MAKE BEATS FOR RAP

Just throwing a few beats online and thinking artist will flock to buy is not enough. If you really want to make the big money (6 figures a year or more) you have to understand thoroughly marketing and promotion. You have to understand why people buy and most of all how to drive targeted traffic.

The problem most producers have is they don't where to start to sell beats online. Well you have a few choices.

1. You could purchase domain and hosting for cheap and have a web designer make you a music webpage to sell your beats.

2. You could use 3rd party arbitrage sites that allow producers to upload their beats so artist can purchase and download instantly.

3. Put your music on huge communities like myspace and soundclick and let artist contact you to purchase beats.

All of these methods can result in a good amount of money if done right.

It is a good idea to do all of those methods to make as much money as possible.

You have to treat this like a business and not like a hustle. Your in the business of selling music, and your beats are the product. Your customers are music artist (mostly up and coming) looking for affordable beats to record their tracks to.

Rome wasn't built in a day, so it will take time and dedication to start making the big bucks when you start to sell beats online. It is hard work, but worth it in the long run.

It is also a good idea to have at least 50 hot beats already made and ready to be sold. 50 is a good amount because it gives the artist a few beats to choose from.

Remember to work on your business everyday and I guarantee you will be successful.

Most likely if your reading this article then you do have internet access, so you will be able to download some beat making software. There are many different beat making packages out there to choose from. What you will want to do is choose a program that has a user friendly interface and detailed tutorials that can get you going. Make sure it is a standard 16-track sequencer and it is pre-loaded with sounds and instruments. Now the thing that you have to realize is no software will make you a super music producer overnight no matter what your. The key to learning the art of making music is having a genuine love for music.

Having this love for music will give you the motivation and drive to create your own beats and tunes. This means many long days and nights practicing your craft. You will have to have plenty of patients.

Now if you want to learn to make rap beats you have to know rap music. Listen to different styles of rap music, such as hip hop, gangsta, crunk music and conscious rap. You have to feel the beat in your chest and really listen to the rhythm. This is how you will get ideas and inspiration to make your own beats. Sometimes you will sit down to make a beat and you wont be able to come up with anything good. However this is okay because sometimes the best creativity comes from a moment of nothing. Most of the time the best thing to do is figure out first what type of beat you want to make.

For example If you want to make an east coast hip hop beat then you should listen to a couple of your favorite tracks with east coast rappers on them. This is a good way to get the creative juices flowing. The key to learning how to make beats is to master your tools of choice. Whatever software you pick weather it be sonic producer or FL studio, you have to learn to work it inside and out. Master every aspect of the program from arranging your tracks to quantizing your sounds. If your ready to start producing music then hurry over to make rap beats.

Because the US military occupied Panama for so long, we have way more chain restaurants than most countries in Central America. We have Quizno's, Burger King, and my personal favorite, Wendy's where I can continue my ongoing french-fry study as to whether or not there really is a difference between the medium and biggie portions. Most of these fast-food joints will deliver to your house, via small noisy motorbikes. You would think this kind of service would nourish the country's lazy, couch potato demographic but Panamanians, for the most part, are not fat.

Mistake: Arriving in Panama in September without a rain jacket. The weather here is hard to complain about though: about 80 year-round. The rainy season lasts a good five months, during which you can expect a torrential downpour every few days. It's during this season that I've come to experience new levels of rain, new intensities of rain that before I never knew existed. Just yesterday, for example, it was raining so hard that this gushing rivulet of rainwater lifted some kid's play truck--the kind with an orange body and yellow roof--and drifted it all the way down to Via Argentina.

During rain storms, I come up with lyrics. If you weren't aware, I am a bit of a underground rap artist, and sometimes, I like to use my articles as marketing vehicles for this talent. Here are a few lines I threw together about Panama:
"Yeah I like to go out to beaches
Las Palmas, you know.
Cheaters envy if I want to get grimey wit' it down in Coronado
Coral Lodge in San Blas
And when I get there, I just sit back and chill."
The safety standard here is pretty high, though it is the occasional murder or robbery that simply reminds me of that all-too-cliché theme of 'living in the third world'. I've been robbed and really, it's not all that bad: In fact, I say if you can't beat em, join em. To a lot of people, living in a big city with petty crime is a bad thing, but to me there could be no better place to practice some stealing of my own. I mostly do pick pocketing and I dabble in dog-napping. In the hierarchy of criminals, pickpockets like me are like at the bottom, one above mailbox burglars and the guys who steal pies from windowsills.

In all seriousness though, the cops are pretty friendly and good to expats like myself. It is a city though, and with city life you get crime. Nothing is too extreme, and to give you an idea, we feel more comfortable here than we do in Washington D.C. Costa Rica has gotten a shameful rap for prostitution and some of that applies to Panama too. Lots of men explore that sphere and though they'll never tell their partner, a fair amount cheat on their spouses. This is kinda like asking a mime who his favorite performer is: you know he has one, but he'll never tell you their name.

There's an old saying that goes something like this: give a man a fish, he eats fish for a day. Give a man a fishing pole and he'll catch tuna fish that same day. The fishing down here is really pretty spectacular, rivaling that of Mexico. We have what is considered to be "the best fishing lodge in the world" down in the Darien jungle. We also have what I consider to be the best shortcut in the world--the Panama Canal--which is a little bit more than a tourist trap.

I'm sure there's some way they calculate standard of living and I'm assuming it's on a 100 point scale. If that's the case, I'd give Panama a 94. I love the fact that I can have a beautiful 0 dinner atop a high-rise (the restaurant scene is off the hook) or a mountain of food at a café. I love how I can be in meetings in the city in shiny buildings with snappy dressers, then 2 hours later, be sitting in the San Blas Caribbean archipelago with a 500 year-old tribe of Kunas. I love the infrastructure, which makes it easy to get to secluded beaches and mountainous regions in a breezy afternoon. In my opinion, Panamanians take great pleasure in pretending to be tough. I love the people though because I think they are unique: hard on the outside but caring and sincere in the middle--similar to Junior Mints.

If you're reading this, then you've probably taken the time to read the entire article which I commend you on. I would recommend, however, that you do something more productive with your time: go to night school or something. Oh, and if its your birthday today, happy birthday.

Just to let you know, this is something you've probably tried many times in the past and you might even be doing it on occasion right now. I'm speaking about paid surveys, which have gotten a bad rap lately. The reason they've gotten such a bad rap is because most people never find the top dollar places, while only locating the sites that pay very low amounts. This can be turned around, though, because there are tons of higher paying survey websites out there, which can be sensational part time jobs for teenagers. You just need to know how to find them through the mess of penny pinching websites.

The reason most of us never find the best places is because of our constant use of search engines. If you found most of your free survey sites by using one of them, you chose the worst way possible. The good, top paying websites never show up in their lists these days. There are far more penny pinching websites out there than top dollar ones, which is why the better places never come up in those lists. If you keep going down that path, you'll never be able to turn surveys in great part time jobs for teenagers. I know the quick fix for this, though: Large forums.

These websites are monsters and they are very strict about the kind of posts they allow in their topics. They hate spam and dishonest info, so all of that junk get taken out in a heart beat. In addition to that, they have humongous archives, which are packed to the brim with topics about surveys and all the info is free for the taking. You can quickly turn them into fantastic part time jobs for teenagers by simply reading through some of the topics. So many people are talking back and forth about the survey sites they've run into and compare payments, the amount of surveys they have and everything else about them.

