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Ive been watching producer content on youtube for upwards of 6 years now and have decides only a few creators are genuinely worth watching. You are definitely on that list sir. Thank you for your service
"make sure to add some extra sauce on your beat if you want that bounce" killed me lmfaoooo cuz really good producers say this too. and im always like ugh be a bit specific.
Definitely among the top 5 producer/teachers I've come across for sure! I use Ableton personally but I still appreciate the heck out of Navie D - a lot of the tools and techniques he discusses can be easily applied to a variety of DAWs and workflows.
9th wonder started off in cool edit and Fruity loops. 9th transitioned to MPC 2500 and Maschine currently...the reason he was able to do that was because he understands how to make beats. When you are experienced you can use anything...at that point it's just a matter of finding the tools that work best for your workflow. These music tools all produce the same result...it all depends on the user ...and how they rock it. If anything...the FLs , Serato Studio...etc are designed to make your workflow more efficient. So you can talk Dilla without owning an MPC, because we know it wasn't the MPC that made the beats, but the brain behind it... (Lol and this was only a few seconds into your video...right when I saw that Dilla comment I had to say something...)
I did something similar. I started with FL studio then went to maschine and then started getting SP samplers, (sp303,sp808,sp505)… because FL gave me that basic training of how to make a Beat. All that other shit just took it to another level.
@@dasdabeatjunkie yeah it's what works for you...I was on Maschine for 6 years but I originally started off using software...some love that hands on feel of a MP an Maschine....I like both hands on an mouse clicking lol...that's y i mess with Serato Studio
It’s soo cool that your talking about psychology and the locus of control and how we should focus on skills instead of our gear or plugins instead also I think it’s important to focus on pushing your self to learn and experiment and gain a solid skill set before forcing your self to focus on output of beats also explaining the proper path of learning is something alot of us should understand I spent so much time trying to learn all these vague skills from RU-vid but couldn’t retain them to actually make it apart of my skill set this is why I find myself going back to your course time and time again because it’s these core principles that actually stick with me when making beats I’m much more interested in the why behind production decisions instead the how to’s another excellent vid navie senpai hahah
Thank you for this. It confirmed a lot of what my intuition was leaning toward thinking was the right approach and perspective on beat making. Keep doing what you do. You're a G at it 🙏
Madlib has been very open the last few years that he's been making beats on an iPad. I imagine he uses techniques he learned from Dilla. It all comes from within. The tools are just how you convert what's inside to something that is sharable outside. This video contains great advice.
Between some fundamental concepts and ideas, to the more intermediate breakdowns and techniques, there's been personal growth that's helped tons. The confidence established has created a work flow that's been coming in chapters, but a pace that's been helping with a myriad of styles and structures. From the outside, in - your time and effort is much appreciated. Thank you. 🤲
The added layer of psychology and easy to digest visuals combined with analogies make you stand out from other channels. Keep it up like this and you'll grow fo sho!!! Only thing I could add is invest in a better camera :) Awesome video and subscribed! Hope you make it big!
Another thing I often find people do is they believe more in a beat is better, if you don’t have more than 15 loops your beat’s gonna suck, which is baloney. Sure if made well you can make some super intricate beats but it’s often best (especially as a beginner) to go sweet and simple.
Def true. Especially if you want someone to rap over it. Many of what are considered the greatest beats of all time are extremely simple & often pretty repetitive.
@@Boggsy. Yeah man this is something we often forget as producers wanting to show off our composition skills. This 6 loops kinda thing is more suited for progressive rock or trip hop, even drum n bass. What you describe is particularly harmful specially for people who learned producing to rap over their own beats. Doing extremely complex things causes brain fatigue which will lead you unable to write lyrics or continue further. Most of the beats I've made that I can actually use (or other rappers) are made in less than a hour.
this video actually motivated me to stop what I was doing and make a beat to see what I really know about the fundamentals. I don't really post my beats much or anything like that but I make beats to satisfy myself - not as a job. With that said I always try to take as much control as I can, not because I want to impress someone else or to make money, but because I owe it to myself to make the best beats I can, to express myself how I want. Thanks for this.
This is crazy, I have been making music for over a year now and early on I believed so much of this stuff. Eventually, after continuous time and effort I realized that it was all non-sense, and now that I'm at peace, you posted this video to verify my thoughts. Thank you.
