A Brief History of the Akai MPC

A popular tool used in electronic music making is the MPC, which is a tool used for triggering/chopping samples and drum sounds. MPC pads have become deeply integrated into the culture of hip-hop and are still widely used for hip-hop, trap, dubstep, trance, electronica, you-name-it. Using an MPC pad is a really great option if you're not particularly savvy with playing keys but still want to arrange music without writing it straight into your DAW. I love this article because it really goes in-depth with the Akai MPC's significance and effect in the history of hip-hop and electronic music making. Akai & Roland are two of the most popular brands when it comes to hip-hop gear.

How To Choose The Best Audio Interface for Your Home Studio

I REALLY like this video because of the way he goes in-depth into interfaces without being overly complicated about it. I personally use a Scarlett 2i2 and could not be happier. At the studio I work at, we use a MOTU alongside a Neve preamp (which sounds like heaven), however, for home-recording, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the 2-channel Scarlett 2i2 I have. Also super affordable.

Buy THIS MIDI Controller

This is actually the video that helped me make my decision on which MIDI controller to start with. I really like the way he does pros and cons for specifically beginner producers. Akai MPK Mini II has been my holy grail MIDI controller because of the velocity sensitive keys, 8 MIDI pads (with 2 banks), mod stick, & overall affordability.

The 20 Best DAW Software Apps in the World Today

The votes have been counted. What is the best DAW?

Teenage Engineering OP-1 Quick Tour

An alternative to having a completed basic home studio setup is to simply work with Teenage Engineering's Op-1, which is essentially a portable DAW as well as a synthesizer. What's really cool about this is that it's completely customizable, portable, and all of the data can be imported to other DAWs like Ableton for further mixing. Some elements of the Op-1 can be rather advanced, especially for those who are new to music making as a whole, but because of its compact nature and limitless customization possibilities, you could make all of your music with this one machine and skip all the other gear necessary to make a home studio. It's pretty sweet.

$22 Microphone VS $3600 Microphone

Andrew Huang is one of my YouTubers when it comes to music nerd stuff. For those of you interested in getting mics, check this out!

Critter & Guitari

This is my holy grail synth and here's why: If you are just getting into synthesizers, the organelle is perfect for you because of their puredata-fueled customizable machines. The organelle works as both a synthesizer (as in it generates sound) and a sound processor (as in you can turn it into any kind of pedal you want). You can actually create your own patches if you use puredata/MaxMSP (sound design software). That being said, there's a whole community of people online who create patches that are free to download. This thing is amazing! P.S. - Knobs is one of my favorite YouTubers. He does amazing demos.

My Personal Setup

I'm always on the lookout for affordable upgrades, but I'm currently very happy with my current home studio setup which is as follows: + Logic X as my DAW + Scarlett 2i2 as my interface + AKAI MPK mini II as my MIDI controller + Shure SM58 as my primary mic (it's also my live microphone) + C&G Organelle (I'm perpetually adding to the collection but these have been my foundational tools in music making). PROTIP! Use sites like Craigslist and eBay. Because a lot of these items are used for beginners, when people are ready to upgrade, they'll often sell them at significantly reduced prices for the same level of functionality. I got my 2i2 for $100 when they usually retail for $150, and I also got my Moog Sub Phatty for about $300 less than retail value because of minor cosmetic scratches. Don't be afraid to browse!

17 of the Best Budget USB Audio Interfaces in the World Today

For those of you looking to get into specifics, this is a really good place to get your details, especially about USB audio interfaces like mine.

Why Mixing With Only Stock Plugins Can Give You a Better Mix

I really love this article because it brings in the interesting perspective that if you can work with what you've got, you really don't need to invest much money in fancy compressors, EQs, limiters, gates, etc. Try to see how far you can get using your stock plugins, and when you feel super comfortable with them and feel like they're not doing enough, then feel free to graduate to a 3rd party plugin!

Making a Track Using Only Sounds from Logic Pro X

Pat Ryan is one of the reasons I even launched my own YouTube channel. He has a really accessible approach to beat making, and I really love this channel because a lot of the resources he uses are widely available. Here's a super good example of all stock sounds (built-in plug-ins) on Logic being applied in a really cool way.

