Here is an article I just wrote for my blog. It's aimed at TOTAL newbs who don't even know how to start. I'll give you the option of reading it here, or you can read it on my official website!
POST:
make your own beats
03/07/2013
0 Comments
Have you always wanted to know how to make your own beats?
step 1: select a daw ( beat making software )
Step 2: get some sounds
POST:
make your own beats
03/07/2013
0 Comments
Have you always wanted to know how to make your own beats?
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Do you want to know exactly how to make beats?
Well, honestly, you've got a lot to learn! There are so many ways that you can learn to make your own instrumentals. Maybe you are a rapper who wants to make their own beats? Maybe you're looking for a ' hip hop beat maker ' or how to ' make beats online '.
What I'm going to do is attempt to provide you with all the info you need to get started! Get ready because I'm about to bombard with a ton of great info to get you started!
Well, honestly, you've got a lot to learn! There are so many ways that you can learn to make your own instrumentals. Maybe you are a rapper who wants to make their own beats? Maybe you're looking for a ' hip hop beat maker ' or how to ' make beats online '.
What I'm going to do is attempt to provide you with all the info you need to get started! Get ready because I'm about to bombard with a ton of great info to get you started!
step 1: select a daw ( beat making software )
What DAW stands for is Digital Audio Workstation. Basically this is where you will make your patterns, record your sounds, structure your beat, etc.
There are a TON of softwares out there that can do this for you. Some are cheap and will have you cranking out beats quickly, but in my opinion they won't be real beats. The main programs I'm talking about when I say things like that are things like "sonic producer", "dub turbo", etc.
I have not used ANY of those products I just mentioned my self. I have looked at their sales pages and a few videos though, and I can tell you that these programs are not "industry level" "professional" software. Will they have you having fun and making beats cheaper and quicker than jumping in to a "pro level" software, most likely, but that's a decision you have to make! Here are some links if you want to check out these cheaper programs, keep reading if you want to find out what I use!
Dub Turbo
Sonic Producer
I'll tell you right now the DAW/Beat making programs I have experience with are FL Studio and Cubase. I started off on Cubase, and then eventually moved to FL studio.
FL studio catches a lot of flack. I think it used to be one of those programs that I mentioned above! People used to (and still do) look at FL Studio (which used to be called fruity loops) as a joke! The thing about FL studio though is that soooooo many HIT records have been produced in the rap game with it lately. Lex Luger, Mike Will, Sonny Digital, Kooman.....the list of producers who credit FL as being a good program goes on and on if you need social proof....
But honestly, the best way to learn what software works for you is to pick one, learn about it, and ultimately try it out! Who knows, maybe sonic producer and dub turbo will be the NEXT FL studio, and hits will be made with them, then people will laugh at me for writing an article like this just like I laugh at people who say FL studio is for newbs!
Either way, that's basically the first thing you need if you want to make beast! Something to put them in to (a DAW, or digital audio workstation). Look up more on DAW's to find out which one is right for you.
There are a TON of softwares out there that can do this for you. Some are cheap and will have you cranking out beats quickly, but in my opinion they won't be real beats. The main programs I'm talking about when I say things like that are things like "sonic producer", "dub turbo", etc.
I have not used ANY of those products I just mentioned my self. I have looked at their sales pages and a few videos though, and I can tell you that these programs are not "industry level" "professional" software. Will they have you having fun and making beats cheaper and quicker than jumping in to a "pro level" software, most likely, but that's a decision you have to make! Here are some links if you want to check out these cheaper programs, keep reading if you want to find out what I use!
Dub Turbo
Sonic Producer
I'll tell you right now the DAW/Beat making programs I have experience with are FL Studio and Cubase. I started off on Cubase, and then eventually moved to FL studio.
FL studio catches a lot of flack. I think it used to be one of those programs that I mentioned above! People used to (and still do) look at FL Studio (which used to be called fruity loops) as a joke! The thing about FL studio though is that soooooo many HIT records have been produced in the rap game with it lately. Lex Luger, Mike Will, Sonny Digital, Kooman.....the list of producers who credit FL as being a good program goes on and on if you need social proof....
