Reply To: Sounds Clashing and When to Adjust Volumes in Beats

Hey Alberto!  Thanks for watching my How to Make a Beat from Scratch Vol. 1! – I was so happy to finally put together a create a beat from beginning to end FL Studio course..

Maybe I make the sound selection stuff seem too easy, but you can tell when I explain about sound selection for beats that it comes from LOTS of experience, as most of my sounds generally fit because of training my ear over the years to think in terms of OCTAVES (low and high pitch), as well as the timbre of a sound (how aggressive or soft the sound is).

For others reading, my Sound Selection in Beats Course is meant to tackle a lot of this knowledge, explaining sound selection has a couple parts, like:

• Volume (how loud a sound is)
• How long a sound is (short / long can take up more/less space)
• How aggressive a sound is (how many frequencies a sound has… think sine wave vs square wave)
• And.. your melodies (the timing of your melodies is important to reduce clashing)

For the sound selection, it really just comes down to time and experience making beats.. it’s all about selecting sounds that are unique from each other BEFORE mixing, then the mixing just enhances clarity, etc.

Again, the Sound Selection in Beats Course teaches all these tricks!

 

For your next question about adjusting volumes before or after beatmaking, you can definitely adjust volumes any time you want!

But here’s what I try to explain to students..

When you make a beat and adjust volumes quickly as you go along, you’re creating a “balance of the song”.

In other words, if you have different instruments and your drum loop going, you’ve adjusted the volumes to sit in a sweet spot so nothing sounds out of place.

If you go to re-adjust the volumes drastically later on, you risk changing this balance you’ve made the beat to..

When it comes to mixing, I’d try to keep this balance as much as possible, but just try to enhance things be doing slight boosts/cuts (but this is a “perfect scenario”.. a perfect beat/mix..)

This is really true for the drum loop, as in my courses you’ll see I often have a lot of various percussion in my drum loop.  This is the balance I’m talking about, as I’ve made the drum loop.

But.. this is not to say I don’t boost things drastically, or add effects on to totally change up a sound.

This balance I’m talking about is just a really good starting point.. then you can start being creative from there!

I talk about this volume balance in this podcast episode.

I hope that answers your questions..

Sound selection is not easy in beatmaking.. so if I make it look easy, remember, it’s just from years of experience.. but listen very close to the words I say through that Sound Selection Course and How to Make Beats From Scratch Vol. 1, as I explain my exact mindset in regards to the sounds I’m picking to make the beat step-by-step!

Thank-you so much for your membership, and your engagement with questions.

Keep at it, and you will see the results you’re after!  Don’t give up!  🙂