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Home/Season 2/S2E22 – The Secrets of 808s...

S2E22 – The Secrets of 808s as a Beatmaker

Updated: Jun 9, 2024

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Music Production Made Simple Podcast by GratuiTous

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

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:

Enable Volume Envelope in Channel Sampler for a Clean 808 Sound
If you increase the delay knob on your sampled 808, it allows your short-tailed drum to hit HARD, and then the 808 will come in. It’s like the “poor-man’s sidechain compression”.. but allows for tons of flexibility.

About Author: GratuiTous

GratuiTous manages his Beatmaker Training Platform, authors Beatmaking Books, and hosts the "Music Production Made Simple Podcast". Introduced to FL Studio by his good friend in 2009.. he began FL Studio tutorials in 2011, eventually leading to his 35+ Courses in the platform. Fun Fact: He was an electrician for 10 Years!

itsGratuiTous.com provides Beatmaking Education via FL Studio Courses, Music Production Books, Podcasts & Online Music Production Lessons!
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