Industry Conventions: Hip Hop Fundamentals (Tutorial)

Published on Jul 9, 2018 Kris Lennox

"Quick tutorial on the conventions of creating a hip-hop beat. To recap the primary points of the tutorial:

1) The slower the tempo, the longer the tail length (this is for the sake of filling the empty space)
2) The kick drum NEVER occurs at the same time as the clap
3) The only kick on the beat is beat 1.

Of course, you'll always find exceptions to the above. These exceptions normally fall into one of two categories:

1) Producers experimenting/trying a different approach
2) Amateur producers/writers unaware of the fundamental principles

Naturally there is far more to creating a good hip-hop beat, but if the aspects covered in this video aren't in place, you could spend a long time looking for the problem when it may well be the most fundamental issue i.e. kick/clap placement.

PS the important part of this video are the principles, not the machine I'm using. I know of commercial tracks that have used far superior - and far inferior - equipment. However, if you're a hip-hop/dance producer, the Drumbrute is a nice wee piece of kit.

I'll maybe do a mini-series on hip-hop. It is a style of music very easy to do badly. And very easy to overdo. Many demos are rejected on the basis that the tracks are just too busy.

Best
Kris"