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Hip Hop Kitchen

Hip Hop Served Up Here

In this course learn how to create unique beats for your tracks. Instructors will cover basic structure, sound design, and mixing techniques for producing artist-ready beats. Having a collection of personally crafted beats gives any artist a powerful toolbox useful in a variety of situations

Key Topics

Hip Hop served up here.

Kitchens are where beat-makers get their hands dirty. It’s where creatives go to play with their food.

In this course learn how to create unique beats for your tracks. Instructors will cover basic structure, sound design, and mixing techniques for producing artist-ready beats. Having a collection of personally crafted beats gives any artist a powerful toolbox useful in a variety of situations.

Key Topics:

Looping
Sequencing
Mixing Electronic Instruments
Hooks
Designing Drums
Vocal FX
Sample Organization and Maintenance
Hardware Samplers
Pre-Mixing Beats For Studio Sessions

Prerequisites: DAW Core Skills or equivalent proficiency in your platform.

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What students say

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Shared a lot of great information about the fundamentals of music. It was very helpful to understand the basics from different perspectives and how they can be applied.

—Matthew, Philadelphia, PA

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I loved the class I took on music theory. I am a theory nerd, and a music teacher since 2008. I got new insights in this class about things I had learned before. I also thought Nathan did a great job of establishing basic ideas before using

—Jon, Seattle, WA

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This was an awesome music theory fundamentals class. Nathan was a very thoughtful, thorough teacher who offered up time and energy outside of class to help his students in a myriad of ways from answering questions to providing feedback on

—Lizzie, New York, NY

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I studied with a couple of these teachers before they started this school. They were really inspiring and knew exactly how to help me push my music production skills to the next level. It’s great that they are starting this music community!

—Caleb, Detroit, MI

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Excellent at explaining and going through the process of helping one understand music and it’s many intricacies.

—Michael, Brooklyn, NY

Explore Classes

Office Hours Weekly. Ask questions, get help, and connect. Included with residency. Production Gym Weekly. Production breakdown of your favorite songs. Included with residency. Theory Gym Weekly. Morning music theory workout. Included with residency. Ear Training Weekly. Test your ears and discuss — music, mixing, and more. Included with residency. Instrument Gym Weekly. Practice and workout on instruments. Included with residency. Weekly Beat Review Weekly. Listen to Beat Challenge song ideas together. Included with residency.

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Beat Building Jam Workshop ideas into songs. Peer feedback. Instructor support. Prep for production Mix & Production Incubator Workshop ideas into songs. Peer feedback. Instructor support. Prep for production Recording Incubator Songwriting Incubator Workshop ideas into songs. Peer feedback. Instructor support. Prep for production

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Beat Kitchen At-A-Glance

Beat Ktichen Calendar

See the full calendar
Recent Resident Gyms
- THEORY-GYM: We used "Strawberry Fields Forever" as a full analysis vehicle, working through its unusual pitch center, the opening line cliché, and the chord-by-chord breakdown of the intro progression. Concepts covered included passing tones versus functional harmony, borrowed chords, chromatic median motion, secondary dominants, and the historical context of the Mellotron as an early sampler. We also discussed songwriting process — specifically whether melody or chords tend to come first, and how the song's harmonic choices serve its lyrical theme.
- OFFICE HOURS: Covered streaming loudness targets and master fader signal chain in Pro Tools, walking through EQ, compression, hardware compressor, limiting, and metering in sequence. Discussed studio acoustic treatment — bass traps, early reflections, diffusion, and material choices — with reference to a specific room setup shared by a student. Also addressed the current state of commercial recording studios, the shift toward home-based production, and how that has affected mentorship pipelines in the industry.
- OFFICE HOURS: Covered bass line construction in the context of Afrobeat and Afrobeats production, including how to conform bass notes to chord roots and the relationship between bass lines and chord progressions. Introduced funklet.com as a resource for studying classic drum patterns and groove analysis. Also discussed Afrobeat vs. Afrobeats as distinct genres, with reference to key artists and historical context.
- OFFICE HOURS: general audio and time signature questions. Talked about signing up for upcoming classes as waitlist
- THEORY-GYM: We used "Hotel California" by the Eagles as a case study in harmonic minor usage, modal interchange, and cadential function. Covered the role of the raised seventh (G-sharp) in producing a dominant E chord over an A minor tonic, the distinction between functional and notational chord identity (e.g., the flat-six versus an inverted F chord), and how the song's chord progression generates a repeating sense of plagal motion. Also discussed the song's rhythmic feel and its relationship to reggae and the one-drop pattern.
- INSTRUMENT-GYM: non-sequential scale exercises on guitar, picking patterns, use of hybrid picking, switching positions when playing through more than one octave
- EAR-TRAINING-GYM: Covered the difference between saturation and distortion, with live demonstrations on kick drum, bass, and vocals using the Abbey Road Saturator and a virtual guitar amp. Worked through multi-stage compression on a vocal chain — three compressors in sequence for peak reduction and makeup gain — and explained why reverb belongs on an auxiliary bus rather than directly on a track, including how to EQ and automate the reverb tail independently. Also addressed gain staging, headroom management, microphone selection for noisy rooms, and tracking levels for vocals.
- PRODUCTION-GYM: PRODUCTION GYM — 862 words across 2 speakers (14 wpm). Insufficient instructional content for a summary.
- OFFICE HOURS: Worked through the phase rotation control on the custom additive synthesizer plugin — traced its origin in the commit history, diagnosed why it behaves differently on the left half of its bipolar range, and discussed whether to keep or remove it. Also covered automation and MIDI mapping of plugin parameters in Logic Pro, and talked through strategies for organizing a sync-licensing music website, including keyword taxonomy, slider-based filtering UIs, and using AI mastering for catalog preparation.
- OFFICE HOURS: Covered music distribution strategy, with a focus on artist-friendly and cooperative streaming platforms as alternatives to major streaming services. Discussed physical vs. digital releasing, Bandcamp Friday scheduling, and platforms including AmpWall and Resonate. Also touched on unconventional microphone techniques drawn from the book *Recording Unhinged* by Sylvia Massey.
Learn more about Residency
Upcoming Resident Events
- Theory Gym: Scott Hampton
  May. 20, 8am (PT) | 11am (ET) | 4pm (UK)
- Weekly Beat Challenge: Nathan
  May. 20, 6pm (PT) | 9pm (ET) | 2am (UK)
- Office Hours: Jon Mattox
  May. 20, 8pm (PT) | 11pm (ET) | 4am (UK)
- Production Gym: Kallie
  May. 21, 5am (PT) | 8am (ET) | 1pm (UK)
- Office Hours: Ben Krueger
  May. 21, 2pm (PT) | 5pm (ET) | 10pm (UK)
- Office Hours: Nathan
  May. 21, 5pm (PT) | 8pm (ET) | 1am (UK)
Learn more about Residency
Upcoming Courses
- Apr 19, 2026 Theory: Musician Basics
- Apr 22, 2026 Mixing: Effects, Synths & Tools
- Apr 27, 2026 DAW Core Skills
- Apr 27, 2026 FL Studio
- May 23, 2026 Logic Pro 1-Day Intensive
- Jun 10, 2026 Hardware & Recording Primer
- Jul 8, 2026 Hardware & Recording Primer
- Jul 12, 2026 DAW Core Skills
See All Courses
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