S2E22 – The Secrets of 808s as a Beatmaker

It doesn’t matter what genre of beats you make, the 808 is one of the most powerful instruments as a beatmaker.

• READ: 808’s for Beginner’s FL Studio Tutorial

Now, the 808 is a VERY SPECIAL instrument because it’s like a hybrid between an kick drum and a bassline.

It has the initial HIT (like a short-tailed drum gives you from Urban Heat Drum Kit), but then it has a tail which is like your bassline! Because it has both the kick drum and bassline sound inside one sound, it allows us as producers to be VERY creative with an 808 and use it as a melody, while sounding VERY FULL in the low-end of the track.

Now, typically I don’t use an 808 and a bassline together just because it makes mixing tricky. You can do this, but you will just have to be creative in how you’re adjusting EQ when mixing 808’s and basslines.

Also, being wise in your sound selection when choosing kick drums will also make your mixing easier.

Finally, here’s a picture I will leave you where I was talking about using a short-tailed drum to hit you in the chest, then on the 808, in the Channel Sampler in FL Studio, under the “Envelope / instrument settings”, under “Volume”, you will want to enable the Envelope circle button:

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Listen to Other Episodes:

S3E9 – Harsh vs. Pleasing Speakers

S3E8 – Should You Use VST2 or VST3 Plugins

S3E7 – Music Producers Have Full Control

S3E6 – The Process of Music Production

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