16 Apr The best VSTs for LoFi Hiphop Beats
WHAT TO EXPECT?
The genre LoFi Hip Hop has become extremely popular. While Channels like Chilled Cow or Chill Hop have millions of streams on popular streaming-services like YouTube or Spotify, some producers already managed to get an income from their LoFi productions.
If you are a new, or even an advanced producer, that has no experience in making this type of genre, it can be pretty overwhelming to find the right tools for getting started.
In this article, I want to give you a general overview over which plugin-types are generally used in LoFi HipHop productions.
I broke this topic down into 3 parts:
Table of Contents
WHAT IS LOFI HIP HOP?
Before we will dive into which tools you will need for producing some smooth LoFi-Tracks, we need to understand what their main characteristics are.
When you take a closer look at the term “LoFi HipHop” you will see, that it contains two words: “LoFi” and “HipHop”. Pretty obvious, right?
If you know what these two words are all about, you will get a deeper understanding of this topic.
LoFi Definition
So when you have a look at the Wikipedia article about LoFi, you get a pretty good definition of this production style.
To sum it up: The aim of a LoFi production is to falsify the sound in such a way that it deliberately appears dirty or old.
Main Characteristics of a Hip Hop Production
Because music is all about creativity and self-expression, it is pretty hard to define the main characteristics of one genre. I think if you want to understand it better, studying history and evolution can be a pretty good starting point.
If you have a look at the pioneers of hip-hop production, like J Dilla, Pete Rock, etc. making beats in the old days mainly used to be all about picking a great sample, chopping it up, and creating some simple loops with a vintage sampler.
Add some gritty drums and a great Bassline with a synthesizer to it et voilà: you have an old-school boom bap Hip Hop beat.
With the rise of modern music technology, producers had more options to experiment with. Some people are still making “classic beats”, others are focussing completely on the sound of modern plugins and some are doing it the hybrid way, trying to combine the best of both worlds.
So because HipHop music is constantly evolving and there are lots of different production styles, I tried to define the stereotypical characteristics of old school and new school Productions – this is what I came up with:
OLDSCHOOL (BOOM BAP)
Boom bap is a subgenre and production style of hip hop music that emerged in the late 1980s and 1990s, featuring snappy, vintage-sounding drum hits programmed with funky swing, jazzy musical influences, and smooth bass lines. The bpm of boom bap beats can vary, but they are usually in the range of 80 to 120 bpm.
NEW SCHOOL (TRAP)
Newschool hip hop is a movement in hip hop music that emerged in the mid-1980s and continues to the present. It is characterized by diverse styles, sounds, and themes, ranging from hardcore rap to alternative hip hop. The bpm of newschool hip hop beats are often in the range of 120 to 180 bpm.
CONCLUSION
So after we found a definition for the Word LoFi and the Word Hip Hop, we can finally bring them together and get an idea about what the genre LoFi HipHop is all about:
The goal is to make a HipHop beat, that has a vintage feel to it. You achieve that with the help of analogue sounding effects and vintage gear. In the next sections of this article, I will show you, how you can make this sound in any DAW like Fl Studio, Ableton Live, Logic Pro, etc.
Because I don’t want to make this post a simple advertising, I’ll just name the main tools. So that you will know for what type of Plugins you have to search for.
VSTs for MIXING LoFi Hip Hop
There are several plugin types, that can make your productions sound dirty and old. After 5 years of constantly making Lo Fi Hip Hop Beats I came up with 3 different tools, that turned out to be very useful.
BIT CRUSHING
A bitcrushing vst is a plugin that reduces the quality of a digital audio signal by lowering the bit depth and/or sample rate. This creates a distorted, lo-fi sound that can add character, grit or warmth to a track.
VINYL-EFFECTS & TAPE EMULATION
A tape emulation vst is a plugin that simulates the sound of an analog tape recorder, such as a reel-to-reel or a cassette. It can add warmth & character to a digital audio signal.
SATURATION
A saturation vst is a plugin that emulates the sound of analog devices that add harmonic distortion and compression to a audio signal. It can make the sound more warm, rich, and lively by adding coloration and character.
VSTs for composing lofi hip hop beats
After we broke down what audio effects will LoFi-Up your beats, I want to give you a quick overview over what vst instruments you can use to compose them.
SAMPLER
Like mentioned before, sampling from old records is a very common technique for making some smooth LoFi HipHop Tracks.
Samplers are included in nearly any music production software and you can even buy some advanced ones, that will provide you with more creative options.
It’s really a great tool with a lot of potential. Besides chopping some records up and replaying them, you can also experiment with some alternative effects like pitching and reversing.
Quick Tip: Make sure to study every option that your sampler of choice is offering, because you may miss some great features that will blow your mind!
KEYS
Hip hop beats from the past were often filled with elements of jazz. Because genres like cool jazz or jazz noir are characterized by gentle, soothing piano sounds, they are still present in many popular LoFi hip-hop productions.
You can find a lot of great VST plugins, both paid and free, that produce a great sound. My recommendation here is to add some great acoustic and electric pianos to your library to access a wide range of inspiring sounds.
Here is a short list of cool electric pianos that are widely used in the scene:
Rhodes |
Wurlitzer |
Hammond Organ |
Clavinet |
SYNTHESIZERS
The universe of virtual synthesizers is endless. An old friend who has been honing his sound design skills for years explained to me that you only have to find the right purpose for every synthesizer. And I can agree with him!
It’s really just about experimenting a lot and discovering your own preferences.
A little tip: If you are very impressed by the music of a special producer, you can often find a hint about his equipment on Equipboard.
Here is a short list of synthesizer emulations that I love:
Mini Moog |
DX7 |
CS-80 |
Roland Jupiter |
Oberheim SEM |
CONCLUSION
Making LoFi HipHop is really just the art of combining some HipHop Beats with the sound of some vintage Recording equipment.
Because the tastes and preferences of some producers are so different, I just gave you an overview of which tools you will need, to lead you in the right direction.
After you know how to produce this sound, it’s really just a matter of research and experience, I Hope, that I could help you with this!
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