Rap beat tips?

[Fl Brony]

Can anyone give me any tips on how to make a rap beat?

[Nine Volt]

Pretty much that.
Don't try to get all fancy with your percussion. If you look at most modern rap, the beat is simple and doesn't really change. Go look at TLT & YAC's song Guncakes, or at Obsolete, or maybe Nightmare Night and check out what they did.

[Dabrenn]

I'd recommend looking into finding an orchestral synth for rap beats. Using horns and pianos can give your beats a big and epic feel to them. Its an easy way to make your beats sound good. (Epic Rap Battles on Youtube abuses this technique)

On the other extreme, get an 808 drum hit it a couple times with a snap thrown in there with some sort of high siren/pitchslidy synth. (this is usually used more by modern pop-rap)

But yes. keep it simple.

don't forget the chorus of people yelling "AY" on two and four.

[Kushy Kallous]

=p I would recommend coming up with 3 or 4 different percussion patterns, with a variation to each one (thinks of sets of A and B patterns) - And then work your track off of that foundation.
Dont change anything too dramatic in it, like kick or hits. Though, try and manage some trickery with hats or something.

I've never been too good at producing beats, but this is what I was told/what I read at one point or another. Hope it comes out good, : ) I'll try and keep a lookout for your upcoming tracks.

[XXDarkShadow79XX]

It depends on what you're looking for. If you want to go oldschool you can always slap a break on @ 100 Bpm. If you want that newer, "Trap" sound then put the speed at 140 - 150 and use tons of huge 808s and short snares in half time.

That's pretty much all I know. I've never been big on straight up Hip Hop or Rap. :P

[itroitnyah]

Get the best drums that you can. In rap, the drums are what matter the most besides the vocals. Without drums, your rap is nothing. As a beginner, I'd recommend you check out the boyinaband.com website, and download some of the sample packs from there. Listen closely to some of your favorite rap, and listen to what the kick and snare sound like the most, and try and pick out a snare and kick that sound similar to the kick and snare from your favorite rap song. You won't get perfect of course, but try and get close. If you can't find similar sounding kicks and snares, then just aim for k&s's that sound good for rap. The hats should be good as well.

[colortwelve]

Here's my general formula for hip-hop:

-A pre-produced drumloop layered on top of processed drum samples.
-A simple, non-constant bassline (if you have the bass going nonstop, you're basically working with IDM or something similar).
-A hook for the verse that won't interfere with your vocals (mind the frequencies and EQing).
-A nonstandard structure. I try not to make generic hip-hop, so I'll add an ambient breakdown, an electro buildup, some house plucks, produce it in 6/4 to add some swing, anything to separate it from generic beats and establish it as its own instrumental that's just waiting for vocals. (Here's my most recent finished beat as an example: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/67624648/Inten ... emo%5D.mp3)

The thing to keep in mind is that if you produce any other kind of music, it's to your advantage to incorporate elements of that style to your beat. Kyoga's collab with Rhyme Flow was based on a cloud synth just like his ambient. Failbait by deadmau5 is full of electro hits reminiscent of 4x4=12. I tend to add atmospheric pads and housey synths to my beats. If you have your own style already, the fun is combining it with the hip-hop form and making something that works for rappers and as a genuine addition to your catalog as a musician.

[Nicisflee]

When Im making my beats I use a simple drum loop to keep the beat steady. then I add slightly diffrent, but for the most part equal, piano or another instrument effects when switching between the verse, chorus and bridge. Adding a few sound effects would also work to keep people interested if it complements the song and fits the theme of the rap.