How to Make Instrumental Beats

Instructions

1. Step1
   Structure the Song
   
   The song should have structure before you pluck a string or hit a key. Figuring out the length of each movement, whether it's the basic verse, chorus, and bridge, or in the classical sense, helps guide your direction in the songwriting process. It is your musical map giving a general idea of where you want to go. You can write this down or work it out all in your head.
   
2. Step2
   Open up your DAW. Estimate the length of your song. Label the different movements: verse, chorus, and so forth.
   
3. Step3
   
   Decide what instrumentation you're going to use and label each track accordingly. To make life simple, create a template in your DAW and save it (refer to your DAW's manual). You'll use this whenever you begin a song. It will have the song movements labeled as well as the basic instrumentation that may be used. This will save time for any future projects you may have.
   
4. Step4
   Lay Down the Drums
   
   Start with the drums. Even if you don't have an idea of every nuance that's going to be done, laying down the drum track will give you a foundation you can follow for the songwriting process. It acts like a live metronome, the main difference being that you'll actually end up using it.
   
   Depending on what DAW you are operating in, you should lay down a basic beat with the tempo that matches the idea you have. It doesn't have to be exact though if you know precisely what you want, taking the time to create it now will put you that much further along the path to finishing your song.
   
5. Step5
   
   Cut your drum sequences up into manageable bar segments that you can cut and paste as needed. Do this for however long you think the song will be. It's a process you'll use throughout. 
   
   Operating in MIDI is the simplest and best way to do this. If you have to go live, just record one bar phrases. If this isn't possible, try and find loops that will be close to what you want. However, you may find yourself limited in this regard.
   
6. Step6
   
   Insert a Bass Line or Melody
   
   Laying down the bass line is normally done as the second step. One main reason is that the bass along with the drums carry the song. Fitting this in the mix early can save you the headache of trying to get it to fit it in later 9 times out of 10.
   
   However, this can be interchanged with the main melody as many times laying down the melody will bring out a bass line you didn't have in your head to begin with. The melody can be performed with just about any instrument. Even a placeholder like piano will suffice which you can replace with another sound later.
   
   The rule here is that whichever you do first, the next one should follow.
   
7. Step7
   Add Fillers
   
   Guitar, violins, samples, horns, all of these elements can be added lastly as fillers. They give the song body and life though they are not absolute essential like drums, bass, and melody.
   
   Listen for places where adding fillers sound muddy, buried, or harsh. Adjust the timbre or pan the instruments to get them fitting properly in the mix. Don't force the issue. If a filler isn't working, scrap it and use something else.
   
   Train your ears to spot problem areas by listening to good mixes. Begin to analyze songs you like to know what works and identify techniques that are being used.
   
8. Step8
   Begin Edits
   
   You should have the skeleton of the song in place. It should sound close to what you want it to sound like. 
   
   From what you've laid out, you should begin editing particular sections of the song. Maybe you want a drum fill in one place or a piano run in another. This is where you give the song a signature.
   
   Don't over do it here. Nothing is more annoying than a song that has a whole but of runs and leads for the sake of doing something. It shouldn't detract from the song but add to it.
   
9. Step9
   Add Effects
   
   Lastly, add effects where you want if any. Reverb, delay, flange. Again, don't over do it. They should flow with the song. Begin subtlety and increase as needed.
   

How to Make Hip Hop Beats - 10 Easy Steps

When you're just starting out how to make beats it can be fun and frustrating at the same time. Trust me I was there. But it really is easier then you think. If you're making a beat here are 10 tips that will get yo stated.

1. Pick a style- Know the style of beat you want to make before you start making it. Like rnb,rap,pop, etc. There have been plenty of beats that I made and could not figure out what style it was.

2. Pick A Major Artist- Think of a known artist that you would want to make the beat for. Like if you chose a style a rap, think now what rap artist do you want to make the beat for. Try to imagine that artist on your beat. This will make your hip hop beat-making experience a whole lot easier.

3. Listen To Their Song- Take a listen to the rap artist you are making the beat for songs. See the style. Get a feel for the kind of hip hop beats the artist raps over.

