Making Beats

Learn all about rhythm and the intricacies of making beats in any DAW, Drum Machine or Module over four weeks in a class of between 1-9 people. These principles apply to any DAW or sequencer but are taught through NI Maschine, Ableton Push 2 and a Roland Drum Machine provided by School of Synthesis.

Course Overview

Producers of popular genres of electronic music rely heavily on tight drum programming and beat making techniques to create professional sounding productions. This class is dedicated to learning the fundamentals of drum programming and beat making using industry standard software and hardware controllers. Groove, Swing, velocity and quantise are some of the intricacies of drum programming that are covered in this class. Techniques covered in this class can be applied to any DAW software or hardware drum machine. This class is taught using Ableton’s Push 2, Native Instruments Maschine MK3 and various Drum Machines all provided by the school of synthesis.

Course Level

The course is suitable for most people from beginners to those with experience in music production. This course covers advanced beat making techniques and benefits those with a basic understanding of drums and rhythms.  Please contact the school if you have any specific needs or requirements.

Course content and features

• Rhythm theory and the basics of making a beat
• Common Sampling practices and how to sample sounds
• Generating ideas and how to create inspiration for basslines and melodies.
• Arrangement: Basics on how to sequence your beats to create a full track
• Time signatures and BPM
• Groove, swing and quantisation
• Writing and programming various beat patterns
• Writing and performing using a step sequencer
• Editing, slicing, looping and triggering sounds

Course objectives

by the end of this course you should be able to:

• Make beats on any DAW, sampler or sequencer
  Understand rhythm
• Load, edit, program and write your own beats
• Create and apply swing and various quantisation to your beats
• Write beats for various styles of music including house, techno, UK garage and D&B
• Use Maschine, Push 2 and a Drum Machine as a powerful midi controller or live performance tool
• Apply effects and contort your sounds
• Arrange a drum track into different sections

EXCLUSIVE LEARNING TOOLS INCLUDED

Permanent access to our guides and articles in our Content Portal:
Each student gets access to detailed notes and references covering all courses and providing a valuable ongoing and updated resource to aid learning reinforcement.

Carbon Electra:
Each enrolment includes a software licence to use the award-winning Carbon Electra, one of the world’s leading synthesizers.

School of Synthesis Producer Pack:
Each enrolment includes a carefully selected VST/AU plugin pack for Windows and MAC OSX with everything you need to get producing, including some of the best EQs, Compressors, FX and Limiters available.

Analogue Sequences:
Each enrolment includes an authorised download of the Loopmasters Analogue Sequences pack designed by School of Synthesis trainers.

SOS Loopmasters Pack:
All SOS students receive 2 gigabytes of samples from the award-winning Loopmasters collection.

Educational Discounts:
As an SOS student, you will be eligible for student discounts from Ableton, Output, Fabfilter, Rob Papen, Plugin Boutique and more. Information on educational discounts will be sent to you via email upon enrolment.

Learning methods:
Each session commences with a group demonstration and discussion, followed by solo work on one of our eight Mac workstations where you will practise set themes and techniques derived from real-world applications of the technology. Upon demonstrating your command of the necessary skills you will be further encouraged to add originality to your recreations and save various versions of your work.

Additional resources and materials:
All hardware and software is supplied, though we recommend students bring a storage device (eg. a portable USB drive) to save and back up all work, and a pen and paper to take notes. We also recommend students own a PC or MAC. Students can bring their own laptops to class so the tutor can assist with setting up software like Rekordbox.

Assessment and feedback:
You will save successive work and will receive regular support, encouragement and feedback from your tutor. All students will receive a t-shirt, sticker and completion certificate upon the successful completion of the course. At the conclusion of the course, you will be invited to leave feedback and evaluate your experience, at which point we’ll email you a link to a suite of exclusive sounds and various discount offers from the School and its partners to say ‘thanks’!