Top 5 Rhythm Roulette Episodes

Mass Appeal’s Rhythm Roulette series has a producer enter a record store, blindfold themselves and select three records at random.  Their challenge is to then use those three records and produce a song on the spot.  As an aspiring producer, you can learn a lot about how these amazing artists cut samples, find loops and sounds to use, how they layer instruments, and add in drums.  This is one of my favorite web series and here are my top 5 favorite Rhythm Roulette episodes.

9th Wonder

This is hands down (in my opinion) the best Rhythm Roulette episode and really shows you 9th Wonder’s level of genius.  You can see how amazing his ear is when listening to the different records and how he foresee’s the entire track just from hearing a snippet of the record.  I was not even close to hearing what he was hearing on the records and his speed and quickness of executive the chops and creation of each song was incredible.

Charlie Heat

The G.O.O.D Music producer absolutely kills it in his episode of Rhythm Roulette.  He creates the most head nodding and infectious beats – the “Oh baby, Jane” beat still replays in my head from time to time.  His drum selection and arrangement is pretty incredible as well.

Just Blaze

This is an insight into Just Blaze making a Just Blaze track – the kind of song that you’d expect from him that would become a classic had he had Jay-Z rhyme on it.  You can just see the mastery and skill that he has and chops the sample so perfectly and seamlessly.

Mannie Fresh

This is one of the most fun Rhythm Roulette episode and is a great breakdown of a Mannie Fresh beat.  You can see how simply he crafts a song from a small sample – the simplicity, but the catchiness of his song is what makes me really like this episode.  He is not doing anything crazy, just finding a simple loop and adding some drums and some Vox to give it some bounce.  It goes to show you that if you have a good ear you don’t need to do anything over the top to make a really fun beat.

Scoop DeVille

I really like this episode because he samples a classic that everyone knows and has heard, “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers.  You get a real understanding of how to chop, liven up and create a classic, which he also did on Kendrick Lamar’s “Poetic Justice”.

Learn how to make a beat by watching hip hop tutorials here.