4. Formatting The Song- Very important. formatting is, the intro, verse, chorus, verse, bridge, etc. That's all it is but basically you just change the order around however you feel like it. Turn on the radio and see how your favorite artist formats there song. When instruments come in, when they drop out. The most basic form to start with is, 2 or 4 bar intro, 16 bar verse, 8 bar chorus, 16 bar verse, 8bar chorus, 16 bar verse, 8 bars chorus. This is the most basic beat-making song format. This is very common in rap. If you want an even simpler way, you can create an 8 bar loop and keep it the same throughout the whole song. I have seen this done a lot.

5. Laying down the beat- I have learned that for starters, it's easier to start with the drums. Kick, Snare, Hi hat, are always a good start. Record a pattern for four bars with those first. Then layer that with maybe some toms, cow-bell, symbols, etc. Whatever you want to use. THE DRUMS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT IN MAKING HIP HOP BEATS! Your drums must hit and hit HARD. The best way to get your drums hitting hard is by not using "pitty pat" free kits you downloaded from the internet for free. If your drums are weak, then your beat is going to be weak.

6. Laying Down A Melody- This is where most hip hop beat-makers have the most trouble. Because most eat makers can't play the keys. For starters, you might want to learn basic keyboard skills. The major thing you need to learn are, major and minor scales. After you learn that, try and do different combinations and patterns with the drum beat you have made. Use an instrument like, a lead guitar, horns, clav, something that will stand out. Your melody can be however you want it, but for starters, you could do a 4 bar melody, or an 8 bar melody.

7. Layering The Beat- What is done a lot in beat making is layering. If you have your whole beat finished. You can go and make it sound bigger by layering. All you do is fill in some gaps, do the same pattern you did with one instrument with another instrument. Do this throughout your beat. This will make you beat sound a lot fatter.

8. Pan- Panning is basically having an instrument all the way to the right, all the way to the left, and anywhere in between. You pan for all kinds of different reasons. It gives each track its own little space in the stereo field. There are no rules for panning, put you have to do it. So just try it out and see what you like best.

9. The Mixdown- Very important! Very Important! Very Important! If you have a poor mix on your beat, then you have pretty much wasted your time. When mixing a beat, start with each track individually. Solo each track and make sure it sounds good by itself. EQ it if you have to, but if each track sounds good by itself, the whole beat will sound that much better. DO NOT DISTORT! If your master levels are in the red before you bounce to disc or .mp3, your distorting. Don't worry about if its not loud enough. You never ever ever want to distort. If you are distorting, check any instrument that has boom or low end, Like a kick, bass, sub, etc. these tend to distort more often.

10. The Bounce- Now that you made you're beat, Its the hottest hip hop beat ever, you want to put it on cd or upload it to the internet. When you're exporting a beat for cd, Use .wav file. 44.1 16bit. If you want to upload to the internet use, 320kbps (the highest .mp3 quality) or 128kbps. Most websites wont accept 320kbps because the file size is too big. So go with 128kbps.

These are all just guidelines to help you get started. There are millions of ways to make a beat, But this is just to help you get your feet wet if you don't know where to start.

Thanks to Lerron Carson

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lerron_Carson

Ten New Windows 7 Netbooks

Windows 7 is finally here and all the new laptops, netbooks, and desktops that have been waiting in the wings for the October 22nd launch will start shipping. If you’ve been living with that 4 year old laptop and wondering what to do about Windows 7; now comes decision time. Do you upgrade the old Windows XP or Vista machine with a Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade for $119.99 and go searching for new drivers or buy a new computer? You could always hand the old laptop down to the kids and move over to the Apple camp with a newly announced $1,000, 13” MacBook Pro or you could keep using your old desktop and treat yourself to a new netbook with Windows 7 and all the drivers already installed.

Look Before You Leap

Windows 7 on a netbook can be a big improvement over XP. You get out from under an over-patched, aging OS and you get that new improved user interface, or do you? Many of the new netbooks will be shipping with Windows 7 Starter which is the entry level version of Windows 7. Missing from Windows 7 Starter (among other features) is:
          •    Aero Glass
          •    Taskbar Previews
          •    Aero Peek
          •    Desktop Personalization for customizing backgrounds, colors, or sounds
          •    Multi-monitor support
          •    DVD playback (for external drives)

When Windows 7 Starter was first announced Microsoft, to the dismay of many, said they were going to limit the number of open applications to three. Fortunately, they came to their senses and have since removed that limitation but it’s clear that this is very much a “starter” version and not the version Microsoft wants you to finish with.