But honestly, the best way to learn what software works for you is to pick one, learn about it, and ultimately try it out! Who knows, maybe sonic producer and dub turbo will be the NEXT FL studio, and hits will be made with them, then people will laugh at me for writing an article like this just like I laugh at people who say FL studio is for newbs!
Either way, that's basically the first thing you need if you want to make beast! Something to put them in to (a DAW, or digital audio workstation). Look up more on DAW's to find out which one is right for you.
Step 2: get some sounds
Most DAW's come with some "stock sounds". A lot of times, they kinda suck! A lot of times they're pretty good. Really it's not what you have but how you use it. Anyway, there's all kinds of stuff on the internet as far as sounds go. First of all you need drum samples. You can get them free, you can pay for them, but you need quality drum samples! If the drums in a beat are weak, the whole beat is weak! Rhythm plays a huge part in music!
Anyway, start collecting drum sounds now! If you want to download on of my drum kits for free, click here.
The next thing you need are instrument sounds/synth sounds/bass sounds or whatever. There's a lot of different ways to deal with this too. You have what are called VST's. That stands for virtual instrument. Some of these are free, but for the great ones you might have to shell out quite a bit of $$$!
A few VST's that I can recommend and use myself are Nexus 2, Purity, Sylenth, Hypersonic 2 (hard to get this one though as they don't sell it anymore), Massive, Sytrus, and 3xosc.....
Some of these are included with FL studio, some you'll have to buy extra...if you want to learn more about VST's or any of the one's I listed, all you have to do is google. This whole "make beats" thing is actually pretty freakin' complicated, so if you're serious you have a lot to learn!
Don't get discouraged though....as I'm sitting here typing this article I'm realizing how much about this stuff I really know....and how a few years ago I was just as lost as you. Now I'm sitting here talking about it all like goooooooosh this is so simple! So just keep studying and keep learning and before you know it you'll be cranking beats out of your DAW like grams out of the oz! Ok, Im just kidding there, should probably be careful what's said on here
Step 3: Start F**king around!Anyway, start collecting drum sounds now! If you want to download on of my drum kits for free, click here.
The next thing you need are instrument sounds/synth sounds/bass sounds or whatever. There's a lot of different ways to deal with this too. You have what are called VST's. That stands for virtual instrument. Some of these are free, but for the great ones you might have to shell out quite a bit of $$$!
A few VST's that I can recommend and use myself are Nexus 2, Purity, Sylenth, Hypersonic 2 (hard to get this one though as they don't sell it anymore), Massive, Sytrus, and 3xosc.....
Some of these are included with FL studio, some you'll have to buy extra...if you want to learn more about VST's or any of the one's I listed, all you have to do is google. This whole "make beats" thing is actually pretty freakin' complicated, so if you're serious you have a lot to learn!
Don't get discouraged though....as I'm sitting here typing this article I'm realizing how much about this stuff I really know....and how a few years ago I was just as lost as you. Now I'm sitting here talking about it all like goooooooosh this is so simple! So just keep studying and keep learning and before you know it you'll be cranking beats out of your DAW like grams out of the oz! Ok, Im just kidding there, should probably be careful what's said on here
Ok, you got your DAW picked out and you got some sounds to start off, or you're going to use the stock sounds.
Now it's time to literally just play around and have fun. There's not much I can say about this stage other than get ready to go on a giant quest for knowledge. There's a lot of FREE info out there on how to make better beats, and there's a few things you can pay for that are popping up.
If you choose FL Studio and your looking for FL Studio tutorial (but you're tired of the crap on youtube and want more direct help) than I can't recommend anything more than Beat Generals. I have a few tutorials up on FL studio on my youtube channel, you can find them in my older blog posts, but this guy really has a great system working. I'm not gonna talk all about it but if you want to check out some of the best Fruity Loops Studio tutorials out there then just click here to learn about Beat Generals!
