How to make beats? Ive done plenty of beat making in my day but the last few years ive been strictly a mix and mastering engineer so my skills have been a bit rusty. I decided to tackle this question for the site because I think its something a lot of musicians and engineers would like to know how to do. Although this is a mixing website, knowing the basics of beat making is important for any musician or engineer these days. This is just a quick and simple “how to make beats” tutorial.
How To Make Beats – Simple guide
First you’ll need either a software or hardware unit able to create the beats. I highly recommend the beat making software from Dubturbo. You can check it out here Beat Making Software . I usually don’t blatantly advertise products like this on the site but this is by far the simplest, cheapest and easiest way to achieve professional results. It takes no time to learn and what you can achieve with it in 1 day can take years to learn on other pieces of software. Your other options are either going to cost a good amount of money or take a longer time to learn. I recommend this to all my clients asking me how to make beats. Its just a great piece of software. You can also use the sequencers in Pro Tools, Cubase, Logic, Reason combined with a midi keyboard or external sampler. Without the keyboard or sampler you’ll have to draw the MIDI notes in by hand which can become a pain.
If you’re using your DAW you’ll have midi tracks that will trigger instruments (synths, drum machines ect…) within your DAW. These synths will contain the sounds. MIDI is great because you can play or draw in the notes one time. From then on you can constantly change the instrument or drum sound without having to redo the performance. Although external hardware samplers and synths are still popular they’re becoming less so due to what can be done with software these days. Dubturbo and the other DAW’s are all pretty much capable of anything a hardware unit can do these days.
I always start with the drums first. I’ll get a good idea for the groove and then i’ll build synths and other sounds on top. As long as im using MIDI if I find the beat starts going into a different direction then I originally planned I can always switch the drum sounds or the groove later on. Beats these days are usually pretty simple. I good way to get started as a beginner is to get a good solid 8 bar phrase going. Then add and subtract things to that basic beat for things like the hook or the bridge. Keep it simple while you get the hang of things. Don’t try to go too crazy in the beginning.
Once again this is just a basic look at how to make beats. As you experiment with these basic ideas you’ll start to learn very quickly. With beat making the proper tool is just as important as the artist. If things are overly complicated for you it’ll hinder the creative process. Keep your software or hardware simple to start and you’ll see things progress quickly.