Our advice is to look for Windows 7 Home Premium edition on a netbook or plan on spending the $79 (or $50 with a family pack) to upgrade Windows 7 Starter to Home Premium on your netbook.

No 64 Bit Mode?

We’ve seen reports that say Windows 7 performance improvements are only seen on 64 bit computers. Windows 7 supports both 32 bit and 64 bit instruction sets except for Windows 7 Starter which only runs in 32 bit mode. However, even if you do get Home Premium or a higher level version you’ll still need 64 bit hardware. Unfortunately, not all Atom processors implement a 64 bit instruction set. In fact, N and Z series Atom processors which most netbooks run on can't run the x86-64 instruction set. If you want 64 bit performance on a netbook you'll have to look hard for an Atom processor that supports it or go with a netbook with an AMD 64 bit processor like the Gateway LT3103u.

Ten Netbooks for Windows 7
We picked these netbooks for you to consider when shopping for a new Windows 7 equipped netbook. Some will have gone on sale on October 22nd while others should appear on the market soon thereafter.

New Large Screen, ION-based Netbooks
A new class of larger screen netbooks will be introduced along with Windows 7. They have slightly larger displays (11.6 – 12 inch) than the standard 10.1 inch netbook display. Many of them incorporate the Nvidia ION platform that includes an Intel Atom processor along with an Nvidia GeForce 9400M. The ION platform supports high end graphics like OpenGL 3, and allows playback of 1080p high-definition video and audio over an HDMI port. So far the reviews are somewhat mixed with lots of excitement about a powerful graphics engine in a netbook that doesn’t compromise battery life while other reviewers have experienced shorter battery life when running graphics intensive apps.

ASUS Eee PC 1201N

The ASUS Eee PC 1201N has a 12.1 inch (1366 x 768) display, 320GB hard drive, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N330 dual-core CPU, 3GB of RAM and NVIDIA ION graphics engine. ASUS will also offer a scaled down version with no ION chip, the 1201HA.

Lenovo IdeaPad S10

he Lenovo IdeaPad S12 is based on the Nvidia ION platform. The IdeaPad S12 has a 12.1 inch (1280 x 800) display, 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, HDMI output, 2 USB ports, a card reader, and a 6 cell, 6 hour battery.  It is expected to cost around $550.

Samsung NC510

Early reviews of the new Samsung NC510 have been generally favorable. Like the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 and HP’s Mini 311, the Samsung NC510 incorporates the Nvidia ION platform which includes a 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N280 processor Atom and Nvida graphics chip. Fortunately the added horsepower doesn’t come at the expense of battery life as one reviewer claimed 6.5 hours of light use per charge.

Subsidized Netbooks
If you want to get a 3G enabled netbook at a reasonable price and don’t mind paying a somewhat high monthly fee for 3G service you might want to consider one of these netbooks.

HP Mini 311 

Verizon will be offering a version of the HP Mini 311, which is an 11.6 inch (1366 x 768) netbook running on the ION platform.  It has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, and runs Windows 7 Home Premium. After a mail-in rebate, the HP Mini 311 will cost you $250, which is less than the $399 you’d pay if you bought it from HP. On the other hand when you add the $40 - $60 a month you'll be paying to Verizon for two years you might be better off buying it from HP.

Nokia Booklet 3G
Nokia has teamed up with AT&T to offer the Nokia Booklet 3G that is expected to cost $299.99 with a two-year AT&T Data Connect Plan. You’ll be able to buy a Booklet 3G at Best Buy stores or Best Buy Mobile standalone stores when they arrive at the stores in the middle of November. The netbook has a 1.66 GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor,  10.1 inch (1280 x 720) display, 1 GB RAM, 120GB hard drive and a rated 12 hours of battery life.

The problem with these subsidized netbooks is what you get, or don’t get for your monthly fee. Right now you only get 250MB a month for $40 which is hardly anything by today’s standards.