Now, aside from learning how to work your DAW itself, you also have to learn how to mix your beats, how to even compose music in the first place....
If you already hear the beats in your head and you just don't know how to get them out in to your DAW, you will be a fast learner. If you already know how beats SHOULD sound and how you want yours to sound (quality wise) then you'll be fine.
If you have no idea how music works, can't tap a simple drum beat to save your life, and the only reason you wanna make beats is to get ******* impress your friends and be cool, then you'll never make it anywhere with making beats and you'll never make a decent beat.
That's a little harsh, but being someone who takes it a little more serious I always take it a little personal when I see people just trying to make beats for retarded reasons. You should have a good reason to make beats whether it's because you love music, you want to help people with music, or you just really need a positive pass time, but you shouldn't do it because you think you're going to make big money and get famous and get this and that and be the next Lex Luger. It's definitely possible, I'm just trying to scare off the would-be lame producers out there that might read this!
ConclusionNow it's time to literally just play around and have fun. There's not much I can say about this stage other than get ready to go on a giant quest for knowledge. There's a lot of FREE info out there on how to make better beats, and there's a few things you can pay for that are popping up.
If you choose FL Studio and your looking for FL Studio tutorial (but you're tired of the crap on youtube and want more direct help) than I can't recommend anything more than Beat Generals. I have a few tutorials up on FL studio on my youtube channel, you can find them in my older blog posts, but this guy really has a great system working. I'm not gonna talk all about it but if you want to check out some of the best Fruity Loops Studio tutorials out there then just click here to learn about Beat Generals!
Now, aside from learning how to work your DAW itself, you also have to learn how to mix your beats, how to even compose music in the first place....
If you already hear the beats in your head and you just don't know how to get them out in to your DAW, you will be a fast learner. If you already know how beats SHOULD sound and how you want yours to sound (quality wise) then you'll be fine.
If you have no idea how music works, can't tap a simple drum beat to save your life, and the only reason you wanna make beats is to get ******* impress your friends and be cool, then you'll never make it anywhere with making beats and you'll never make a decent beat.
That's a little harsh, but being someone who takes it a little more serious I always take it a little personal when I see people just trying to make beats for retarded reasons. You should have a good reason to make beats whether it's because you love music, you want to help people with music, or you just really need a positive pass time, but you shouldn't do it because you think you're going to make big money and get famous and get this and that and be the next Lex Luger. It's definitely possible, I'm just trying to scare off the would-be lame producers out there that might read this!
-Figure out why you want to make beats and decide if it's a good idea
-Pick a DAW to learn and stick with it!
-Start collecting as many high quality sounds as you can!
-Start messing around with your sounds and your program. Learn by any means necessary. Free youtube tutorials, internet forums, Google searches, trial and error. If you're serious about making music, you'll find a way to get what's in your head OUT!
Make sure you don't forget to learn things like music theory, mixing and mastering, audio file formats, etc. Also learn about marketing and the music industry if you want to make any money, but worry about making good beats first. There's always something out there to learn! I didn't get where I am today by sitting and wishing I knew more, I had to go out and LEARN! And I still have to go out and learn even more tomorrow!
Peace out until next time, if this article helped you out drop a comment, share it on twitter, etc! It really means a lot!
-Pick a DAW to learn and stick with it!
-Start collecting as many high quality sounds as you can!
-Start messing around with your sounds and your program. Learn by any means necessary. Free youtube tutorials, internet forums, Google searches, trial and error. If you're serious about making music, you'll find a way to get what's in your head OUT!
Make sure you don't forget to learn things like music theory, mixing and mastering, audio file formats, etc. Also learn about marketing and the music industry if you want to make any money, but worry about making good beats first. There's always something out there to learn! I didn't get where I am today by sitting and wishing I knew more, I had to go out and LEARN! And I still have to go out and learn even more tomorrow!
Peace out until next time, if this article helped you out drop a comment, share it on twitter, etc! It really means a lot!