DJ Pas, Thanks, man. Yeah, I hear you the zones. Convenience is an important part of workflow. But for far too many, convenience or an "easy button" type of functionality becomes the substitute for creativity, and that's the problem. You're correct in making the distinction in how you use zones vs. a less creative use of auto-chop. —Sa'id

Brandon F, Thank you, man. You really hit on an important point I was making in my article: Getting caught up in auto-chop can absolutely limit your creativity. Not only that, it lead to a false since of real skill. Glad you like the breakdown of this song and the song itself. Much appreciated. —Sa'id

Cstarcrusher, Thank you. I understand how that process works. Working the zones like that gives you lots of control! What you're talking about is more creative and more thought out than simply throwing something into auto-chop with no vision or scope. —Sa'id

vizionheiry, Glad you were able to gain further perspective on composing loops after reading this post. Sample selection is always key. But as I stress in 'The BeatTips Manual,' it's also important to know what kinds of sounds and phrases that you can sample. And when you understand the different sections of a song, you have a better grasp how the arrangements are likely to pan out. This knowledge helps with the subtle nuances of chopping sections and coming up with the most effective loop point for the sample you're working with. As far as your preference for vocal phrases amid orchestration, sometimes the thing to do isn't necessarily EQ'ing but instead layering. When you can't get the drums out, leave them in! You can layer the sample with percussion—tambourines, extra hi-hats, low velocity kicks, tucked snares; really there's a whole host of different layering options even sound stabs. So don't feel defeated, always remember that if you like a sample, there *is a way to make it work. You just have to find the right chop scheme, arrangement, and blends of additional sounds. For instance, if you notice here with this "Heartbreak Hotel Remix" joint that I did, I turned down the treble of the sample and boosted up the bass. Another way to think about it is to imagine throwing a number of blankets over the mid frequency of the sample. Once you have the highs muzzled, so to speak, you can work in your drum sounds. Then, as you blend (mix) everything, pull off one blanket at a time (return some of the mid frequency) until you have the blend of low (bass), mid, and high (treble) that works best with your drums and the rapper's voice and style. Thanks for letting me know that you'd like to see more of these types of posts. I certainly have more beat breakdowns to come. In fact, you can click on the "BeatTips Beat Breakdown" category to see others that I've already done. —Sa'id

What's up Lee TNBM? Hope you been good. As far as the Marco Polo/H. Stax project, I'm no longer working on that, I pulled out. I had a number of things on my plate, and I was finishing up my new book, 'The Art of Sampling.' And don't worry, the BeatTips.com Beat Battles are not going anywhere. I just had to complete work on several projects that I had obligations to. —Sa'id

TheMnBeat, Thank you. You know, with every beat, I aim for tight groove. And as rapper, I need the tightest pocket to work with when I'm using longer loops. —Sa'id

Hey Kinito, Press play on the black divShare audio player directly beneath the title of the beat. (There is no link to the beat.) —Sa'id

Yo, Brandon, what's going on, brother! Thanks for your comment... Yeah, start to finish, 'School for the Blindman' is a stone solid album. I *still have this in my CD rotation in my car and on my computer. —Sa'id

Lee TNBM, Thanks for your comment! Glad to know that I'm able to help. If you ever have any questions or you want to run your ideas past me, just hit me up. —Sa'id

Mello Kid, Word!!! I hear that record before, never envisioned what Kanye West did with it. Dope, simple and plain. —Sa'id

Walter Lee, You're right! I thought the same thing. Picking the *right* joint to lead off with is critical. And no doubt, there was some jealousy regarding that beat. —Sa'id

vbabygirl, Thanks for your comment... I can assure you that I'm well-versed in the difference between a beatmaker and the traditional meaning of a "producer"; I wrote about it extensively in my book, 'The BeatTips Manual.', and I've discussed the issue numerous times in The BeatTips Community (the forums) and other places. But what Bangladesh is speaking about here has nothing to do with the question of the role of a producer, or the misunderstanding of a beatmaker. No! This is not about a beat sale, this is about not being paid publishing royalties for the music instrumental created (written) by Bangladesh. It has nothing to do with what Lil Wayne did or didn't do with the actual song. Bangladesh provided the instrumental music for the song. In publishing, the song has two parts to it: The music (instrumental) and the lyrics (words). As the maker of the beat—the maker/writer of the instrumental music—Bangladesh is entitled to his publishing—his royalties! Now, if he signed his publishing rights away, then that's another story. —Sa'id

onemanBeats, Like I say in my article, my default approach is to start with non-drum sounds. But when working with keyboard/synth sounds, there sometimes is an advantage to working with the drums first. But, of course, it depends on the sound and feel that you're going for. —Sa'id

Bala, You know, I was wondering if I should include any Genelec model; I mean that's top of the food chain. But the price point for Genelec is generally high (but worth it, if you have the budget). Price aside, however, the quality and sound of a Genelec monitor is superb. How long have you been using these Genelec monitors? What did you primarily use before them? And what environment do you use them in? Large or small room, pre-production studio, etc? —Sa'id

Frost Gamble, Those i-Key Audio 606 monitors look nice. I'm not familiar with the company. I noticed on the website that their sister brand is Gemini. Were these developed by Gemini? Or is i-Key Audio its own company? How did you hear about these monitors? —Sa'id

Frost Gamble, I never heard of those before. Are they new? What do you like about them? —Sa'id

Mike Millz, Yes. I got your email. I'm going to make a couple of notes for you, then email it to you. —Sa'id

Dutch, Send me an email with your question to: beattips [at] gmail [dot] com; I'll answer your question. Please understand, I reserve the comment section of each post to address the subject at hand or something related. You can also post your question in TBC (The BeatTips Community) at: http://www.beattips2.com/vb3/index.php P.S., thank you for comment about my book; I appreciate that. —Sa'id

Josh, Excellent point! »"If music becomes my bread and butter then I don't want to be chained again to a desk cranking out product for a client I have no connection to." Also, I want to point out that Motown had an assembly line approach to making music, *but it was an assembly founded upon the idea of quality control, not ill-thought or cheezy/cheap music practices. —Sa'id