The Role of Plugins in Digital Audio Workstation Software

Still confused about plug-ins and VSTs? Here's a comprehensive blurb about their origins, roles, and which DAWs work best. There are also a bunch of free plug-ins included in the list that they provide.

Valhalla Vintage Verb with Paolo Mojo

My favorite stock plug-in on Logic X is probably their PtVerb, but if you're looking to take that sonic quality up a notch and have a little more flexibility and control over your reverbs, Valhalla is definitely the best bang for your buck. Here's a tutorial of someone going through a few different options in detail. Price point starts around $50.

10 Steps to a Quick Master

Mastering is often the unsung hero of making a great sounding track since most folks are kind of unaware as to what it actually does. I was completely oblivious to the art of mastering until I got iZotope's Ozone 7. Ozone 7 is by far the most user-friendly and effective method of hearing your tracks immediately come to life and is definitely worth the money when you're trying to come out with professional sounding recordings. Here's a quick tutorial on some of the basics of mastering with Ozone 7. The presets are awesome, too!

Omnisphere 2

Omnisphere is probably the most trendy synth generating plug-in on the market right now. Almost every big-name EDM, pop, & hip-hop producer uses patches from this plug-in and for good reason. The audio quality and customizability of these patches is unrivaled and can be seen demoed in this video. Note: This is for producers who have a little bit more of a budget to work with on plug-ins, as the market price starts at around $500 for this. However, you're not really going to need any other synth generating plug-in if you have Omnisphere. Personally, I could watch this video on repeat. I LOVE these sounds.

Massive

Native Instruments is one of the industry's standards for solid plug-ins, and one of the programs that are the most popular is their synth generating plug-in called "Massive." Here's a nice little exploratory video going through how to build some really nice synth tones. You can get a free demo of Massive as well as a package that includes other Native Instrument plug-ins. This is a great alternative to getting more costly physical synthesizers.

My 5 Most-Used Plug-Ins

Here's a quick list of the plug-ins that I use in virtually every session that I make on Logic X: 1. Kontakt 5 (I frequently use Signal and Rev Loops by Output) 2. Battery 4 3. Platinum Reverb (stock plug-in on Logic) 4. Logic's built-in digital compressor 5. Izotope Ozone 7

Best Free VST Plugins

I love this guy's channel. Pretty self-explanatory, here's a really nice walk-through of some really sweet free plug-ins. This channel is also pretty sweet because he does plug-in reviews every Monday and provides a ton of resources and links for at-home engineering.

Battery by Native Instruments

For those of you who are using Logic X as a DAW, you can sample drums in the stock plugin Ultrabeat (using the "custom" preset), but after going to Battery 4, I can't imagine drum sampling any other way. You get complete customization of each individual drum sample and huge banks to work with, plus I personally really love their features like their compressors, delay, tuning, reverb, time stretching, etc. Definitely worth the purchase when you're ready to upgrade from a stock sampler.

Kontakt Player VS Kontakt 6

Kontakt 6 is one of my go-to plugins for an infinite use of applications. You can get a free version of Kontakt to get you started, but I am obsessed with some of the patches I've been able to use through Kontakt 6 and would not be the same producer without them.

Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music

The guide attempts to depict the chronological order of electronic music genres' appearance. It contains 7 separate parent areas of electronic music to explore: House, Techno, Breakbeat, Jungle, Hardcore, Downtempo, and Trance. Even though the flash is kind of hokey in this, I absolutely love how in-depth and informative this guide goes. Of course, some of this is a bit subjective and also massively overwhelming at first, but it's a great reference point.

An Idiot's Guide to EDM Genres

Here's another in-depth (and more current) guide of specific genres of EDM. The takeaway I get from this guide is not so much being able to define what genres certain songs are in, but more so capturing the elements that you can use in your own music (i.e. driving kicks, builds, risers, drops, etc).

