BeatTips Daily Favorites: "Run;" Ghostface Killah, Jadakiss, and The RZA

The Break is Always Inviting to True Lyricists

By Amir Said (Sa'id)

The pinpoint essence of hip hop/rap music is the "break." And here on "Run," RZA takes an enchanting, eerie karate-flick interlude sound—something that's not otherwise a break by any stretch of the meaning—and turns it into a break that draws in only the most capable rapper, as evidenced by Ghostface and Jadakiss. In addition, to the newly created break, RZA's drumwork is a clinic on break-beat drum phrasing. The syncopated snare action tumbles and rolls over, as the kick punches in and out, only doubling up at the ends of each 1-bar measure.

For educational purposes...

Ghostface Killah featuring Jadakiss - "Run;" beat by The RZA

Ghostface Killah featuring Jadakiss - "Run;" beat by The RZA (official music video)

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The BeatTips Manual by Sa'id.
"The most trusted source for information on beatmaking and hip hop/rap music education."

Customizing Drum Sounds, Pt. 2

When it Comes to Drum Customization, Continuity Remains Key

By Amir Said (Sa'id)

For Part 2 of "Customizing Drum Sounds," I thought it would be a great idea to share my response to my friend and fellow beatmaker, (and one of the most respected members of the BeatTips Community), dKelloway.

Here's dKelloway (AKA "DK") comments and questions:

"ok so i dig in the crates, sample 2 different kicks from 2 vinyl records (in mono), ran it though a dj mixer, then brought it to my pc via zip disk. Then, I added compression, eq, and reverb and I ended up with the custom kick sound heard in the attachment. I am using FL Studio to edit my drum sounds when i'm not using the MPC. I tried soloing the drum hit and recording it into edison and they don't sound like they do during my beat. Say I want to use this kick again and mess with the pitch and whatnot for another beat how can I use it without having to go through the whole process of layering eq'ing and compression again with the 2 drum sounds?"

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My Response

dk, question... If you now have an MPC, why are you not using it as your fundamental "drums provider?" Most of my drum sounds come from my Akai S950; the rest come from my MPC 4000. But the point is: the sounds come from the same "family." When you customize your sounds to work with your MPC, there's NO WAY they'll ever sound the "same" in a software environment...and that's aside from the compression/sound quality loss issues.

Another thing. You know I stress customization; however, customize your drum sounds within a reasonable manner. That is to say, don't get too complicated! Drums are fundamental, so the idea is to develop some continuity with your drum sounds, as it will develop continuity to your overall sound. For instance, I've used drum sounds from my Roland Fantom S and from Reason (software). BUT... I sample the sounds into my Akai S950 and/or my Akai MPC 4000!

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The BeatTips Manual by Sa'id.
"The most trusted source for information on beatmaking and hip hop/rap music education."

MusicStudy: MGMT - "Electric Feel"

Beatmaking's Influence in Retro Music Forms; MGMT's "Electric Feel" Demonstrates Elements Beatmakers Regularly Highlight

By Amir Said (Sa'id)

In my own self-imposed MusicStudy, I regularly come across contemporary music—from other music traditions—that feature elements that could easily be heard in a beat. One such case is a song called "Electric Feel," by MGMT.

The first thing that stands about MGMT's "Electric Feel" is the drumwork. The song opens with an 8-bar, in-your-face drum framework that includes a drum pattern wherein the kick doubles up, landing often on the "2" and the "4." The snare, which is a slim shade of a standard rock snare sound, smacks on the "2" but drops out on the "4," (because of this snare pattern, I'm led to believe that at least some of the drumwork—was electronically produced). After the intro drumwork, the core groove begins, and the drum framework switches up to what could best be described as a tribal drumming phrase, with a steady, "marching-beat" kick pattern. When the "tribal drums" come in, the velocity of the hi-hat seems to dissipate. I'm not sure if there was an intentional velocity change by MGMT, or if this was a sonic feature created in the final mix; whatever the case, it works...I know, because I often drop out my hi-hats at certain parts within my beats. Main reason? I've always found that it creates an interesting sonic composite.

The next thing that grabs me about MGMT's "Electric Feel" is its core groove: a simple 3-note, mid-pitched pattern with a rubbery—not dark or heavy-bottomed—bass line. The guitar and bass strum together in a declarative manner, yet the tone is casual, almost understated; I think this is the reason why there's so much room to experiment with several different drum frameworks throughout the entire song.

Finally, for the changes, MGMT works in an array of light-handed keyboard fare. One keyboard phrase is a chromatic glowing of synth-pop tones that dance across the top of the core groove; another keyboard phrase sounds like a syncopated ping pong, dripping across tightly wound harp strings. Indeed, MGMT knows that it's the core groove that's driving the song, so rather than smother it, they opt for more delicate phrasing for the changes, a decision that no doubt makes the otherwise understated rhythm of "Electric Feel" soar.

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The BeatTips Manual by Sa'id.
"The most trusted source for information on beatmaking and hip hop/rap music education."

For educational purposes...

MGMT - "Electric Feel"

Jewel Droppin': Chris Athens, pt. 1

Sterling Sound's Senior Mastering Engineer Drops Jewels; Despite Some Thoughts to the Contrary, Mastering Still Remains a Worthy Step in the Contemporary Musical Process

Chris Athens interviewed by Amir Said (Sa'id)

Sa'id: What is the fundamental concept of mastering?
Chris Athens: Mastering is the last creative step in the record making process, prior to an album being sent to a pressing plant for mass production. In general, the process of mastering usually includes the sequence of songs, the spaces between the songs, fades, any last minute editing that has to be done. Then of course, the last minute flavor, which usually has to do with EQ—compression, leveling.