You get real, truthful knowledge about the survey sites that will be amazing part time jobs for teenagers.

Artists who buy beats online should make sure they buy them form a well trusted beat seller. By finding a producer who you trust to work with you will save yourself thousands of dollars and more legal headaches than you can possibly imagine. For this reason alone I say DO YOUR RESEARCH!

There's nothing wrong with shopping around and finding the right producer and beat to use on your project. The internet has made this easier and more affordable than ever before. Now you can record an album, from the comfort of your own house, usually for less than a thousand dollars including software, equipment, and production costs. If you do not want to purchase your own equipment there are literally thousands of local studios that have trained sound engineers scattered all over the country, so there's a pretty good chance you'll be able to find one in your area.

Artists who want to record a great song need to be choosy when buying rap beats that are just right for their song. You can refer to one of my other articles if you want more in depth advice on this matter. There are literally millions of beats online to choose from, so take your time and choose several hundred that you connect with. Then go and short list them into an album after listening to them for a week or two to see what sticks with you.

Finding the right instrumental for your next classic may take a lot of digging. Producers who upload beats online usually have a large catalog to pick from, so make sure to listen to the whole thing before moving onto the next person in line. You don't want to miss a gem just because it's hidden amongst all the clutter of sites like SoundClick, MyFlashStore, and RocBattle. Make sure to put a lot of thought into selecting the right tracks before buying beats online.

Before paying for beats make sure you know which ones you want. Most producers have a no refund policy after the purchase is completed, so make sure you are happy with the selection you've made. You do not want to buy a beat that you don't wind up using on your album because it doesn't hold your attention after a couple days.

Before purchasing anything, do some legwork and research the company you are going to. Find out how your beat will be sent to you. Some producers have automated beat stores that send out tracks as soon as they are purchased, some people still prefer to use PayPal buttons and send the tracks out manually to add a human element to their business. Make sure you know in advance how you will receive your track before paying for the rights to use it. If you are pressed for time you may want to go to a producer with an automated system or 24-48 hour guarantee on delivery. Nobody wants to have studio time booked and no beat to work with when they get there.

After the album is recorded there is a wide variety of graphic designers and artists who can make your project have the shelf appeal of a major record label release for very reasonable prices. Between this and sites like iTunes, ReverbNation, and CD Baby which offer artists a way to get their CDs out to the public with little to no upfront cost you no longer need a deal to have a good distribution network set up to get your music into the hands of your fans.

In selecting the most appropriate software, you need to remember that a program should be capable of provide you with an extensive selection of sounds. These are what you'll be using to mix and make your new beats with so having just a couple is never an option. The product must also be simple and trouble free with regards to navigation. If it takes you a great deal of time to comprehend your program controls, think of how much longer it will take you to be able to make your own beat from it. Finally, choose a program which has a lot of room for sound control. When creating new music, adjusting sound is important. A product must have the ability to assist you with the tweaking process to be something worth your time.

Now here are a few things you should never forget when you're already in the process of making beats. First, you should at the least have the ability to know the basics of the music theory. This will prove useful when you need to jot down the notes of your beat composition. It's also helpful to note the types of styles that individuals like about the hip hop and rap scene of today. If you think your creations fit the current consumer market, then you could turn your art into something very profitable. Furthermore, it also helps if you can easily play what you hear on an instrument much like the piano or the guitar. This feat is certainly useful when encountering catchy music that you may want to recreate then later on change and make your own.

The process of beat making is fun and simple as long as you keep these guidelines in mind and have the proper software. So if you want to try this craft, begin seeking for the best software now and download away. Then, all you need to do is to simply keep practicing whilst keeping an open mind about various styles that people are into currently and soon enough, you will be able to make your own beat that could be appreciated by many and make you the next hip hop or rap superstar.

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that rapping is easy (which it is not). The flow and rhythm involved in rapping can take years to master, and that too if you have the aptitude or the talent for it.

Nevertheless, these are 5 tips every aspiring rapper should keep in mind:

1. Become acquainted with all rap styles: East Coast, West Coast, South. Listen carefully to rappers from with different styles and note their rhythm, flow and lyrical structures. A good ear for different rap styles is probably the number one thing you can have to be a good rapper, and will eventually help you create your own individual style.

2. Invest in a dictionary. While this may not sound very "hip hop", but a strong vocabulary can really set you apart from dozens of other aspiring rappers. If you don't know a word, look it up, and learn to use it in appropriate situations. Cleverly rhymed words that depart from the norm are the best weapons in the arsenal of any rapper.

3. Don't be very strict about your song structure. You don't have to start from verse to chorus to verse and so on. Experiment with different writing styles, and let the tune come to you naturally in whatever order it appears. If you get the chorus before the verse, or the outro before the chorus, don't worry about it; the song structure can always be modified and tweaked later on.

4. Record yourself rapping as often as you can. This is the best form of feedback you can get. How you sound in person may be very different from what you sound like in your records.

5. Practice your timing. Rap is all about rhythm, flow and timing. Note how rappers like Eminem will accentuate the lyric at the end of a beat. Little tricks like this make all the difference and really sets you apart from the crowd. Get a few beats (or make your own) and practice rapping to it using any random words that pop into your mind (it doesn't have to sound good or professional), varying your timing to see what sounds the best.

I understand why you haven't made it as a producer yet. It is really hard to get into the music business. First off you need to have that extra cash to buy your equipment Well that can cost upwards of 45 grand,and I know most of us don't have that type of cash lying around. Your only other option is to try to rent out a studio for a day and that will still set you back about 2 grand. SO unless you are willing to rob a bank to reach your dream you are out of luck for the most part. No don't get me wrong I don't want you robbing just to make it, if you do your success will be short-lived. However, the free beatmakers available online are not going to put you on the fast track to success either.

I can understand why you are still in the same dead-end job, instead of producing great tracks. You are afraid that you are going to fail, and you should be. We are all afraid to take that big first step, however that is the only way we can ever change our lives. If you have a gift as a beat maker, don't waste it working some crummy job for the rest of your life! Take your fear and put it into your music. Don't let fear run your life, make fear work for you instead. Honestly there is no magic pill you can take to get over the fears that control us. It is a battle to get in control of them and reach the goals we set for ourselves. If you want to make it as a producer in any music genre you are going to have to work hard, and that means either living with your fears or controlling them.

All I can tell you is if you want to have a career as a producer, especially in the rap genre don't waste your time with free beat makers. This is just going to be a waste of your time and energy. You see the free beat makers that you will find online are absolutely worthless. They do not produce the studio professional results that you need. I want to see you make it in this business, because true to the fact there are many possibilities and new talent is discovered almost daily. Is it a question of who you know? To a degree that is true, if you are well-connected you might get breaks easier. Is it a question of how much money you have? Again this is true, if you have money you are going to have a much easier time getting a set up started and getting to work on beats and contact. However I am going to show you some software which will work just as good as 45 grand worth of equipment! This way you can start working out beats and start making some industry contacts.

