Once you’ve established which software program you’re going to use as your sequencer, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got the necessary plugins to create a clean, hard-hitting, radio-friendly sound that hip-hop artists love.

Without the proper plugins and the knowledge of how to use them, your beats are in danger of sounding like every other wanna-be producer out there who thinks they can get away with using stock drum sounds and a lot of gain.

I’m going to recommend 3 mastering plugins that you can use with your beat making software or recording software, to get your tracks really smashin’ with the best of ‘em.

The challenge for producers in today’s hip-hop industry, is figuring out how to get each of your sounds to come through loud and dynamic, without clipping or distorting. A lot of amateur producers think it’s as simple as just turning up all of the instruments or the master track in your beat making software. They try to enhance their dynamics by boosting the gain, only to blow someone’s speakers out with clipping and distortion. Wrong move.

It’s not about volume…it’s about compression and limiting!

You’ve got to have a good mastering compressor or multi-band limiter to run your beat through, in order to give it the dynamic, hard hitting sound without distorting or clipping it. You may be thinking “I have a stock compressor that came with my beat making software or recording program,” but the type of compression I’m referring to is more than just basic compression. You need a compressor designed specifically to maximize the dynamics of all instruments running through a master track, without taking away from the quality of each instrument.

That’s why I highly recommend the Waves L3 Multimaximizer. You should also look into the Waves L2 Ultramaximizer, which is what I use just as often as the L3. Waves makes a great product designed specifically for producers who want to win the “loudness war” with their tracks, but don’t want to lose quality in the process.

Next, you’ve got to have a good master EQ (equalizer) plugin to run with your beat making software. Often times, you’ll finish a beat, run it through a mastering limiter, and realize that your bass is too muddy or your 808 kick low-frequencies are over-powering the rest of the beat, drowning out the other instruments. Here, it’s important to be able to go in and low-cut the beat, cutting off those lower frequencies and freeing the other instruments to fill the sound field.

There are a ton of equalizer plugins out there, but one that really stand out, is the T-RackS 3 Deluxe High-End Mastering and Mixing Suite Software. This is a bundled package, however each of the 9 amazing EQ’s in this bundle are also available individually. This is one of the more cost-effective packages, for the quality you get in return. Very pro!

Finally, you should have a plugin designed to enhance the stereo separation of your sounds.

Listen to J. Holiday’s “Put You to Bed” track, and you’ll hear the precise stereo separation that he has with each instrument. The djembe drums along with the rich percussion in this song, are all individually distinguishable and spread wide to create a full, rich sound. Also, listen to “Imma Be”, by the Black-Eyed Peas. Specifically, listen to the finger snaps that are panned to the left and right.

Sure, you can pan each instrument, but you need something that will take what you’ve panned and separate it further, without it losing it’s dynamic sound.

For this, I recommend the Waves S1 Stereo Imager. I use this plug-in on every beat, and it’s taken my sound to a whole new level. The adjustments are subtle, but the results are monumental.

Now, you’ll need other plugins to use for your individual instruments, like a basic EQ (7-band or 10-band), basic Reverb, a compressor/limiter and gate for kicks, synths and other instruments, but many of the stock plugins that come with your beat making software or recording software will suffice for your individual instruments.

It’s more important to invest in the quality of the finished product and that is why I recommend these three mastering plugins to get an industry-acceptable sound. Learning to use them is a challenge in and of itself, but with practice, you’ll eventually train your ear to know how to use each one.

After all, there are so many different beat making programs to choose from that it can become very confusing very fast, and in many cases, people can be misled, either by spending unnecessary amounts of money or putting too much emphasis on the software rather than some of the more important components or plugins that go with the beat making software.

It’s important to understand that although some beat making software programs are more user-friendly than others, the more important components of your setup are those components used to alter the dynamics of your sounds and instruments.

Think of yourself as a chef. If you’re cooking a meal, it’s important that you have a pot or pan to cook the meal in. However, the taste of the finished meal will depend more upon what you do with the ingredients, than what kind of pot or pan you cook them all in. As long as you have a pot or pan, the taste or quality of the finished meal probably isn’t going to depend heavily on what type of pot or pan you use. It’s the garlic, seasoning, oil and other ingredients that will make the meal taste right or wrong.

Think of the beat making software as your pan or pot, and the plug-ins are your spices and other elements used to create the right flavor or texture of the meal (or beat).

This is not to say that there aren’t beat making programs out there that are easier to use than others, but really, choosing the sequencer/program is going to depend on what you feel the most comfortable using.

Fruity Loops and Reason are two beat making programs that are commonly used, and pretty easy to navigate through for beginners, yet they have the capability (with the right plugins) to support a more advanced producer as well. Many top producers in the industry use one or both of these programs as their sequencer. Other sequencer/recording programs worth looking into are Acid Pro, Logic (for Mac) and Pro Tools LE.

Personally, I use Pro Tools LE because it’s so commonly used in the industry, that I can take or send my beat sessions to a lot of other studios for additional recording, mixing or mastering.

