Transcripts
1. Course Intro: Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome back to another masterclass with
yours truly key Orion, the man who is
obsessed with making great music and teaching
you how to make your own. In today's masterclass,
I'm going to teach you how to make this song or not make this on
what makes something in this ballpark
with a similar vibe. I'm hoping, of this song
by future and Drake. Right now at the time
of this recording is a super popular song and I've
been really inspired by it. So I've got a couple of ideas. I want to go with this and I want to show
you guys how I would go about remaking a beat kind of in this same sort of
genre, sort of a style. So if that sounds great, set aside 30 to 40 minutes, grab your beverage of choice, get locked and loaded,
and let's jump into it. See you there.
2. Drums: So the first thing
that you had to do obviously is get the track. And then once you have it, I'm gonna come in here because the first thing we wanna do is I googled it and found that
this was in C-sharp minor. And so I found a
loop that I felt was kinda cool in
C-sharp minor as well. So that's the first
thing unfortunately, but let's take it
with the drums first, because before we get into the melody and all
the fancy stuff, Let's figure out what
the drums are doing. So I'm going to find where
the drum start in this track, which I assume is right here. Yeah, exactly. And so I'm going
to set 11 here and then I'm going to figure
out what this bpm is. So let's do it.
So let's do this. Check, make sure
we're recording. We're good. Okay. So my name is good. I've got your parents and myself are called
me and I get wrong. Sounds. When it comes to Stan, I can't say I haven't ever feel pray for My name is Civil
Code again, I get it wrong. But when it comes down to stand, I can't say I have
another frame. So I can tell it's actually
a little bit too fast. So let's go to I think it's like I haven't ever feel
ready for my name is Dana. I'm afraid for my name is
Brian for my team is good. I catch myself ocho, Dana. Sounds that a song
when it comes to Stan, I can't say. I have
another frame. Cool. So I'm not
sure if you guys have been listening
to that loop. But he's got some high hats kinda going
on back-and-forth. He's got these kind of
kick hair kit care. I kick snare going on. So that's what
we're gonna steal. We're going to
start with the kick and we're gonna go from there. So this is the way
that I like to do, like to put it up here so I can kind of see what
I'm working with. So let's look at these kicks. Pray for my parents and
my civil code name. Wrong. But let's take
it 11, loop at a time, one piece right before
my name is good, I've got my cellphone code name. For my team is good. I
catch myself all codeine, I get kind of a
cool thumping kick. So let's see if we can
find something similar. Come on. I know we got
something in here. Don't play with me splice. Not today. All right. Let's go. I like that
one that could work. I'm going to just start
dragging some kicks in. So you're going to
find some I like that. I think is too
much. And it didn't seem like there's a lot
of high-end on this kick. So I wanted to I wanted to
try something that's not too. Not too doesn't have it's just like kind of like
feels like a bumpy kick. It's not super there's not a lot of high-end that I hear going on in there. So let's see
what we got going on. Right. Gray for my demons, gray for my and I'm just
going to steal this right for my gray for my name is Ray for my demons.
Good. I got you. You can tell it's a kicks.
It always looks kinda like these squiggly lines. For my name is good. I got you. Must've ocho Dana gray for
my demons. Good. I got you. Sam. I Civil Code
Dana get a grade for my team has got I
got massive Boko Dana get a grade for my
team has got I got massive ocho Dana give a thousand of thought
when it comes to Stan, I can't thank you, everyone. So when it come to understand, I can't take it everywhere. So they don't have
these last two, but they have
another one in here. Sounds like a song
when they come, sounds at a song when it comes to understand,
I can't say. I've found that a song when
it comes to understand, I can't say sounds that a song when it
comes to understand, I can't say sounds that a song when it
comes down to stand, I can't say that everywhere. I haven't even sounds
on a song when it comes to the sound. Sounds that a song when
it sounds like it sounds, it sounds like it sounds. I found I found I found that. Yes, So that's actually lied.