This video was it. A lot of new tutorial videos nowadays are just people advertising a new plugin. Then I was thinking I needed to the plug in. But this video helped with that issue.
i am a very amateur fl user, even though im using the software from a lot of years now, and I must say, your videos are the best at explaining things. I learnt a lot from your videos and im gratefull for it!
what a cool dude, but fr tho in all honesty i be doing 2/3 of the stuff you said not to do on this vid and im just glad that you have informed me and possible hundreds of other people of what they're doing particularly nonbeneficial for their creative endeavors and development
great video. i still have my SP-303 but have been using FL studio since Fruityloops 2.0. i was once told along time ago "its not the gear, its the ear". along with the video about how five producers put their d*ck in a beat before it gets to an artist being the reason why hip hop has basically been stagnating for years, im subscribing to your channel bro. i sincerely hope other people try new stuff and dont be scared to put it out there. if the worst that can happen is some one on the internet says your beats are wack then so what. my beats might not be commercially or economically viable but i do it for the love of it and have a regular job to fund my adventure. navie d is takin' back the streets!
This video is honestly so needed in the current culture. Honestly, most of it is just stuff I was taught during counselling. This was before I was interested in music making, and I was sent there for school since I was slacking on all of my classes. But I stayed with them because the point of the counselling sessions was about how to LEARN, and not how to do school. This video is just like that experience, cause the video isn't even about how to make beats, its about how to learn. This is a mindset you apply to learning ANY new skill. Heck, with the rubix cube example? Most of what we ACTUALLY spent counselling on was just my counsellor teaching me how to solve a rubix cube. Not through a step by step process, but with how to approach the scenario, what to look for, what patterns I want to create with it, how I can solve any rubix cube pattern. Cause he was showing me what to look for when you learn a new skill. Right now culture seems to facilitate the opposite mindset where tools, grinding without experimentation, and following shit through a step-by-step process are the ways to succeed. But no, you become better by experimenting and trying new things, seeing what works, and knowing what made them work. And sometimes people treat youtube tutorials like the "rules of art", like that one spongebob episode where squidward is teaching spongebob how to be an artist. Any form of self expression can't just be copied from 1 to 1.
You're right Navie..... especially speaking on your 1st advice. Whether you are using state of the art equipment and plugins or just a cheap laptop with GarageBand, it's ultimately your own creativity and perseverance to learn all aspects of the craft that makes you a better beat maker or producer, not the equipment.
You are 100 percent clear and honest on that tutorials loop hell point tutorials won't do you any good if you're only following steps and not experience the sound yourself after you learn some fundamentals, even if you're a youtuber whose main content is tutorials i respect that you at least care about viewers and telling the truth about how things are also "You gotta put the sauce on the beat" had me 😂 so accurate
I agree on the first and last one, I agree on the second as well, but with a little added to the answer, I say you should every now and then showcase your beats somewhere, don't upload daily but every now and then... The youtube tutorials really suck, I started learning by randomly fuckin around fl studio button and stuff, but when I started watching tutorials I didn't make any progress, and the beats were sounding repetitive, I was like using same pattern again and again... but a few channels really helped like yours.
the locus one is tricky. surely the inspiration and knowledge comes all from your personal experience and not from the gear you use, but there's just certain types of gear i don't wanna miss anymore. like bitwig's modulation system, compressors that visualize the gain reduction curve, EQs with big xy pads instead of knobs etc. and just like that an mpc can help with composing in a certain style. i wouldn't say it's required, but just reasonable. i also make different types of melodies when i compose with a keyboard instead of the piano roll, just because it inspires in a different way. so buying gear can make sense if you actually know what you wanna do with it and why it will help
Thanks to you i started to emulate other beats i wanted to make and made sure i understood why the producer of the song did what they did. Then i added my own twist to it. Now i am making my own melodies and drum patterns all in a matter of a 1 ½ month. Everything is one step at a time while being confident in failing. Didn’t really bother to buy plug-ins bc Logic has good ones. Thanks for you drum kit too !
@@NavieD DJ Shadow is my favorite, but you should also check out Flying Lotus, DJ Krush, Massive Attack, Theivery Corporation, Nightmares on Wax, RJD2, Blockhead, Emancipator
@@Koraxus there is a gentleman on youtube that breaks down how portishead did some of their music that is pretty informative you may like, i am very interested in learning a lot more about this genre also. I love Navie D's explanations and reality with people. I think the third step he mentions here he should go into more detail (where is the best place to learn fundamentals for NONdrummers that are getting into Drum Machine Programming seems like the idea. For example, I am pretty sure tamborine and shakers cannot be programmed to sound human no matter what tricks so this usually gets dedicated to samples.)
@@PortervilleMusicSociety You may also like this producer from Glasgow: Lamplighter/7amp7ighter from High Focus records. He has a weird electronic based style (but still kinda trip hop) which I have tried to emulate.
This is exactly why I bought your course Navie. I was legit going in circles watching tutorial after tutorial and not really understanding the premise and fundamentals of production as you said. When ppl make tutorials you can only really take their word that they know what they’re talking about. The more tutorials you watch though the more you can weed out the ppl that actually know what they’re talking about and those who don’t. You on the other hand always give us such quality information and explain things so well, which is why I didn’t hesitate to buy your course
5:15 I gotta agree with him there because Ive seen so many YT shorts "teaching u how to make a so n so type beat" but literally all they do is show the different layers of a beat they've made💀 They dont explain or teach anything and to an inexperienced producer those vids make it look easy so when they try make a beat they get nowhere and have no idea why
I actually watch tutorials in a different way. I understood since i started beatmaking that you should not look for the sounds they use or what they do but why they do it and that will help to develop your intelligence when making beats intead of having only knowledge.
