New to beat making, where to start and how to get good progression.

QUARE

QUARE

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 29, 2012
Messages
668
Location
Studying research chemicals
Hey !

I got Ableton Live 9 Suite and I started making beat about 1 months ago. The music I want to make include; Bass music, Dubstep, Boom bap, Hip-Hop beats etc. I'm really getting interest into that new hobby and I would like to get better. The beat I make is not bad to my ear but I would really like to improve.

So basically, I'm not a total beginner with the program, I know how to make drum beats, adding bass to it and also sounds effects. The main concern is that most of my beat are made by trials and errors. I would like to learn how to put a beat I have in my head into Live 9. I also can't make sounds sound exactly like I would like. Is there a way to learn that beside beat making schools ?

I also can't even make Dubstep and its one of my favorite music... How do they make these sounds ? Do I really need to buy a Dubstep sample pack to do it ?

I don't have any external instrument like an audio keyboard or the thing to make drums beat (I don't know the name). I have Beats Pro headphone from Monster, I think they are good but I would like opinion on that. The frequency response is 20 Hz to 20 KHz even If with high volume I can hear 1 Hz bass tests on youtube.

Finally how do I get people to hear my sounds on Soundcloud, there is not much people listening to them and I don't have many followers. I tried joining groups and posting my music there but it did not help at all.

Thanks for any help !
 
Last edited:
practice and work hard. check youtube tutorials, remakes, etc

search around forums for info, advice, tutorials, ask questions.

learn basic music theory like scales/chords

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/

https://www.dubstepforum.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=8

found this as far as dubstep goes


all you need to know you can find online for free.

as far as sample packs go, they are very useful and so are different VSTs, i love messing around with them and tweaking the presets, can sit th ere and do that for hours.
 
don't stress about it, getting good at producing music takes much longer than a month, depending on how much time you invest in it. even in this hi-tech era with all the possibilities, your creativity is the most important tool you have, and you have to work on improving your skills to be able to express yourself.
 
Samples are going to be your biggest tool, honestly. You can certainly make your own samples to use but good luck doing it from scratch without anything to even point you in the right direction..


I'm looking for some good production software though, but simply don't have any money to throw down now... if anyone has a cracked DAW they would stand by, I'd really love it if you PMed me with a link. Really hoping to get much deeper into music all around, I'm sure I won't be making any bangers but being able to understand the music I play would be amazing for myself.
 
An understanding of basic music theory and sound physics is probably going to be necessary if you want to make music that doesn't sound like it was made by a teenager in his basement. Samples are good as an addition to your arsenal but don't make it the entire foundation of your music.

As far theory just start with the basics like Scales and chords, then you can move onto more fun stuff like harmony and consonance/dissonance to learn why certain combinations sound good and others don't. Sound physics are equally important if you want to make music that doesn't sound like a muddy mess. Frequencies especially or else you are going to extremely frustrated once half of your samples and sounds start cancelling each other out and you can't figure out why.

Some people make the mistake of thinking these are things for experienced musicians only, this is not the case. Many bedroom producers waste years trying to learn this stuff by trial and error, having all of their tracks sound the same, never being able to finish tracks because they feel they aren't going anywhere, only to give up from frustration. Instead they could have just spent a few months(for basic level) reading up on the and understanding why their music wasn't working :)

An understanding of advanced music theory is what sets an exceptional musician apart from an average musician in my experience. Anyone can throw sounds together to make music that sounds like other people's music but that isn't very interesting, is it?

@ Folley if you are planning on producing hardstyle i would save this video for when you are ready to start making your own kick, i don't think you are at that point yet but save this for when you are, for real. I'm not a big fan of hardstyle but i found this so helpful for making kicks in general. It's by Audiofreq, i'm sure you are familiar with him.

He starts at around 9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDHNENIhrwk
 
Last edited:
Beats

1. Learn how a drum kit works.
2. Learn how drums work in relation to notation.

3. Translate that knowledge into mapping it into your favorite sequencing program, in your case Ableton.

4. Listen to tons of music you like, listening to the drum parts and copy.

5A. Turn into a stressed out beat monkey as you labour over every little detail and have nervous OCD breakdowns over that track that took you 1 week to make and then lost to some weird glitch.

5B. Maybe invest in some MIDI kit like Maschine and go down the road of becoming the greatest finger drummer known to man. The ladies will love you.
 
Thanks for all reply.

About samples packs, how do I know which is good for me, I mean there are so many out there and they are pretty expencive.

Also, anyone knows how to make a flat/bemolle on Ableton ? I can only see sharp/dièse notes on the pianoroll.
 
Just make tons and tons of beats. The best way to learn how something works is to use it.
do not buy dubstep sample packs get famialr with synthesizers and work flow and practice practice practice.
Good sounding synths come from knowing your software really well and resampling your bass lines with desired effects to get amazing sounds that are unique. Sample packs just all sound the same and result in a key part of production ( synthwork ) being cut out all together.
 
Last edited:
You can't ever rally to wrong using the maschine from native instruments, it's a beat pad -- but very advance. That, coupled with ableton, a launch pad, and some midi fighters and you're good to go hardware wide. A great website to start out on os www.djtechtools.com - that's Ian Goldens website and buisness. I got into beat making but found out I like on the fly DJ mixing better, there's wayyyyyy to much to try and explain in one post. Just check out Native Instruments and DJTechTools
 
I don't know, in my opinion he should learn to work the software before he invests lots of money in outboard equipment...

OP: also read up on how sound synthesis works, the differences between subtractive, additive, FM,... synthesis, the different kinds of effects and what they are used for (delay, reverb, equalizer, filter, compressor, limiter,...).

There's lots of information on the internet. And as others already said, youtube tutorials are certainly a good source to begin with :)
 
Pretty much. I dont know what kind of drums/ percussion abelton comes with so you might want to grab some kits but synth wise you got it. Learn the fundamentals then get the nice stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top