Sa'id: What’s the primary difference between mastering and mixing?
Chris Athens: Mastering is an interesting stage, cuz when you’re a putting a record together, typically a mastering engineer is very objective about what you’ve done. Mix engineers tend to get involved really deeply into a record; it takes a long time. Mastering engineers usually come with a fresh perspective, and sort of a very immediate sense of how things should sound. So it’s opportunity for the record to be fine tuned, and really the best of the record to be brought to light. That’s the main function of the mastering engineer.

Sa'id: Is there a different skill set required?
Chris Athens: Yes and no. It’s hard for me to say specifically because I’ve done both. But I would say that what you’re looking for in mastering is to maximize the things that are best about the mixes. In general, I don’t know if the skill set is all that much different. Mix engineers have to have great ears, they have to be very creative. So the art of listening and evaluating tracks is really not that different from mixing and mastering. The techniques are a little different.

Sa'id: Is it generally understood that the mastering engineer should be someone separate from the mix engineer, or if a person could do both, do you recommend that they do both?
Chris Athens: The end result is all that really matters! But by and large I’d say there’s two advantages to hiring a mastering engineer that is a professional at doing that specialty: one, you get the aforementioned objectivity; the other is, from a technical standpoint, most mixed environments are compromised sonically. So when you’re mixing in a control room in a mix room, there are certain anomalies acoustically that usually happen that aren’t normally present in a well designed mastering room. And there’s a number of reasons for that. Usually it has to do with the quality of the acoustics and the focus on monitoring. Mix rooms focus on functionality, how to blend that many tracks into whatever. Mastering rooms tend to focus on the quality of playback sound. So it’s easier to evaluate something. So just as a quick for instance, a lot of mix engineers prefer to work off of small two-way systems—Yamaha NS-10s or your typical two-way monitors. My monitors are very high resolution three-ways with a really good sub system; I use Dynaudio C4s. So it can be really to difficult to be objective when you’re mastering a record on the same speakers you mixed it on.

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The BeatTips Manual by Sa'id.
"The most trusted source for information on beatmaking and hip hop/rap music education."

For more information on Chris Athens, visit Sterling Sound.

Wu Tang Essence: Raekwon - "House of Flying Daggers" Video

Natural Selection: Using Timing Correct and Quantization

Lately, I've been getting PMs and emails concerning Timing Correct and Quantizing. My direct, short, non-politically correct response: leave the shit alone and learn how to play (program) your drums with the Timing Correct off!
However, most beatmakers/producers will inevitably want to push the envelope with drum programming, so I have to acknowledge that...

For me, only time I'll use timing correct is for three occassions:
(1) when I'm creating "stutter snares" (think down south sound)

(2) when I want to create intricate drum rolls.

(3) when I want to manipulate quick hi-hats or "reggae-style" syncopated hi-hat patterns.

(4) when I want to create bass (kick) drum build-ups.

But when it comes to swing and feel, NEVER... I mean I NEVER use timing correct or quantization. I like to play drum patterns more naturally, without the timing correct "correcting" my feel and sense of rhythm. Some people try to achieve "swing" through timing correct and quantization, (which if you think about it, is actually counterproductive). I, however, opt to create swing in a much more natural manner, primarily through how I use percussion and multiple hi-hats and rides.

-Sa'id

Learn Your Room; It's Not the Monitors

Picture this.
You're in your room, you're cooking up a beat, it sounds great. The bass is tight, the treble is balanced right where you want it; everything sounds like a perfect audio collage. So, now you save the beat, track it out, burn it to disk, and make your way out of the lab with a copy for some trusted ears to listen... So you meet up with a fellow beatmaker/producer, you pop the CD in his player, and sit back. You can't wait until he hears the impact of the beat, then...the beat begins to play...and hey, wait a minute. Where's all the bangin' bass? Where did the fresh clear highs and balanced mids go? After making excuses about why the beat doesn't sound entirely dope, you vow to get some new monitors.

If you can relate, listen up: it's not usually the monitors that's the problem, it's your understanding of the acoustics of the room you make your beats in.

Yep, It's most certainly the acoustics of that particular room!!! Supposedly better monitors will not correct this problem. The only solution is to learn that room or stop making your music in there. Every room has its own unique dynamics - shape, width, length, height of the ceiling, wall density, furniture, etc. Therefore, no two rooms can never sound exactly the same. Hence, rooms have to be learned. You have to learn how the room renders bass and treble. You have to learn where the room offers the best play back. You have to learn where the room puts out a lot of "slap-back." Once you really learn a room, in tandem with whatever monitors you're using, you'll be good to go.

Here's a way to learn your room. Take five different sounding beats of yours that you know really well, and put them on a CD. Inside of the room that's giving you trouble, listen to each beat and take notes on what you hear. In particular, pay attention to the low and high levels. Determine if the bass sounds lower or higher, thicker or flatter, distorted or not inside of the room. Then check the conditions of the highs. Are they screaming? Are they barely coming through? Are that just way too flat? As you listen to the deficiencies of each beat that appear inside of the trouble room, make a note of what you need to do to hear things properly in that room. For example, through this cross reference process, you'll know whether to increase or decrease the bass when you're making a beat in that room. Likewise, you'll know how to tweak the highs and mids.

I've recorded in several different rooms in home before. Each room was WAY different. In some rooms, I had to really boost up everything, especially the bass because it barely registered on outside playback systems and environments that I trust. In other cases, I had to learn to minimize the low-end because it was distorting and too overbearing on outside playback systems and environments that I trust.

Bottom line: it's not that one room is necessarily better or worse, it's more about how well you know the manner in which a particular room renders sound.

-Sa'id