Q-Tip's production on Midnight Marauders

[Fade]

I came across this part on the Wikipedia page for Midnight Marauders:

These are some epic drum sounds that will tear your fucking head off. And there are ways you can get that sound on different levels too. The drums don't always have to be super loud. When you listen to 'Electric Relaxation' the drums are not trying to kill you. It's [very much] controlled. But even if it's a smaller sounding beat you want the tone to be like at any moment the tone of these drums can go from 5 to 10! That's the whole vibe of Tribe's drum sound I was trying to go for.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_Marauders#Production

It just got me thinking about how we as beatmakers and producers take the whole process for granted because we've been doing it so long. After reading about the stuff he did, it's still amazing that we can take a certain part of a song and transform it into something completely different.

Anyway, I just thought it would provide some inspiration for everyone on here.

 

[Iron Keys]

I saw Focus... explaining something fascinating before too. How he often pitches his tracks up/down until he finds the right feeling for them.

Contemplated trying this, but I feel(or think) that I do this when I start my melodies or whatever anyway... as I usually keep hitting keys until I find that root sound or key sound that feels like it's where it's meant to be. --- but also maybe this is something to take into consideration for those who just automatically use their default key/scale because it's comfortable.