How did hip hop pionners make their music?

barneysplash

Hi all

I stumbled across a great four-part documentary on BET called "The Message"
I found this on Sky channel 187.

I've watched the first part and found it very interesting.
It gives an overview of the origins and development of hip hop and rap music:

http://www.bet.com/shows/the-message.html

I grew up listening to NWA, LL Cool J, Ice-T, Ice Cube etc so I found the archive
footage and interviews enchanting.

Looking at the documentary, I found myself asking - how did they make the music back then
without things like computers and digital recording equipment?

I know they had two record turntables and a device called a "mixer" I believe to mix the sounds
between the two records. Then they would take old soul and funk records, often these were the
only ones they had access to due to poverty, and would use them to create hip hop music.

Somehow, and this is what I'd like to know, they were able to play certain parts of the songs over
and over again, these were called "breaks" apparently. and then someone would rap over the beat.
So how did they do it?

Thanks

Beaner1

Samplers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_Production_Center
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u5ulWbfwd0

Now if we're talking pioneers then we'd have to talk about the 808 drum machine as well.

barneysplash

Thanks for that, it does go a long way to explain how samples were created
from the late 80s onwards.

However, I am still curious how the original DJ in the early 80s made beats
with turntables and no electronic samplers.
Did they use tape in the studio to create loops?
What about live performances?

You mentioned the 808 drum machine, here is a great documentary on the 303
base machine that made a big impact in electronic music production.
I picked up a few classic tunes that I'd never heard before from watching this documentary:

https://archive.org/details/NateHarrisonBasslineBaseline

and here is another documentary from Nate Harrison about the amen break:

https://archive.org/details/NateHarrisonCanIGetAnAmen

fiachr_a

They used two copies of the same record and cut back over the part of a record with the crossfader playing same the break over and over. Is this a trick question?

Sham Squire

Yeah, the original DJ's that would rock breaks for MC's would be doing the fairly unimaginable innovation when you actually think about it, of playing turntables and mixer by hand, almost like you would a piano. The DJ would play the 20-30 second break on one turntable while holding the beginning of the same break on the other turntable and keep switching between the two, keeping the same break playing, in time, for as long as he wanted. I've always thought it was mind-blowing that someone would come up with that. They give innovation awards to guys who come up with widgets for cans of beer, but the original hip hop DJ's are up there with Einstein as far as I'm concerned.

For more see interviews on YouTube with DJ Kool Herc, the guy who invented it. I heard him talk about it before, and he said he spent months in his room practicing to be able to do it and when he first went out and did it in a club everybody hated it. Some clubs wouldn't let him play because of the way he put his hands all over the records, like he was breaking some unwritten etiquette rule of vinyl. Anyway, it eventually caught on.

barneysplash

They really did that with two copies of the same record? That's amazing.

I read a bit about Kool Herc, it's a bit sad that he hasn't got the fame (or money) from his pioneering work. His story would make a good documentary.

Thanks for taking the time to explain it.

fiachr_a

There are other tricks you can do with two copies of the same record. For dance tunes you can play the two together with the crossphader in the middle. Then touch one record for a second and it will play a bit behind the other. This should produce a phasing effect.

BaZmO*

fiachr_a wrote: »

There are other tricks you can do with two copies of the same record. For dance tunes you can play the two together with the crossphader in the middle. Then touch one record for a second and it will play a bit behind the other. This should produce a phasing effect.

Surely you mean fasing?

fiachr_a

No, phasing. It's a musical sound effect when two records or performers play the same tune or rhythm together and they go slightly out of sync. Here's more detail but it's for classical music. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phasing_%28music%29