Hip-hop production
P. Diddy is an example of one, but they are ultimately responsible for the final sound of a recording and providing guidance to the artists and performers, as well as advising the audio engineer on the selection of everything from microphones and effects processors to how to mix vocal and instrumental levels.
[citation needed] Hip-hop, the dominant turn-of-the-century pop form, gives the most electrifying demonstration of technology's empowering effect [...] [T]he genre rose up from desperately impoverished high-rise ghettos, where families couldn't afford to buy instruments for their kids and even the most rudimentary music-making seemed out of reach.
In the South Bronx in the 1970s, DJs like Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Flash used turntables to create a hurtling collage of effects—loops, breaks, beats, scratches.
An especially notable artist is the genre's own pioneer Juan Atkins who released what is generally accepted as the first American techno record, "Clear" in 1984 (later sampled by Missy Elliott).
's," two songs which relied completely on synthetic sounds, in this case via an Oberheim DMX drum machine, ignoring samples entirely.
[citation needed] Kurtis Blow was the first hip hop artist to use a digital sampler, when he used the Fairlight CMI on his 1984 album Ego Trip, specially on the track "AJ Scratch".
The Beastie Boys released Paul's Boutique in 1989, an entire album created completely from an eclectic mix of samples, produced by the Dust Brothers using an Emax sampler.
[citation needed] During the course of the 2010s, many chart-topping hits revolved around music producers using digital audio workstation software (for example FL Studio) to create songs from sampled sounds.
The aesthetic code of hip hop does not seek to render invisible the layers of samples, sounds, references, images, and metaphors.
This technique was first fully explored in 1982 by Afrika Bambaata, on the Soulsonic Force tape Planet Rock, which sampled parts of dance act Kraftwerk and experienced vast public acclaim.
[11] This was followed up on in 1986: then-Def Jam producer Rick Rubin used Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin loops in creating the Beastie Boys' debut Licensed to Ill,[12] and the following year rap duo Eric B.
[13] The technique took a bi-coastal turn when discovered by a young Dr. Dre, whose first gig was the DJ of Afrika Bambaata-esque electrofunk group, the World Class Wreckin' Cru.
In 1988, Dre began his use of sampling in hip-hop when he produced the N.W.A album Straight Outta Compton, a landmark in the genre of gangsta rap.
[14] In 1989, Jazz-sampling pioneers Gang Starr followed in 1991 by Pete Rock & CL Smooth and A Tribe Called Quest both appeared on the scene, popularizing their brand,[15][16] and sampling took on a full role in hip-hop, spreading to prominence in high-profile projects like the Wu-Tang Clan's Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers,[17] Dr. Dre's The Chronic,[18] Nas' Illmatic[19] and Notorious B.I.G.
His 2004 album, The College Dropout, included two sampled hits featuring Twista which led to the Chicago rapper's Kamikaze selling platinum.
On September 7, 2004, however, a U.S. Court of Appeals in Nashville changed the nature of musical copyright infringement by ruling that a license is needed in every case of sampling, where previously a small portion of the song could be copied without repercussion.
[22] The law immediately began rarefying samples in hip-hop; in a 2005 interview with Scratch magazine, Dr. Dre announced he was moving more toward instrumentation,[23] and in 2006 The Notorious B.I.G.
[27] The signature technique he developed was playing two copies of the same record on two turntables in alternation to extend the b-dancers' favorite section,[29] switching back and forth between the two to loop the breaks to a rhythmic beat.
As they experimented with the SL-1200 decks, they developed scratching techniques when they found that the motor would continue to spin at the correct RPM even if the DJ wiggled the record back and forth on the platter.
Often in low-budget studio environments or recording rooms constrained by space limitations, the composer would use virtual instruments instead of hardware synthesizers.
[citation needed] Generally, professional producers opt for a condenser microphone for studio recording,[31][32] mostly due to their wide-range response and high quality.
Mixing is the process of blending audio elements together to create a cohesive sound that clearly conveys the artist’s intended experience for the listener.
[33] Most hip hop beats consist of elements such as the 808 bass, kick, snare, hi-hats, and melodic instruments such as synths or samples.
To avoid the clash, EQ and sidechain compression is often used to carve out distinct spaces for each element, allowing the kick to punch through between the sustained 808 bass.
The success of these DAWs generated a flood of new semi-professional beatmakers, who license their beats or instrumentals[36] preferably on digital marketplaces[37] to rap artists from all around the world and caused the creation of a new niche market.
Hip hop with live instrumentation regained prominence during the late-1990s and early 2000s with the work of The Goats, The Coup, The Roots, Mello-D and the Rados, Common, DJ Quik, UGK and OutKast, among others.
In reality, the drum set is the reason behind the production of these electronic beats, and live drummers contribute to modern day hip-hop much more than what meets the ear.
In the 2000s and 2010s, artists such as RJD2, J Dilla, Pete Rock, Large Professor, MF DOOM, Danny!, Nujabes, Madlib, Damu the Fudgemunk, Wax Tailor, Denver Kajanga, DJ Krush, Hermitude, Abstract Orchestra, and Blockhead have garnered critical attention with instrumental hip hop albums.
Producers often have difficulty obtaining clearance for the many samples found throughout their work, and labels such as Stones Throw are fraught with legal problems.
[citation needed] In contemporary hip hop production, the title producer has become a catch-all term that could indicate one or many types of contributions to any particular project.
