How To Become A Unique Beat Producer

8 Questions to Answer When Developing Your Signature Sound

The Blueprint by Jay-Z is arguably his best album of work (although 4:44 and The Black Album are up there as well). In interviews Jay-Z refers to wanting his 2001 masterpiece to consist of “soul samples he grew up on,” in essence the blueprint of his childhood. Following that model, I consider my “sound” to be a culmination of songs from my childhood. While Jay’s generation comprised of Jackson 5 and Al Green among countless others, it was 90’s R&B that was found on the soundtrack of my youth. My teen years marked the beginning of the Napster era where I downloaded thousands of songs at a rapid rate. While I did have a good amount of Dr. Dre and Wu-Tang Clan, I have to admit, I was a sucker for corny love songs. I was that kid in his bedroom trying his best to stay still while holding up boombox radio antenna’s so I can record Blackstreet’s Don’t Leave Me onto my “love sick and lonely” mixtapes on cassette. I’d wait patiently for Monica and Brandy’s The Boy is Mine so I can fantasize about girls fighting over me. At the time I was too scared to talk to girls or anyone for that matter so I lived within the imaginary world that music would take me. By the time I started college, I finally exploded out of my shell around the same time I started making my own music using the imagination that I built during my teenage years. All of the songs I listened to during those good old days hold a special place in my heart as well. I still refer back to Goapele’s Closer when I need inspiration or Sade’s By Your Side (Neptunes remix) just to reminisce. Embracing who I am and who I used to be and finally being honest with myself about it has helped me define my sound: a sound that strives to bring the best out of others, a sound that is dying to express unconditional love, a sound that inspires individuals to take action. Answer the following questions to 