The last thing I want to discuss with you as one beat maker to another is forget the naysayers in your life. Everyone you know who says your dream or goal is worthless or stupid, forget them. It is your life, your dream and your goal. If you are willing to work you can reach it, if you continue to work on you skills and develop them. I can assure you that anything is possible in this life. So many people have been told by their families and friends that they can't do it. Well guess what they work and strive toward that dream and do it. It is up to you how you treat those people once you reach your goal. Til that happens you need to perfect and reach your goal.

But Hip Hop as a Business is still in its early stages of growth. And in my opinion has seen nothing yet compared to what is to come.

With the exponential growth of Hip Hop and Rap music, there has been the closely linked growth in Hip Hop and Rap related software products. Software to help facilitate this success is everywhere and currently the Market is awash with numerous products, from the Spectacularly Brilliant down to the useless waste of time products that many of us have been suckered into buying on a whim.

Some of the products cost astronomical sums of money, and you would have to make it as a star just to make it worthwhile buying them. And other brilliant products and some not so great ones are completely FREE.

From software for making your own beats; or Chopping other peoples Beats, to Guides on Starting your own Record Label and Guides to Learning the latest Hip Hop Dance Moves.

Shows such as American Idol and The X Factor have shown that completely unheard of acts can suddenly explode onto the scene and make it really big in no time at all.

The use of the Internet as a means of accelerating the growth of your Public Image has also become increasingly popular. Several New Stars have launched their careers from You Tube in the recent past. The average person now has access to a worldwide audience from the comfort of their office or bedroom with the click of a few keys. This means the bars of entry into the game have been relaxed for the well informed.

Armed with a collection of the right software and a bit of talent, hard work and luck, it could now be possible for anyone to break into this industry.

Who knows, this time next year it could be You!

The third album Off With Their Heads kicks off with cheeky "Spanish Metal". Pay attention to the keyboard, it's like a modern background music used in a cowboy flick, especially when two cowboys are preparing to draw their pistols for a gun fight. Just cute isn't it? Spanish Metal is a heavy guitar-based introducing track, in the verse, you'll find frontman Ricky singing in a somewhat very subtle voice. I find this track kind of cute. Go Kaiser Chiefs!

"Never Miss A Beat" is very funky and catchy. The combination of the singing and the music fit in very well here. Once the first verse comes in, i already knew i'm going to like this track. Check out the lyrics, "What did you learn today? I learned nothing. What did you do today? I did nothing. What did you learn at school? I didn't go. Why didn't you go to school? I don't know..." It's simple, but yet it ables to make me repeat these phrases over and over again. Starting to stuck in my head. Never Miss A Beat is always building up the tempo and climbing up the stairs, once it reaches the peak, then only Ricky and other featured guests can be heard singing together. The featured guests are Lily Allen and three members of indie band New Young Pony Club, Anne-Marie Chirema, Lou Hayter and Sarah Jones. Nice guests appearances.

"Like It Too Much" has this thing that makes me hopes that this track is never going to stop. When it reaches a certain point like the chorus and once Ricky is almost done singing the chorus, the music and rhythm just gets me hoping for more singing from Ricky. It sounds complicated, but it's true. Like It Too Much is also the only track that features the phrase "Off With Their Heads" in its lyrics. What makes this track unforgettable is the string arrangements by David Arnold of James Bond fame and the inclusion of a number of instruments such as violin, viola and cello. After a few listens, you would find as if Kaiser Chiefs were performing with the help of a big orchestra. Bravo!

"You Want History" has a strong electronic elements and at times, groovy. Anne-Marie Chirema, Lou Hayter and Sarah Jones of New Young Pony Club again do some backing vocals on this track. The singing by Ricky sounds like a robot to me in his effort to follow the beat and rhythm of the music. The beginning of You Want History is cute with the electronic music going on, as this song goes along, the chorus is catchy as well, as Ricky sings, "It's a mystery, oh, it's a mystery, you want history, oh its a mystery...", the keyboard just comes in. I find it catchy in a faint hilarious way.

In "Can't Say What I Mean", you'd find frontman Ricky hardly has time to gasp for air. It's fast and groovy. The bass especially sounds like a motorcyle's engine, it just keeps grooving. The keyboard also being played in a way that is so cheeky i would say. It just has the same rhythm all the way, but it blends in just fine. Great and cute stuff again by Kaiser Chiefs!

"Good Days Bad Days" is very cheerful and positive. It starts from a distance before the rest of Kaiser Chiefs just come in and join the fun. The guitar especially is very, very catchy. Amazing riff! With each verse, the guitar just follows, making it unbearable to miss it. When comes the break, the short guitar solo and the djembe playing are really something to be remembered. When you're feeling down, have a break and listen to Good Days Bad Days, this music is designed to make you feel good. Have a look at their final verse, "If you had a different attitude, instead of take and take and take, you have missed an opportunity, and that's a really big mistake, if you had a different attitude, you'd still have good days and bad days..." I feel great now!

Kaiser Chiefs slow it down with "Tomato In The Rain". I would describe this track as soft and infectious. Ricky's voice is found soft throughout this lovely track and the music in the chorus has a hook that is really infectious. This only part is short, but can cause a stir. "Yes I do know about you, shall I come home...?", what a lovely and simple phrase, but whenever Ricky sings this phrase, the whole Kaiser Chiefs just let themselves in and provide some backing vocals for Ricky. Lovingly infectious!

"Half The Truth" brings the notches up again! The keyboard on this track is kind of good. Ricky doesn't really sound like singing, he sounds more like rapping and talking his way through this track. Fast and furious! When the chorus comes, the keyboard is played in a way that you would only hear it in a haunted house. Nice and scary. The lyrics are also written smartly, "I will not lie to you, but i defiantly only gave you half the truth, i wil not lie to you...". It puts smile on my face after listening to it. Kaiser Chiefs also brought in a special guest, Sway DaSafo (A rapper from UK), to help finish Half The Truth in style! Crunchy!

"Always Happens Like That" is a funky and groovy pop song from Kaiser Chiefs. It has the quality to make one dance. After each verse, Ricky will go, "And it always happens like that..." Lily Allen is also featured on this track, they make a great team singing together. The guitar on Always Happens Like That is also everything but sad. It'll make you feel better and happier, just like Good Days Bad Days. At times, it reminds me of Nick Valensi of The Strokes with the chirpy guitar sound.

"Addicted To Drugs" awed me at the beginning with the Agogo bells (Courtesy of producer Mark Ronson). It's very delicious how the Agogo bells fit in so well into this track. It's very, very groovy here. The music here doesn't fit the title at all, it sounds more cheerful than it should be if you just look at the title, Addicted To Drugs. This track alone can be the anthem for Off With Their Heads, the part where Kaiser Chiefs go, "Woah... Yeah..." will definitely straighten you up right away. In fact, Kaiser Chiefs make this song sweaty sexy as well.

Wow, after a great deal of some cheeky and catchy tunes, Kaiser Chiefs' "Remember You're A Girl" is also not to be taken lightly. Remember You're A Girl is a lovely indie pop tune that you'd find almost every member of Kaiser Chiefs contributes on the singing part. It's very soothing to listen to such track after a long hard day at the office or work. Ricky and co. can be heard singing in a softer tone, as if singing to little children who are fast asleep. Just so lovely and sweet!

