Hip hop’s Requiem Over the Renaissance

Making That Raw Sound
 
Underground Hip Hop production is best coded through one word: Raw. Raw is that hard hitting, no frills, straight from the vinyl sound that let's people know your song isn't for pop radio. For clarification, listen to "C.R.E.A.M" off of 36 Chambers, or any other track on that album for that matter. Still not sure what raw means? Grab something produced by DJ Premiere.
 
We, the Hip Hop scene, love Raw. That gritty, grimy sound makes a lyricist feel like he's pulling the hammer on a gun when he's writing to a Raw beat. It's no wonder that thousands of producers follow in the footsteps of Premiere (or Dre, FredWreck, or Green Lantern for that matter), by emulating that unmistakable essence. However, not many producer truly know what Raw is, and only the best of us know how to capture it.
 
Raw is sample based production. Hip Hop started with DJs looping up drum breaks, and production started when those DJs started mixing those breaks with other sounds. Raw is an adapted throwback to old, old skool beats, and I mean before Grandmaster Flash started doing all those quasi-techno electronic break beats.
 
Drums. Raw begins at the drums. Truthfully, a track that is just drums, assuming the choice of drums is right, is as raw as it gets. And this is why drums are so important. Hip Hop in general emphasizes drums - the tone of the drums generally defines the tone of the Hip Hop production. Finding drums from old skool rap tracks, funk songs, blues, or pretty much anything before 1985 is a good way to go when sampling. Or, recording your own drums is a good method. Remember, those drums were made before synthetic drum machines were invented, all those breaks were recorded from real drums.
Eric B pulled his drums straight off of vinyl, and just like how Rakim had the mic with a cable, Eric B didn't use the kind of turntable we had today. Nowadays, turntables are made for the purpose of DJ'n. Back in the day, turntables were used from playing records, not cutt'n. Making cuts off an old Technic or something of that quality causes low levels of distortion, which is called Amp Distortion. In addition, the resonance of the vinyl and from the needle create a low level of distortion as well. So, if you're not pulling your drum sound from a vinyl off a vintage turntable, you want to process the drum with either a Tube Warmer, or an Overdrive, or a Distortion effect.
 
Since we are working with drums that were recorded before 1985, we want to capture what makes that older recording style unique. In todays studio, the engineer captures as much of the sound as possible. Back in the day, the equipment was limited (what we call lo fi). There are several ways to emulate this sound. The easiest way to use a lo fi effect, which could be found on some compressors or distortion processors. However, finding a lo fi effect that doesn't dull the sound too much can be tricky. Another way is to use equalization and compression (this is how I do it). Old condensor mics had trouble capturing bass frequencies, and extremely high frequencies. So, step one is to reduce the frequency levels under 100Hz and the level above 12,000Hz. In an attempt to compensate for this loss of frequency, engineers would try to turn up the bass and high - but as we know, you can't create sound that isn't there. Step two is to slightly increase the frequency band between 200Hz and 300Hz, and the band between 7000Hz and 8000Hz. If the drum you're working on happens to be a snare, I recommend pulling up the 800Hz level a little bit as well.
 
The next step is the compression. Compression is an integral part to making raw sound. Compression will bring up all the dirt and grime in the recording, including that noise that vinyl records make when they are being played. Make sure you set the attack on the compressor at 10ms or higher so as not to lose the transient sound (the punch) of the drum.
 
Lastly, tap into that old skool plate reverb. Most reverb modules have a plate setting. Don't cut any of the frequency out of the reverb, except maybe for the low end. Listen to any track from 1993 or earlier, the reverb off the drums is very dynamic, so keep that frequency spectrum. Lastly, use a very subtle amount of delay to reinforce the reverb. This is a technique that went out in 94, but it sounds ill so don't knock it til you've tried it.
 
After you have the drums, the rest falls into place. Remember, record needles are thin, old skool mics have small diaphragms - that club bass is not raw. A fully dynamic bass sound is for club and funk music. Really cut down on the below 50Hz range on your bass. If you want the bass to hit hard, do it with volume, not with sub. The rest is finding appropriate sounds for your track and keeping that sampled sound. Even if you do it with a synthesizer, make sure you get that off-vinyl-sound. You may want to print your synth sound in lo fi, or at a poor interpolation and sample that to make your sound (in fact, if you use a synth, you might want to sample some dead air from a vinyl and throw that in too).
 
The biggest myth about "Raw" sound is that it has little effect applied to it. But remember, the producer is passing a signal through an old analog recording device, printing it with lower definition, and passing the signal through a turntable is an effect - so if you're not getting your sound that way, you do need to use effect processors.
 
Matthew "PC" Weiss

Have you been listening to the radio of late? If so, you certainly will have heard the most popular song your commercial stations have given heavy rotation. This song, for those of us who defend Hip hop - as an actual art - has become Hip hop’s requiem.

In a time when milk and honey flows, and the tree of wisdom withers and dies, this is the song we sing.

Save the music, save the music ya’ll.

Time and time again, I have witnessed scholars criticize my culture as being shallow and uncreative simply because they had heard this song. As I long for a Renaissance for our culture, as does KRS-One, Nas, Ras Kass, Canibus, and many others. However, as loud as we scream, “Renaissance! Renaissance!” few hear our cries over the requiem. The requiem is endorsed by the wealthiest; the requiem’s simplicity requires little of the artist and has therefore found many willing participants; the requiem is loud and omnipresent, yet so cleverly hidden in the background that it often eschews criticism.

Will there be a renaissance? Moreover, can there be a renaissance? The answer, sadly, is, “No!”

We often hear of the renaissance that took place with great painters Leonardo De Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, or of musical geniuses Bach, Mozart, Beethoven Haydn and such. We hear of how their music was innovative and even challenged human intellect as with the so-called “Mozart effect”. More recently, the renaissance of Harlem with Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and Charlie “Bird” Parker not only gave America it’s only original sound, but also showed us the pinnacle of many modern day instruments.

So what makes Jazz and Classical music different? To quote Queen Latifah, “U.N.I.T.Y.”

Many may not know that an artist as great a genius as Mozart was a musical mentor to another genius, Beethoven. Or that jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie was a mentor and partner to saxophonist Parker. Monk, considered esoteric by many historians, would meet with several other renown jazz musicians to discuss concepts that would advance their music. Vincent Van Gogh would trade works with Toulouse Lautrec and compare ideas to further their development of impressionism.

Where is our renaissance? In the various publicity stuns and media feuds that further nothing but cd sells? Or is it in the heavy rotation that make it unnecessary for artist to actually perform, since the songs are already known to the audience so well that the rapper just points the mic towards the crowd while juggling, circus like, the many props from pop culture (champiagn bottles, jewelry, sometimes even cars) he or she has transported to the stage?

What about inspiration for our rappers? To whom do rappers look up? Are their role models advanced musical minds, or simply the rapper who had the most soft drink commercials?

These are the questions I ask; these are the questions the many great minds our culture too have pondered. In unison we cry, “Renaissance!”  Unfortunately, you cannot hear us over the requiem.

                                                                Ins. Ohene. Shockley   
 
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