New course announcement!
By some measures, hip-hop is now the most popular genre of music in the world. Over the past 40 years, it developed from a back-to-school party in the Bronx to a billion dollar industry.
The aim of our new course, The Art of Hip-Hop Production, is to help you draw on that storied legacy to become a more confident producer and beat maker. We’ll dive deep into writing beats and bass lines, creative sampling techniques, arranging, songwriting, and mixing, as well as many more elements, all with a specific eye towards crafting a hard-hitting hip-hop sound, through the lens of its many subgenres.
You do not want to sleep on this one!
When you enroll, you’ll also get two months of free access to millions of high-quality samples from our partner Splice, including instructor Charles Burchell’s brand new sample pack with his group The Love Experiment.
Over six weeks, we’ll take a close look at the historical background of hip-hop’s origins, how its cultural and social influences shaped the first records, and how breaks and breakbeats came to be. Then we’ll dive right in to how to utilize drums, bass, melodic material, electronic beat programming, sampling and loops, and more across a variety of different styles and techniques for a thorough and well-rounded learning experience which will get you ready to start making beats professionally.
Finally, in the last week of the course, we’ll discuss techniques for taking your projects over the finish line — digging into some basic mix techniques, learning how to make your samples sit well with your MIDI elements, and incorporating live musicians.
Learn more and preview a full lesson in The Art of Hip-Hop Production today.
“While hip-hop is all about a great vocal performance, it’s often the beat that’s the foundational source of energy for that performance. Our goal with this course is to give students the tools to create that energy and express themselves more fully, drawing on the genre’s rich legacy.” ~ Charles Burchell, course instructor.
Meet the Instructor
Charles Burchell has taught music for the past ten years and has worked with programs such as The Urbano Project, Carnegie Hall, Fondorie Sonore, Marquis Studios, Next Level Cultural Diplomacy Program, and Saint Louis College of Music. He is currently teaching hip-hop production, live performance, and rapping at Saint Louis College of Music and John Cabot University which are both located in Rome, Italy. He received a bachelor’s in music from New England Conservatory and a master’s in Arts in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Burchell makes beats under the moniker BLVK Samurai and has recorded, produced, and performed with artists such as Omar Sosa, Yilain Canizares, Christian Scott, Braxton Cook, Talib Kweli, Ran Blake, Ciel Rouge, Jason Moran, and Iman Omari. He has also produced three records with his band, The Love Experiment.
Do It With a Mentor
Subscribe here to get full access to the course content. As a subscriber, you’ll get immediate access to the course material to go through it at your own pace. Or, you can request to be paired up with a professional Soundfly Mentor to go through the course with you, 1:1, with feedback and guided support on your work over six weeks (details are inside the course).
The six-week experience includes:
- A weekly check-in with your mentor to see how things are going, answer your questions, and offer advice on your work.
- Exercises, activities, and challenges designed to help you improve your skills and push you closer to your goals. Your mentor can tweak these to your unique circumstances.
- In-depth feedback on your work to help you focus on the areas where you need the most support and get advice on improving your craft.
- The ability to ask your mentor any questions throughout the course if you get stuck.
Additionally, you get two catch-up weeks that you can use at any time if life outside of the course get too busy, or you just need a break. Just tell your mentor you want to hit pause, and pick right back up where you left off when you’re ready.
Finally, you get lifetime access to our Soundfly Slack chat room, where you can communicate in real time with all Soundfly team members, mentors, and fellow students at any time.
Without further ado, let’s get you signed up!
