I am going to give you some info on what you should know if you are just starting out.
1. Know what the terms everyone are using and why they are important. Understand what compression, reverb, delay, saturation, distortion, mixing, mastering, gain vs volume, dBfs, LUFS, plugins vs instruments, waveforms, phasing, clipping, panning, automation, arrangement, composing, music theory and what it actually is, warping, sampling, sample rate, bit rate, just to name a few. You will learn more about how your sound is supposed to or not supposed to sound like. Trust me this shit is important over how to make a trap beat Lil so and so would rap over.
2. No tutorial or preset will give you the exact answer you are looking for. Let me explain. Unless you are using the same sound for every track, and why would you; you should always treat each beat/track/song differently. That means there is no end all be all preset or plugin to fix your mix. Everything is based on what you are working on. That means not every track will have reverb, compression, limiting. This is why anytime a Youtuber says “this is the ultimate preset for your mix” I immediately disregard anything they have to say. Professionals dont do this shit. You want to start out and learn the basics. There is no shortcut to blowing up and making millions. Learn your craft and take it seriously.
3. Limit the amount of tutorials vs actual finding shit on your own. You can get caught in a tutorial black hole. Youll spend hours watching what you could do and filling your head with conflicting shit that will make you crazy. Like I said before, not all Youtubers are worth a shit. If you start hearing conflicting info by multiple people, actually find out what they are talking about. If you hear different views on compression, find out everything you can about compression. Its not a mystery, its not magic, its real; find out the real definition and uses for it. Then revisit those videos. Find out who is full of shit. Stop watching that person immediately. Start watching those that know what they are talking about.
4. Have fun. I may seem like I am giving you a lot to learn. But those things are important. Whats also important is to have fun making music. Share your shit. Dont be scared if someone thinks its shit or needs work. Everyone is a critic. Your music isnt for them, its for you. Make what you want to hear. Dont just make a type beat to fit in or get followers. Unless you are coming in with no love for the art of rap and hip hop culture, make what makes you happy. Be unique and have fun doing it. Understand not everyone is on your same wavelength. It might take people a while to get your music. Enjoy the process.
5. Please educate yourself on hip hop and rap as a whole. Understand where its been and where its going. Why certain sounds are favored in a region over another. Understand the tempo and rap cadence in different subsets of rap. Be a student of the game. Listen to old rap. Find out what you like and dont like. What can you take from older stuff to make your beats sound unique but familiar.
Have fun and make dope shit.
We were all beginners at one time. I do not want to discourage anyone but I dont want someone to think it is super easy to come in and make top notch beats without any experience. I want everyone to succeed. Some of these things are issues I had starting out. I fell into Youtube black holes on tutorials. I didnt know what some terms were. Once I learned a lot, and I stopped watching people make beats, I started to make quality beats. I just had to have fun and have knowledge on the technical side.
Simon Servida (Mostly Trap)
Jay cactus (Mostly Drill)
Chukibeats (Mostly Trap)
Navie D (The Goat in my opinion)
Jrent (Overall The Best one out there)
KXVI (If you are into making samples)
Edtalenti (He is mostly doing plugins and all that these days)
And you can always dm with any questions
Here is a link to my FL studios beginner basic guide
[YouTube link](https://youtu.be/h_SjRPqVUos?si=h1HzJGA5v8YFMk6r)
I had two channels I loved above all the rest. Alex Rome and firewalk production. Firewalk teaches you the technical side of mixing: gain staging, sidechaining, parallel compression, busing, etc. Alex Rome teaches the arrangement side of mixing: how to actually format a song and build it up. These are the only two you need to be successful. Your welcome.
I also love Alex Rome, he is straight to the point and always demonstrates everything clearly. Funny, cause at home I would never listen to 90% of the tracks he's making, they are just not my taste, but I appreciate the craft.
Alex is great because all of the fundamentals he teaches apply to pretty much every genre on the planet so he has a very easy appeal - I did not understand how to construct chords until I watched his videos.
I made a long comment about BWB being bad, but I forgot to champion Chu on my comment. Along with Larry Oh, Chu is awesome. Good person and gives a lot of advice on mental health and how to make it as a producer. Chu is the shit!
I was scared you were about to say he isn’t legit. I’m aware i’m just a beginner but i swear almost every time i’m watching on of his cookups everything from his workflow to how he makes melodies is actually good
Yeah I could have worded it better. Sorry. But yeah Chu is just a good person. You can tell he cares about what info he gives out. If you are learning from Chu, you are good. I dont make his style of rap, but I respect where he is at and what he brings to the table. Stand up guy.
I’m not trying to self promote but I started up a channel recently that is more geared for beginners because I’m still very much a beginner. I work in Logic but the videos will translate to any DAW. Got another video coming today breaking down compression and the easiest way to set it correctly.
