Hi! I'm Lee. Welcome to my blog. Here we talk music: news, reviews, interviews, tips, tutorials and more. I'm also working on the upcoming podcast Influenced as a guest, writer and researcher alongside music aficionado Mark Williams and friends. Watch this space! I have been a lover of music for as long as I can remember, an amateur lyricist for 25 years, a music writer for 15 years and a hobbyist musician and blogger for almost 10 years. My tastes range from jazz to house to hip hop and I love helping artists from all genres develop their sound. My music, videos, reviews and interviews have been featured in a variety of magazines and websites, including: B-Boy Tech Report Gimme That Beat Humanhuman Audio Skills Dream House Beats Where Did the Road Go Beat Tape Co-Op Push Power Promo Drum Magazine You can find my music on Bandcamp: Monkey Mind Sounds AKA LeeTNB And you can find me on Facebook: The New Beatmaker page Lee's personal page
Some beat makers spend many an hour in their favourite record shop, searching for a rare piece of vinyl to take back to ‘the lab’ to listen to, chop up and embellish or strip down into something new. Some fire up their trusty drum machines, lay down a drum track and start adding melodic phrases, chords or stabs courtesy of whatever hardwear or software they have at their disposal.
Some beat makers create tracks with the sole intention of having a singer or rapper lay vocals over the top of their sounds. Some beat makers enter competitions, be they online, or in local or national showcases, spurred on by the idea of rapturous crowd responses and the chance of more exposure. Some beat makers are looking for fame, recognition and, pardon my language, money. Some make beats purely for their own enjoyment, and their creations will, purposely, never leave the confines of their own work space.
Whether the beat falls into one or more recognised genres such as hip hop, dnb, house, techno, garage, rnb, grime, dubstep, electronic, pop, rock, or anywhere in between, the beat is universal. It is not restrained by barriers such as language or locale.
It has never been easier to create music. Almost anyone, if not everyone, can make a beat nowadays, this means that there is a generation of artists the world over, many of whom would never have had the opportunity or resources available, now creating fantastic music and sharing it with a global community of likeminded people.
If you have read this far you probably are, or want to be, one of these people. On this website you will find tutorials, freeware, music, videos and articles. I hope that these resources will educate and inspire you, bringing you closer to being the beat maker, producer and/or musician that you want to be and can be.
Image: www.kyo-tux.deviantart.com
Image: www.kyo-tux.deviantart.com