Independent Research Podcast

Larry Beasley Independent Research Peer Comment

I really enjoyed your post about Public Enemy. I like how you really knew what you talking about too. Public Enemy is one of my favorite groups of all time. There music was as you put it relevant and conscious. It had substance and had great production behind it also. They also used old school samples over Hip Hop Drum Patterns. As you put it Public Enemy did pioneer the audio soundscapes used today in this genre.  In your post you mention how their mastering process kicked up their album volume to the maximum volume across all the media. I never knew that. All in all great post!

Independent Research

Dr. Dre is the most innovative and most successful producer in Hip Hop history. He took the instrumentation level in the genre to a higher level. He is has given Hip Hop some of its most successful artists of all time also. From the beginning when he started out with NWA he was the man behind the scenes making sure everything was well put together. He wasn't always a producer he first started off his music career as a DJ.  At the time his name was Dr. J he was working with the World Class Wreckin' Cru. Things really started to pick up for him when became N.W.A. His sound completely changed, it became more aggressive. His productions consisted off old school samples on top of gritty Hip Hop drum patterns. For the hooks he would scratch vocals on top of it jus showing off his skills as a DJ. The group N.W.A were completely rebellious addressing racially charged political issues. It got so bad the F.B.I sent their labels numerous warnings. After that Dr. Dre felt it was time to branch off and do his own thing. Thats when he came out with the G-funk sound. Funk music with lower tempos incorporating multi-layered and melodic synthesizers and deep bass. The lyrical contents of this sub-genre usually consists of drugs, sex and violence. That G-funk sound would go on to dominate the music scene for the entire early 90s era. Snoop Dogg, Warren G, Nate Dogg, and almost every west coast artist  were in the G-funk category. Dr. Dre used plenty techniques only he could pull off. Now some point in time he began to take on the role of an organizer. He would bring all kinds of instrumentalists and tell them what he wanted and how he wanted it to sound. He would program a beat on one of his many drum machines and then asks the musicians to play along. Whenever he heard something he liked, he isolates the musician and tells him how to refine the sound.  He says his greatest talent is knowing exactly what he wants to hear.  Through the years there have been hundreds of producers who have tried to be like Dre. You can hear his influence in nearly every Hip Hop producer after him. The impression this great producer has left on me is that he is hands down the most creative and successful producer ever in the Hip Hop genre. As an industry professional his music production quality is flawless. There is no other word i can use. His music is always so "larger than life" and "in your face"

Independent Research

Dr. Dre is the most innovative and most successful producer in Hip Hop history. He took the instrumentation level in the genre to a higher level. He is has given Hip Hop some of its most successful artists of all time also. From the beginning when he started out with NWA he was the man behind the scenes making sure everything was well put together. He wasn't always a producer he first started off his music career as a DJ.  At the time his name was Dr. J he was working with the World Class Wreckin' Cru. Things really started to pick up for him when became N.W.A. His sound completely changed, it became more aggressive. His productions consisted off old school samples on top of gritty Hip Hop drum patterns. For the hooks he would scratch vocals on top of it jus showing off his skills as a DJ. The group N.W.A were completely rebellious addressing racially charged political issues. It got so bad the F.B.I sent their labels numerous warnings. After that Dr. Dre felt it was time to branch off and do his own thing. Thats when he came out with the G-funk sound. Funk music with lower tempos incorporating multi-layered and melodic synthesizers and deep bass. The lyrical contents of this sub-genre usually consists of drugs, sex and violence. That G-funk sound would go on to dominate the music scene for the entire early 90s era. Snoop Dogg, Warren G, Nate Dogg, and almost every west coast artist  were in the G-funk category. Dr. Dre used plenty techniques only he could pull off. Now some point in time he began to take on the role of an organizer. He would bring all kinds of instrumentalists and tell them what he wanted and how he wanted it to sound. He would program a beat on one of his many drum machines and then asks the musicians to play along. Whenever he heard something he liked, he isolates the musician and tells him how to refine the sound.  He says his greatest talent is knowing exactly what he wants to hear.  Through the years there have been hundreds of producers who have tried to be like Dre. You can hear his influence in nearly every Hip Hop producer after him. The impression this great producer has left on me is that he is hands down the most creative and successful producer ever in the Hip Hop genre. As an industry professional his music production quality is flawless. There is no other word i can use. His music is always so "larger than life" and "in your face"

Peer Comment Larry Beasley.

I like how you were able to go into detail about the instrumentation of electronic music. You mentioned how the instrumentation adapted elcctronic sound sources for the purpose of musical instrumentation. You were able to detail the drum sequencing techniques used by the artists. You were able to describe the sound that they were going for with those specials techniques they used. I also agree with you when you mentioned how in the last thirty years you couldn't imagine how music would have been without electro instrumentation. That type of music really did have a major impact on other genres of music.

Electronic Music Innovations.

Kraftwerk I mean they started that whole electronica genre. They were the pioneers of that sound. They made it popular and carried it on for generations to come. You can tell the modern day bands were greatly influenced by Kraftwerk's sound. Kraftwerk served as a bridge between deep meaningful music and popular mainstream techno music. The vocoder and auto-tune effects used on several artists projects were similar to that of Kraftwerk. They were extremely popular in France. Daft Punk was clearly influenced by Kraftwerk. You can tell that the effects they chose to use on their vocals were almost direct replicas of the ones used by Kraftwerk. Daft Punk has been a great impact also the genre. They have brought in new sounds and ideas. They have made it even more mainstream. One of the things Daft Punk did that made them so famous was they ability to come up with very catchy tunes. They kept it very electro also the techniques they used were never heard of. They were so innovative they mixed fast paced beats with pop tracks and dance tracks. Its almost like they were creating different genres. Many Hip Hop artist have used Daft Punk samples in their music today. It just goes to show the strong impact they had on many different cultures. The impression i got from them was that they were the most creative band of that music. There music was very meaningful and was the heart of techno and house music. From a professional standpoint the quality of their music was very impressive. They were artists who also mastered the craft of perfect mixing.

Electronic Music

Kraftwerk were more into the synthesized music sound. They created the basic foundation for influencing the modern day electronica music. At a time when artists stuck with the traditional instruments, they went into a whole different direction. They wanted to be different and that they were. There image too was like no other at the time, they had a robotic image. They showcased their robotic image to the world be it through photo sessions or concerts. The albums Kraftwerk released from 1974 to 1981 were extremely successful. They were also very critically acclaimed and just set a whole new level of sound in the music industry. The album Autobahn was the first commercial release. This one right here set the band up for the limelight. With Autobahn the band was able to showcase Germans in a special light avoiding their very dark history. The Trans-Europe Express their third album though not as well received as Autobahn was able to let them travel internationally. They were accepted everywhere. There themes were about European connectivity. Radioactivity was about the radio and nuclear energy. One of the characteristics that earned them the position of being the biggest influence on electronic music was the fact that strong concepts and messages behind it. And also the way they branched to different cultures making them international. The impression i got both from a professional and listener standpoint is that i can see how there music is the reason we have electronica today. Production-wise also they were way ahead of their time.