Out of the hundreds of reader questions we have answered during Hit Talk’s first year, perhaps none is more persistent than how to attain a hotter, better-mastered mix. It’s a persistent question because attaining a bold, big sound requires inspired production wizardry and skill at every single stage of the music-making process - from recording Read more

A few months ago, in one of our Reason production tips, we wrote about how to use mixing gear (or the Reason mixer) to transform mono sounds into captivating stereo images. Since then, many of our readers have asked privately how to replicate that effect using a standard software DAW such as Audacity, or Pro Tools without having to route through a Read more

Rap and Hip Hop music is full of chopping and sampling. Many Hip Hop producers - like Chuck D, J Dilla, and DJ Premier just to name a few - construct mixes by slicing out one-shot samples from existing third-party loops and songs, extracting brief sections of audio, and re-combining them into a remixed collage of sound. Audio editing software like Read more

Classic, timeless Hip Hop music is built on a solid foundation of soulful, yet addictive rhythm. So far, at Hit Talk, we’ve addressed many melodic production concepts, taking rhythm and basic beat-making skills as given. Still, many readers have asked for specifics in creating compelling rhythms and beat-making. In this tip article, we get busy revealing the Read more

If you want to produce Hip Hop - in particular, if you want to produce crunk or grime - you’re gonna to have to master synth skills. Crunk music in particular makes widespread use of classic synth timbres, using clean sine, triangle, and square waves for melodic leads, while reserving harsh, overdriven sawtooth sounds for basslines. Grime is slightly Read more

Phase inversion is a subtle, yet versatile music production tool capable of many distinguished feats. First, what is phase inversion? Inverting a wave’s phase means swapping the location of its peaks and troughs. This creates cancellation when peaks of one wave coincide with the troughs of the other wave, like in this article’s thumbnail Read more

You can never have too much RAM, CPU Power, or too optimized a system. A basic computer-based studio will handle a basic DAW sequencer, like Cubase or Sonar; it will run the basic bundled plugins, plus some basic VST instruments, and 10 or 15 channels of audio. A powerful system will handle taxing convolution reverbs, multiple Read more

A lot of our readers know that a weak beat can be strengthened with a compressor, but what settings are best for what applications? What are the optimal compression settings for a Hip Hop snare, kick, bass, or percussion? In Hip Hop, if you want to compress like the best, you need knowledge of standard compressor settings used by Hip Hop producers. Read more

What’s the difference between a solid drum beat, and a flimsy drum beat? Many times, the difference is the mix. A good drum mix requires an evenly balanced stereo field & soundstage. Many amateur productions have narrow, almost mono, drum mixes. These narrow drum mixes throw off a song’s overall balance where instrument tracks Read more

How much difference does one 8th note make? How much difference does one instrument make? In fact, they can make a huge difference! A big part of becoming a songwriter or becoming a music producer is learning how very small changes to an original idea can transform it dramatically. In our previous hook composition tip, we showed Read more