Making a Hip Hop beat on the Korg Krome

I wanted to should you how a simple Hip Hop beat can be made using the Korg Krome.

The Korg Krome has a very useful in-built sequencer which is excellent for putting together ideas, which is what I am showing in the below video. I wouldn’t make a full finish track using the Krome’s sequencer alone however it give you an idea of how the finished product should sound.

The Drums

I started off using the Urban Hip Hop Kit under the drum selection. This has some very solid drums perfect for Hip Hop. I simply set the sequencer to loop on 4 bars by going going to the “preferences” menu tap at the bottom of the sequencer window. I like to record and play real time. Anything that is off sounded can be edited using the built it editor however I prefer to simply re-record. I find it quicker.

The keys and chords

Chords are very important for me and make up the frame of a track. I used the E.P Mark V Distortion patch for this example. Perfect for Hip Hop.

The Bass

I like the bass to be very relaxed therefore would NEVER quantize it. I used a TRI Bass for this, slightly synth sounding.

I would add more instruments however this is all you need for the basic structure of a beat at first. If I were to make a polished track I would record each track separately as Audio into Ableton live. The drums, even though recorded as Audio would then be converted to MIDI through Ableton Live. As MIDI I could then easily editing the timing of the drums.