Pete Rock on the MPC

Pete Rock is one of the true masters of Hip Hop production, with a particular gift for often stirring and soulful instrumentals.  He has of coursed produced for countless icons and invariably puts his indelible stamp on the work by bringing out the best in the artist.  Here he talks about how he constructs beats on the MPC (Midi Production Center), the advantages and drawbacks of automated time-stretching features versus his manual preference, how he sources and then chops the samples that appeal to him.  He ends triumphantly building up with a rock solid bass line a Pat Benatar classic.  A true master at work.

In the studio with 9th Wonder (Part 1)

9th Wonder who's now considered a go to super producer in Hip Hop, lifetime member of Little Brother (named after the Little Brother ARP synthesizer), waxes eleqoent here about the challenges and titans of sample based music: Pete Rock, DJ Premier, Just Blaze and particularly emphasizing Blueprint. 



He reflects on his own father's musical education which taught him arrangement, the manual challenges of physically chopping up samples, how a great producer never really has a 'throw away' beat, knowing the production history of 70's records 'what to chop and what not to chop', as well as how it takes a true musical sense- actual ability to play piano or other instruments- to reconstruct samples in a melodious way.  "It's just hard."