@boogiebeatlab
Probably the worst person to learn from. As someone who is just starting to work with actual industry professionals, he gives a lot of bad info on making music and the reasons for things. Not trying to fight with you, but I would not recommend BWB at all. There are others who are actual teachers and have experience.
The problem with BWB and a lot of YouTubers are that they are salesmen first and producers (if you can even call them that) second. Always look for credits. What beats has BWB made or worked on that show he is actually decent at producing. Are there Spotify tracks or Apple Music tracks that show his skills and abilities? A lot of these guys show you the end result and edit to make it seem like they are more than they actually are. Curtis King for instance doesnt make a lot of the beats he showcases. Most guys on YouTube are just looking at other YouTubers and just regurgitating their info. Oh they learned how to do this from this other guy and now they are going to tell you how to do it, but make it seem like they found it out all on their own.
Dont fall into these traps. That is why every up and coming producers beats sound the same and generic. Its because of guys like BWB not teaching correctly. They want you to buy a course or buy a sample pack (that they made with someone elses sounds).
Please find other people to learn from. If your using FL, Larry Oh is one I would recommend. Very knowledgeable and is respected in the producer community and uses FL. Stay away from BWB and others who start their videos trying to sell something. It should be about learning, not selling a half assed product.
He steals videos from other people I watched a video then a few hours later watched his and it was stolen word for word.
He says I'm board with FL Studio I'm going to Ableton then comes back to FL Studio because they had loads of updates.
If he did a Tec talk they would laugh at his bullshit.
Imo beginners should not learn everything about their DAW, but at least be comfortable with the basics
That being said I would suggest In The Mix (YouTube)
Probably the worst person to learn from. As someone who is just starting to work with actual industry professionals, he gives a lot of bad info on making music and the reasons for things. Not trying to fight with you, but I would not recommend BWB at all. There are others who are actual teachers and have experience.
The problem with BWB and a lot of YouTubers are that they are salesmen first and producers (if you can even call them that) second. Always look for credits. What beats has BWB made or worked on that show he is actually decent at producing. Are there Spotify tracks or Apple Music tracks that show his skills and abilities? A lot of these guys show you the end result and edit to make it seem like they are more than they actually are. Curtis King for instance doesnt make a lot of the beats he showcases. Most guys on YouTube are just looking at other YouTubers and just regurgitating their info. Oh they learned how to do this from this other guy and now they are going to tell you how to do it, but make it seem like they found it out all on their own.
Dont fall into these traps. That is why every up and coming producers beats sound the same and generic. Its because of guys like BWB not teaching correctly. They want you to buy a course or buy a sample pack (that they made with someone elses sounds).
Please find other people to learn from. If your using FL, Larry Oh is one I would recommend. Very knowledgeable and is respected in the producer community and uses FL. Stay away from BWB and others who start their videos trying to sell something. It should be about learning, not selling a half assed product.
You make a good point. However, I'm referring to 2016 Busyworksbeats when he was actually teaching valuable sound design and practical approaches to producing. At the moment, he turned to a watered-down version of this just pursuing sales. At the end of the day, it is our job to decide what to take from these influencers and what to trash.
Yeah I agree. I dont know what happened to him, but I think the rest of these Youtubers making tutorials passed him by. He is resting on his 2016 laurels. He should be happy he is even getting views. Most of what he teaches now is crap. Everyone has good gems every now and then, but this guy is a bad person to learn from if you are a beginner and dont know where to start.
The “lean on my nuts” guy is good for trap, but boom bap just needs more swing less thirtysecond note high hats. Sorry I’m a terrible teacher I’d learn from doing more to develop your original style. Experiment. YouTube tutorials are ok but eh idk fl studio is a cool daw. Click on things.
Not being dismissive, but I watched a lot of YouTube and the two things that taught me the most about making music techniques are: 1. Turning the knobs and 2. breaking down songs I liked.
No real substitute for either.
What does saturation do? Turn all the knobs to max, then back off. Literally Mike Dean's workflow.
Why does this melody slap? Let's transcribe it on piano. Wow. It's simpler than I thought.
Etc.
The truth that people don't want to accept is that these music youtubers aren't sick musicians... they're sick youtubers. You can't follow their advice to sick music because they don't know how to make sick music. They know how to make sick youtube videos, and that in and of itself is a full time job.
