Welcome

Getting Started

The first order of business is to obtain the proper equipment to make beats. Forget what you heard before. Here is what you will need to produce all the sound necessary for an album in hip hop: a keyboard, sampler, turntable(s), Microphone and a mixer.

Some articles and reference material on this subject have the wrong g...More

Which Sampler: The MPC Wars

The MPC series samplers are used to create beats. With a crate of Vinyl for inspiration, an aspiring producer need look no further. Similarities

The entire MPC fami...More

Which Microphone?

If you don't need a microphone then you are most likely visiting the wrong web site. The microphone is, of course, the tool through which all vocal recording will be accomplished. This is not the place to save a buck. Some of the biggest differences in home and professional sounding recordings are due to the signal chain. The s...More

Mixing 101

Mixing is the art of forging a bunch of audio signals into a whole work of art. Contemporary music is recorded on to a multitrack recorder. Typically the artist has a track for each verse, a backing vocal for each verse and another track for the chorus or hook. This is the bare minimum. Many artists have twenty tracks or more ju...More

An Introduction to Mastering

What is Mastering?

After the mixing engineer has mixed down all of the tracks, the mastering engineer goes to work. She must put the songs in order, taking care not to have too many similar sounding, or themed songs in a row, yet maintain a composition that could be played in sets. All of the levels have to be matched ...More

Manufacturing: The In House Solution

The Process

After mastering you will still need to get your music into a product that contains it. Something the people can receive and listen to. In 2011 this means a Compact Disc. You'll need to obtain blanks, print on the discs, burn your master audio onto them, print out inserts, assemble jewel cases, shrink wrap a...More

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