There's not a kick there. Cool. So we've got
our kicks down. Let's move to snares. And so let's listen to what
this snare sounds like. Sounds that I saw when I
pray for My name is good. I've got my civil code name. Sounds that a song when it
comes to stand, I can't say. I have another
frame for my okay. So it's kinda like it's it's, it's got some like
acoustic ish kind of snare vibes going on. It's not like a super. Trappy snare. And let's see what we
got going on in here. That actually could work. Definitely not. No,
definitely not. No. No. Maybe something like that. I feel like my name is good. I mean, I found that a
song when it brave, brave. That one through work. Yeah,
Definitely not that one. That one. I feel like we need to layer it maybe
with something else. No. Those are weird. There's really two trappy need like I feel like that one my work too, if
you know what I'm saying. Like a little bit more acoustic, a little less trapping. No. Maybe like maybe something
like that and we layer it. Maybe something like
that and we layer. So let's just do that for now. Because if you notice
there's a bunch of snare. So if somebody could do is
also maybe if we wanted to, we could switch it
up and have some different snare sounds. If you wanted to add our
own kinda sauce to it. But let's see, let's just
get these down first. Let's just get these down first. And then we can go from there. I'm going to go snare three, and we're just going
to use this first one to rock and roll. And then we'll figure
out our sounds later. I'm just getting the
pattern down and then we can figure out kind of
sounds a little later on. Ray. Ray. Ray for
my team is good. I pray for my team is good. I get you. Ready for my demons. Good. I got my civil code. Gray for my name is good, I guess you can say
massive ocho Dean, I give the sounds that a song when it comes to
stand for my demons, good, I catch myself, ocho Dana, get annoying. Sounds that a song when it
comes to Stan, I can't say. I'm afraid. I'm afraid
for my team is good. I catch myself all codeine Dana. I've found that a song when it comes down to Stan, I can't say. I'm afraid for my name
is good. I got you. Sam. I said Boko Dana gray
for my team has good. I got you. Pray for
My name is good. I pray for my demons.
Good. I got you. Pray for My name is good. I got you. I liked this
actually writing for my demons. Good. I got gray for
my team is good. I got carrots and massive ocho Dana gray
for my demons, good, I got carrots and massive ocho Dana gray
for my team is good. I got massive ocho Dana
gray for my team is good. I got you. Football coach. Dana gray for my name is good. I mean, I get it wrong. Pray for My name is good. I've got my civil
code. Nina, again. This is just adding a
little bit of variation. I'm just going to see maybe
where that goes later on. I'm not worrying about
it too much right now. Again, just kinda getting
this general snare sound down. Getting these down. Found that a song when
they've come down a stack frame for
my name is good. I've got you in later on. Isaac's, I don't love that. I don't love that snare sound. I might switch out for like
symptom more trappy later on. But Let's just get the, let's continue with the
drums and get some hi-hats. Let's see what are kind of
going on with our hats. So it sounds like he's got some things like
switching back and forth. Least it sounds it
sounds like to me. Let's listen again right
before my name is good. I mean, I get it wrong. Sounds out of thought when it comes down to
stand, I can't say. This is a great example. How simple a lot of
major productions are. And that's not a knock
to do, to make this be. It's just like it's just a simple 16th note pattern and then pan left and right. So do you know, sometimes I think we're
overthinking. It. Sounds like it could be it
pray for My name is good. I pray for my for
my name is good. I pray for my for my
name is good. I got you. Pray for My name is Ray for my gray for my name
is good. I got you. Pray for My name is
good. I got you. Pray for my name and pray for My name is Sam as
simple codeine. Hey, we're here for my knee. We're going to add
just a little bit of variation in here. So maybe what we're gonna
do is, we might do, is we might actually have
two different sounds. I don't love that, but we could do something
like that if you wanted to and just add
that a little bit. And then he has a sounds like a, like a like they're paying
completely left and right. So let's go auto pan and
turn this amount up to, I think it's all the way
and then bring our rate down. There it is. Something like that.