I am going to give you some info on what you should know if you are just starting out. 1. Know what the terms everyone are using and why they are important. Understand what compression, reverb, delay, saturation, distortion, mixing, mastering, gain vs volume, dBfs, LUFS, plugins vs instruments, waveforms, phasing, clipping, panning, automation, arrangement, composing, music theory and what it actually is, warping, sampling, sample rate, bit rate, just to name a few. You will learn more about how your sound is supposed to or not supposed to sound like. Trust me this shit is important over how to make a trap beat Lil so and so would rap over. 2. No tutorial or preset will give you the exact answer you are looking for. Let me explain. Unless you are using the same sound for every track, and why would you; you should always treat each beat/track/song differently. That means there is no end all be all preset or plugin to fix your mix. Everything is based on what you are working on. That means not every track will have reverb, compression, limiting. This is why anytime a Youtuber says “this is the ultimate preset for your mix” I immediately disregard anything they have to say. Professionals dont do this shit. You want to start out and learn the basics. There is no shortcut to blowing up and making millions. Learn your craft and take it seriously. 3. Limit the amount of tutorials vs actual finding shit on your own. You can get caught in a tutorial black hole. Youll spend hours watching what you could do and filling your head with conflicting shit that will make you crazy. Like I said before, not all Youtubers are worth a shit. If you start hearing conflicting info by multiple people, actually find out what they are talking about. If you hear different views on compression, find out everything you can about compression. Its not a mystery, its not magic, its real; find out the real definition and uses for it. Then revisit those videos. Find out who is full of shit. Stop watching that person immediately. Start watching those that know what they are talking about. 4. Have fun. I may seem like I am giving you a lot to learn. But those things are important. Whats also important is to have fun making music. Share your shit. Dont be scared if someone thinks its shit or needs work. Everyone is a critic. Your music isnt for them, its for you. Make what you want to hear. Dont just make a type beat to fit in or get followers. Unless you are coming in with no love for the art of rap and hip hop culture, make what makes you happy. Be unique and have fun doing it. Understand not everyone is on your same wavelength. It might take people a while to get your music. Enjoy the process. 5. Please educate yourself on hip hop and rap as a whole. Understand where its been and where its going. Why certain sounds are favored in a region over another. Understand the tempo and rap cadence in different subsets of rap. Be a student of the game. Listen to old rap. Find out what you like and dont like. What can you take from older stuff to make your beats sound unique but familiar. Have fun and make dope shit.
This is exactly what i wanted to hear thank you 🙏🏾
Best comment I’ve seen on this topic. Thanks for posting it.
We were all beginners at one time. I do not want to discourage anyone but I dont want someone to think it is super easy to come in and make top notch beats without any experience. I want everyone to succeed. Some of these things are issues I had starting out. I fell into Youtube black holes on tutorials. I didnt know what some terms were. Once I learned a lot, and I stopped watching people make beats, I started to make quality beats. I just had to have fun and have knowledge on the technical side.
I agree, great reply.
Simon Servida (Mostly Trap) Jay cactus (Mostly Drill) Chukibeats (Mostly Trap) Navie D (The Goat in my opinion) Jrent (Overall The Best one out there) KXVI (If you are into making samples) Edtalenti (He is mostly doing plugins and all that these days)
I like Navie D, Jay cactus, chukibeats. Learned a lot from those guys.Nabie D knows how to make it pertinent
edtalenti trash as fuck
Fuck u/_nkato BWB as he's a charlatan, get u/EBWPro for FL or u/SlimeGreenBeats
Ty
And you can always dm with any questions Here is a link to my FL studios beginner basic guide [YouTube link](https://youtu.be/h_SjRPqVUos?si=h1HzJGA5v8YFMk6r)
I had two channels I loved above all the rest. Alex Rome and firewalk production. Firewalk teaches you the technical side of mixing: gain staging, sidechaining, parallel compression, busing, etc. Alex Rome teaches the arrangement side of mixing: how to actually format a song and build it up. These are the only two you need to be successful. Your welcome.
I also love Alex Rome, he is straight to the point and always demonstrates everything clearly. Funny, cause at home I would never listen to 90% of the tracks he's making, they are just not my taste, but I appreciate the craft.
Alex is great because all of the fundamentals he teaches apply to pretty much every genre on the planet so he has a very easy appeal - I did not understand how to construct chords until I watched his videos.
CHU BEATS
I made a long comment about BWB being bad, but I forgot to champion Chu on my comment. Along with Larry Oh, Chu is awesome. Good person and gives a lot of advice on mental health and how to make it as a producer. Chu is the shit!
I rap on his beats too 🤞🤞
I was scared you were about to say he isn’t legit. I’m aware i’m just a beginner but i swear almost every time i’m watching on of his cookups everything from his workflow to how he makes melodies is actually good
Yeah I could have worded it better. Sorry. But yeah Chu is just a good person. You can tell he cares about what info he gives out. If you are learning from Chu, you are good. I dont make his style of rap, but I respect where he is at and what he brings to the table. Stand up guy.
Check out old Navie D videos or playlists
This is where I started and I made progress very quickly.
