i suppose we're using the word "beat" as a vague term for the songs i/we create. it's not meant to lower or devalue the hard work people put into their music.

Back in the day, hip hop kind of started when kids in the ghetto couldn't afford instruments in a pawn store in the late 70s. But they had records, and more often or not turntables. Boom! Hip hop started out of necessity.

Today? All anybody really needs is a computer, FL/Reason/Cubase/Logic etc. It's almost like the art of sampling is a art that kind of is needing it's identity all over again if it's so easy to just go out and make your own "Beats". Trouble is, most people just try to sound like what's hot on the radio. And hip hop can change daily, so can any artist really stand out and do their own thing? Or just try & copy Timbaland or The Neptunes.

Back to us, those who choose to sample, you just can't worry about it too much. You can sample anything you want, but do we ever feel like nobody cares how hard we work to find rare records, sample/chop & sequence our own beats, just to probably know that you're not going to blow up if you're not doing this stuff in pro tools or whatever. But to me, the satisfaction of creating something out of sounds, that you just can't get from your computer. Don't get me wrong, it's fun to use a computer, but i also enjoy using real gear. I just hope you all are having fun, and just trying to get better at what you're doing, instead of bitter and jaded.

Firstly there is 100x as much talk about SPs here than MVs and MPCs and it's not like talk about other gear is banned... so I don't really get where that comment is comin from at all... You don't want people to talk about that stuff?

I disagree with you on the naming thing,
IMO it doesn't matter what we're called at all.. It's the music you make that defines you, not the name.

It seems to me like in your mind you feel that 'composers' are better/smarter/thought more highly of than 'beat makers' and 'producers'... You're placing value in title... I think that's what's wrong with alot of society.

What exactly do you think needs to be done to change in the 21st century?

call yourself what you want, my name is jim.

may i ask, why you don't want chatter about mv's or mpc's??

also, what about those who actualy play samplers and record live??

BEATSBEATSBEATSBEATSBEATSBEATS

Where did this bright yellow attitude come from. Maybe its the full moon or something. I work in a facility that lives off of titles. Where all the managers are only managers cause they wore a shirt and a tie for more than a year and just fell into place. If you feel as though being called a composer makes you more of a legit BEAT PRODUCER, more power to you. Im an animator and sometimes i feel like people should call me KING, so i can feel better about my career. Composers have their name for a reason, not just cause they create compositions. I write rhymes in my composition book, i aint composing. But its a composition book. Im arranging my phrases.
You might wanna get out of that mindset, makes you seem arrogant, unless thats what your going for. More power to you on that. But we are all makin beats, call it what you want. Step up on stage and yell to the crowd, here is my COMPOSITION and get boo'ed off the stage, "like "i aint come for compositions, i came for BEATS!"

I'd say a majority of the questions regarding MPC's and other equipment are usually in the realm of how to use that gear WITH an SP. So I really don't see where the confusion would come from. As far as the whole name thing - does it really matter? Seems like a whole lot of energy to be put into something so miniscule as whether or not people refer to you as a producer or beat maker. C'mon son.


To quote Tyler the Creator.


"I AM A FUCKING STEAK"

No one is limiting you to calling your stuff beats if they aren't. Beats is just a hip hop term to describe the underlying backing track for a rapper and if thats not what your going for then yeah, calling them beats might not be accurate. With that said, beatmakers are vital to hip hop, as are producers, and their jobs often overlap. Producers bring all the elements and people together, manage the budget and timeline for completing the project, keeps the group from fighting, records vocals, mix, and master if neccessary, and more. This is why a beatmaker can earn so much more money if he can market these skills with his beat. If he can't, its still all good but then at that point you are a "beatmaker" and not a "producer." Beatmaker's are musicians, just like a guitarist or piano player, except their value is considerably higher because they create the whole song, drums and all.

I'm not offended, so all good there.

I don't understand how it limits you as a (put personal definition here) by being called a beat maker? I get where you coming from about creating compositions but for those who play samplers as instruments, surely then the term composer is limiting?? I don't know, my brain is fried from work. This is a circle of debate haha

HEH, WELCOME TO THE FORUM, WHERE OPINIONS ARE CRITICIZED AND GOOD DISCUSSIONS FORM.

Mozart, Chopin, Stravinsky and Bach were composers. Are you seriously implying that we can compare ourselves with them?

I feel where you're going with this. If you played guitar and wrote songs, you'd probably call yourself a singer songwriter, and not necessarily producer. That's not to say you're not producing by doing it yourself, but you write down words, figure out the chords, melody, chorus, and there you go, you wrote a song. When you build a song with a beat, it's kind of doing the same thing, but different. The beat could start with kick, snare, clap, hi-hat, etc. Then the bassline might be next, and finally notes/melody.

You probably wouldn't call yourself a singer songwriter, but a producer or beat maker. But if you feel you're doing composing, then cool, compose away. The point is, you have to build any song from the ground up. Once you more or less know how you want it to sound, it all comes together and then bang, it's created. Just keep doing what you love, and don't take the title of what you do too seriously. Just have fun with it. Keep learning as much as you can so you can get better. Practice, practice, practice.

beat makers, composers, does it matter what you label yourself as? They're just words. They limit nothing.

There's a reason Duke Ellington disliked titles and being categorized, and I believe it to be limitations on expression. Just do what you do and you aren't limiting yourself at all. A title couldn't possibly limit anyone unless they allow it to for whatever reason.