Who's making urban music and with what DAW & other hardware/software?

[Aloysius]

Testing, testing ...

[Straight2Vinyl]

Does Urban Elevator Music count?

If you're getting paid to make urban elevator music, you're doing better than 99 percent of urban producers/beat makers.

[MattmaN]

Just bought Renoise, and also a long time FL Studio user.

[MattmaN]

With all the advancements in software, you don't necessarily need samples to make hip-hop though. It's what most still use, but it can be done in other ways.
This is what I've been trying to get to since getting back into writing and producing music. Very high end virtual instruments and sample libraries can emulate anything. The thing is you have to be very and I mean VERY skilled. So far I've figured out how to get some horn solos that nobody can tell are not sampled until I tell them it's SWAM stuff. It's going to be some time before I can play parts that sound like a horn section though, as it takes an understanding of arranging for horns which is a different skill, still I've heard it done and there's a thread in VI Control where one composer demonstrates it quite nicely.
What I struggle most to emulate now are guitar tracks. It can be done, but it takes a degree of knowledge of guitars themselves and I only know a few open chords, which aren't used in the funk and soul stuff that hip-hop originally sampled anyway. Or the later neo-soul music that came along. Hopefully in a year I'll be closer to the right sound though.

I still use samples, but more for percussion, sounds for scratching and other embellishment.

I used to do that a lot around....2006? Had a ton of sound fonts, and free vst instruments. Sometimes stuff came out sounding pretty convincing. Especially when chopped, re-sequenced, and buried in a mix.
I still prefer vinyl though even if I don't always use it anymore.

[Straight2Vinyl]

With all the advancements in software, you don't necessarily need samples to make hip-hop though. It's what most still use, but it can be done in other ways.
This is what I've been trying to get to since getting back into writing and producing music. Very high end virtual instruments and sample libraries can emulate anything. The thing is you have to be very and I mean VERY skilled. So far I've figured out how to get some horn solos that nobody can tell are not sampled until I tell them it's SWAM stuff. It's going to be some time before I can play parts that sound like a horn section though, as it takes an understanding of arranging for horns which is a different skill, still I've heard it done and there's a thread in VI Control where one composer demonstrates it quite nicely.
What I struggle most to emulate now are guitar tracks. It can be done, but it takes a degree of knowledge of guitars themselves and I only know a few open chords, which aren't used in the funk and soul stuff that hip-hop originally sampled anyway. Or the later neo-soul music that came along. Hopefully in a year I'll be closer to the right sound though.

I still use samples, but more for percussion, sounds for scratching and other embellishment.

I used to do that a lot around....2006? Had a ton of sound fonts, and free vst instruments. Sometimes stuff came out sounding pretty convincing. Especially when chopped, re-sequenced, and buried in a mix.
I still prefer vinyl though even if I don't always use it anymore.

I still have vinyl, but am trying to get into licensing which means no samples. It forces me to be a better musician though which i like. Its also less limiting when actually writing songs with melodies, chord progressions etc. but obviously old vinyl has a very different sound that's a lot of work to emulate if you really want it. And if you want to make classic hip hop it's where the music comes from, as everyone knows.

How are you liking Renoise? It's different at the outset, but if you can get to an intermediate level it can do some very cool tricks.

[mrj1nx]

I make instrumental funk/rnb/hiphop with lots of jazz and videogame influences. I use Logic Pro X, use a combo of uTonic, Ultrabeat, drumkit deisgner, Nerve for drums. Then a plethora of plugins and VIs. Around 50% of my sounds are FM based. I also do NES chiptune style music.

[perfumer]

urban music LOLZ

can't help you there, I only listen to forest and music from helll, you know what I'm sayin'.

[V0RT3X]

I make urban music

for Devil cults in the sewers...

just kidding

anyways back OT.

I would recommend Ableton Live and a Push and that's really largely all you'll need for banging out some pretty cool beats. Slicing with Vinyl is dead easy with Lives built-in slicing function and the Push 2.

HIGHLY HIGHLY recommended if you want to make cool beats.

[Saukar30]

Ive been making hiphop & r&b for almost 20 years. Ive been using a little of everything. The DAW Ive used most is/was Orion Platinum. Its so easy to use because every instrument you input has its own pattern sequencer. No fuss. Too bad its discontinued.

Ive also used FLstudio (rarely now since version 12), Phrazor (also discontinued), & now Reaper. Reaper I use mostly just for tracking rap vocals, mixing or mastering... rarely for production. It just doesnt work with my head unless Im sequencing something without patterns that keeps changing and Im "playing" versus programming beats. I have the MPC Software & Reason as well, but its hard to wrap my head around those. I think the MPC Software works better with the hardware to go to it. And Reason has lovely sounds, but it also works more linearly like Reaper.

As far as VSTs Ive used everything. There really isnt rules. I used to just download all the free stuff before I started learning synthesis and just use presets. After a few decades Im an official amateur lol and now I can program some of the stuff I like. My main things I use are Komplete, Dune 3, UVI Workstation with some libraries, Synthmaster, Geist, Sampletank 3, Addictive Drums, SQ8L, Synth1, Tal Sampler, Xpand2 & now I just got Halion. So anything goes really. I focus on a lot of different styles of urban music so the more tools the better.

[Saukar30]

To add... most of this shit is a rabbit hole. It doesnt matter what you make music with. As long as you like what you use. Using what everyone uses wont make you better ( or worse).

[fedexnman]

I listen to Trip-Hop apparently , I didn't know the genre .... The Prodigy , Massive Attack is kinda that genre in a way . I could totally see them using a tracker (Renoise) early on . 90s music . Yeah totally agree it doesn't matter what software or hardware you use to make music . .

[v1o]

I know this is mainly an electronic music forum, but I was just curious who else focuses more on urban music ie. hip-hop, r & b etc. and what DAW and/or other hardware/software are you using?

At the moment I'm mainly using Reaper + Renoise along with some stuff from Komplete, SWAM and various samples.

What about you guys?

A few corrections. Hip hop is electronic music. It came about as a result of the invention of synths, samplers and drum machines.

You can argue that Electronic music loosely falls under the ‘Urban’ umbrella as that whole scene pretty much came from House, Techno and Dub. House and Techno were of course invented by brothers.

[Straight2Vinyl]

I know this is mainly an electronic music forum, but I was just curious who else focuses more on urban music ie. hip-hop, r & b etc. and what DAW and/or other hardware/software are you using?

At the moment I'm mainly using Reaper + Renoise along with some stuff from Komplete, SWAM and various samples.

What about you guys?

A few corrections. Hip hop is electronic music. It came about as a result of the invention of synths, samplers and drum machines.

You can argue that Electronic music loosely falls under the ‘Urban’ umbrella as that whole scene pretty much came from House, Techno and Dub. House and Techno were of course invented by brothers.

Obviously.
Don't forget turntables and a mixer my good man.