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Hip Hop Creator ... Finally Released!

(Hey Mike... um... this is a bit awkward, but can you look away for a bit while I solicit feedback on this interesting product. Thanks!)

So I'm intrigued by Hip Hop Creator, and am certain it's a splendid technical accomplishment, both in terms of sampled sounds and in terms of loop / pattern generation.

But I guess my question for anyone who has actually tried it is: on the pattern side, how much variety can one get out of it? I understand that complexity sliders (like Realidrums), and the randomization features as shown in the videos, but at the end of the day, is someone who has experience with the instrument going to be able to automatically spot a Hip Hop Creator generated beat as soon as he or she hears it? Does it have a clear-cut signature sound? Or can one generate largely unique loops?

I'm sure the ability to export and then tweak midi (and, not so incidentally, to then have that midi play some of your own drums or samples / instruments) will help in this regard. But I'm still curious, and would appreciate any real world experience anyone who has used this may be able to share.

And yes, I'm aware of the money-back guarantee, and even though I've never taken advantage of that through any of the several RealiTone products I own, I have no doubt that Mike would be fully gracious in honoring any such request. But I am still curious before going through that hassle myself, if anyone has used this and would like to share.
 
SirkusPi said:
...on the pattern side, how much variety can one get out of it? I understand that complexity sliders (like Realidrums), and the randomization features as shown in the videos, but at the end of the day, is someone who has experience with the instrument going to be able to automatically spot a Hip Hop Creator generated beat as soon as he or she hears it? Does it have a clear-cut signature sound? Or can one generate largely unique loops?
Click to expand...
If you play a preset as-is out of the box, then yes I might recognize it after I've gotten familiar enough with the instrument. That's kinda how it is with every sample library with presets, no? Even Omnisphere has its giveaways.

However, you've got to remember that each individual instrument in HHC can have its own unique pattern loaded. I mean... there's 61 patterns for the kick alone. 43 snare patterns. 47 hi-hat patterns... that's a heck of a lot of possible combinations already and this is without adjusting any complexity sliders, which I would assume increase the number of possible combinations at least four-fold.
On top of this, there are literally hundreds of sounds to choose from in some cases, for each pattern.
So theoretically, I think you should be good in terms of variety.
 
Gorts, if this is too much, please feel to file 13 it.

Not to rain on this thread, but as I am sure everyone else got it, is it that email from Mike Greene about hip-hop producer:
"Apparently not everyone appreciates the Grandpa gag I’m using for our advertising of Hip Hop Creator. Some people are even offended by it. That’s fair totally that some people may not see things the way I do, but just so we’re all on the same page, I do want to make sure everyone gets what the joke is about. You see, the grandpa picture isn’t intended to make fun of hip hop. Rather, he is an exaggeration of the tag line “So easy, anyone can be a hip hop producer.” The joke being that Hip Hop Creator makes beat creation so easy that even Grumpy Grandpa can make authentic beats and believe he is now a big shot hip hop producer. I love this gag, but alas, many do not. I’ll probably still use it, mind you, because ... well, because I’m kind of a jerk that way. But I do wonder if a straighter campaign might be the smarter move."

Mike, stick by your guns...there are far too many people in this world who are offended by the smallest nits in the world. If Lin-Miranda can stage "Madison" with a mult-cultural cast and get resounding acceptance by the "always offended class", then you have achieved what they ALWAYS claimed they want.....the promotion of "diversity".:dancer:
 
Mike, your joke explanation email offends me. You assume that because other people are too dense to understand the joke that I am too?

UNSUBSCRIBED!

;)

*edit*

Oh and to stay on topic, this instrument actually looks really intuitive. Nicely done!
 
The ad is hilarious. I showed it to a friend who regularly produces records with 20-something artists. He laughed hard and said "that's what I feel like a lot of the time".
 
That mail was another shameless capitalist ploy by Greene.

After stealing my picture to promote his hippity-hoppity thing is, he sent out a fake apology to his mailing list peoples, none of whom were offended in the first place (except me for the unauthorized use of my image, of course.)

Sounds pretty good though. I’m crap at doing hippity-hop. Hmmm.
 
We got around 200 emails after my shameless capitalist ploy, errr, I mean sincere question yesterday morning. Over 90% were in the "Love Grandpa" camp, but interestingly, it's the other 7% or 8% who may have swayed me into rethinking this.

Not because I'm wimping out, mind you. I'm from the "All publicity is good publicity" school and I consider controversy to be a good thing. As long as they spell my name right, bring it on! (Where's Deniz Hughes when I need her???)

What's swaying me is that some of the respondents made me rethink whether Grandpa is actually effective, as opposed to just being funny, for my target audience. After all, my target audience isn't you guys. (No offense, but lets face it, the real audience for HHC is the opposite of the "Which oboe has the best legato?" crowd. :grin: )

I got about a dozen really good emails from people who weren't offended by Grandpa - many even liked the joke - but they pointed out that hip hop is very much an image oriented genre, and Grandpa, joke or otherwise, is not the best face for a product catering to people who want to be cool. Possibly more importantly, the "So easy, anyone can be a rap producer" line is going to be considered insulting by many of my potential customers, in a field where so many people already think Hip Hop is an "easy" genre. These guys can definitely have chips on their shoulders and I've already gotten plenty of flack about that in my YouTube comments.

So ... much as it pains me to do it, I think I'm going to try to come up with something else. I'm not sure exactly what yet, and I'm open to ideas if you got 'em, but sadly, I think I'm going to have to play it straight on this one.
 
You could think along the lines of what EZDrummer uses: "Meet your new drummer". It suggests you can replace a drummer with it (which I've done on some band recordings) without saying it directly.

Obviously that particular line is already taken but that would be a good option to explore.
 
Quantum Leap said:
Haven’t been here in a while. This title caught my eye because it’s not a typical title that would be discussed here. Basically there are about zero hip hop producers hanging here. And that’s why the old dude is so perfect for this title. That guy in the picture has no clue how to make a good hip hop track, just like the producer of this title, Mike Greene.
Cue the thunderstorm.
Let me be clear: The software looks OK, maybe even kind of interesting. It’s just the sounds and the beats and the concept. It has hints of 90’s hip hop mixed a massive dose of dork. Honestly, it’s almost as if Mike is making fun of himself as the least funky composer to ever grace the retirement home. I mean there is not a hint of any kind of beat that you would hear in a modern track at all. No interesting hi hat patterns, no creepy, repeating synth patterns that are all over recent tracks. No sick basses. No cool and cheesy keyboards. No groove. And news alert: hip hop has gone kind of full circle and is currently using a lot of 808 909 type sounds again. All I can say is it seems like Mike has invented a new genre with this title. Could be great to score some offbeat indie movie starring awkward white people from Slovania.
Click to expand...

https://www.extrememusic.com/albums/3173

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