Doesn't it be perfect. You could also automate this and just pan them if you wanted to. But my name is Nina. Found that a re put
my name is Dana. Found that gray for my name is Brian for my team is brave. Pray for My name is good. I mean, I get it wrong. When it comes to stand, I can't say I'm afraid
for my team is good. I mean, I guess the one other
thing is an open hi-hat, which is a very standard kind of sounding like 808 hi-hat to me. Open hi-hat. Alright, so
let's figure out these. And then we've got our drums. Pray for My name is Brian,
for my name is God. I pray for My name is
good. I've got you. I still pray for my
demons. Got I got you. Sam. I said Boko Dana, I get annoying the sounds that a song when
it comes to Stan, I can't think of
everywhere naked. Pray for my demons. Good. I catch carrots and massive ocho Dana,
I get annoying. The sounds that a song
when it comes to Stan, I can't think you everyone for sounds like it's painted
a little bit to the right to me before my name
is good. I got you. Share time. I Civil Code
Dana, I get it wrong. But knowing the sounds
that a song when it comes to Stan, I can't say. I'm afraid for my demons
got I got chair time. I still Boko Dana,
I get it wrong. When it comes to
Stan, I can't say. I have another frame for my
name is good. I've got you. Cool. So those are kind of
our drums are basic drums. And then we're gonna go from here to actually
work with the sample. I found kind of a
cool example that I think it'd be fun to
mess around with it. So let's jump into the
actual musical part.
3. Melody: So I've found, so when
I listened to this, when I think about
building this beat out, I think about we're
going to need some sort of low way and it's
just ate away or base. We're going to need some
sort of cool vocal samples. And then we're going to
need some sort of like main melody into me
when I listen to this right before my parents and my cell phone called Nina, I hear like a strumming guitar
like some like a guitar or some sort of like harp thing plucking in the background. But I found that a song when it comes to
Stan, I can't say. So. They could guitar to me like a plucked guitar that has some, like a flanger and
some effects on it. I found that this guitar sample different. We're making different beat, but I think we could do
something cool with it. So I'm going to start messing around
with effects and see if you can find
something in here. First thing we're gonna do
is it's already in Pro, which is cool,
which are the form. It's a little bit I
tried reversing it. That's normally my first go-to, but it didn't turn out great. So I'm like, No,
we're going to stick with it normal and just
find some effects. Flanger is always a good way just to kinda get
some weird effects. I also like to go, y'know, y'know, I love to
go retro color like this. In every single track. There's just, there's some
presets I love for it. Tell me that's not a
vibe. With one preset. That's a vibe that's above. Now they wanna do just to
get a little bit more of a groove is I'm
going to drag all, well, actually, no data yet, but I normally will drag all of these drums off a little bit off the grid just because it gives you a little bit
more of a balance, but I want to add more percussion and stuffed
it a little bit later on. So we're not gonna
do that just yet. So that is I probably
might, I probably might. I'm not even sure if
that makes sense. I might add some
other stuff too, but since I'm not, since we're building
the beat out, I'm not going to
worry about getting too crazy on it just yet. I'm going to keep
building things and then we'll maybe come back
to it if it needs it.
4. Bass: This is, so let's see
what they're doing with their low-end future. Let's see what you
do with your low-end Chevron around o to font. You can tell that
they have a base because it's this
frequency right here. Kicked doesn't
stay up that long. Kicks just dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum. It looks like it starts low. And then they go up. And
then they come back down. And then they go up again. And then they go
up at the variant. So let's do something
similar. Let's do something. So let's figure out
what the key is. Let's figure out
what we gotta do. Future. Thank you, that's
enough. That's enough. This is where I'm going
to take some liberties. I think, I think this
could be cool or for me, since we aren't making the same thing that futures making, I think it'd be cool to
have to try and eat away. So, but first thing I'm
gonna do is figure out what this key is. And the way that I
do that is by using a base and experimenting
with sounds. So I'd like to go a base you will use if
you've seen them a step before. This is kind of my
go-to. Little higher. Actually, first thing we're gonna do is we're going to take off some of these effects
to make it easier. So that's not like that
bent kinda wobbly sound. Alright? And so then we
have that kind of simple. I just hold those
notes out because I am going to place
them at the kicks. As just for simple midi. And then I'm going to, first, I'm going to quantize it, and then I'm willing to simple, a super-simple base
hack is you just add, you just add them
where your kicks are. So that's I'm gonna do
first is we're going to bring in an a to wait and see if maybe we
can get something going here with
the native weight. So let's see what we got. Let's see, we got I
love I love loan. That's facts. Let's see something simple here. Yeah. Feels like it's
like non-existent. So that's not going to work either. That might be more looking
for something kinda boomy. Now this one's not going to. Again because it's kinda
like this emotional thing. I'm not looking for like super
gritty, crazy Ada weights. I just want something
like take up some low end and make
it a little boomy, but not not super interface. Normally another control. Okay. The other thing I'm gonna do
is I'm going to save them. And then when there's
pitch them all up and to see if
they're still on key, that one doesn't
sound like it is. I'm going to bring that down. Actually. Try that again. Now they're all off because
I think I pitched them that. Yeah, that didn't work. So we can try that again. There it is. Everyone to get fancy. We could roll them a little
bit like we could add some you could add some
bend and stuff to them. But for now I'm not
going to worry about it. Again. I'm just building things one at a time while we
got the inspiration, the momentum, and then
I can come back and kind of get fancy
and fun later on. So let's move on to the
next part of the beat.
