By Danny YadronContributing Writer

David “D.A.” Doman sits in his Evanston home staring intently at his computer screen.

The aspiring hip-hop producer is having trouble with his new recording program: He just went digital, a big change from the analog workstation he has used in the past.

“You know anything about Cubase (the recording program)?” Doman asks aloud.

But even with this digital revolution, his musical intuition hasn’t been sterilized: Doman still thinks he’s got the beat.

“You just feel it,” he said. “When something is just hitting you … you know it’s hot.”

As one of countless producers trying to make a name for himself in the Chicago hip-hop scene, Doman said he hopes to draw on his recent exposure on NBA star Lamar Odom’s record label – Rich Soil Entertainment – as a sign that his instincts are as “hot” as his beats.

Raised in Rogers Park, Doman spent most of his childhood playing baseball in local leagues rather than pursuing music.

After learning some dance moves and listening to his parents’ old Michael Jackson records and spending his bar mitzvah money on a drum set, Doman developed a passion for hip-hop.

“My dad played drums growing up,” he said.

And while the combination of pop melody and dominating drum beats made hip-hop seem like a perfect fit for the teenage Doman, the Evanston Township High School graduate gives another reason for hanging up his bat and glove.

“There’s the whole cool persona of (being) a rapper,” Doman said.

Although Doman isn’t planning on challenging Kanye West to a duel anytime soon, he tries to put certain aspects of that image in his self-produced MySpace profile, where he writes a graphic diatribe about what a studio session is really like.

“It was semi-fiction, semi-non-fiction,” said Doman. “It’s a little ongoing series I’m going to have on my MySpace.”

Doman said adopting the bad-boy image happened naturally.

“Music is just another type of drug,” he said. “It influences how you act.”

While he often has trouble describing his sound as anything other than “left field,” Doman names two major influences: classical composer Ennio Morricone and Stevie Wonder.

Doman said the problem is that, with changing technology and more competition, he struggles with the sometimes impersonal relationship he has with big-time producers.

“A lot of producers just send their tracks off and never get to work with the artists,” Doman said.

He learned this the hard way as a 19-year-old.

Doman was told a beat he produced would be the base of a track on Ghostface Killah’s record “Put It On The Line.” But when the release date arrived, Doman was nowhere to be found in the CD booklet and has yet to receive a penny for his work.

“I didn’t know what the hell I was doing,” he said.

Since then, Doman has managed to score studio time with a variety of up-and-coming Chicago artists and is scheduled to join a production team in Atlanta for the next Ali Vegas record.

Doman said he is confident these opportunities are a sign of things to come.

“At this point for me, a lot of it is meeting the right people,” he said.

Reach Danny Yadron at [email protected].