Beat Making 101: How To Make A Beat From Scratch??? Drums, Bassline, Lead..What Else?

What kind of DAW do you guys use???


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I start and arrange my beats on Maschine

Similar structures to those listed by others (if it works, right!)

I couldn't answer the poll though as I only really use my DAW to record vox and mixdown exported sounds (or groups for sample flips) which are arranged in Maschine and I use Presonus Studio One which isn't listed (along with Reaper) in the poll...
 
I start with a sample and set to chopping on Maschine... Once I have chops in my head I lay down a 'guide' beat - simple kick, snare, hat pattern... Chops go down and then drum work - bash in the pattern I need for the sample-chops - 4 bars of kick/snare 8 bars of hats - then I get to layering my drums - want my kicks to have some click, some punch and some thump - snares gotta crack through all that and not impedance on the groove comin through on hats... Add a nice subtle ride and then plug in my bass geetar - thicken things up but leaving enough space for the sample to do its thing and vox to be added.
 
wow, necro threading yourself (you were the last person to post in this long forgotten thread)
 
A lot of people have chimed in and I'm not sure I'm really adding anything but starting with the drums is always a solid choice. Besides our obsession with melodies and harmonies, in the end the rhythm or time(ing) is probably the most important and special.

You could think of the layers of 90% of the music you hear somewhat like a painting.
Foreground: melodic lines, transient drums like kick and snare
Middleground: chords, hats, secondary melodies or things that oscillate(dee doo dee doo)
Background: bassline

If you start with the element you want the listener to focus on the most (melody, drum pattern) and then build around that while making sure that element remains clear then it will probably work.
 
For me, sometimes it's just inspired by all the real life sounds we hear outside. Vehicles passing by, winds, thunder, all the sound outside is a good source of inspiration if we are open to it.
 
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