Non-ION, Non-Subsidized Netbooks
Toshiba Mini NB205

The Toshiba Mini NB205 10.1 inch display netbook has been getting high marks from reviewers for its larger keyboard and touchpad. It has a large 250GB hard drive and a battery that's rated for 9 hours of use. It starts at $380. It looks like a Windows Starter version will be available for a little over $400.

ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-H and ASUS Eee PC 1008HA

As we write this the word on the street is that Asus Eee PC 1005HA which is part of ASUS' thin and light Seashell line, will be offered in two different Windows 7 versions. Both will have 10.1 inch display 1GB of RAM, 250G hard drives, and Intel Atom N270 processors. The 1005HA-H will offer Bluetooth and a 10.5 hour battery and the 1005HA-M has a matte screen, will not include Bluetooth and only have an 8.5 hour battery. Word also has it they will both ship with Windows 7 Starter.

The ASUS Eee PC 1008HA weighs just 2.4 pounds and is only 1 inch think. It has a larger keyboard like the Toshiba Mini NB205. A Windows 7 Home Premium version is available on Amazon for $479.

Gateway LT3103u

The Gateway LT3103u netbook is one of the only non-Intel Atom powered netbooks that we’re aware of. It has a 64 bit Athlon processor that theoretically should support a 64 bit version of Windows 7 providing 64 bit drivers are available it weighs 3.04 lbs. and has an 11.6 inch LED-backlit display and a 250GB hard drive.

New CULV ASUS Laptops Boasts Long Battery Life

We’re not sure if the new Asus UL20A-A1 is considered a netbook but we think Intel’s “consumer ultra-low voltage,” (CULV) processor technology has great potential for long lasting netbooks or laptops. The 12.1 inch display, Asus UL20A-A1 laptop should be available sometime soon with Windows 7 for under $600.

Thanks to Andrew

YouTube

Everyone can watch videos on YouTube. People can see first-hand accounts of current events, find videos about their hobbies and interests, and discover the quirky and unusual. As more people capture special moments on video, YouTube is empowering them to become the broadcasters of tomorrow.YouTube was founded in 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, who were all early employees of PayPal. YouTube is the leader in online video, sharing original videos worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips across the Internet through websites, mobile devices, blogs, and email.

YouTube received funding from Sequoia Capital in November 2005 and was officially launched one month later in December. Chad Hurley and Steve Chen proceeded to become the first members of the YouTube management team and currently serve as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer respectively.

In November 2006, within a year of its launch, YouTube was purchasedby Google Inc. in one of the most talked-about acquisitions to date.

YouTube has struck numerous partnership deals with content providers such as CBS, BBC, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group, NBA, The Sundance Channel and many more.

In March 2007, Viacom introduced its much talked about $1 billion lawsuit against Google and YouTube. In a statement explaining why they were pursuing legal action, Viacom stated that “we must turn to the courts to prevent Google and YouTube from continuing to steal value from artists and to obtain compensation for the significant damage they have caused.” The lawsuit was preceded by a takedown request from Viacom ordering YouTube to remove over 100,000 clips from its stable of networks.

In May 2007 YouTube announced a revenue-sharing arrangement called “Partners Program” to cut in some of its biggest pro-am producers on the revenue generated from their videos. Partners at launch included LisaNova and smosh.

In June 2007 YouTube launched local versions in Brazil, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the U.K. Additionally in June, Apple’s iPhone launched with a YouTube application, further extending YouTube’s penetration in the mobile market following its November 2006 partnership with Verizon’s vCast service.

Over the summer and fall of 2007 major announcements were made about advertising models for YouTube. In August, YouTube introduced “YouTube InVideo Ads”, a set of flash overlays displayed on the lower portion of videos. Advertisers are charged per impression, and the resulting revenue will be shared with the clip creator. In October, Google announced the inclusion of YouTube videos in its AdSense product. Site owners using AdSense can select videos from certain content providers, and ads will be served contextually as they relate to either the site or the video. Resulting revenue will be split between content providers, site owners, as well as Google.

