Today you’ll learn how to make a drum loop in FL Studio 🙂
There’s 2 parts of making a beat.. that’s drum loops and melodies.
If both components don’t work well together, you will not end up with a catchy beat!
This drum loop tutorial reveals tons of drum programming tips!
If you’re ready to learn how to create loops in FL Studio with your drum samples, let’s get started!
Before You Begin Making a Drum Loop
PRO-TIP: Set your TEMPO first before making a drum loop!
In FL Studio, we build drum loops in the Channel rack (Step Sequencer).
The Channel Rack is what makes FL Studio so popular! We load sounds in, and once you get good, you can make custom drum loops in a matter of seconds!
How to Make a Drum Loop in FL Studio
As you can see from the image above, the Channel rack is blank with no sounds in it. This is how I personally like to start a drum loop, because you can add in your own drum samples, and each beat becomes unique sounding!
The EASIEST way I’ve found to make drum loops in FL Studio is:
Put your KICK on BEAT 1.. and CLAP on BEAT 2 and BEAT 4..
Once you set up a basic drum loop like this, it makes it REALLY easy to start adding in fullness, which is our next step 🙂.
Adding Fullness to a Drum Loop:
Once you set up a basic drum loop with KICK 1 on BEAT 1, and the CLAP on BEAT 2 and BEAT 4.. to add fullness, I like to “sprinkle” KICK 1 around the CLAP.
It’s VERY RARE the KICK and CLAP play at the same time (unless it’s dance music).. not to say it cannot sound good!
You will also notice I added KICK 2 into the pattern. If I were to play KICK 1 too many times, the drum loop would start to sound REALLY repetitive.. and we don’t want that for our listeners!
For example, KICK 1 plays 6 times in the image above! If I didn’t have KICK 2 to add another drum hit, KICK 1 would have played 8 times.. 🥱
Adding VARIATION to a Drum Loop
Now, there’s SO MANY WAYS to add variation to a drum loop. I’d highly recommending reading my SAFE SPOTS Book. (It’s all about creating drum loops in FL Studio.. it’s super in-depth!)
To add variation, we can do a whole bunch of things like..
- Add more sounds in
- Layer sounds
- Be creative on sound placement
- Note nudge to alter timing of sounds
- Make the pattern longer (the #1 tip for variation!)
- Use velocity so things don’t hit so consistent
- Use panning to give space and wideness
One thing I’d like you to try is to LAYER your sounds in your next drum loop. Not every sound needs to be layered, but if you layer certain sounds like a clap, you can really add tons of fullness and variation to your beat!
For example, in your VERSE, play a single CLAP, but in the CHORUS add a SNARE over top of the CLAP.. you will notice a HUGE IMPACT!
Conclusion.. Making a Drum Loop in FL Studio
There’s A LOT that goes into making a GOOD drum loop.
It all starts with knowing the genre you want to create.. which determines what tempo your song will be.. which then gets into SOUND PLACEMENT!
Now, the question you should be asking yourself is, do I start with a drum loop first, or the melodies first?
There’s so much drum loop training I have for you on my website, so view these links if you’d like me to teach you the in-depth secrets of creating powerful drum loops, no matter what genre you create 🙂
- SAFE SPOTS Book (Drum Loop Training)
- SAFE SPOTS Course (Clarifies the Book)
- SAFE SPOTS BUNDLE (Book + Course + Sounds for Best Learning!)
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