Make Beats part 1

Time for a  guide on how to make beats. This guide assumes that you already are familiar with terms such as sequencers, VST plugins, VST instruments such as Kontakt, Stylus, Nexus, Omnisphere and so on.

I love making beats. It’s probably my second favorite task in my job next to mixing. Usually I do them alone although lately I have been getting lots of joy creating beats together with Brian London, who is a great keyboard player and also the music director for Bruno Mars, Taio Cruz and Jason Derulo.

Anyway, I usually start my beat making session by setting a goal. I listen to some music in the style I am looking to create to get some inspiration. First I decide on a tempo although it might change some once I have a few tracks done.

When I make beats I usually start with the drums. I already have a preset session in cubase with tracks created for drums, percussion, synths and so on. First I make a basic 4 bar drum pattern with kicks, snare/clap, hh and percussion elements. I might include a drum loop from either stylus or kontakt. I EQ the drum loop so it doesn’t interfere with the main kick and snare. The drum loop is simply there to create some swing or swag or whatever you would call it. I don’t want the drum loop to be dominating.

Once I have my 4 bar of drums grooving nicely, I check with my inspiration source to make sure the main elements are standing out like they should. Is the kick booming or punching the right way or do I need to compress, EQ or maybe even layer the kick with something to create the sound I am going for.  Is the clap dirty enough or should we put some tube distortion in there. You get the point I am sure

When you make beats you need to do longer than 4 bars. I copy the 4 bars into 8 bars, sometimes add a kick pattern change at bar 8 and then I move on to the next element – Keys.

For keyboards or synths I usually pick a percussive type sound like a piano or synth sound with a nice attack and some sustain. I want to make sure that I can play rhythmic and still have a tone long enough to hear the chords against the drums. I sometimes end up not even using this sound, it is mostly to be able to create the right chords.

Next up is the bass. I usually go through many bass sounds to find the right one for the song. It need to have just the right amount of punch as well as bottom end to not only fit the genre I am working on but also match with the kick drum. I often end up using 2 or 3 different bass sounds, not only for different sections of the song but sometimes to play different parts at the same time. One deep sound with a slow attack against a higher percussive bass sound can go really well together.

So much for part 1 on how to make beats. If any of this seems confusing don’t worry. I plan to go in much more detail once I release my up and coming music production software tool – Beat Maker Gold next month. It will include many of my favorite sounds in a very easy to use interface. Check out some screen shots HERE….

Stay tune for more tips on how to make beats or use the search for more info..
Johnny Jam

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