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Marketing Yourself - Be a Business
2008-05-08 00:00:00
Hip hop beat making is definately a weird choice for an entrepreneurial career because people usually start off doing it just for fun, and then (if they get good, haha) one thing leads to another and moneys coming their way. Because of this there is never a business plan, and ...
More About: Marketing , Business

Jimmy Iovine Interview on the Music Industry
2008-02-22 00:00:00
Jimmy Iovine talking about the industry for a bit.  Some interesting shit.  It's nice to hear someone who's been in the business for so long talking about things like this.  Check it out here.
More About: Music , Industry , Interview , Jimmy , The Music

updates and contributions
2008-02-16 00:00:00
Hello there readers of the producer's den. Sorry for the lack of updates as of late, but i've been very busy with things that don't involve this site, haha. Within the next month, there should hopefully be some reviewing, tutorial-writing, news posting, and all that good stuff again. Also, if anybody ...
More About: Updates , Contributions

New Tutorials: Making Bass & Getting Grimy Drums
2007-10-25 00:00:00
    Two new tutorials are up, both of which you should (hopefully) enjoy.  Check them out.  Making Bass with a Low-Pass Filter is a tutorial on how to get some nice basss out of the samples you're already working with, and Making Grim y Drums is a list of a ...
More About: Tutorials

Record Contract Basics
2007-10-19 00:00:00
This is a short article by an attorney on the basics of record contracts.  For somebody who has no idea what they are doing when it comes to signing to a record label, this can be of some use.  It uses plain English and does a good job at getting ...
More About: Contract , Record , Basics , Cord

Dr. Dre - Hardware AND Software
2007-10-13 00:00:00
All these people debating all of the time, "HARDWARES BETTER!" .. "NO, SOFTWARES BETTER!" .. who gives a fuck?  Check out this nice mix of some VSTs and some hardware to boot.
More About: Hardware , Software , Hardwar

Rick Rubin on the Record Industry
2007-09-06 00:00:00
Here's an article by the NY Times about industry mogul co-founder of Def Jam Rick Rubin 's latest switch to Columbia Record s. (If you don't know about Rick Rubin , then find out.) There's two problems with this article It's very long It's written in a pretencious narrative style that can be annoying However, there's ...
More About: Industry

New Tutorial: How to Make Acapellas
2007-09-06 00:00:00
Well, browsing through Youtube I found a nice video describing sample inversion and showing you how to do it using Adobe Audition.  This is a good technique for stripping vocals and making acapellas.  So, if you're interested in this sort of thing, then hop on over to it and check ...
More About: Tutorial , Make , Apel

Kanye West - Graduation Tracklisting
2007-08-08 00:00:00
Kanye West has released the tracklisting to his upcoming third album Graduation , set to drop on the 11th of September. It seems straight. The main thing that I noticed was that it is very slimmed down compared to his other two in regards of features and skits. ...
More About: Kanye West , Adua , Trac

New Tutorial: Making Snare Rolls
2007-07-23 00:00:00
I just wrote up a quick little tutorial on how to make a snare roll in FL Studio.  This will be the same concept for any sequencer with a piano roll so you can adapt it to Reason, Ableton, etc. Check it out.  How to Make Snare Rolls in FL Studio.
More About: Tutorial , Rial , Maki , Makin

Hot 97 Interview with Dj Premier, Pete Rock, and 9th Wonder
2007-07-09 00:00:00
Very sick. Not all the time you get to see three producers of this calibre in the same place, especially all being interviewed. iaeprTp532Q
More About: Rock , Interview , Pete , Hot 97 , Pete Rock

Dj Premier?s Year Round Records Presents: NYG - Welcome to G-Dom
2007-07-05 00:00:00
Dj Premier has been a pioneer in hip hop since 1989, chopping up samples and constantly reminding listeners of what real hip hop is supposed to sound like. So when he takes somebody under his wing and co-signs them, I'm prepared to listened. On September 12th, 2007 NYG's ...
More About: Presents , Round , Records , Year , Remi

Where to Sell Your Music
2007-07-05 00:00:00
A lot of people wonder "How can I sell my beats?" They have a lot of good music, but not enough of a network to sell all of their tracks to, so they hit a standstill. I'm a firm believer in selling yourself. I think that if ...
More About: Music , Sell , Where

