Beatmaking is a rich and very meticulous art-craft. It contains a number of unique methods and practices, each potentially more complex and challenging than the other. The BeatTips Manual breaks down the complexity of beatmaking and hip hop/rap production, and erases all of the myth and mystery. The BeatTips Manual is brilliantly divided into five primary parts, including: an absolutely stunning History part, an extensively detailed and robust Instruction part, a Music Theory part, a Business part, and an explosive Interviews part, which includes exclusive shop-talk with DJ Premier, DJ Toomp, 9th Wonder, Marley Marl and more. Indeed, The BeatTips Manual is meticulously comprehensive and sharply informative. Through a highly detailed analysis of the origins of beatmaking as well as its key aesthetics, principles, predilections, nuances, and priorities, Amir Said (Sa id) offers a magnificent level of "understanding." Moreover, he convincingly argues that not only is beatmaking a legitimate music compositional process, but that beatmakers (hip hop producers) are the common composers of our time. An incredibly revealing look at the beatmaking musical process, and one of the most fascinating studies of hip hop culture and the hip hop/rap music tradition to ever be recorded, The BeatTips Manualis a groundbreaking work. Incomparable in both scope and size, this book deciphers many untold nuances of the art of beatmaking. Destined to serve as the standard text for hip hop production education, The BeatTips Manual is also certain to be one of the leading studies of hip hop culture. Extremely accessible and intensely thought-provoking, The BeatTips Manual is the answer for anyone interested in improving their beatmaking knowledge and understanding of hip hop/rap music and the encompassing hip hop culture.
"Comprehensive, passionate and scholarly,
The BeatTips Manual is much more than an instruction book for hip-hop producers...It is a thorough analysis of the hip-hop aesthetic itself. Highly recommended for anyone that takes hip-hop culture seriously."
--Joe Schloss, Ph.D, author of 'Making Beats'; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Baruch College
Amir "Sai'd" Said' s The BeatTips Manual, 5th Edition is more than just another book on hip hop production. Simply put, the theories and protocols for hip hop music production illustrated within The BeatTips Manual make it the best book ever written on the topic. Sa id spans the gamut of hip hop culture with the ease of a seasoned journalist, and the reference point of a well read, passionate, eloquent, and humble b-boy a participant in the weaving of the fabric that is the core of hip hop culture: Music, Dance, Graffiti and Emceeing. Sa'id takes on these historical tenets of hip hop in this 5th Edition of The BeatTips Manual, using unique and well formatted explanations of little-known and universally applicable production tips, pointed historical references, and his own personal experience with music production gear. All factors that lend impressive and unprecedented depth. In my humble opinion, all of the above should bode well for The BeatTips Manual s future status as required reading in music production classes nationwide...if not worldwide. The BeatTips Manual is a very well designed playbook and priceless reference manual for both the aspiring production student and the seasoned studio veteran alike. Furthermore, Said s ability to speak to his audience from both a professorial and a craftsman s viewpoint raises the bar once again, as illustrated in his earlier volumes earning a position as the required book for NYU s (Tisch School Of Music) first beatmaking/hip hop production course as well as other accolades too numerous to mention here. It s extremely difficult to document hip hop culture. Not very many have been successful without being either romantic about hip hop s former innocence, or being engulfed in it s current caricature stance and losing the plot somewhere along the way. Sa id has once again straddled the fences that separate the studio from the records; mechanics and theory from lack thereof; and practice and fundamental from freestyle. There is a veritable PhD course on hip hop history and music production techniques to apply to one s own interests, expectations, and plans. For those interested in gaining a more well-rounded understanding of the beatmaking tradition of hip hop as well as the historical and academic context of it and the business associated with it, The BeatTips Manual, 5th Edition will undoubtedly help you turn the corner toward priceless cultural enlightenment and boundless creative fulfillment. You need to read The BeatTips Manual, 5th Edition. Trust me. --DJ Rich Medina
"Detailed and thorough, I'd consider The BeatTips Manual to be the go-to guide for beatamking. Highly recommended.
--Ivan Rott, HipHopIsRead.com
"This is by far the single best book focusing on Hip Hop production. It is an absolute must read and it's for anyone beginning or continuing their journey into production. It will prove highly valuable and pay countless dividends to anyone willing to invest the time to obtain the vast wealth of knowledge and wisdom contained in its pages. Also, with interviews from renowned producers such as DJ Premier...and others being worth the price of admission, the book acts as a triple bonus.
--CrateKings.com
"THIS BOOK IS THE TRUTH! It delves deep into the philosophy of the producer, important comparisons of different styles, hip hop history, business, and tons of up close and personal -----
"Finding this caliber of literature is not always easy...knowledge and passion for the culture is spilling from each page...I couldn t put the book down, I rolled meticulously from cover to cover I didn t want to miss a sentence." --Phil Rose
"This is not a 'skim the top' type of book..this is a great book, it s thorough, it s deep, it s very informative...if you make beats, or have any interest in making beats/producing, this book is a must have, no questions, period." SoundsandGear.com -----
