The Song Fight Bulletin Board

This is a little bit like my other post, but I had a few more questions that were a little more particular. Seems like wherever I turn I'm finding out about more and more nerdcore artists. With multiple documentaries in the works, seems like it's making more and more of an impact.

Hell, I can write. So I figure, what the hell, I'll give it a shot. But lyrics are the easy part, I don't know jack shit about making the music. I can just about strum an even C chord on a guitar, and that's as experienced as I am with music production. I can conceive it, but I've got no idea how to go about bringing it to fruition.

So, what's your process when it comes to making a track? What's the first step (and all the other steps), do you use more than one program for different stages, where do you sample from, or do you create your own sounds, and if so, with what?

Sorry if this is too general, but I've got no clue where to start.

Allow me to offer some advice:

"Nerdcore", or so it's called, is fucking stupid. Make music, not 'nerdcore'.

yeah

MC Eric B, aka "impulse" on the boards, does nerd core, and he mentioned a few Web sites where you can download some beats to build nerdcore songs in this thread:

http://www.songfight.net/forums/viewtop ... 3&start=22

Basically you can start out by grabbing some publicly available beats, then using a looping or audio editing program (check the "Help and How To" section for lots of information about programs to use) to put the beats together into a song structure, over which you then rap. That's the basic "rap 101" process, as far as I can tell, though I've never tried it. Obviously there's a lot more to it than that if you want to be any good. Good rhymes + good flow + charismatic vocals + good beats = good rap/hip-hop, in my opinion. There's a lot of mediocre nerdcore on SongFight!, so there's a bit of a backlash against it, much like for "guy and guitar" music, and shitty techno/electronica. Anyway, have fun.

Just start building tracks. if there's a beat, fine. If there's rap, fine. Just start laying down tracks and SEE WHAT HAPPENS. Do not limit yourself by "style" or "structure" or "whateverwhatthefuck".

DO IT AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. You sound like a clean slate. Savor this time you live in.

I like to think I wouldn't be limiting myself, I'm not trying to go for a particular style or anything yet, I'm just having fun. Thanks for the help, I'll endeavour to make sure that anything I make sucks as little as possible.