What is your routine/How do you go about making a beat?

chudge said:
i use different samples from different songs sometimes, and sometimes i dont. finding different samples from different songs in the same key has been hard for me, i usually end up warping the fck outta some of the samples to make them mesh well, but sometimes they seem to fit on their own. they just have to play well with each other.



sub bass is real deep, like 60hz or lower. more felt than heard usually.



it never feels like enough. less is more i think a lot of the time
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I got you, also when you use bass or sub bass would that be considered a bass line no matter what or?
 
Everyone is different, best thing to do is try different methods and remember what comes easiest to you. Lay down the drums and bass, not feeling anything? try starting with chord progressions. If your playing about on keys and you make a melody you like, put it down and build some chords or a drum beat around it.

Let the music come naturally, whatever you feel is best.
 
Wow, some really good advice here. I'm still new so I know what doesn't work for me, i.e. starting off with a chord progression then wedging single notes in hope for a melody, rarely works for me. I think what I'm going to do from now on is get the overall feel/direction of a chord progression playing it through my head, then I stop and focus just on melody first using the different scales that run with every chord. ex, 1,3,4,5 Rock Ballad in the key of C Major would be C Ionian -> e phrygian -> F Lydian -> G Myxolydian.
 
I play around with the piano until I make a melody/chord progresstion that makes me feel amazing and build drums and other little thing after
 
I posted a thread about the details of how I make beats on this forum, but I think a good way to find inspiration for beats and sounds is trying to actually record something live rather than working with samples or MIDI instruments. You have so much control over things when you record live it can be both easier to find the sounds you want and stumble upon unexpected sounds and grooves by accident.
 
Johnny juliano starts with melodys then drums. I do too, seems to be more effective, I think of the drums after I play the sample or I do an improv and then I think oh maybe I can do ethnic drums or oh maybe I can do some type of 808 and layer some violin with the sample but had I done the drums before making the rough melody I wud lose that sense of I have somthing here.
 
First I a pick a Key, lately it has been minor Keys, I will try to come up with a melody once I start playing, I will start to hum ways to make it better. After, I get the melody everything else just comes easy. Adding Other Instruments and then I will lay down the drums, and sometimes I will change stuff around, exp. adding more instruments, changing parts of the melody, adding moving parts etc. etc......Starting with the melody works best for me....I get inspiration from listing to other music or watching beat making videos.
 
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Melody first. Whether it's the melody that's in the sample or something i created myself.
Drums second.
Bassline third.
Synths/Keyboards 4th.
Vocals/Sweep Effects 5th.
 
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I'm trying to get into a routine myself. i know that my production really revolves around 4 things:
music study/sample sessions, sound design & study, keyboard practice and then beatmaking.
after through those spells & listening to some music that get me crunk then i'm amped to make a beat.
but that's just me (right now i'm listening to Witchdoctor's "Holiday" and Ab-Soul's "Only 1".)

---------- Post added at 06:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:33 PM ----------
mark1234 said:
Melody first. Whether it's the melody that's in the sample or something i created myself.
Drums second.
Bassline third.
Synths/Keyboards 4th.
Vocals/Effects 5th.
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agreed. my teacher always said that MELODY is KING. i used to start my beat based around the drums but i found that i was confined to the beat. so most times i'm working with a sample or a melody i come up with. then i'm following suit with what you said.
 
Usually lay down some chords, then I layer the chords, whether it's pads, piano, guitar, strings, etc. with at least one other one of those 4. Then I put my basic drums down, usually just a snare, then I work on the melody, then back and forth between the drums & percs and the melody, and arranging while I'm doing this.
 
on fl studio, i start with a sample. like so https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fePNx5XMlcs
then i slow it down- ALWAYS because i feel theres more you can do with the sample than if u speed it up or keep it the same. once ive slowed it down, got the part i wanted, and chopped it into a loop(that can be played over and over again and sound good)
i lay down the snare
the hats
the kick pattern
and any other perc/sound
and if im not making anything siimple i make a couple different patterns
lastly, if im making trap, i copy the kick pattern and paste it to the 808/sub piano roll and extend the notes.
that way everytime the kick hits itll sound like the kick and sub are the same.
if youre trying to make sme hip hop you can download hip hop drum breaks and chop them how you like
here i cmbined some fl drums with a classic hip hop drum break:
https://soundcloud.com/d-j-g-3/done
heres some samples that you can try :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyMwaaw7c3Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0Rlh9VwmVo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxF9wqZtT7A

one great way to get out f that block is to do a collaboration with another producer that way you guys can exchange ideas nd techniques
 
For me starting a song usually comes naturally it's hard to force myself to make music. It could come from listening to another song and finding an idea off of that, or just some life experience. In general song structure tho, I usually always start with a drum beat and put a melody or chord progression on top and build it up from there.
 
troublemaker$ said:
First thing i do is... drum roll.l.l.l.l.l.... is just do it! every track is different.
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this
music is a circle to me and I start anywhere I want and evolve from there

sometimes its a bass, sometimes a drum, sometimes a melody line. I dont limit my imagination, I expand on it. sometimes the sounds of a synth will inspire me to play a certain thing when I cycling through different sounds. I hardly go in expecting to make a certain song. I just doodle around until the hands of my creativity make a promising sketch.
 
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