HIP-HOP

Originally a product of block parties thrown by pioneers such as Kool Herc, the Black Spades and Grandmaster Flash in 1970s New York, hip-hop became a cultural and musical phenomenon worldwide during the 1980s and '90s. To start with, hip-hop music was created live at parties by the process of cutting together two copies of the same breakbeat record using turntables and a DJ mixer, making a danceable beat out of a short loop. Rappers would then add lyrics over the music, telling stories while getting the crowd involved through toasting and shout-outs.

Artist created music in the studio using early sampling equipment from the likes of Akai or E-mu to take breakbeat or instrumental sections of other records from a multitude of genres, and make them into a new composition, often with additionally layered synths or drum machines in the mix. The increasing affordability of sampling and sequencing gear made hip-hop production accessible to a wide audience.

In the spirit of hip-hop’s DIY aesthetic, and attitude to sampling, we’re going to show you how to make an authentic hip-hop track in an hour. To keep things simple, we're using the software suite that comes free with each issue of our sister magazine Computer Music. You can apply most of these techniques using you're DAWs tool or your existing plugins though. Grab the samples we're using from: emusician.com/how-to/may2020

We’ll be