5. Vocals: Okay, so now that we
have this basic beat, I'm going to, first of all, let's add these back end. These effects. Maybe bring down the
reverb a little. And I got some pretty
cool vocal chops for us. So I have this vocal
chops already set up. This is part of my
Ableton template. If you want any of
the templates that you see me using in
this tutorial warmer, if your producer training,
you can check that out in the description
below that linked up. But in my Ableton template, I have already these
effects locked and loaded, ready to go for me because I
know that I use them a lot. So what I'm gonna do is I'm
going to duplicate this out, this vocal chops thing. And then I'm going to turn those off and bring in our vocal chops and just start experimenting with
these a little bit. So I got some cool ones. I'm excited to show you guys. Let's see what we got here. One in particular that I
thought would be cool. Yeah. I need some more space. And some of these
are just gonna be just like simple one
shots. Like that's cool. But there is one in here
that I think it's this one. Let's see. Yeah, I thought that'd be cool. Okay, So I think that's cool. And what we're gonna do is, I'm going to bring
this down here. This would just be
part of a hook, kinda the same way that
future kinda has it. And then I also
want to add maybe some other vocal chops in here. So let's duplicate this one. And then Let's find some other
cool little vocal chops. Alright, so let's go like this. Take this over here. I'm just gonna reverb
the crap out of this one and we're going
to pan it to the left. And just like had
this be more of just like, That's more of again, something atmospheric
vibe, more like a stab than that main vocal that we're going
to mess it a little later. I didn't know. I got an idea. What if we did? What if we did? Then what if we did this one? Right now I'm just
experimenting, obviously just
experimenting a lot and just trying things out. And because I didn't want
it to continue there. So now, if you listen
to the future one, that's just for the
hook, like corn. Drop over here. Chevron around, checking out a font. So say, I've been
traveling around. And then during the verse is
obviously different here. So I've been traveling
around the world. I sit on my balcony
and when you fit it, I gotta go read it tastes
my time away from women. I cannot convince you
that allow you for a living beyond that school. So they bring that back
in there filtered. Let's, let's do that. Let's build out our
hook and then have, let's build out our hook and then we can switch
up and do some. First of all, I didn't know. No. So sounds like I don't like the
high-pitched part because I think they
pitch it up too. This sounds weird because
it's the formants. But I'm going to try to maybe make this sound
a little bit better. We could also do this. Yeah, I don't love that. I think we'd go I think
we go to different ones. And then I'll just work on EQ. And those are mixing lists
that they sound better. So let's say that's our hook. And now we're going
to make our verse.
