Madlib Made All the Beats for ‘Bandana’ On His iPad

By Amir Said On Jun 30, 2019

Madlib shook up the beatmaking community Saturday when he announced that he’d made all of the beats for Bandana, the stellar collaborative album with Freddie Gibbs, on his iPad:

As I’ve said in my book The BeatTips Manual, if you take away the stable piece of any well-known and respected beatmaker (producer), for instance, DJ Toomp, Pharrell, DJ Premier, or Just Blaze, and then supply them with an EMPI which they’ve never used before, I guarantee you that, after they figure out how to sample, chop and record sequences on that new EMPI, they will still create quality beats.” Of course, this applies to Madlib as well.

But there’s an Important note about Madlib’s iPad disclosure that you should pay careful attention to. If Madlib did indeed make all of the beats for Bandana on his iPad (there are some who think that he’s just joking, but there’s strong indication that it’s true), you must keep in mind that he did not start out with or create the bulk of the music that he’s known for using an iPad. In other words, Madlib brings YEARS of experience with classic EMPIs (Electronic Music Production Instruments, aka “beat machines”) to bear on whatever gear he uses now.

So while Madlib can adapt to using new tools, in this case something as (seemingly) unlikely as an iPad, he will always reference his experiences with the gear that he rode to critical acclaim. This is to say that his Ideas about chopping, sequencing, arranging, looping are already deeply rooted for him. So he can compartmentalize and apply his ideas to any EMPI, including an iPad.

As this revelation continued to be absorbed by the beatmaking community, Madlib chimed again the following day, clarifying that he wants everyone to also know that no gear should ever hold you back from creating good music:

Madlib’s second message speaks to the reality that there are many beatmakers (producers) who get caught up in gear chasing or putting too much emphasis in gear and not enough into creativity. In this light, I’m sure that there are lot’s of people who don’t want to believe that Madlib made all of Badana’s beats on an iPad. Having dropped loads of money building out expensive setups, thinking that it will do the trick for them, these beatmakers (proudcers) would be “mad”.

So does this mean that people should toss their setups and switch to iPad? I’m certain that some people will do this; and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In our community, we regularly take hints from others. And when we see that one beatmaker (proudcer) has found success with one beat machine or another, we consider the switch ourselves.

But for people who may be rethinking their current setup, or those who are weighing their options for their initial production setup, there’s yet another question. Can you start out creating beats on the iPad and obtain similar results to Madlib without similar background experiences? Perhaps. But I think this would require serious development of your ear for samples. And that’s yet another thing that Madlib already has.

Originally published on BeatTips June 30, 2019.