High school sophomore Vikas Prasad has one main goal: score a production placement with a major rap artist before the end of the school year. When he’s not in class, the 16-year-old spends most of his ...

We’re going big on beats, tackling both programming and mixing drums, with tips for crafting better acoustic and electronic sounds (and all without a human drummer in sight) When you purchase through ...

Trip-hop is a style that’s highly dependent on its laid back feel and this is often achieved using slowed down sampled loops and breaks. Building your track from loops is definitely a valid approach, ...

Hip-hop at it's core is lyrics on a beat, with both being vital for the final product. Throughout the genre's history, there have been some truly incredible beats that turned producers into stars, and ...

I’m not saying I’m going to be the next Deadmau5, but the Library of Congress’ new “Citizen DJ” web app is pretty awesome to play around with—even if you don’t think you’ll use any of the sick beats ...

Ever noticed how the same beat can hit differently each time you hear it? That’s the magic of repetition. It's not just doing something repeatedly; it’s turning it into something new. Whether it's a ...

Hip-hop beat-makers are usually unseen. Not all sample-based producers are as reclusive as the torch-bearing loop artist Madlib, but even the most prominent among them are part of the backdrop. After ...