Album Credits
2007-07-03 00:00:00
Found this site.. that you may or may not have heard of that contains album credits for lots and lots and lots of albums.  What are album credits?  Album credits tell you who produced a track, who they sampled, etc. etc.  Why is this important?  Well it's not, but curioisity ...
More About: Credits

T.I vs. T.I.P Production Credits
2007-07-03 00:00:00
Here are the production credits for T.I. s next CD "T.I vs. T.I.P" due out in July. I can't verify how accurate these are; they're from Wikipedia. First impressions of the list are: No Toomp? Hmm. Wyclef Jean? I didn't know he still did shit. ...
More About: Production , Prod , Credits

Finding the BPM of a Song
2007-07-03 00:00:00
Many people ask how do I find the tempo of a song? Why is this answer so sought-after? Well, the main reason is - remixing. If you have a beat you want to put an acapella on, you'll want to know the tempo (BPM) of the original song so ...
More About: Song

Nitti Interview: Wtf?
2007-06-16 23:49:00
"...they should make a law to ban sampling as then all the real producers would come out" Yep. That's a real gem Young Joc's old producer Nitti dropped in an interview with Hip Hop DX the other day. HHDX: Why do you choose not to sample that much? Is it a personal choice? Nitti: Because it takes up too much time and to me sampling is not original. I donÂ’t get impressed by no producer that samples a lot. To me you are taking something that was already a master recording and you are using someone elseÂ’s ideas from scratch. To me being a producer is coming up with something from scratch. DonÂ’t sample nobodyÂ’s melodies, make your own. I get in there and make my beats from scratch all the way. I donÂ’t get impressed by sampling Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, that is A, B, C shit to me. HHDX: When you say time I assume you mean for clearance? Nitti: Yeah that takes both time and money. You know if you sample a record and Earth, Wind and Fire are sampled, they are probably g...
More About: Interview

Kanye West - New Songs
2007-06-16 23:36:00
First off: Stronger. I don't know why I didn't post this earlier, because I've been listening to this hard for the past little while, but this is off of Kanye 's new CD Graduation scheduled for release in August. It samples Daft Punk and is one of the most creative beats I've heard in a long time. Now when I say creative, I don't just mean creative; I mean creative AND sick as fuck. It may not be for everyone, but it sure is for me. Haha. Listen. And while we're on the topic of Kanye's new album, his collaboration with John Mayer Bittersweet was leaked a while ago. Quality track. Listen. Make sure if you like an artist to buy the album. The Producer's Den does not condone album downloading.
More About: Songs , Kanye West , West , New Song

Nitti Interview: …?
2007-06-16 18:41:00
“…they should make a law to ban sampling as then all the real producers would come out” Yep. That’s a real gem Young Joc’s old producer Nitti dropped in an interview with Hip Hop DX the other day. HHDX: Why do you choose not to sample that much? Is it a personal choice? Nitti: Because it takes up too much time and to me sampling is not original. I don’t get impressed by no producer that samples a lot. To me you are taking something that was already a master recording and you are using someone else’s ideas from scratch. To me being a producer is coming up with something from scratch. Don’t sample nobody’s melodies, make your own. I get in there and make my beats from scratch all the way. I don’t get impressed by sampling Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, that is A, B, C shit to me. HHDX: When you say time I assume you mean for clearance? Nitti: Yeah that takes both time and money. You know if you sample a record and Earth, Wind and Fire are...
More About: Interview

Kanye West - New Songs
2007-06-16 16:43:00
First off: Stronger. I don’t know why I didn’t post this earlier, because I’ve been listening to this hard for the past little while, but this is off of Kanye ’s new CD Graduation scheduled for release in August. It samples Daft Punk and is one of the most creative beats I’ve heard in a long time. Now when I say creative, I don’t just mean creative; I mean creative AND sick as fuck. It may not be for everyone, but it sure is for me. Haha. Listen. And while we’re on the topic of Kanye’s new album, his collaboration with John Mayer Bittersweet was leaked a while ago. Quality track. Listen. Make sure if you like an artist to buy the album. The Producer’s Den does not condone album downloading.
More About: Songs , Kanye West , West , New Song