6. Textures: Alright, so, so, yeah, so here's what I did.
I end up going back. I didn't like either
one, send it to four. So I went back and found
another vocal sample. So the first part is the
one you already know, and then this is the second one. But I think the same Singer told me that doesn't, that
doesn't sound way better. Sometimes I think
I'm just trying to force it because one of the other one to work when sometimes you just got
to pivot and adapt, but I think that one
works way better. So now let's work on our versus the verses that we
already know is at some point, so I just duplicated
the whole thing out. At some point what I'm going
to do with the Vs is I'm probably going to
bring this back in, but I have it linked,
filtered like Drake did it. But let's add, let's
see if we can get something else going
on with some of these vocal traps that we have. This and that kinda
cool, maybe some stabby stuff. Don't love that. That's kinda cool. Again, what we're
doing right now, she has built-in
texture, That's it. We're just making something
that feels a little bit textured and nothing
super crazy. And so then the next
thing I'm gonna do is I'm going to duplicate this one out because that was the
first part of the verse. And then I'm gonna
take this bad boy, which was our hook. And let's see. I'm going to actually see
how Drake does it. Not as a lawyer for a
living on my balcony. And when you finish,
I gotta go read. It takes one time
away from women. I cannot convince
you that allow you for your attention back. Kiana, really necessary level, but I noticed shall get it. Made me shake his hand. We have a full good for
meeting. Don't put me in. I was fun when
we're doing here at a tiny presents I Kelly alone. Cool. So it's pretty much the same thing that
they have in the hook, but it's just filtered out. So let's add that. So we're gonna go vocals book. We're going to do vocals. First. Actually vote
goals, the first one. And then we're going to add
another one and go vocals. Actually hearing
what we're gonna do, we're gonna delete that because
we're actually going to duplicate that and use a
lot of the same things. And this one's gonna be vocals. First part two, we're going to delete all this stuff there, and then we're going
to bring in this. But you could do,
is you could add a filter and automated here and the hook
part of the vocals. But I'm going to have this one. They're totally, I have to
automate a bunch of things. I want the volume to be
different. I'm gonna probably add different effects. So
let's get into it. I'm just adjusting these
volumes because those sounded a little bit loud to me. That is one potential one. You could pitch those down
for the verse that somebody, somebody filter and pitch them. They go hand in hand,
but I don't love that. I'm gonna be honest. So
yeah, let's do this. We've got averse,
we've got our hook. I want to add a little bit more percussive elements to
this in terms of like some high hats and maybe some other elements to make the drums little
bit more juice. And then we'll mix it and
check it out and get you out of here. Let's jump
into the next piece.
7. Final Touches: Alright jobs, so I want to add some more hi-hats and maybe
some little hi-hat roles. We have these cool little
16th notes, which is cool. But I want to get some things moving and moving and grooving. So let's see. You
can get a little, a little, a little
bit more balance. I didn't know. I didn't know. No. That was just because I heard while I was doing
that other stuff, but that's actually
what I did percussion. No. Remember for when
I was telling you about how I kinda want to move things off the grid to give a little bit more bounce. Well, that's exactly
what we're about to do. So I'm going to
highlight all my drums. Get them all, not all of them. I take that back now my kicks, my snares, but all
my other stuff. And I'm going to just drag
them off the slightest bit. According to their
happy mistakes. That's kinda cool. Alright, so let's mix it. I'm going to add some things to the a to wait to bring it up. I'm going to really put
things in its place, put them in its pocket. And I think there's beat
has some potential. Let's check it out.
8. Mixing & Mastering The Beat: I know I've kept
you for overtime. I tried to keep these
a little bit shorter. This one, this beat just
took, has more pieces. Then I realized I'm gonna try
to just work through this, but I'm interested to get everything to fit
kinda where it is. And I'm going to use
the future tract as a reference track to
keep coming back to it. See where things sit in there, mix in mind and see if you can get in that ballpark range. For someone. Do is save it as mixed just in case we
mess something up. And okay, so let's do this. Actually I'm gonna do
is I'm going to listen to I'm going to listen to it on Spotify because
that kinda helps me get a better for it. Jagger, Jagger and pray
for my demons, good. I got erythema Civil Code Dana, give that a thought when
it comes to understand. I can't say. I feel like, all right. So I'm going to 0 everything
at first. Bring it all down. You got me and my
feelings. Okay. And then we're gonna bring
them in one at a time. I shoot for this
to be kinda like ballpark playgrounds 78 maybe. We got to add a little bit of distortion, this paraboloid, just because you got to have at least come
through a little bit, maybe a little bit of
searching oppression. Right now I'm just
gonna get a quick mix and then I'm going to master it, put my mastering chain on, and then when I come back to it, It's done. I'm checking just to make
sure that it's not like, oh, I've tried to have
around like negative three and negative
four dB of headroom. And this is my mastering chain. A little bit of distortion. I'm going to add a little
bit of compression to the whole track mountain
negative one dB. Watch at your
schizogony it a little loud. Oh, I didn't know. So let's see where
our future sounds. Joppa Road or foreign
matter AND me alone. This sounds like a snares louder and his high
hats on his lap. I would have found exactly what it's saying. As we're getting there, it should take more
time to tweak, but I'm not going to hold
you that much longer. Thanks so much for
tuning in as always, if you want any of my goodies, you can check it out
in the description below. Producer training. I've got templates for vocals. I've got, I've got cool things. Just check them out.
Thanks for tuning in. I appreciate you all to take
you on the next one piece.
Kia Orion, Artist & Music Producer
