
 
First of all producing hip hop is really a world of it's own and authenticity mostly only comes from "real" hip hop producers, since they know the culture, know the music, and know the techniques.

But let's put all that shit aside and try to help you :)

To anwser your question: usually the beat is there first.
But since you two have plans to make it a whole collabo thing... You should first of all ask her what direction she wants to go into, and maybe even ask her to bring some examples.
Listen to a lot of the stuff and try to hear and understand how different the mixes are... i.e. kicks and snares go upfront, not in the back.


some other stuff:
-Prog. drums... try using a stepsequencer/drumcomputer and experiment with the "swing".
start by putting the snare on count 2 and 4, and hihats on every 8th. Then mess around with the position of the kick.
sound: take the drums as a whole and compress them in a way they pump a little.
-Bass -keep it simple. sound: compress a bit to make it have more thump.
-Guitar is a VERY good idea...it will make your stuff very musical and possibly more poppy (if you are going that way, wich you are)



hope there's something usefull to ya
 
Worse comes to worst...

You could always buy some sample CD's to help you get a general vibe or platform for the songs that you two want to make.

For example: ProSamples #26 Nu RnB

I wouldn't necessarily suggest that you use the pre-programmed sequences that they provide, but seeing and listening to them might help you understand how to start programming Hip-Hop/RnB beats.

Just my $.02, YMMV :cool:
 
making the beat fit the song could get you/her to re-sing it , sometimes that brings out something different ( personally i almost switch my style (rap) everytime i redo the drum track. so it's definitely doable just not the common practice.

what's setup perhaps they can help you use that for the programming i.e what you could add to what to make your beat (samples and softwares wise)
 
sample CDs are not really part of genuine hip hop production....because cratedigging is an important element in the production-process...

But it's your call ofcourse...since you probably could care less about the whole "real" thing
 
Mo-Kay said:
sample CDs are not really part of genuine hip hop production....because cratedigging is an important element in the production-process...
Click to expand...
you're losing me there brethren
what's the difference between digging in the crate to find samples and digging in a library of samples to find sample,

also are you saying that those who don't sample from vinyls or don't sample at all for that matter are missing an important element in their production?

sorry if i misconstrued your message
 
not sampling is not at all a bad thing.

"digging" in a sample library is not the same as digging in crates of old records...

Digging in the crates is an important musical-cultural aspect of the hip hop culture... finding something old and re-interpreting it....

Lifting something from a hip hop sample CD means you got something you can use without changing it at all, right then and there....produced and all... that's just buying your solution, that's not what hip hop is about...

You can buy a zero-g sampling cd and lift a rhodes lick off of that... But the creative thing to do would be to check out old records with rhodes on em, and SEARCH for a there....

For a lot of rock/dance/other outsiders it's hard to understand.... but do you see the difference now?


peace

Mo-Kay





(needless to say, the hip hop scene also has some people using sample CDs anyway.... mostly people that care less about the culture...but for me it's not just the music)
 
i started something....
my point is this the DJ is the man without a doubt Point in case is the man behind the wheels, and only the leader knows where to take the troop.and from origin he was the beat supplier hence the producer, arranger.
there was a need for digging in the crate
but today , all these years of sampling gave her an ample knowledge of cutting and splicing, and all that so she puts it on a cd an gives or sell it to whom she thinks may need it.
just like she goes in the crate in search of that isaac hayes synth or Barry White Strings to sample and work it
one can cop her sample cd pick a riff move it to wavelab and tweak it.

a sample is a sample is a sample whether you got it from your pops vinyl collection or from your favorite cd sample

and lets not talk about the culture as stagnant state of being, yes i said being. "master it's alive- igor" like the teacher said we are hip hop, so evolution is omnipresent .

you can get paid to tag these days so get lines straight and your colors right you may get that call from madison ave for an ads campaign


Respect
the black spy
 
thanks mo for the advice, i am certainly not trying to being a hip hop guru by any means, i will probably just scratch the surface and learn some new things about drum programming and colaborating with some "genuine" help. thanks again
 
no doubt vine... and I'm willing to give some ;) , just ask.


and black spy....for real. vinyl...sample CD...it's not the same at all...
Hip Hop production has a lot to do with making something from nothing, or re-interpreting something. IMO pre-fab licks, loops and whatever have very little to do with that, that's not digging, that's some lazy ass shit.
Be creative, put in some effort, don't just pop in a CD-ROM and drag a melodic loop into your softsampler...

peace

Mo-Kay
 
Like I said, just expressin' my opnions man...

peace

Mo-Kay
 
For $30 and a danish I will come to your house and beatbox for you.

Beatboxing = mad old skool cred
 
Mo-Kay said:
1. sample CDs are not really part of genuine hip hop production....

2. because cratedigging is an important element in the production-process...

3. But it's your call ofcourse...since you probably could care less about the whole "real" thing
Click to expand...

1. EVERYTHING is a part of Hip-Hop.

2. Yes, I agree with you, that is correct. However, vineband doesn't know anything about "diggin' in the crates". :rolleyes:

3. I am not sure about who you are directing that statement towards. I am sure that vineband does care about the whole "real" thing. I was under the impression that he/she was on a time constraint.
 
1. No it's not...and you know excactly what
I mean since...
you agree on point 2. ;)
3. Vine probably doesn't in the way most of "us" do... I can see he want to make the most of it though, that's why I was willing to give hime some advice.

:)
 
Mo-kay............

I was just trying to offer vineband an option to a solution.

I stated in my original post that I did NOT think that he/she should USE the samples offered on the "sampling CD".

I stated that he/she could/should use the sampling cd's for reference in terms of learning how to PROGRAM beats for a commercial pop song.

Yes, I could have told vineband to go..... "diggin" at a used record store...

But....

is there a used record store in his city

do they have a multitude of records

does he know what to look for

does he have a turntable

is he proficient at truncating samples

does he know how to "flip" his samples

etc....

So that is why I shared the info that I did with him.

Heck, he will still need to become good at all of the things I previously mentioned. The sample cd's are just one[/i] of many platforms he can use as a template to start becoming an Hip-Hop/RnB producer.
 
vineband said:
Any atlanta contacts?
Click to expand...

Well, I know someone who is about 2 hours away from atlanta he lives here in chattanooga, he can make tracks for any style of music. He made the track and wrote the chorus for the song sick & tired by nappy roots. Plus has done work for a girl named aleesa jade she does pop music. His portfolio is a long list but e mail me at rd423@bellsouth.net if you want more info. Or have any questions.
 
Mo-Kay said:
true @ spin... I understand what you mean.
Click to expand...

But you didn't understand what i was saying

a sample is a sample is a sample including your sample software

one still need to create an arrangement that's when the production skills rise

but hey it's your opinion
 
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