Charles Burchell, Author at Soundfly

Home for the Curious Musician

Charles Burchell

Charles Burchell is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, educator, and diplomat from New Orleans, LA. He has studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, the New England Conservatory (B.M. ’12), and most recently completed the Masters of Arts in Education program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (Ed. M ’13). Burchell has recorded and produced albums with Wes “Warmdaddy” Anderson, Delfayo Marsalis, Ran Blake, Ciel Rouge, his band The Love Experiment (featured in Touring on a Shoestring), and has performed and given master classes at various music festivals around the world. Burchell also works as a cultural diplomat with the Next Level Program and is currently a teaching artist for Carnegie Hall’s Digital Music Production Workshop and Musical Connections Program in which he works with court involved youth and students from various boroughs throughout New York City. Burchell continues to perform regularly around the U.S. and internationally as a DJ, drummer, and bandleader.

Just How Important Is Melody in Hip-Hop Music?

Hip-hop is considered by many to be a “non-musical” genre due to its emphasis on spoken vocals and sampled beats, but that’s why melody is even more key…

Common Approaches to Flipping Vinyl Samples

A deep dive into the history and art of flipping and sampling vinyl records to make new hip-hop beats, for amateur producers and crate-diggers!

2 Ways of Creating Bass Lines in Hip-Hop Beats

In this post, an excerpt of one of the lessons in Soundfly’s Hip-Hop Production course, we go over two ways to use bass lines in hip-hop beats.

A Brief-ish History of the Drum Kit

Got 10 minutes to learn about the history of the drum kit as we know it today? We talk about how individual drums, players, and genres helped the kit evolve.

The Importance of Theme and Variation in Hip-Hop Beat Making

With a minimalist music style such as hip-hop, the slightest change or variation on an established musical theme can have a deep impact. Here’s how.

10 Tips for Making Your First Trap Beat

Practicing your skills as a hip-hop producer? Here’s my best advice for how to start writing trap beats to shop around with vocalists and rappers.

What the “Tristan Chord” Is and How to Use It

An in-depth exploration of one of the most storied chords in opera, what makes it so influential, and how to use it yourself in your compositions.

The Lasting Legacy of the Slave Trade on American Music

Today is the UN International Day of Remembrance of the Slave Trade, we honor this day by charting the legacy of African diasporic music in America.

Our 10 Favorite Rap Beats of 2018 and Why We Still Love Them

We count down and break down our ten favorite hip-hop beats of 2018 to find out what’s going on inside them and why they’re still so good.

How Rap Ushered the Piano into Its Next Developmental Phase

+ Check out Soundfly’s brand new mentored online course, The Art of Hip-Hop Production, to learn the…