Stand-Out Tracks (My Picks): Never Miss A Beat, Like It Too Much, Good Days Bad Days, Tomato In The Rain, Half The Truth, Always Happens Like That, Addicted To Drugs and Remember You're A Girl.

Showdown on Main Street

[Chapter Two, to: 'Mexican Stand-off']

Blue, he-after tending to his horse went down Main Street towards the end of town, where Lola's Boarding House was. She had a fancy sign outside, and the extension she was working on some years back was already built. She was looking out her front bay-window when Blue pulled up. The place had a walkway going halfway around the building now, it hadn't before. It was impressive, thought Blue.

As she noticed Blue standing outside looking in, she ran to the white picked-fence along side her wooden sidewalk, and opened up her arms to hug him, saying:

"OH Dios mío, mi amorcito volvio."

After the hug, she commented:

"Que bueno verlo de nuevo señor Blue," then shifted to English: "...do you plan on staying for a while, oh I hope so!" She was smiling with a tear in her right eye.

"Yes my dear pretty young española gal; for the winter months at least."

Thought Blue as she let go from the hugging him: she really knows how to hug- "Do yaw hav a roo-mm far rent?"

"Sure enough do-tienes suficiente dinero para pagar el cuarto?"

"You do haw... (a murmur0 good!" replied Blue.

"Come on in, sírvete café, its still early. "

Replied Blue: "Gracias, querida"

And so Blue followed her into the house. As he looked about-sure enough, there was the Seth Thomas Clock he bought for her when she first opened up her house doors to the public; it was a fancy 1870 model, he was proud to see she had it hanging on the wall in the hallway.

"Do you miss Juneau?" asked Blue, which was the city in Alaska, where they first met.

"Sí, siempre extrañare Juneau, Mr. Blue, it was a beautiful place, and time, bonito lugar"

"Yaw, it sure was, especially that lovely glacier you liked. "

"You mean the Mandenhall?" asked Lola.

"Yaw, I guess that sounds like the thing, it was a lot of ice on ice. "

-They both sat in the kitchen having coffee. Lola was as happy as a ten-year old school girl who just got her first boyfriend; same her Negro help was in the barn with her father milking the cow and cleaning out the stalls. But Lola would tell them when they came in the good news, or perhaps not so good, as her father did not like gunslingers, in particular; but Lola was no dumbly, she knew he was a wanderer. He would never stay in one place too long, but it would be long enough for her she felt, plus she was lost in the moment. He was the fist man she had ever made love to-the very first. And she could never find another quite like him.

"Got to find a job before winter comes, and settle down for a spill, I guess," said Blue.

"There's a horse rancher outside of town cerca a dos millas de aquí, he seems always to be hiring and firing cowhands and so forth, you know repair men for the fences and all."

Blue thought about the two cowboys in the saloon, "Yaw, I had a run in with a few guys in the..." before he could finish Lola commented:

"Todo listo..." she said [All ready?] Then she went quiet.

"I'll show you to your room. Necesitas bañarte [both], Baja cuando estes listo, Calentare agua."

"Where's the wood kept now..." asked Blue. She laughed. He laughed.

"In my room?" ['si quieres calentarte, tienes que ir alli'].

--Blue smiled, saying: "Aw, you're still my gal I see!"

"Blue, it's always been you, sólo tú." And she grabbed a key, and they walked to the second floor, room #4.

Blue fell, face first down unto the bed, fell to sleep like a dead mouse on the prairie, roasted by the sun. It was three hours later when he woke up; he heard some talking going on in the street. He looked out the window, up the street, there were five men chatting to a lady.

"Looks like trouble," Blue mumbled somewhat to himself-, wiping his face with a hand towel; he looked about; Lola must had went out for a spell.

As Blue readied himself to go up the block the makeshift-sheriff was standing in his office, about 200-feet from the happening, where the five men had cornered a Chinese woman in the middle of the street. It was an hour past noon, and they had just left the Gem Saloon. The sheriff didn't budge from his window to get involved. Chinese were not the most protected to him, matter-of-fact, they were quite the opposite. Plus these guys were a bad bunch, as was the whole town, and his belief was, keep them off the streets or they are fair game for any drunk wanting a free whore, although she wasn't a whore. But the way the town folks thought in Deadwood, was simple: there is no law, and so if I can I will, and if you can't stop me, all the better. They worked at the Golden T. Ranch, just outside of town. The one Lola had suggested Blue find a job at.

Lola now was standing out by her gate looking up the street. The men were pushing the Chinese woman around, she was but sixteen or seventeen thought Lola. She was tripping to her knees as they were having a game with her, pushing her, and grabbing her as they fell into their arms. She was getting bruised and dirty from the dusty road, thick with dried up mud. She was caught in the middle of their circle in the middle of the street, laughing, and pulling at her blouse and dress; saying:

"Give me a little."

She didn't understand what was happening, or what they were saying; but she was telling them something in Chinese. As Blue came out the door, Lola asked what is she saying, Blue listened he had been around enough dope houses to understand some Chinese and the woman kept yelling; said Blue to Lola in Spanish:

"Oh Dios mío too, me quieren violar, ayúdenme...ayúdenme, help me!" [Oh my God help me] Lola knew the woman was being rapped.

"She's saying, 'Oh my god...' Blue,"

"I know." Said Blue again, "The men are starting to rape her."

"I know, "she started to cry, both Lola and the Chinese cried. He knew he shouldn't get involved with the towns affairs, Chinese were to the whites were a lesser breed, and some may not take kindly to interfering. On the other hand, it was being done in public, and could start a little town war, for there was a section of Chinese, that could hold their own, perhaps not against the whole town though.

Blue stood still, not wanting to get involved, and Lola's tears started coming down her cheeks. She couldn't look at Blue, if she did, she knew he would go on her behalf and help the woman, and she really didn't want to be beholding to him in such a manner, and cause trouble. The men could burn her house down also, and that was her livelihood, burn it down after Blue left. The young lady was now on the dirt, dress half up, and the men closing in on the circle.

"I got to go get a shave, Lola, be back soon," said Blue.

She couldn't say a word, she was stone-still, beguile on the whole thing; there had been many rapes she heard about, but she was never so close to one, and helpless. As Blue walked up the street, about to walk past the circle in the middle of the street, the men had torn her blouse half off, her breasts were exposed, and another man had tripped her to where she had fallen back down again, for the umpteenth time, and another had opened his pants, and jumped on her as if he was ready.

Two of the men held her, one holding her head, another her two her legs, as the bearded one, tall and heavy, turned to look at his fellow comrades, with a smirk on his face about to say something, and she started screaming. Several women standing by watching with their husbands started pulling them away, in case they decided to help, or in anyway get involved.

Several other young men stood by in curiosity, but started to back off as Blue stepped in. No one helped. The man was doing what he came to do, as she screamed, as all the other four drunks were watching; now Blue came behind them. With one had he pulled the mans hair back and pistil whipped him, and the woman rolled over to her side, the man did not complete his task, and then as he lay bloody on the ground, he asked the other four drunks:

"Who's next!" and shot a hole in the foot of one for saying "Me." And the three ran like snakes that were being drowned out of their holes; jumping running falling as Blue shot two bullets past their heads. You could her breeze of the bullets.

