Hello everybody, I'm new to the process of making beats and was wondering fi you guys could help me out a bit. By the way, I know I'm being a bit cheeky by asking for something with my first ever post haha.
Anyways, because I'm new to it all, I thought I would start trying to make beats similar to other beats that jump out at me or ones that I feel the most. And the beats that I feel the most I would probably describe as "dark". I don't think that is the purest word to describe them, although they all have an element or a certain amount of darkness in them. Off the top of my head, some of these beats would be:
Flight School by T-Pain & Kanye West (Leaked demo for GLC)
Welcome To Heartbreak by Kanye West ft. KiD CuDi (808s & Heartbreak)
Shoot Me Down by Lil Wayne ft. D. Smith (Tha Carter III)
Clap Again by Akon (Freedom)
Official Girl by Cassie ft. Lil Wayne
Shady Narcotics Skit by Eminem (The Re-Up)
Now I realise alot of these all have very Orchestral instrument sounds in them.
My question is: Would any of you know of any Drum packs or Sound packs that are similar to these beats I've named, or even know of any further songs that have similar sounding beats?
Sorry about the huge post, but I tried to explain as much as possible and I know this was the best place to ask for help. Any replies will be greatly appreciated, thanks.
COLORING YOUR SOUND
What you need to do is to approach the samples you already have as being completely malleable to create "darker" overtones and harmonics. This in turn will make give you better control over the "color" and "sound" of your mixes.
Now, when I'm talking samples, I'm discussing the actual audio event samples that create the entire sound. These are classified as a snare sample, kick drum sample, etc. If you have these separated as different wave files you can alter their inherent "sound" and "color" by splitting a snare or bass kick sample into different EQ ranges, thereupon making it easier to "mix" a snare sample to a fitting sound that you want. If you repeat this with other elements of your music, like the kick or different samples, you can redo the entire tonal feel of the song.
I touched on this subject previously when I discussed mixing a kick drum. It is written in a lightehearted manner, but the message is the key. It is called "Adventures in Kick Drum EQ'ing" and is located here:
https://www.illmuzik.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23674
This method can be applied to most instruments and PLEASE experiment with different frequency ranges.
To summarize what I did for purposes of this specific thread and HOW IT APPLIES TO YOU is the following:
1) Copy the same kick, snare, or whatever sample to three or four tracks
2) Apply a very strong equalizer to each track.
- The first track should be eq'ed to bandpass a low-end range of frequency.
- The second track should be eq'ed to bandpass midrange
- The third track should be eq'ed to bandpass hi-frequency ranges.
- Use a fourth track for very audible high frequency ranges (commonly known as the frequency ranges that add "air" to the mix).
NOTE: I really mean splitting one audio event - like a kick drum sample INTO THREE OR FOUR SEPARATE TRACKS as mentioned above, applying different eq settings to each track and then REMIXING THE ACTUAL SAMPLE.
3) I used the following example on one mix for kick drums (from my previously posted link):
EXCERPT OF METHOD:
I make three tracks for the kick. All are the same kick drums.
One track of kicks I cutoff at 40Hz and boost at 90Hz. I cutoff the his between 230-280.
This is my "lo-kick" EQ track of the kick drum.
With the second track I hi-pass at 260Hz, boost at 1.5-2kHz with a small Q (2) and then lo-pass at around 3kHz.
Whew. This is my midrange for the same kick.
The third track I hi-pass at 2500 and scoop out between 3-5 kHz. I don't cutoff the hi's.
So there I have THREE tracks representing the different EQ range of the same kick drum recording. I group 'em all mono to a bus and apply compression on the overall kick track to get proper in your face - yet vagina friendly - punch.
Now I can mix each EQ range of the kick differently. I can automate the faders when the bass is too pronounced, or whenever I need more mid and hi in the kick track.
I took a kick drum and instead of letting it annoy me and feel restrained by my options, I made the kick my bitch and separated that kick into different eq ranges so I could GET WHAT I WANT from the track.
Try using this lateral approach to mixing drums. Break 'em down. You can do this with any instrument, but this is very effective albeit "time consuming."
4) Now experiment with your snare and with different frequency ranges. Instead of dedicating three or four tracks to mixing ONE SAMPLE SOUND, make more tracks with a narrower frequency bandwidth.
5) By mixing different frequency ranges in and out of the mix sample you give it a different tone and can "color" it to make it sound "darker" or "evil." Conversely, you can make it punchier and lighter.
You can do this with samples YOU ALREADY HAVE. This is a concept of designing your own sound from an existing catalogue. You don't always have to be dependent on someone else's sample library when you acquire the power to manipulate samples to create your own (and they will sound different!)
This method is time-consuming and only for the strong at heart. Acquiring this knowledge will make you a better designer of your own sounds.
Give it a try to the important samples in your mix. You'll find out that the "color" of your sound will change in a dramatic fashion.
Good luck!
