what is trip-hop?

the styles of trip-hop

essentials

essential recordings

chord progressions

tips and tricks

triphoppin radio

links

contact me

Trip-hop essentials (for producers/musicians)

When it comes to trip-hop, there are certain gear essentials that every trip-hop producer should use, or own.

To begin with, a turntable is basically THE piece of gear for trip-hop (a DJ mixer too). But instead of vinyl turntables (the Technics 1200 being the industry standard), I recommend the relatively new CD turntables (especially the Pioneer CDJ series-- which work PERFECTLY, and respond so much like vinyl, especially for scratching). With the CDJs, you can burn your own stuff to scratch with or resample (which is so useful especially if you want to use legal samples to scratch on), pitch beats or samples down for a really gritty, dark trip-hop feel... you name it. CD turntables DO NOT SKIP, too.... which is a constant problem with vinyl turntables and their styluses (styli?). You can beat the hell out of that platter live and they just will not skip. Also cool is the Numark CDX (has a real vinyl platter which responds just like a Technics 1200 vinyl turntable, and same features as the CDJs!)

Pioneer CDJ-800 ($600)	Pioneer CDJ-1000 ($1000)	Numark CDX ($800)

In addition to turntables, here are some essentials you should be familiar with if you're looking to produce and write trip-hop:

01 pianos (electric and acoustic)

02 virtual pianos (electric and acoustic)

03 real synthesizers

04 virtual synthesizers

05 sequencers/arranging software

06 royalty-free sample loop CDs

07 microphones and effects