Maybe you appreciate those hot beats you hear in the clubs or in movies or television. Now you are here because you want to know how to produce beats. Assuming that you don’t have any idea how beats are produced, this article will go over a little music theory, beat making software, and methods on how to produce beats.
Methods on how to produce beats
Many beginners do not know how or where to start. In reality, there is no right answer; it is up to your personal preferences and what works best for you. No matter how you do it, the entire process is called the workflow. Workflows are different depending on the software used. Do not worry about the start; the important thing is how the beats end.
There are different methods on how to produce beats or music. If you start with drum, which is what beginners usually use, you can lay basic patterns with a kick drum or snare drum. Add in some high hats and other thumping elements to achieve a full sounding drum loop. When the drum loop has a good groove, you can start working on bass line or melody. You may move to basic chord progression, and then move on to the lead melody.
However, as stated earlier, you can do whatever works for you. Another method which other beginners start out with is recreating melodies. This is done when they already have an idea or melody in mind or something they hear in their head. They build the rest of the elements of the beat around the melody.
Some beginners do not have a melody in mind or don’t start with drums. In this case, what they do is to open up a new musical instrument or record a sample and just begin playing around on key boards or pads until they hear something that sounds nice or attractive. This is called the freestyling method.
Finally, if you come up with a good idea, record it to a digital audio workstation and create the rest of the track. You may work on the drums, move to the bass line, or build up the accompaniment sections.
A little music theory
It helps to know a little about music theory when starting to learn how to produce beats. Beats start with a musical concept or idea, which means they do not have to be full songs in your head. They may be something that you unintentionally hum to yourself or something inspired by an existing song or event.
Making or producing beats is just one process but includes 100 ways on how to do it. You can do whatever you want in order to produce good sounding beats. You can start with drum patterns, chord progression, the main melody, or whatever you want.
Music theory includes the beats, notes, times, bars, signatures, chord progressions, and all other musical elements present in a song or music. The structure of modern popular music is also structured with music theory – the hooks, bridges, verses, etc.
Beat making instruments you need
Music production includes many different choices of beat making software and equipment. For starters, use basic beat making software so that you will know step by step methods on producing beats while you come up with good beats.
For professionals, buy beat making software and equipment that is more advanced. One thing should always be considered: you only need a laptop and some beat making software if your objective is simply to make beats. If you want to produce full songs, get a complete set of instruments and software.
- The most important instrument here is your computer. Computers for beat making should be considered through personal preference, comfort, and lifestyle. If you want to make beats anywhere, choose a laptop over a desktop. If you want a more powerful computer, choose a desktop. The minimum requirements for a computer are at least 8 gb of RAM, dual core processor, and large internal storage.
- Beat making software. This software should be installed to your computer. This is where you will store sounds, arrange songs, create loops, record, mix, and master the finishing track. There is different beat making software available depending on your needs. If you only want to produce beats, use software beat creators or a hardware/software combo. If you want to come up with full songs, use a digital audio workstation or DAW.
Now that you know more about how to produce beats, you have more of an idea on how to work it out.