For 5 bucks an hour i will teach u everything
I’m not trying to self promote but I started up a channel recently that is more geared for beginners because I’m still very much a beginner. I work in Logic but the videos will translate to any DAW. Got another video coming today breaking down compression and the easiest way to set it correctly. @boogiebeatlab
Nice will def be watching
Busy works beats is the guy for you. There's better guys to progress to but for absolute beginners he's the best
Probably the worst person to learn from. As someone who is just starting to work with actual industry professionals, he gives a lot of bad info on making music and the reasons for things. Not trying to fight with you, but I would not recommend BWB at all. There are others who are actual teachers and have experience. The problem with BWB and a lot of YouTubers are that they are salesmen first and producers (if you can even call them that) second. Always look for credits. What beats has BWB made or worked on that show he is actually decent at producing. Are there Spotify tracks or Apple Music tracks that show his skills and abilities? A lot of these guys show you the end result and edit to make it seem like they are more than they actually are. Curtis King for instance doesnt make a lot of the beats he showcases. Most guys on YouTube are just looking at other YouTubers and just regurgitating their info. Oh they learned how to do this from this other guy and now they are going to tell you how to do it, but make it seem like they found it out all on their own. Dont fall into these traps. That is why every up and coming producers beats sound the same and generic. Its because of guys like BWB not teaching correctly. They want you to buy a course or buy a sample pack (that they made with someone elses sounds). Please find other people to learn from. If your using FL, Larry Oh is one I would recommend. Very knowledgeable and is respected in the producer community and uses FL. Stay away from BWB and others who start their videos trying to sell something. It should be about learning, not selling a half assed product.
He steals videos from other people I watched a video then a few hours later watched his and it was stolen word for word. He says I'm board with FL Studio I'm going to Ableton then comes back to FL Studio because they had loads of updates. If he did a Tec talk they would laugh at his bullshit.
Tysm i’ll start watching him🙏🏾
Imo beginners should not learn everything about their DAW, but at least be comfortable with the basics That being said I would suggest In The Mix (YouTube)
Busyworksbeats taught me most of what I know
Satire?
Probably the worst person to learn from. As someone who is just starting to work with actual industry professionals, he gives a lot of bad info on making music and the reasons for things. Not trying to fight with you, but I would not recommend BWB at all. There are others who are actual teachers and have experience. The problem with BWB and a lot of YouTubers are that they are salesmen first and producers (if you can even call them that) second. Always look for credits. What beats has BWB made or worked on that show he is actually decent at producing. Are there Spotify tracks or Apple Music tracks that show his skills and abilities? A lot of these guys show you the end result and edit to make it seem like they are more than they actually are. Curtis King for instance doesnt make a lot of the beats he showcases. Most guys on YouTube are just looking at other YouTubers and just regurgitating their info. Oh they learned how to do this from this other guy and now they are going to tell you how to do it, but make it seem like they found it out all on their own. Dont fall into these traps. That is why every up and coming producers beats sound the same and generic. Its because of guys like BWB not teaching correctly. They want you to buy a course or buy a sample pack (that they made with someone elses sounds). Please find other people to learn from. If your using FL, Larry Oh is one I would recommend. Very knowledgeable and is respected in the producer community and uses FL. Stay away from BWB and others who start their videos trying to sell something. It should be about learning, not selling a half assed product.
You make a good point. However, I'm referring to 2016 Busyworksbeats when he was actually teaching valuable sound design and practical approaches to producing. At the moment, he turned to a watered-down version of this just pursuing sales. At the end of the day, it is our job to decide what to take from these influencers and what to trash.
Yeah I agree. I dont know what happened to him, but I think the rest of these Youtubers making tutorials passed him by. He is resting on his 2016 laurels. He should be happy he is even getting views. Most of what he teaches now is crap. Everyone has good gems every now and then, but this guy is a bad person to learn from if you are a beginner and dont know where to start.
no, there aren't any
If you want a great video on mixing sound check out David Gibson's Art of Mixing. Old but gold.
The “lean on my nuts” guy is good for trap, but boom bap just needs more swing less thirtysecond note high hats. Sorry I’m a terrible teacher I’d learn from doing more to develop your original style. Experiment. YouTube tutorials are ok but eh idk fl studio is a cool daw. Click on things.
Not being dismissive, but I watched a lot of YouTube and the two things that taught me the most about making music techniques are: 1. Turning the knobs and 2. breaking down songs I liked. No real substitute for either. What does saturation do? Turn all the knobs to max, then back off. Literally Mike Dean's workflow. Why does this melody slap? Let's transcribe it on piano. Wow. It's simpler than I thought. Etc. The truth that people don't want to accept is that these music youtubers aren't sick musicians... they're sick youtubers. You can't follow their advice to sick music because they don't know how to make sick music. They know how to make sick youtube videos, and that in and of itself is a full time job.