I'm gonna drop some shit on you so take it how you want. Several factors are involved in production and many factors should be considered when you ask about the old bay sound. For one you don't have a lot of
PRODUCERS in the bay area. You have BEAT MAKERS (composers) but you don't have A lot of REAL producers. A REAL producer can produce a track and
NEVER touch a keyboard. A real producer knows how to direct the song, performance, arrangement and sequence. He or she can tell the drummer what to play, tell the bassist what to play, tell the guitarist to tune to E and tell the vocalist what pitch to be in. THATS production and on a lot of old school funk stuff thats actually what went on. Sadiq, Quincy, Babyface, Clinton these are producers in the O.G. sense. They come with CONCEPTS for songs and map it out.
Fast forward to today. Now producer can be used for any individual who has created a beat on an mpc or fruityloops. As long as he made the beat he is producer (but he should be
COMPOSER).
Times have changed and so has the terminology, equipment and sound. Where does that leave the rapper and the person who created the music? Well if you really look at it how many rappers actually KNOW how to get in contact with MUSICIANS? Not many. Is it hard? NOPE! Is it expensive? Depends on what you call expensive. A lot of musicians belong to the union and they can't charge certain rates.
Has it ever occurred to you that some of the people who
CAN play actually
DON'T want to play because some of the rappers are weak?
A lot of these rappers (not all) want a specific type of sound and too be honest funk is not the type of sound they want. Beats that contain tempo changes are not what they want. Beats that contain chord progressions are not what they want. Beats that have a unique arrangement/sequence and breakdowns are not what they want. They want a very
REPETATIVE sound that does
NOT have a form of
TENSION and
RELEASE. Funk has that. Listen to a p-funk or brothers johnson slap and you'll see.
A lot of blame should be placed on the rappers at this point. A lot of them want beats for free and people who can play (especially when they have mouthes to feed) need to be compensated. If the rappers had an understanding of MUSIC (theory) and raised the standards in what THEY rap over you might actually hear a return of funk and groove based rap music. Until that happens you have to settle for the mpc beats and the fantom and triton beats. Because a song was created on a triton does that make it weak? No. Does that mean it can't sound "live"? No. You can make a beat on the keyboard and it can sound like a "KEYBOARD" beat. Meaning the sounds are NOT "realistic".
Heres an example:
http://s18.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0V9JPVRCGAZG736B1RYGQH2W3L
You can also make a beat on the keyboard and make it sound realistic.
Heres an example:
http://s18.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0YIJUONJOXBPH02O8KH0XMAXKV
If you listen to the second beat I'll tell you exactly whats going on.
I need this bed. Ya'll be cool.
:hgk: