Beats Initial research

For the next two tracks in my portfolio I wished to compose and produce two original instrumental hip-hop beats recordings based on the positive reception of my Gorillaz Clint Eastwood remix previously produced in this style.

When recording, or composing I find it seems to make most sense to focus on the main rhythmic elements of the track. In this case, drums are an integral element in hip-hop production. I have initially decided to research hip-hop drum production techniques and discovered an article regarding Hip-Hop drum production by Shafer (2012)   

I found this article particularly useful when considering the creative approach of creating a hip-hop style beat as a foundation for my tracks. The first section discusses ‘simple’ and ‘complex’ beats. It explains that the most common drum patterns follow a pattern that repeats every 8, 16, 32 or 64 steps. The article then continues to discuss that complex patterns are those which are more difficult to anticipate, often made interesting by adding drops, mutes or delays to ‘heighten anticipation’ of the track.

Taking this into consideration I find that it will be beneficial to generate a simple drum pattern to begin with, of which I will then generate interest by inserting drops/mutes or effects such as delay at differing intervals. 

Section 2 discusses drum samples, and how hip hop tracks that stand out are ones with unique sounding drums. For example the inclusion of ethnic percussion such as bongos, congas, tamboras may be beneficial and may be something that I consider to include at a later stage. The article also suggests to move away from a workstation or DAWS stock drum sounds, the reasoning being that they've been used on hundreds (likely more) of tracks before. The article then suggests that it may be worth searching the internet for royalty free drums samples or to use a drum kit to record/sample your own. I have decided to use both of the aforementioned approaches.