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Making Beats

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Byron_tha_gr8
Posts: 4573 - Karma: 14,302
trying to venture into this world. I have Sony Acid 9, and ive been messing around for about a month now, and kind of get how it works, but i feel like i'm missing out on quite a bit.

I'm pretty good with high level programs like Vegas and Photoshop, and have a pretty good musical grasp, but im not really sure how to get better at producing beats. Any pro tips?
Dec 31 2013 1:44PM
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panojibber.
Posts: 1041 - Karma: 683
Rusko is a high profile Acid user:
He gives some really good advice regarding percussion in that video, well worth watching, even if you're not producing dubstep. Thought you'd enjoy it considering you use the same program.

Best advice I can give you from my own musical struggles is to just make loads and loads of music, thats the best way to improve. Try things that you're not sure will work, experiment, read lots of articles and blog posts. Also take everything you read on the internet about production with a grain of salt, there is some really really good advice and some really terrible advice.

Some really good websites to know:
Both of those are pretty technical though, might be difficult to follow depending on your level of experience/knowledge.

Pensado's Place is great regarding mixing and engineering stuff (especially the Into The Lair section):

There's also some good information floating around in the DAWs cult:

Here's a post on r/edmproduction that is basically a roundup of all the good production related subreddits:

Youtube is also a great resource. Loads of stuff on there. Search "making beats" or something and you'll get tons and tons of hits.

The thing with music is its really not instantly gratifying, at first you absolutely suck and make terrible music, but if you can deal with that and keep making tunes then you'll get to a point where things start sounding pretty decent and you're happy with your music.
Dec 31 2013 2:08PM
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Byron_tha_gr8
Posts: 4573 - Karma: 14,302
thanks for all the links and this specifically, sounds a lot like the curve for photo editing.
Dec 31 2013 2:27PM
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panojibber.
Posts: 1041 - Karma: 683
No problem, and yeah I imagine its just like getting started with photo and video stuff. I've made albums worth of just terrible music haha, but its all worth it when you put together something that you really feel you can be proud of.
Dec 31 2013 2:56PM
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Byron_tha_gr8
Posts: 4573 - Karma: 14,302
yeah thats where im at for sure. The shitty part is I have the sound i want laid out in my head, but getting anything to sound like that is hard.
Dec 31 2013 3:13PM
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panojibber.
Posts: 1041 - Karma: 683
Yeah thats always the challenge I think. A good idea is a starting point, then you need to put in some serious hours to actually get it down. Thats really what separates the professionals from the hobbyists I think.
Dec 31 2013 3:49PM
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VTbass802
Posts: 992 - Karma: 239
I am in a similar boat i think... I fuck around with FL Studios W/ Massive and I also have logic... It is fun to make hip hop and trap beats but my production value is terrible and I just cant seem to get myself on track... any advice out there? nobody in my school really makes the kind of shit I want to get to so collabing/ getting taught is not really an option
Dec 31 2013 4:37PM
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panojibber.
Posts: 1041 - Karma: 683
You should check out the DAWs cult and some of the resources in this thread. A lot of it is just down to learning techniques and how to apply them, like EQing and compression and how to get the right amount of reverb. Its also important to start with the right sounds right off the bat. Good production is really about being able to pinpoint problems and then knowing how to fix them with the tools available to you. If you don't like the way your drums sound, try to figure out why it is; maybe you need to pan some hi hats to the left or right to give the drums a better stereo image, maybe the drum bus needs some subtle reverb to add life. Maybe you need to bus all your drums together and then parallel compress them. If your synth isn't cutting through the mix maybe you need to open the filter a little more to add some high frequencies, or maybe you need to mix in another oscillator tuned up an octave.

Its next to impossible to fix things when you're mixing so make sure that your drums sounds are as close to perfect as possible before you start processing them, same with synth sounds. There's actually a lot of crossover between electronic music production and producing live bands. One of the ideas that helped me most with my music is thinking about it like you would a rock band: you might have bass guitar, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, keys, vocals, and drums. Each one of these things plays a specific role in the song, and fits into its own space in the music. If you write parts to complement each other and choose the right sounds for each part, everything should come together pretty nicely, and then the mixing is made easier and your productions will sound better.

Sorry for being so abstract, but unfortunately thats how you learn these things. Its both a science and an art, which makes it a jumbled mess of really vague concepts. Just try to sit down with FL for an hour every day and learn something new. Whenever you see an effect or plugin you don't understand; google it. I'm no expert on production by ANY standards but I've had the same experience as you and I'm starting to be pretty pleased with the stuff I'm producing.
Dec 31 2013 5:10PM
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Byron_tha_gr8
Posts: 4573 - Karma: 14,302
ok heres a sound i've been trying to replicate

until about :04, that drumline. but idk what im doing wrong.



Dec 31 2013 5:25PM
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juicedrummer11
Posts: 1960 - Karma: 1,331

with music you gotta start simple and add layers. also like photo editing a bit. when I first started making my own songs and recording drums and guitar it was fun and gratifying because I made it, but it sounded like trash.  it wasn't until recently when I finally learned how to get the sounds I wanted using plug-ins and effects the right way and knowing how to tweak the controls to get the sound I wanted.

basically for beats, its all about layers. take what you have in your head and start with literally the basic beat and play around with sounds to put on top of that. build it up from there

Dec 31 2013 5:27PM
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panojibber.
Posts: 1041 - Karma: 683
That one's all about having the right sounds. Find some 808 and 909 sounds and that should get you started. Find a snare or a hi hat or a kick you like, then choose other sounds to complement it. Don't be afraid to tune your drums too. For the big subby kick I'd recommend you use a synthesizer, use a sine or triangle wave tuned down one or two octaves and a low pass filter with a bit of resonance and with a short attack and fast decay on the filter envelope, no sustain and a long release. The hi-hats are all about getting in there and doing manual editing. Use a compressor to take off some of the attack, maybe use a high pass filter to get rid of some of the meat in them. Then go and try different rhythmic patterns with them. This is just my best guess though so I could be completely wrong haha.

You can always post up an example of what you're working on if you want, maybe myself or someone else can give you some ideas.
Dec 31 2013 5:37PM
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RockNRollNghtClb
Posts: 2013 - Karma: 2,509
so is logic the best program to use? I just ordered a midi controller and I cant decide which system to use
Dec 31 2013 5:43PM
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panojibber.
Posts: 1041 - Karma: 683
There really isn't a best or a worst. Did you get the launchkey mini? If so it'll integrate really nicely with ableton, although ableton is not necessarily better. Ableton does have some really cool features that I wish logic had though, like max for live, performance options (which I probably wouldn't use anyways), and instrument racks. Logic does everything I need it to though. Its really your choice, although I'd say go with Ableton for the sheer amount of tutorials and freebies available for it.
Dec 31 2013 5:51PM
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RockNRollNghtClb
Posts: 2013 - Karma: 2,509
is ableton good for modifying electric guitar sounds? I also ordered a usb port for my guitar.
Dec 31 2013 5:58PM
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panojibber.
Posts: 1041 - Karma: 683
Yep! It might take a little figuring out but it'll be a blast. You might also want to see if you can get your hands on Guitar Rig, its a wicked FX suite with tons of amp and pedal simulations. I rented an electric guitar recently and was using guitar rig to mess around with effects. Loads of fun.
Dec 31 2013 6:02PM
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Lou.
Posts: 1787 - Karma: 3,876
Steve stept makes some pretty cool beats
Jan 1 2014 11:55AM
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