The woman started to push her body up, she was thin, with long black silky hair; too young to be walking along Blue thought. She was breathing hard, but had spunk, she spit at the men as they ran, and at the man lying down pistol-whipped.

"Kick him!" Blue told the lady, and she scratched his eyes so bad they tore open the eyelids.

"Me name Ming..." she said, drying her tears with her long hair. Had she not been beaten so bad-thought Blue-she was a foxy looking young lady; but Blue was old enough to be her father, he was born the same year, Mark Twain was, 1835, so his mother used to tell him.

- "It's about time sheriff, where yaw been, watching the show?" said Blue.

"That's not even nice," replied the young sheriff.

Right about now, Blue had enough of the sheriff and backtalk,

"You want some?" asked Blue, stepping back as to give them room for a shootout. The sheriff just looked. He was being called on. That was not what he expected. Blue turned a half foot.

"I said you want some, sheriff." Everyone looked; the man on the ground crawled as fast as a wounded squirrel to the nearest sidewalk.

"No, no, I guess I should have been out here, I, I...don't know." I mean, I get really don't get paid, I mean the bar owners and a few of the city businesses own me, I'm no real sheriff, I'm just their secret image they want to show folks who come into town, like the government. This is all Indian land."

Blue knew all this already, that is why he was calling him on, he was a nobody, trying to play a somebody, with it suited the businesses, or ranchers; and hungry gold suckers in the mountains; all illegally trespassing on Indian land.

"Well I do know you're a coward, or a bad sheriff," said Blue, to add more injury to the previous insult. But Thomas Adams knew well enough, he was not getting paid to fight a troubleshooting gunslinger that had been totting guns for twenty-five years. The name of the game was getting rich and staying alive. He knew Blue, like Wild Bill, and Billy the Kid, and the rest of the gunslingers would all have their day, he didn't need to bring it on any sooner.

"I think I'm more of a bad sheriff, than the coward. But no one would want a showdown with you-that is, no one in their right mind." Said Thomas.

The other men having heard that quickly left well enough alone also, for a few were thinking of stepping in. Plus, the white man was alive, and a good beating never hurt anyone, so was their new thinking.

Said the sheriff [with a low voice] "It's best you boys are on your way now-" as he approached the three drunks, and he added, "Pick up your buddy on the way out, you can drink tomorrow when things are a little quieter, ok?" They didn't answer, they just found their horses, and threw their buddy over his saddle, grabbed the reins, and left town.

-Lola came running up. "Estás bien? You ok, Blue?"

The sheriff now standing on the wooden sidewalk by his office a hundred feet or so from them, sarcastically said,

"He's the only one ok," and left to go into his office before Blue could retaliate.

" Gracias Blue" Lola cried. "Nadie quería ayudarla" Right in the middle of day a rape, what is this place coming to...? Lola said with a kind of refreshing voice.

As Blue headed to the barber shop, he thought in his head, 'when will this day ever end.'

"Blue!" called the Sheriff, "you need a job, be my deputy."

"What," said Blue? [Rhetorically]

"I'd make you sheriff, but it has to come by a vote of the town. But I'll do as you say and we can both kind run the town, and get paid. This town is getting too wild for me and you need a job unless you want to dig for gold, or mend fences?"

"I'll think about it," said Blue.

"Please do..." said the sheriff, "I don't like what happened, but sometimes you know if you step in you're dead. And a dead sheriff only ends up on boot hill. "

Blue knew he made sense, but didn't like the coward part of him,

"Yaw, perhaps, for four or five months-only."

"Thanks come down to the office when you're done. If you're going to the barber, tell him to put it on the city's tab."

Blue smiled, it was the only thing other than Lola that was the good part of the day, a free haircut and now he'd add a shave onto it. And being a lawman for a few months was better than running horses, or mending fences or digging for gold, and he wasn't much of a gambler; a drinker he was. But he was just going through town, just needed a job for winter, around the corner. Plus his chance for working at the Golden T. Ranch was most likely in question now anyhow."

Technology has paved way to a lot of thing that we cannot do on our own. If you cannot create the beat yourself, it would be beneficial on your part to make use of the options available online and make use of it to your advantage. Getting access to software that will allow you to make your own rap beats is not that difficult. All you need is a computer with enough free space to install the software, and access to the Internet where you will be able to get to a source link to download the software from.

The software is manly concentrated on allowing you to produce and create your own music digitally with the help of your computer. Having the software installed on your computer, you have to familiarize yourself with how to use it so you can pick the right instruments that you will make use of, and let the sequencer allow you to create the notes as well as the beat for the rap music that you are creating.

If you are new at this, first thing that you can to make your own rap beats using a software is through downloading a demo version of it. Most of these software providers online allows you to download a demo version or a free trial version of the software so you can evaluate if it truly works for you.

Let's say that you are now satisfied with the features you have learned regarding the software that you are going to use to create these rap beats, you may now opt to purchase the full version of the software so you can maximize its use.

If you want to learn how to make your own rap online well then you should look to a cheap and easy way to start first! You can make your own rap songs online real easy, if you have software on your computer that contains over 100,000 beats all at your finger tips. There is lots of software out there that allows you to download these beats and tools you will need in your rap making journey.

How do you think you would do over the coarse of a year? If you are serious about making your own rap songs, then software like this is just what you need to stay on top of your beat making game in your attempt to make rap songs, and that`s exactly what this type of software will do. You will have all the beats in the latest songs out now, and future updates to all the newest beats as there made. If you stick with this online, you will be producing great rap songs with the rap beat maker tools you get.

To Make Your Own Rap Online Start With The Mixing

To make your own rap songs online the first thing you need to do is learn the mixing, and when your only learning, the easiest way to get really great at the mixing, there is no better place to start than online. Making music online is getting very popular. Mixing is one of the most important skills you need to learn, if your going to make any kind of great rap songs. If you want to become great over time at making your own rap songs this is were you start. When you have all these beats in one place it would not be hard for you to come up with some great ideas.

To Make Your Own Rap Online Its Not That Difficult

You are probably thinking to yourself, how difficult is it really to make your own rap songs online. You can search online for free software that will not do you that much good because you will not get all the latest beats. You will get beats that are 'gone out with the indian's'. You see if you do not have the software to make beats, then you can't do it full stop. For you to mix different sounds and then put these beats into your own songs, it does not take a lot of skill but it does take a bit of your time up. If you listen to rap all the time, you should already have a good idea of rap music, which will be a bonus to you, because then you will know what type of beats you want in your song, with this software you do not need to worry about anything it will all come together nicely for you. Just like it did for me.

This is probably the most important piece of equipment to make beats. Your choice of software could have implications in the style you develop as a music producer. But for somebody starting from zero I would recommend to not pay too much for this yet.

Most of the peripherals needed to make beats come with light versions of popular music software. Even though the purpose is to temp you to upgrade to the more expensive versions, these light editions have more than enough sounds to keep anyone going for a long time.

If you have absolutely no experience you could check something like Sonic Pro, a very popular online program that for only .00 USD offers a sequencer, sounds, instruments and more important, video tutorials on how to make your own beats.

An Audio Interface

One of the most important reasons why to get a decent audio interface is their handling of a common problem with computers and music, latency. This is the amount of time that it takes the computer to process an incoming signal.