In October 2007, YouTube announced a new service called “Youtube Video Identification” in order to assist copyright holders in protecting their content. With the service copyright holders upload full copies of their content to the service and complex algorithms are applied against YouTube’s library of clips to see if any match the uploaded content. Copyright holders can then either have YouTube remove the videos in question or allow YouTube to serve advertising along with the content and split the resulting revenue.

Fix Your Terrible, Insecure Passwords in Five Minutes

A foolproof technique to secure your computer, e-mail, and bank account.

It's tempting to blame the victim. In May, a twentysomething French hacker broke into several Twitter employees' e-mail accounts and stole a trove of meeting notes, strategy documents, and other confidential scribbles. The hacker eventually gave the stash to TechCrunch, which has since published notes from meetings in which Twitter execs discussed their very lofty goals. (The company wants to be the first Web service to reach 1 billion users.) How'd the hacker get all this stuff? Like a lot of tech startups, Twitter runs without paper—much of the company's discussions take place in e-mail and over shared Google documents. All of these corporate secrets are kept secure with a very thin wall of protection: the employees' passwords, which the intruder managed to guess because some people at Twitter used the same passwords for many different sites. In other words, Twitter had it coming. The trouble is, so do the rest of us.

Everyone knows it's bad to use the same password for different sites. People do it anyway because remembering different passwords is annoying. Remembering different difficult passwords is even more annoying. Eric Thompson, the founder of AccessData, a technology forensics company that makes password-guessing software, says that most passwords follow a pattern. First, people choose a readable word as a base for the password—not necessarily something in Webster's but something that is pronounceable in English. Then, when pressed to add a numeral or symbol to make the password more secure, most people add a 1 or ! to the end of that word. Thompson's software, which uses a "brute force" technique that tries thousands of passwords until it guesses yours correctly, can easily suss out such common passwords. When it incorporates your computer's Web history in its algorithm—all your ramblings on Twitter, Facebook, and elsewhere—Thompson's software can come up with a list of passwords that is highly likely to include yours. (He doesn't use it for nefarious ends; AccessData usually guesses passwords under the direction of a court order, for military purposes, or when companies get locked out of their own systems—"systems administrator gets hit by a bus on the way to work," Thompson says by way of example.)Your passwords aren't very secure. Even if you think they are, they probably aren't. Do you use the same or similar passwords for several different important sites? If you don't, pat yourself on the back; if you do, you're not alone—one recent survey found that half of people online use the same password for all the sites they visit. Do you change your passwords often? Probably not; more than 90 percent don't. If one of your accounts falls to a hacker, will he find enough to get into your other accounts? For a scare, try this: Search your e-mail for some of your own passwords. You'll probably find a lot of them, either because you've e-mailed them to yourself or because some Web sites send along your password when you register or when you tell them you've forgotten it. If an attacker manages to get into your e-mail, he'll have an easy time accessing your bank account, your social networking sites, and your fantasy baseball roster. That's exactly what happened at Twitter. (Here's my detailed explanation of how Twitter got compromised.)

Security expert Bruce Schneier writes about passwords often, and he distills Thompson's findings into a few rules: Choose a password that doesn't contain a readable word. Mix upper and lower case. Use a number or symbol in the middle of the word, not on the end. Don't just use 1 or !, and don't use symbols as replacements for letters, such as @ for a lowercase A—password-guessing software can see through that trick. And of course, create unique passwords for your different sites.

Use Mnemonics to Choose a Hack-proof Password

I was listening to Talk of the Nation on NPR and they were interviewing Farhad Manjoo, Slate’s, technology columnist. Farhad described a very clever technique for creating a very secure password. It’s as simple as this; think of a phrase and then use the first letters of the words as your password. For example, “I work at Plug and Play Technologies in Sunnyvale,” so my password becomes “Iw@p&ptis” What could be simpler? As Farhad points out, “These mnemonic passwords are hard to forget, but they contain no guessable English words.”

How to Keep an Eye on Things When You're Not There

Whether you want to keep an eye on your pet, your aging parents, your kids, your vacation home, your boat, or whatever else you feel needs watching, the internet is now the best way to do it.

You can buy security systems of all types and prices including PC or Mac-based systems that can use just about any camera hooked up to a computer. For this roundup, we picked a handful of wireless cameras that make it easy to watch and listen to what's happening anyplace that you are not.