1. Who are your influences? Look at your favorite producers. Not necessarily who is hot at the moment or even producers that everyone else is into. You have really got to dig deep identify songs or hip hop instrumentals that have really moved you. This involves being honest with yourself. I personally make my best work when my heart is involved. Love is a huge part of why and how I make music. I tend to pick sounds and samples that tug at the heartstrings. Call me corny but love is the most powerful force in the universe you’d be surprised by what can be accomplished with it. Before college I never imagined myself writing and making my own music but bonding with new friends took my guard down and I was able to conquer my fears. Falling in love brought out poetry and lyrics and finally, my first born child is providing the motivation for my current endeavors. So ask yourself: Who and what do I love? You may be motivated by sounding cool for the rapper with a viral video and a song on the radio but if it is not music (at least the beats) that you are truly into, then that motivation will be difficult to sustain.
2. What kind of music gives you a feeling of nostalgia? As a child growing up in the late 80s and 90s, of course Michael Jackson was a big deal. My parents loved to listen to oldies by Carlos Santana and Malo. So naturally I dug for tons of Santana and Latin Oldies records. The nostalgia can also come from high school or college days. I started making hip hop while I was a student a UC Santa Cruz where Mos Def Kweli, Kanye, 9th Wonder, Dj Premier, DJ Hi-tek, and The Roots were in heavy rotation as far as hip hop. Badu, D’Angelo, and Lauryn Hill remind me of meeting and falling in love with the girl who would eventually become my wife. There is a decent chance that others will feel the same way about the music that has a sweet spot for you. It may not trigger the same memories as yours but if you sample those songs or successfully create a similar vibe, you will just might transfer that warm and fuzzy feeling to your listeners.
3. What are your strengths? Do you play any instruments or can you read music? Experience with playing piano is a huge benefit especially if you can recognize notes and play chords. Knowledge of music theory will allow you to examine the chord structures of your favorite songs and replicate them. Or are you a DJ? Some mixing and scratching techniques work well in sampling for beats. Hip hop’s original beats were actually made strictly from the turntables. Check out this 45 set by Diamond D. Beats right before your eyes.<iframe Some of you are like me, not much musical talent as far as playing instruments but are curators of good music. Are you the one out of your group of friends that finds all the new jams and shares with everyone. How is this advantageous for beat makers? It gives you an edge on what sounds are trending and it is an indicator that you recognize what makes a hip hop instrumental likeable. Another reason why being a curator of music is beneficial for making beats is knowing what to sample and how a song has been sampled if it has been done before.
4. Who is your target audience? What kind of listener do you identify with? This was always a tough one for me to practice. In business school, students are taught to market products based on the needs of their target audience. I struggled with this concept because for years I was just making the music that I thought that everyone would like and found little success. Years ago, I performed with my old group at a graduation party at UC Santa Cruz. There was one song we performed, that I never performed live before and when my part came on everyone in the crowd was reciting my lyrics. It got to the point where I was shocked and lost my place and stopped rapping. It didn’t matter because the crowd was reciting it back to me word for word. I had no idea this particular song had an impact. Information like this  would have been helpful in producing better music for the people who were actually listening rather than an approach of trying to make rap instrumentals that I thought everyone would like. My lack of a customer oriented strategy also prevented me from finding success as a producer while working as an engineer at 17 Hertz Studio where I was exposed to artists like The Jacka, Mistah FAB, Freeway, Paul Wall, and E40 on a daily basis. The few times I was actually able to play my beats in a studio session I failed to impress. But the worst failure of the experience was not making the necessary adjustments to make beat making. I interpreted the rejection as not fitting in with the particular genre so I proceeded to explore other avenues rather than stick to one craft. I am not suggesting that I betray my style and who I am, in hindsight I could have recognized that the gangster rap genre required a bit more bass, harder hitting drum kits, and more soulful samples. At the time I was experimenting with obscure african and south american jazz records that didn’t give my beats that edgy attitude that soul samples could provide.
5. What are your tools and resources? Sometimes the gear that you have readily available will shape your sound as well. Having a record player has definitely added character to my body of work. There is nothing like the fidelity from pulling samples off of vinyl. Not only does the crackle add a dusty characteristic but the quality just sounds richer and in my opinion cuts thru the mix well. I have also found some strange records from obscure bands which helps you develop unique hip hop beats. Another valuable resource is knowing musicians. I onced lived in a house full of musicians for six months. In the backyard, under the shade of an enormous fig tree, was an insulated tool shed that was converted into a jam studio known by our circle of friends as the “Shred Shed.” This quaint rocker’s paradise contained a full drum kit, several guitars, a korg triton keyboard, a motif keyboard, bass, bongos, a trombone, and even one of those bamboo rain-sticks that sounded like a gentle stream of raindrops when you flipped it upside down. It didn’t matter that I had access to all of this gear. I did not know how to play any of it, at least well enough to lay down on beats but I had access to musicians to add layers to my beats. I even have an entire collection of tracks will no samples whatsoever. The Shred Shed drum kit also provided me with a drum library that works well with vinyl samples.
6. Do you spend enough time working on your craft? I eventually figured out the formula for the beats that I wanted to make by just committing to working on something for at least an hour for 40 days straight. I did not exactly make a beat each session. In fact, in the beginning it was difficult to produce anything that did not make me cringe. So what I did was fire up my old Dell PC from 2001 that had my old acid pro and cubase sessions sessions and dug thru hundreds of my old beginner beats as if I was digging thru a crate of records. I picked out maybe 40 beats that I like but felt that I could improve with better drum kits, mixing techniques, and overall sampling methods that I developed over the years. So I exported stems for all of those beats and imported them into pro tools. I was able to remix all 40 during a weekend binge. I emerged from my bedroom studio as if I hadn’t seen daylight for years but with a stronger confidence for making beats. I was able to develop a workflow from “crate to disk.” I then bought a stack of records from my buddy’s record shop and proceeded to listen to all of them just as I listened to my old beats and recorded songs that I felt had potential. That is when the magic happened. No I did not churn out 20 beats in one day. What happened was every time I sat down to make a beat I completed it from scratch within 30 to 60 minutes. Because all of the samples were pre-approved by my younger self, I really liked the beat I made. I did fail, however, to work on something every single day, but every single time I sat down to work on a beat, I was guaranteed to come up with a fresh beat. Remain consistent and don’t take too many long breaks. Days could turn into years if you take your eye off the ball. If you understand batch processing, you know that it takes a while to get set up and build up momentum until you are producing at optimal performance. Keep the ball rolling, and eventually a distinct style will emerge from all of your work.
7. What is the purpose of your beats? Are you making rap beats? Or are you an instrumental artist? Got beats for sale? Or are they just for yourself and your homies? When making beats for the purpose of selling, a producer has to walk a fine line between selling out and staying true to yourself. With the popularity of “Type Beats,” (naming beat videos on YouTube names like Drake type beat or Kendrick Lamar type beat in order to be found in searches) it seems like an obvious strategy to go ahead and copy another producer’s style. This is in no way a bad idea, producers have to make a living some way. But if you do go that route you must do it well. Heck, even I am attempting the popular SEO technique. Keep in mind, that understanding your purpose will direct where your sound is going. If you do not intend on having others do what they want on your beats then you will probably go the instrumental route. When I first started out, RJD2 and Dj Shadow were masters of the art of beats to chill to. Their tracks much like many EDM producers, have progressions, changes, and breakdowns to make the beat interesting. But don’t all hip hop producers want to make their beats interesting? That isn’t always the case for rappers, they must be able to envision themselves rapping lyrics over the instrumental. A typical rap song will have verses and a hook which means that the beat should have a discernible verse and a hook section. If the beat is good, they’ll be able to write to it immediately. What if you want to be you and truly not sound like anything else? Here is the harsh reality, there is probably an up and coming producer who sounds just like you. It is highly likely that there is an established producer that already “invented” your sound. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try, it means that we must keep adding more of our personal story and unique experiences into our music just as I described in the opening paragraph. Another way to get experimental is to hook up with a rapper who shares your desire to sound unique. If you can find synergy with a rapper or rap group, you can work together in developing a special sound.
8. What stands out in your personal musical journey and how can you use it in your music? Bottom line: Just play, be true, and enjoy the process. I can’t stress enough the importance of self reflection and honest expression. We may share influences and experiences with others but when you piece together every single one of your personal stories there is no other narrative in the world that is exactly like it. I was a lonely kid who listened to Jodeci and Boyz II Men on repeat. There are probably a ton of you out there who did the same but I am coupling that emotion with the boombap foundation that I learned from Genelec and Memphis Reigns when they opened my eyes to truly independent hip hop when they produced and recorded a life changing album for me on the same kind of PC that I was using to merely download music in my dorm room. So challenge yourself to contemplate your own story and apply it to your music. Write your answers in the comments section.