Boy how times have changed. Some 20-30 years ago, if you wanted to make some nice sounding hip hop and rap beats you had to have a full blown digital audio workstation and hardware to produce instrumentals and sounds. Now, with technology, computers, software, and online beat makermaking beats on your computer is as simple as hitting a keyboard and clicking on a mouse …

It appears simple, but is not as easy as it sounds. Understanding how music flows with rhythm and groove takes time and practice and cannot be learned overnight as some would have you believe. Instruments that complement each other, drums, kicks, snares, high hats, all have a certain ‘feel’ that goes well with other sounds and instruments. A skilled producer can mix these sounds together in the right order, tempo, and rhythm to make some awesome sounding beats.

On the other hand, for those young musicians who are just starting out on their beat making career, these flows and instruments will take some time to understand how they complement and work together as one continuous beat.

Start with the basics when learning to make beats on your computer or MAC, verse, chorus, bridge, drums, kicks, high hats, etc… Take your time to listen to different instrumentals, chords, riffs, kits, and begin to develop your own style of beat making. Most famous beat makers have their own style or signature sound or pattern in their music. This can also be seen in the genre of hip hop, such as east coast, reggae, crunk, dirty south, etc… So begin with an artists you like or whose style you admire and try to make your own pattern of rap and beats. Developing your ‘own sound’ is critical to begin to get noticed in the hip hop scene, just listen to some of your favorite artists and you will begin to see this.

So how do we go about making beats on our computer? Beat making software such as Sonic producer, fruity loops, or pro logic, are great for the beginner to begin making beats… so what are you waiting for, start cranking out those beats!