Rihanna ft Drake - Work Instrumenal Remake by VALETHATBEATBOII

check out my new remake ! let me know what you think !

Introduction to African Music 101

African music typically ranges from 110 BPM to somewhere around 128 BMP .

It mainly uses a poly-rhythmic structure and features ethnic percussion instruments like kalimba's , Silimba's djembe's or ngoma's . Unfortunately there a few places where you can find sound sample packs of these instruments but if you have a K100 or $10 then just visit Kabwata Cultural Market in Lusaka or a local drum in your area they might have some .

Traditional African music like Kalindula and Rumba tend to use guitars a lot . Kalindula however places a lot of emphasis on guitar picking, the guitars are usually acoustic guitars or electric guitars , most notable Kalindula artists like Kalambo Hit Parade or PK Chishala had powerful guitar skills .

Rumba in contrast places emphasis on the vocals and bass rhythm of the track .

In recent years Afro beat another sub-genre of African Music has gained massive popularity , Afrobeat tends to fuse African musical elements with foreign music elements . It tends to use African rhythms and percussions accompanied with synthesizers  . Popular tracks include Davido's Dami Duro , Wizkid's Azonto , Fuse ODG's Antenna and P - Squares Shekinini. Notable producers include Don Jazzy , Oscar , Shizzi , Killbeat ,Dice-On-The-Beat and Tonny Breezy .

In our next post we shall continue with our introduction and discuss South African House .

Simple Tips On How To Make Trap Beats

Trap is a sub-genre of hip hop that has gained popularity in recent years , it is genre that is said to have originated from the TR – 808 synthesizer , from which its signature 808 bass is sourced from. Some of the biggest trap songs include Cassper Nyovest's Doc Shebeleza , T. I 's Top Back ,  and  Beyonce's Drunk In Love ..and most recent Desiigner's Panda .

Lex Luger , Mike Will, Zaytoven , Metro Boomin  and  Ganja Beatz are one of the most prominent producers of trap music.

Basically trap is around 130 to 165 beats per minute but it can also go as low as 80 bpm .

808s are one prominent part of trap , almost all trap beats feature 808 kicks , 808 bass , and 808 hats .When you are making a trap beat it is important that you first program your kicks , claps and hats first .After that you may add strings , synths , etc.

Then the next step is adding your 808 bass.If you are using FL studio , do click on the channel and in channel settings , reduce the attack and release of the 808 bass from the ADSR envelope. Doing so will keep your bass clean . Other producers like to play their 808 bass from the sharp notes , however I personally like to just match it to the notes of the strings or synths of entire track .

Adding some  vocal samples spices up your track . One of the most sampled (and almost abused lol :) ) vocal samples is the "hi vocal sample " ...ever since Lex Luger used it on Rick Ross' Blowin Money Fast its been on so many tracks its hard to count .

3...2...1.....Lift OFF !!

There comes a time when the sun has to go up,

a time when the eagle has to fly higher,

A time when we have to reach for the stars !

Last year , when I was very much of an amateur and still learning how to mix beats in Fruity Loops , I happened to encounter a paradigm shift .

I met a friend who introduced me to Mr Champs from 260 Africa . Mr Champs pretty much taught me most of the things  I know about mixing and sound synthesis .

After the enlightening experience with Mr Champs , my beats slowly started to improve.

At the time I was working on a trap  beat I called Apollo which I just re-uploaded this evening  here .

Apollo marked my transition from amateur to intermediate , and hence the idea of Apollo was about changing levels , attaining new heights and reaching for gold !

Next week I'll do an article on how to make trap beats . Sign up to my email to stay updated !!