Latency can create very annoying issues when making beats, like playing a midi note and hearing the sound a second later. It would be extremely difficult to record live that way. Also if you want to connect instruments, external synths and drum machines, audio interfaces feature the proper inputs.

A Midi Controller

Most of today midi controllers plug to the computer via USB and are recognized automatically by most music software, requiring almost no technical knowledge to get them going.

The most popular midi controllers come in 2 flavors, keyboard or pads. The keyboard is the most popular and the most practical, but rubber pads can yield more rhythmically interesting beats. Even better is the new breed of controllers that blend both together.

Monitors

It might seem like the least important feature for someone getting started, but this depends on how much you enjoy making music. The issue lies in the reproduction of the entire frequency spectrum. Small computer speakers by default mess with the audio content, hyping up frequencies because of their inability to fully reproduce them.

Even though the monitors at beginner prices are not the full solution, as you go up in price you start to get a more realistic image of the sound you're working on. At lower prices most monitors still hype up the sound a little, but in a way that compliments music making and not video game playing.

Where to Start

Some people have a preference in what instrument they first want to layout when producing beats in FL Studio. Some prefer the melody, some prefer the bass line and some prefer the drums. No answer to this is wrong or right, and it is mostly a matter of opinion, but for starters I will recommend laying out a good drum pattern first.

Before we get started, set your BPM (beats per minute) to something between 85 and 95.

Creating the Drum Pattern

First, search through your sounds for a nice, hard-hitting kick sample. In the example that we're going to create, you'll want to try to find a kick sound that hits hard but does not contain a lot of low-end sub bass (this will make it easier to mix with the bass later). Once you have found a good drum kick sound, fill in the steps on the step sequencer of where you would like the kick to be heard. Now, right-click on the sound in the step sequencer and select "Send to piano roll." This will put your drum kick pattern in the piano roll where you will want to adjust your velocity. Velocity is what gives the sound a human feel and not so robotic. Technically, velocity is to adjust how hard something is hit, or how hard a string is plucked, a piano key is pressed, etc. Play with this a little bit until your drum kick pattern starts to sound more human and natural.

Next, find a hi-hat sound that you like and again, click the steps where you want the hi-hat to be. Generally, every other note on the step sequencer is a good place to start. Now, do the same thing that you did with the kick sound and send the channel to the piano roll and adjust the velocity. This is even more important on the hi-hat than it is with the kick.

Now for the snare drum(s). I usually like to layer a few together to get the sound just right. I usually like a tight and hard-hitting sound, so I might mix a clap sound with a rim shot and then take 2 different traditional snare hits and turn the level down a little bit on those and then pan one to the right and one to the left at about 35%. For starters, you'll want to put your snare drum on every 4th step in the step sequencer.

Now, you can add more personal touch if you want using the same techniques already mentioned. Feel free to throw in a cowbell, tambourine, cymbal, etc.

Creating the Bass Line

In most hip hop, a low bass sound is used so really all it provides is power and thump and possibly a catchy tune that helps to "glue" the drum sounds together with the rest of the instruments. Choose a low bass sound that will give a good rumble when being bumped, and if there is too much high-end frequency to the sound then you can always cut it out with proper EQ or low-pass filter. I usually like to have the bass frequency set at 50 to 75hz and have the kick set at about 85 to 90 hz. You can also do this in reverse (have the kick lower frequency than the bass). The most important thing is that they don't both occupy the SAME frequency space. This is where most amateur beat makers struggle. It can take a lot of practice to mix the drum kick and the bass line together so that they don't sound weird or cause distortion when they're on top of each other. This will probably be the last thing that you master when learning to make beats because it can take precise EQ and compression to make it sound crisp and professional.

When writing the bass melody, start out simple. Choose a note scale that you want to use and stay within that scale. If you don't know music theory, start out by researching scales and pick one at random. Next, put a blank sound (use a sampler channel, or just turn the volume all the way down on the sound) in your step sequencer in fruity loops. Right click it and open the piano roll. Fill in all the notes in that scale, in every octave, and drag the edge of them so that they show up for the whole duration of the full pattern. Now, open the piano roll for your bass and click the little piano icon in the top left corner of the window. Select view > Ghost Channels. Now every note in the scale will be highlighted gray and you know to stay in these notes while writing your melody. This is a tip you really don't want to ignore because it can help you a lot!

Writing the Main Melody

First, choose your instrument. Let's pick something simple like a piano. Write a melody that goes along with the bass line. Sometimes you can copy your same bass line but then add more notes in between (remember I said to keep your bass line simple). If you have researched some music theory, you should use some chords here and there and use some type of chord progression. Remember to stay in the scale and always view Ghost Channels to make sure you're in the scale in you're unsure. If you want to stay simple you can just have the piano playing for the melody, but feel free to select a couple other complimentary instruments and add some accents here and there. Sometimes I like to use something like a violin just to emphasize certain notes or phrases in the melody.

Writing the Hook

The hook is where you can really go wild because it is the most climactic part of the song. You still want to stay in the correct scale of course, but you can add lots of strings and other instruments. You should either elaborate on the normal verse melody and make it more complex or you should write a totally new melody in the same scale. Remember to try to picture it with vocals on top of it and try to add things that will compliment a finished product / song.

This brings us to how technology is affecting each of the department of life. In fact, music has been largely affected by electronics and sound technology, and the last few decades, computer technology has added a lot of more convenient features to sound production and audio recording. With the advancement of electronic and computer sound engineering, much of studio recording basics have become quicker. There are other advantages like more enhanced sound editing and easier transfer of audio/record files.

It seems hard to believe that music can be made over the computer. In fact, it is. Now there are versions of software that can create different remixes, apart from enhancing the existing music. This kind of sophistication is now being exploited by all big and even small recording companies, by big stars and by amateurs.

Now this advancement took place mainly because all the money required and the time was literally turning into an obstacle for the people who wanted to become rap beat makers. Now this entire process would actually discourage a lot of the beginners even before they started. Now even before they could start earning, these beginners would have to spend a lot of money on the equipment and so on and most of them could not afford this.

So hence, technology improved and there was software which helped all these producers to make rap beats. Now this really made life easier for all the newbie's. When you look for rap beat makers then you need to choose the ones are usually different and which stand out from the rest.

These are the ones who should have the most features. They should be able to provide you with a lot of beats and the price should also be very reasonable. Now also make sure that it has a feature which is going to allow you to transport the different types of the files. Like from an mp3 extension to an avi extension. Also you have to make sure that you can export files out here and you can also mix up different beats together.

Also you have to make sure that it is easy to use. You should have to really think about how to do something, and then the entire process of rap beat making is disrupted. So its interface should be easy and it should be used friendly too.

You may be a little hesitant to try your own artistry. While you may not be the renowned, Grammy-award winning artist, you can be you-an artist of your own.

Of course this is normally right before you look at the expense of the equipment and the skills that you will need to be able to do this!

That's right!

You need to know a fair bit about musical theory to make beats and then if you do not know your way around a recording studio it can be tough to even get a half decent sounding beat out there.

So what about if you are an average Joe just looking to make a few beats to see if you like it?

Or you just want to start a new hobby but do not want to spend a lot of money.

Well if this sounds like you the best bet you have is to find some good beat maker software that will allow you to do this.