Understanding Music Managers
2007-06-09 20:53:00
As one of artistic talent the manager is THE center of your professional world. A good manager can expand your career by being the PUBLIC face for you (new producers/artist), they encompass many responsibilities of people that you could hire yourself to handle, but it is easier on the new talent to have a jack of all trades-master of none, well….but one. The gift of gab. As a good manager knows how to sell his/her client. That’s right! The manager’s job is to sell the client. He does that with these responsibilities: (more…)
More About: Music , Managers , Understand , Standing , Manage

Music Business - New Section, Comments, & Updates
2007-06-09 06:21:00
I'm putting up a new section here on The Producer's Den. It's called Music Business and as you guessed, it's going to be about the music business haha. This includes tips and tricks, and articles about the music business in general. I hope you enjoy. There's already three posts up which should prove useful. You can now post comments. I'm going to try it out for a bit and see how it goes, but yeah, as of now you can make comments on all posts. You have to register though, so create an account if you haven't. Also, if you haven't noticed there's quite a few new videos up in the video section.
More About: Updates , Comments , Section

The Artist & Producer Production Deals
2007-06-08 20:56:00
Now before we get in depth, lets get a general understanding. There are 3 different kinds of production deals an artist and producer can partner up on. They are the following: The Mini-Record Deal, Joint Venture, and Work-For-Hire. But, before this idea is even entertained the artist MUST NOT be signed to a distributing label. But this is a VERY IMPORTANT issue among artists that are going the independent route. As you will understand later. (more…)
More About: Artist , Production , The A , Prod , Produce

101 Tips on How to Market Your Music
2007-06-08 20:54:00
Need ideas on how to spread the news that you are ready to hit the music scene? Don’t know where to start your music marketing and promotional efforts? Some tips presented here are tried, true and some are new, to get the word out on your music and you. (more…)
More About: Music , Market , Tips , Mark

Dj Shadow, Cut Chemist, Dj Numark - Pushing Buttons
2007-06-06 02:06:00
This video is old (from around 2002), and I've even had the DVD for quite a while, but I figured if you haven't seen this yet you should. It shows how fun hip hop can be. This is all live, and they all go off on MPCs rocking out. It's a beautiful thing.
More About: Shadow , Mark , Shin , Butt , Numark

Vinyl Garage Sale
2007-05-29 02:17:00
The Producer's Den is proud to announce it's new website for cheap vinyl. We know not everybody lives in a city great for digging, and that's why it's great that we have access to this here internet. Vinyl Garage Sale was set up with you beat makers in mind, and has specialty categories such as Soul, and Break Beats, alongside numerous other categories. If you look through the site enough there will be something for everybody. Keep vinyl alive. Visit the site.

Deep Crates 2
2007-05-25 02:00:00
BeatDawg Films have recently released their follow-up to Deep Crate s, surprisingly titled Deep Crates 2. This DVD is a rather promising documentary looking at the beat digging culture. Featuring interviews and behind the scenes footage with Pete Rock, Marley Marl, Domingo, J-Zone, and many, many more innovators and big players in the sampling scene. Read more for the trailer and more information. Deep Crates @ Myspace. More information and purchase details.
More About: Rates , Rate

Deep Crates 2
2007-05-24 21:26:00
BeatDawg Films have recently released their follow-up to Deep Crate s, surprisingly titled Deep Crates 2. This DVD is a rather promising documentary looking at the beat digging culture. Featuring interviews and behind the scenes footage with Pete Rock, Marley Marl, Domingo, J-Zone, and many, many more innovators and big players in the sampling scene. Read more for the trailer and more information. (more…)
More About: Rates , Rate

Beat Digging Documentary
2007-05-20 05:53:00
If you have a free 30 minutes (or even if you don't), check out this video. It's gonna bring back feelings for you. It's gonna make you want to hit up a record store and make some heat. Video with D.I.T.C, Beat minerz, and some bits from Mos Def and Common. Quality.
More About: Documentary , Document , Menta , Documenta

Beat Digging Documentary
2007-05-19 21:17:00
If you have a free 30 minutes (or even if you don’t), check out this video. It’s gonna bring back feelings for you. It’s gonna make you want to hit up a record store and make some heat. Video with D.I.T.C, Beat minerz, and some bits from Mos Def and Common. Quality.
More About: Documentary , Documenta