Whatever you choose to use, just remember that it’s what you’ll be able to do to your sounds and instruments that is the important component.

In my next post, I’ll be discussing some of the best plugins to go with your beat making software.

In the discussion thread below, feel free to post your favorite or not-so-favorite beat making programs for discussion!

When making beats, whether for hip-hop, R&B, Pop or even commercial instrumentals, you must have REAL-SOUNDING instruments in your sequence.  Strings and other orchestral instruments bring an emotion to your beats that other instruments cannot.

If you have a cheap sounding string, flute, choir or trumpet, the listener will hear it and toss your beat aside.  At least the smart ones with money will.

This is a great program and I highly recommend it over any keyboard stock orchestra kit that I’ve ever heard. 

Click Here to Watch this Video Now!

Now, check it out and then leave a comment on this page (at the bottom) letting me know what you think of this video!

Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret….their sounds are just BETTER than yours.  If you’re still using the stock synthesizers on your Triton or Motif, or you’re tempted to go out and buy a new synth or keyboard, in order to get new sounds…WATCH THIS VIDEO!! 

Yes, it is possible to spend $4000.00 on a new synth board and get cheap, crappy sounds in return.   Instead, take a look at this video and watch me demonstrate the synth program that I’ve used to create beats for guys like E-40, Bubba Sparxxx and some others.

It will blow your mind how little you have to spend in order to get a huge library of some of the cleanest, most original and customizeable synths available.  This video could save you TONS OF MONEY. 

 Now, just like I do with everything, I’ve spent several hours gathering this information and experimenting with the different programs  in order to find a great synth, so please leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

Click Here To Download/Watch The Video

Please leave a comment at the bottom of this post after viewing the video, letting me know how this helped you!

Do you unsuccessfully spend hours upon hours trying to get your drums to sound like those you hear on the radio? Are you frustrated with stock drum sounds that are weak and drum sampling programs that are glitchy or ineffective?

Are MPC’s and other machines too expensive for you?  Well, join the club!  You definitely need to watch this video

Now, I spent several hours gathering this information, experimenting with the different drum samplers and learning several different programs in order to determine what is the very best drum sampler available for beat-making, so please leave a comment at the bottom of the video letting me know how it helped.

In order to view the video, you can either click on the link to watch it online or you can “right click” on the link and select “save as” to download the video and view it on your computer.

Click Here To Download/Watch The Video

Please leave a comment at the bottom of this post after viewing the video, letting me know how this helped you!

Here is the video you’ve all been waiting for:

Q & A Video

Again, I want to thank all of you for so many great questions.

Now, I spent several hours putting this together, so please take time to leave comments at the bottom of this post, letting me know how this video was helpful to you.

I will remind you that these questions and answers were carefully chosen after several days of receiving and reviewing an extremely large number of emails and questions from you all, so it would have been impossible for me to answer EVERY QUESTION.

However, even if I don’t address your question specifically, there’s a good chance that I will still answer your question(s) in this video, with how thorough and deep I go!

In order to view the video, you can either click on the link to watch it online or you can “right
click” on the link and select “save as” to download the video and view it on your computer.

Again here’s the link: Q&A Video With D-Boy

Remember to leave a comment at the bottom of this post after viewing the video, letting me know how this helped you!

These days, one of the best ways to create this demand for your beats is by launching your own independent record label. With the ample array of free online marketing resources and with the new wave of digital music downloading, you can provide an effective, low-cost marketing and distribution channel for an artist’s album as part of an agreement where they purchases a certain number of beats from you in exchange.

You’re immediately motivated to market for the artist because your company logo, name, and beats are all over their album. Starting my own record label has been one of the most effective tools in generating demand and ultimately, cash flow from my beats.

Starting a label these days can be quick and simple! Here’s a great product that I used as a guide to launch my own label:   Start Your Own Hip-Hop Label Today!

This is highly effective when you’re networking with artists who are in the beginning stages of putting an album together. Most of these rappers like to “stockpile” tracks as they’re writing lyrics and putting everything together for their project. Offer significant discounts for multiple beat purchases. For example, if your going rate is $150 for a single beat, offer 3 beats for $300 and emphasize the discounted amount (“$100 Discount,” or “3 For The Price of 2″) on your website and/or include it in the packaging of your sampler disk.

This is one that can be tough for a lot of us who put excessive amounts of quality time into making our beats.  However, it’s absolutely necessary in order to generate demand for your music. The trick here is being able to identify which artists to give beats to. We’ve all got those few friends who are high on hopes and short on cash and are convinced that they are the one rapper on the planet who you should let “jump on” your track and “make it hot.”

Don’t do it! Only give beats to artists who you know have money or financial backing, and have already generated a significant listening audience and fan base. If they like your sound, and it gets a good response at shows and on local radio, your demand has been created and you can now put a price tag on your beats. Many of the artists that I donated beats to in the past, have turned out to be my best paying clients.