However these too can be quite complex so here are 3 things to watch out for when you are looking for a good beat maker software package.

Keep It Simple: We have just covered that it is quite hard to get started making beats and a lot of the fancy software out there although sounding awesome are meant to compliment a recording studio so they too will need a lot of knowledge to be able to use them.

So make sure if you are going to use software on your computer that you find one that is made for beginners.

Samples & Sounds: Ah, the life of your music - you must make sure that you get enough sounds and samples that you can use.

If you don't you can end up with 10 beats that all sound the same!

Not good!

Make sure that you get some preview or a listing of the sound libraries you get with the software.

Guarantee: Have a careful look around for some good beat making software and when you find one that you think fits the bill make sure that it has a guarantee on it.

This way you can get your money back if you are not happy!

I hope this article has told you a few things to look out for when you are selecting a good beat maker.

Once you have an exclusive beat, you were able to pay or procure a beat that contains a limited ownership. It merely indicates that the beat can be used only by persons who were able to create it or have paid for the rights of the product. Obtaining an exclusive beat enables the buyer to become the exclusive owner of the beat, and it cannot be utilized again by a different owner.

There are some things you can make to assist you in getting some exclusive beats if you are fascinated to it. First of all, you have to listen and decide what kind of beats you like. Since you really want to obtain an exclusive beat, you have to ensure that it is what you truly desire. You must weigh all the options and narrow down your choices to those beats you want the most. Next, you have to make a decision if you like demonstration, lease or exclusive privileges to the beats.

Next, you must decide if you want demo, lease or exclusive rights to the beats. It's just as important that you know how to exercise whichever rights you choose. Demonstrations have elective choices that are advantageous. When you rent a beat you do not obtain an exclusive right of the beats. Leasing is an excellent idea in conditions where you possibly have thoughts of recording a demonstration after you have listened to a few rap beats; however, you really do not intend to make something severe about it. Renting works well when you sell mix tapes or giving away your song for exposure.

Exclusives are extremely alike to hire but instead get things into the subsequent level, like producing an album. You like to possess the masters in order that you may mix the lyrics with the tracks. This is the right moment when you are prepared to shrink packaging and bar coding your compact disks for business use. Hence, there are no other artists who are allowed to release songs that you have made in that album; it is exclusively for you only. Lastly, you may purchase and obtain them immediately in your e-mail through online. The price normally from cheap to a more costly price depends on the track and also the producer.

After the beats are bought and released in the market or in any outlets, whether you create a big amount of money or not, you are no longer obligated to the original source where you bought your beats. The vendor has only the privilege to show a beat that has been sold while all the other rights are exclusively yours.

Exclusive beats contain a method of providing meaning to the industry of music. They are frequently utilized in websites, commercials, albums, performances and some other promotions. Possessing exclusive beats show distinctiveness of the person. Aside from the wholesome ability of the owner, it also illustrates the uniqueness of the music because of its dissimilarity from other music.

The price is not very high when you are looking to buy the best software. They come in the range of 420-. It is the best way to start your long journey. Once you have learned to master the beats with the less expensive devices you will develop the confidence to the out the more expensive ones. Usually everything works like a ladder. Development is easily illustrated by this idea.

Make sure that the beat you produce contains a lot of instruments in place. The usual monotonous ones do not please and draw the large crowds for long. A new mixture is always healthy for the music lovers as well as the composers. If you can offer people something new and original without freaking them out or turning them off from eccentricity or the lack, then you are in the right track. Most of the time, too, it is all about timing. Therefore it is very important that you recognize an opportunity when it hits your doorstep.

Learn from the professionals and try to replicate their mannerisms and culture. Learn the basic and apply them to your own causes. Whether it is rap or hip hop the aim is to keep the audience engrossed till the entire beat is not complete. When you are in the transition from an amateur to a professional try to set an example for those who are looking up to you. This can never be hard on you if you are passionate about making music. Inspiring other people is what making music is about for most people. Usually, those people who adhere to this thought definitely have gone far.

Do not be selfish while conversing with those who are available over the social communities and the websites that offer useful tips on the ways to make a beat. If you want to have a good start, you must create good impressions to people or they might never give you a chance to convince them again.

Always stick to our own composition. When you make a beat for the first time it is preferable or compulsory that the notes are original. It may not hit the markets at a high but at least there will not be a chance for them to speak ill of you. Reputation is as important as success in the music industry. Do not ignore any factor while you make a beat at any point of time in life. Cherish each compliment and see what you can do about negative criticisms. It is better that you weigh both in.

You can work with other producers if you have the money to hire them or the connections. You can go into a recording studio, spend a lot of money and do it yourself or you can use a good online beat making software. Another option would be to simply buy a hip hop rap beat. There are many producers and websites that are selling beats that you can download and use. You need to be careful because you may not have exclusive rights to the beat and someone else may be using the same track on their song.

Using online beat making software is not difficult especially since the software not only comes with written instructions but they also include video tutorials of how to use the software to create your own beat. The cool thing is that the beat will be completely original and you will not have to worry about someone else having your beat. When you've created your beat you can do anything with it because you own the copyright. You can use the beat for yourself, another artist or you can even sell it online to other people that are looking for rap beats.

You would be surprised how many top producers are making their beats in this manner. Not only is it cost effective, it is incredibly convenient because you have access to the online software 24 hours a day. If you woke up in the middle of the night and you had a beat in your mind that you had to get out you could do that. You will have unrestricted access to the software to make your own beat. It's like having your own studio.

Although its important, knowing how to breakdown a beat is only 1/4th of the battle. Two other important and probably the most important factors is your CREATIVITY and to BE YOURSELF. Your creativity and being yourself accounts for 1/2 the battle when it comes to beats. Without creativity everything would sound the same, What I suggest you do is always keep your creative space. Always have one place where your mind is set free from the outside world and all your thinking about is how your going to beats. One mistake that people make is they get caught up in trying to make hip hop beats like Dr Dre or The Neptunes, and that's when people start to lose their creativity and individualism. Without individualism people lose the things that make them stand out as person and that self expression. So it's always important to remember when making hip hop beats that you be yourself and always remain creative.

The last factor when it comes to making hip hop beats is your ability to paint a picture when you make hip hop beats. Your ability to grab the listener and paint a picture in his head with your music. What people don't understand is that if you make hip hop beats and you are able to touch the soul of the artist your chances of selling the beat to that artist will skyrocket.

So, remember to never over think the situation and just let it flow naturally because that will allow you to paint a more vivid picture. Always remember to keep your creativity and to most importantly be yourself. If you keep these things in mind you will be successful.

Here are some scenarios that may help you to see how lifestyle plays a huge role in our health.

1. The proverbial "fat gene"

Here is the internal dialogue for people who blame the fat gene: "Diets and exercise don't work for me because all of the women in my family are overweight. We have the fat gene." People who believe this make a lot of excuses why they just give up on diets. It is not dieting that is the key to losing weight, but rather long-term healthy choices.

Here is a better way of assessing the "fat gene". Certain family's patterns of eating, exercise and lifestyle are learned. For example, you grow up eating the wrong foods or not engaging in much exercise. These lifelong choices hinder the metabolism in later years and lead to insulin resistance. (Insulin resistance is a condition that impedes proper use of insulin. The body tends to hold onto fat cells and uses food to store more fat because it is not getting the right signals about our blood sugar. Over time, eating in a manner that produces insulin resistance stunts our metabolism and causes a host of other problems like heart disease, diabetes, obesity and cancer.)

