What You Need to Make Your Own Beats

[Shelly Hicks]

So, you've been listening to hip hop and rap and watching BET and MTV
and you realize that none of what those clowns are doing seems like
it's very hard. I have to agree with you there. It's not hard if you
learn how to do it, but you're not going to be able to make your own
beats until you learn how to do it.
At this point in your career as a soon to be triple-platinum, Grammy
award winning, record label owning hip hop producer, you have some
tough decisions to make. Should you buy a drum machine or get some
software to make your own beats? I mean, you've already got a computer
right? You're probably not reading this from a hip hop newsletter.
Here's the thing, equipment costs money. And while I think owning
actual hands-on equipment is the way to go in terms of learning more
faster, I also think that you should start making your own beats and
learning the ropes fast as you can if you're serious. So let's break
it down a little so you can see where I'm coming from.
Having your first bit of musical equipment is an awesome feeling. Most
musicians can tell you the first piece they ever owned. I mowed lawns
and saved money and bought a red fretless yamaha bass. I don't know
why in the heck I thought I needed a fretless bass but it sounded
silky smooth and playing was all I wanted to do. I started out
learning with my hands, not a mouse. And everyone develops a bond with
their equipment that allows them to personalize their music and
creative style. That's why I think you should have real equipment.
Twisting knobs and tapping buttons will get you in to the feeling
aspect of the music, which is why we all want to make music anyway,
right? We love the way great music makes us feel!
But software is so versatile. Even cheap software can do a lot. And
you can experiment and tweak and filter and add more and change things
instantly. But you're stuck at your computer. That's the down side. I
could take my laptop outside and sit in my backyard and click out some
cool beats right now. But it's much more fun to go play guitar
outside. And it's much more fun to make my beats on the computer at my
desk with the speakers cranked up. And I can have a song laid out in
minutes and start mixing it just as fast. There's power in that
flexibility.

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