Now this might seem like you have to know music theory or be able to play an instrument, but if you just want to know how to make hip hop beats you really don't. (Remember that's the whole track without the vocals, not just the drum parts!) I'm not going to go into details on exactly how to record vocals as that's a huge topic by itself which we'll cover later, for now we're going to look at how to create hip hop beats.

As you can see it's not really that complex and you can always produce fantastic results if you follow a few basic principles and stick to a handful of loose rules. This is the fundamental construction of most hip hop songs broken down into its elements. The only time you're likely going to have to mix them together is in the chorus part.

It's not difficult as the main vocalist guest don't normally sing together or even in the same verse. It's certainly not uncommon for hip hop superstars to record songs together, with neither being consigned to backing vocalist-they're both just as important as each other, and for this reason we treat the additional vocalist track in the exact same way we do the main vocal part. I won't explain the science of it here, but the basis is that it sounds like two or more of the exact same person singing together.ĭepending on the song itself, you may have an additional or second guest vocalist on the track. Essentially are just a re-recording of the same vocal line (or part of it) overdubbed to add a 'chorus' effect. When you listen to a hip hop song or commercial chart hit have you ever wondered what makes the chorus stand out and sound big compared to the rest of the song? Well part of that is down to recording vocal overdubs on the chorus parts. It's just as important to consider mic placement with backing vocals and choosing whether to have record the vocalists singing in a well-rehearsed group or individual tracks, both methods have their merits and reasons. They don't have to be extensive or huge in sound, in fact sometimes less is more when it comes to music production, but there will be some somewhere usually. Correct choice of mic and placement is essential to this, especially with rap vocals where there are likely to be a lot of plosive sounds and consonants.Īs with all commercial and pop music backing vocals are an essential part of a good production. Obviously this is the most important part of the whole song, so excellent clear recording is required to start with-it will only be a headache later on in the mix if you don't get this right. There are usually four distinct layers - the main vocal, a second vocal (if the song requires it), backing vocal tracks and then overdubbed vocals by the main artist.

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Simple rap beat