From a different perspective, often heavy people learn to accept being overweight as the norm because they have come to identify themselves and family as the "chubby one". You may have to reprogram your brain to regain a leaner physique.

What can you do for yourself?

* Don't beat yourself up over your weight. Love yourself and give yourself positive messages. Seek support from helpful friends who have your best interest at heart. Dismiss those friends and family members who offer you tempting junk food when they are aware you are trying to improve your health.
* Eat foods that are low glycemic and lower in fat. For more information on the glycemic index, refer to my book called "Your Drug Free Guide to Healthy Weight Loss"
* Seek the help of your alternative health practitioner or dietitian if you are unsure why you are not achieving your goals. There are ways to reset your metabolism, it is just a matter of assessing whether you are insulin resistant, eating for emotional reasons or have an underlying hormonal or digestive issue.

2. "High cholesterol runs in the family"

There is a type of high cholesterol that is familial, however most people's cholesterol levels have nothing to do with their parents. It is how we eat and live that increases our cholesterol levels. This advice does not displace the help from your own practitioner or medical doctor. Check with your doctor before taking any of the following remedies, especially if you are on other medications or have an underlying condition.

With that in mind, here is what you can do to improve your cholesterol.

* Eat a daily diet rich in fruit and vegetables; eat fish, a handful of nuts, legumes, olive oil and whole grains. Avoid deep fried foods, red meat, white bread, white rice and sugar. Use alcohol sparingly.
* Vitamin C was researched by Linus Pauling. He found that taking higher amounts of vitamin C leads to a reduction of heart disease and cholesterol. I recommend 500 to 1000mgs per day. Eating foods such as fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamin C is helpful.
* Tri-chol is a supplement from Biotics Research that works very well to bring down bad cholesterol levels over time. It contains a few key ingredients like niacin, chromium, guggul, fo-ti and bitter orange, for example. It is available in the clinic.
* Fish oil is an excellent supplement for anyone to take. It acts to improve cardiovascular health, relieves arthritic pains and is good brain food. Take 1,000 mgs of fish oil per day. Fish oil capsules should contain 300 to 400 mgs of EPA per capsule.
* Exercise daily to reduce stress and improve cardiovascular health.

3. "Cancer runs in families"

Cancer does run in families, but people can do things to help prevent the incidence of this disease. Prevention is much easier than the cure. In particular, vegetarian and high fibre diets are useful in preventing certain types of cancer, such as breast, prostate and colon. If you have a hypothyroid, you may be more susceptible to breast cancer. Seek the help of an alternative practitioner to support your thyroid function. Many women are given medication and assume that nothing else can be done. Some people can actually reverse their hypothyroidism through diet and supplements. I did this for myself 14 years ago and haven't needed medication at all.

Some supplements that are toted for cancer prevention, especially breast, colon and prostate are:

* Ground flaxseed contains lignans that help to bind negative hormones and helps to sweep toxins from the intestinal tract.
* Broccoli Extract in the form of I3C or DIM, has been found to help prevent breast and prostate cancer. The compound found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage or brussel sprouts, I3C, helps to metabolize harmful estrogens and hormonal compounds.
* Vitamin D 1,000 IU's or more taken daily has been found to prevent breast, prostate and colon cancer, osteoporosis and multiple sclerosis.
* Calcium and Magnesium in higher levels have been linked to less incidence of colon cancer.
* Probiotics (acidophilus and bifidus) are good flora that inhabit the intestinal tract. These compounds help us to digest nutrients, displace bad bacteria and improve our immune system. 60 to 80% of our immune system is found in the intestinal tract and is called the GALT, gut associated lymph tissue. Keeping our GI tract humming improves our immune system.
* Fish oil is a supplement that improves immunity, reduces inflammation and is thought to reduce the incidence of cancer.

If you have a susceptibility to cancer, have an assessment done by your alternative health practitioner/Homeopathic Doctor and don't put off your yearly physical.

The same as when you buy any piece of equipment for your own home studio, you must be careful when you buy a beat making machine. There are many different products available, with a wide range of price and quality.

Some products will give you a better sound than other products. Some products may give you a great sound, but are not appropriate for your own genre or style of music.

So how can you choose the best one for you? Here are some things that I suggest you keep in mind when you are choosing which beat making machine is best for you.

First, be practical. Do some research and learn about the machine's functions and find out the price. Make sure that you get good value for your money. Most musicians working from their home studio are just starting out, and if that's true for you then you probably don't have lots of money to burn. So you need to think about what your budget is for this piece of your home studio.

Do you need a very large sound bank? Do you need a lot of special editing capabilities? Do you need support and tutorials? These are important considerations because some beat making machines include these things, and some do not.

Think about the reasons why you need a beat making machine. If you want to make a lot of drum beats, then you should buy a machine that has a lot of preloaded drum beats. Do you want a lot of preloaded instrumentals? Do you want specific kinds of sounds? Every beat maker machine is different, so it's best if you clarify your needs and desires first.

Your beat maker machine will help you to facilitate making great new music in your own style. But there are some essential elements that any beat maker machine should have, no matter what style of music you want to create.

The beat maker you choose should have a good quality instrument section for you to play around with. If you want to create new sounds, then you need to use different combinations of instruments.

Good mid range sounds and sampling features are also important. If you haven't started using samples in your music yet, then maybe you would like to start. Sampling has become a mainstream element of music creation in recent years. A good beat maker machine will have lots of sampling features to help you get started.

Your new beat maker should be affordable, and it should provide you with all the essentials you require, so that you can make any kind of music that you want. It needs to have the basic elements outlined above, so that you can make the best beats possible. It should make the creation and production of your music efficient and affordable, as well as easier.

When you have the right beat maker machine it will not only help you in your music production for any genre, but also open up new creative outlets for you in the future.

So how do MPCs work? Well every MPC has the same basic set-up. They have a number of tap pads plus a range of controls that manage the volume levels and effects and of course a screen output that shows track sequencing. Samples are assigned to the pads for example kick drums, snare drums, high hats, piano, guitar and bass. These samples can either be taken from audio sources such as vinyl, CD or mp3 files or purchased as complete instrumental libraries.

You can create the track in two ways. If you have good timing you can start by tapping out the groove on the pads and then build the beat by adding tracks, each time adding the sample by tapping the pad. If your timing isn't so great or if you start to build up a large number of tracks in your beat then you can simply use the sequencer to lay down the required samples at the precise point in each bar that you want.

But isn't this expensive? It all depends on your point of view. An entry level MPC will set you back just under 00 and you can quite easily spend -3000. When compared to the set-up cost of a professional studio rig, its small change. But for an aspiring producer just starting out this is a veritable fortune.

The good news is that there are now a number of beat makers available online that are basically virtual MPCs and they have many of the same features. You can build multiple tracks, tap out grooves on virtual tap pads and make arrangements using the sequencing controls. And because they are software based, they have features that are only found on top end MPCs. For example using virtual piano keys to input samples is a great way to build melody lines. Usually you would need a midi controller or synthesizer to do this in a hardware based studio.