J Dilla

Crate Diggers is a great resource for hip-hop history. For anyone interested in making hip-hop, there's one name that will keep popping up and his name is J Dilla (aka King of Beats). I think it's remarkably important to identify who your heroes are and get to know their stories. After watching this specific episode of Crate Diggers, a lot of things suddenly made sense in terms of how to throw samples and beats together, but more importantly, I was re-reminded about how brilliant J Dilla was. Definitely worth the watch.

26 Genres of Electronic Music

This is super fun, and also pretty insightful. It's one song using different qualities from 26 different genres of electronic music. Pretty cool!

Beyond Beatmatching: Visualize The Structure Of Dance Music

Here's a nice little breakdown of song structures and what to listen for when trying to incorporate elements of dance music into your own music. This is designed for DJs, but there's a lot to be said about actively listening to electronic music the way that DJs do.

L.A. Beat Scene Origins

This is totally my neck of the woods, both literally and figuratively regarding the music. This is a nice little write-up on some of my personal heroes.

Not a Beat, Not a Scene

If I had seen this mini-doc when it came out in 2013, I would've moved to L.A. way sooner. L.A. is home to a ton of super dope artists working in subgenres of electronic music and hip-hop, and many of the artists in this documentary are the reason why I make music the way I do. History in the making! Overall, just a really good watch.

“Jazz is the Mother of Hip-Hop”

I. Love. This. Video. Not only is Robert Glasper a hero of mine, but I love how he breaks down the art of sampling and beat-making and the correlation between jazz and hip-hop. He is amazing.

Audacity

Audacity was the first DAW I ever used as a teen because it's completely free. If you're really trying to budget, this is a great bare-bones place to start!

Over 30GB of Drum Samples Collected over a Lifetime

A producer named Killer Bee assembled 30GB worth of high-quality drum samples and generously decided to share them on Reddit. After this, you definitely will not need to download any drum sounds for a WHILE (especially if you're focusing on hip-hop).

Squadpack Audio

I looooove this sample pack. Great for future bass and downtempo production.

100+ Awesome Free Online Resources for Bedroom Producers

A list of online music making tools for music producers. It features virtual instruments, online sequencers, tutorials, BPM calculators, and more freebies! This may seem overwhelming at first, but try to download a sample pack one at a time!

The 60 Best Free VST Plugins Available Today

VST Plugins are fun and useful for all creators. But it's hard to find the good ones. From Drum VSTs to Synth VSTs, they're all here.

Organelle

If you're an organelle nerd like I am (or any puredata-based patch nerd, for that matter) you can get TONS of free patches made by fellow organelle-users from this website. This is where I get all my organelle sounds! Love this site.

XferRecords.com

Here's a really great compressor that my producer friend Scott Welch told me about. Hooray for freeware!

Jesse Hanson (Bad Snacks)'s Bio

Jesse Hanson, otherwise known as Bad Snacks, is an L.A.-based producer, singer-songwriter, and studio string player. Having been a trained classical violinist in Massachusetts for 18+ years, it wasn't until she made the move from Boston to L.A. that Hanson changed her identity as a classical strings player and folk singer-songwriter to Bad Snacks, an artistic project that blends strings with synthesizers in an electro-pop/hip-hop format. Since beginning her career as an electronic producer and songwriter, she has garnered the attention of groups like Moonchild and KING and often works as a co-producer with Scott Welch (of Blakeslee Recording in North Hollywood) and alongside musicians/engineers like Will Wells (Imagine Dragons, Hamilton). Currently, her latest project is a beat walkthrough video series on YouTube. She also frequently does string work and has played with artists like Bipolar Sunshine and the Hollywood Light Orchestra, in addition to writing and producing on various projects (Zealyn, Lyric House Publishing, etc.).

Bad Snacks Ep 4: "Little Muffin Pies" (Synthpop w/ Vocals & I GOT A MOOG)

Here's an example of one of my Bad Snacks on YouTube!

Playlist for Bublup

CR Electric Violin

This is the type of electric violin I use for almost all my tracks. Check them out!

Follow Bad Snacks on Facebook

My official Facebook page

Follow Bad Snacks (@lilbadsnacks) on Twitter

The latest Tweets from bad snacks (@lilbadsnacks).

Follow Bad Snacks (@lilbadsnacks) on Instagram

Here's my instagram!