Hello everybody! Let’s get the TLDR out of the way: My goal is to make better beats. How would you go about it?
I’ve made my own songs for about 20 years but it’s mostly been in the domain of atmospheric acoustic music with absolutely no percussion. Although I’ve listened to all kinds of music all my life, I probably haven’t listened to electronic / rhythmic music as analytically as many other types of music.
Since getting more into electronic music in the past 18 months I’ve noticed what I’ve known all along - I often struggle with making beats.
What I need is practice. What I have is time and determination. Two years from now I want to look back and see how I’ve developed. What I’d like to create is stylistically something akin to Aphex Twin, although more simplistic because my songs have a strong melodic, sometimes cinematic quality to it. In general, I’d like to build a sense of being able to know what kind of beat works with a specific track. This, I know, will be a life-long lesson.
What I would gladly take is advice from you guys. How would you go about it - in terms of listening, reading, practising? The dos and donts of it all… What are your favourite machines for making beats and why? (I’ve got Octatrack, Machinedrum UW and Digitone, although I rarely use DN for percussion.)
Hope you’re all well and can find time and inspiration to make music.