Panasonic BL-C131A 
Yes, the Panasonic BL-C131A camera costs more than most good point and shoot digital cameras, but it's a quality web camera that gets good reviews and has a lot of useful features including a microphone and thermal sensor that can detect when a human or animal enters the room. You can also make it pan and tilt remotely. Set it up to talk to your router, use their free service to create a personal web address like mycamera.viewnetcam.com and then you or anyone you give permission to, can view your camera's live images on the Internet. It costs around $250.


Sharx Security VIPcella-IR SCNC2607 

Users say the Sharx Security VIPcella-IR SCNC2607 camera may not be the easiest to set up especially when you read comments like, “you need to configure some things in your router.” However, users also say it has a very good installation guide and once you get it working, it does a good job of sending video directly to a browser on your computer or phone without going through a service. It includes features like motion detection, a microphone, email alerts, and even infrared night vision which could come in handy when trying to see what’s going on in the dark. It’s a little on the expensive side at $399 (on sale now on Amazon for $300) but it does have all the right features. If you don’t need the night vision feature you can get the less expensive, Sharx SCNC2606 for around $225 but for $75 we say go for the night vision.


Cisco WVC210 (formerly a Linksys product)
When you see the Cisco WVC210 you may want to say, “open the pod bay doors,” but seriously, for $250 this wireless web cam has some nice features including one that most other cameras don’t have which is audio out (you need an external speaker). Imagine being able to tell Spotty to get off the couch, or say "hi" to the kids. The Cisco WVC210 offers remote pan and tilt and email alerts with attached video when it detects motion. Users say it does a good job but has a few quirks like occasional lost connections, a noisy motor, and overly sensitive motion detector, not to mention the fact that the software doesn’t work with Windows Vista and you need to use an ActiveX control to listen to the audio with Internet Explorer (which actually isn’t that big of a deal).



TRENDnet Wireless Internet Camera Server (TV-IP110W)
The Trendnet TV-IP110W  wireless webcam doesn't get the highest ratings and there are many comments saying it's not the easiest device to get working but at a little over $100, the price is reasonable and once you do get it working users say it has pretty good image quality and useful features like motion detection and email alerts.







Linksys WVC54GCA 
Some reviewers rave about the Linksys (now Cisco) WVC54GCA camera while others don't have a lot of good things to say about it. If you’re in the group that makes it through the setup procedure to get it working you will have what one reviewer called an “adequate,” camera for keeping an eye on things. You can buy the Linksys WVC54GCA for under $100.



Coming Soon the D-Link DSC-1130
D-Link, the company known for routers and other quality communication gear is about to release a wireless network camera and companion “portal,” that sounds like it may make setting up and watching the remote camera real simple. You access the video from the camera on your browser via a user account on mydlink.com. The DCS-1130 will have an MSRP of $219.99 but you should be able to find it for less.







Wireless Baby Monitors


These video and audio monitors work on a limited range and are meant to be used within a house. They can be used to watch older people too. The Summer Infant Best View Handheld Monitor has a 2.5 inch screen and costs around $150. Safety 1st High-Def Monitor costs around $230 but offers a higher resolution display. TheSecurityman PalmWatch III offers night vision, gets high marks from reviewers and only costs around $100.


Novelty Web Cams


The WowWee Rovio Wi-Fi Enabled Robotic WebCam costs about $230 but should be lots of fun to use. You move this three-wheeled little bugger around your house via an Internet connection. You can make it go to preset waypoints or self-dock in its charging station. It even has a built-in LED headlight.


Spykee Spy WiFi Robot


The Spykee Spy WiFi robot comes as a kit that you put together. Once it’s up and running, you control it remotely, watch and listen to what’s going on around it, and even speak through it. You can even use it with Skype. Spykee lists for around $250 but you can find it online for a lot less.

Point Your Wireless Webcam at Retrevo
Whether you’re looking for the tools to watch your cat sleeping at your home or you need help deciding what netbook to buy, Retrevo has reviews and manuals for the latest gear and gadgets including digital cameras,GPS, laptops, HDTV, and more.