That first point is a major gem! I was told by an old timer years ago: skill will always win over technology. I've seen plenty of people with loads of expensive things many dream of, and they make caca😒😂😂😂
Wow this is all true. I seen some post 7 or 8 beats a day. I be like thats to much. Are they learning anything or just posting to be posting. Great share 👍
I make beats on my mobile phone using Bandlab as DAW and i am more relying on my skills than my tools. Tools are important but the result depends more on my musical skills. And I'm still learning and honing my craft.
You my man, started first on that app 2,5 years ago and fire comes out, my mind say buy an mpc, word thinked about it and do, so whassup and dont need something else, only my mpc and my headphones! Plus people buy and buy plugins over plugins, use your ear thats all u need, hear good music u like and create some new magic out the also good music Sometimes I still use bandlab to build or master a beat, because its great And you have it right in your pocket, doesn't really take much, of course tact and creativity, A lot of people make science out of it😂👌🏽 And now bangin out some bangers
@@thisisbrookzyall thanks for the affirmation my man. Yeah I bought an AKAI MPK mini to bring my beat-making path to another level. Someday I will have my MPC too. I am just a newbie in beat-making tho. Bless you man. 🙏🔥 Love from the Philippines.
For the point number 1, there’s a bunch of options in DAWs nowadays to achieve what you are looking for. I’m a Reason user and within the DAW, the regroove mixer is giving you the option the recreate the classic MPC swing, there’s even a folder of all the MPC-60 swingset. That’s why I moved on from my MPC in the early 2000s, even back then, daws were more advanced than the hardware and you could achieve so much more in your production. So many times people thought I made a beat on my mpc while I made it in Reason, just because of how a MPC should sound compared to a software
I think the key is that you have to know whatever system you are using well enough that the program or hardware gets out of the way and lets you just flow with your creativity. This is the same with any creative endeavor. Once you know one system then you will always have a handle on the next upgrade model or program update pretty seamlessly where you simply have to learn how the new functions it adds works and incorporate that into your workflow. I used Reason and found it fairly intuitive but I struggle with MPCs, it is all because of the differences in workflow and not knowing the instrument.
Nobody who actually makes beats thinks you need an MPC to make beats. But with that said, if somebody created a sampler plugin that worked like the MPC 4K's OS and had the same workflow as that machine, I'd snap it up in a heartbeat.
Most RU-vid tutorials are made by a bunch of "producers" who just really want to flex their Young Thug type beat making skills. Very few people on YT actually help actual producers.
It has lots of things that seem very specifically geared towards hip hop. Its built in plugins are very good and friendlier looking than those in ableton. Some alternate hi-hat filling options are also interesting. I use ableton since it's the one I know the most but since I found this channel I'm willing to use fl.
@@Koraxus I can agree with you, that's also the point that drove me towards FL, when I dealt more with Ableton, I used it for trance and dance music. For hip hop/trap/drill, I prefer to use Fl.
@@sigmah1312 I am still kinda hesitant to just dl fruity because I'm so used to ableton's workflow. But I know once I nail it down the minor inconvenience will be worth it. The randomized hat patterns FL allows you to do, along with swing control (which is far less practical in ableton) helps me get a drum start easier, which is often what I struggle the most to do. eq's are easier to use as well, and pianoroll generally appears to be better than ableton's sampler. I think all in all the best advantage is that I could produce good beats quicker. Lately I feel ableton just takes too much little unnecessary time which becomes cumulative at the end. This in turn causes a faster burnout.
@@Koraxus you are making mistake #1 from this video. Ableton is good as hell and for every frustration you may have, somebody probably made a max4live device that solves your problem, just gotta know how to google it.
@@Koraxus That's no problem, you can download the demo version for free and try it first, if you like it, take it. I just have to tell you honestly that it is already a small change but all in all profitable. There are clearly advantages and disadvantages with both DAW's, e.g. adjusting return watches and sample speed or live recordings are easier in Ableton, but editing samples in the actual sense, access to actual effects and workflow, for example, are easier in Fl (I think).... Nevertheless, it is still your decision what is suitable for you.
Peace ur content is great Mr. D I HAVE A MPC LIVE and a MPC STUDIO 2, FL 21, PROTOOLS and STUDIO ONE 5 that don't mine 💩like 808's tuned and in key. Ur melody sound great but the drums r not sounding or placed properly or tuned to ur liking. I'm a beginner but have a gd ear for music if it do not fit and the sound is off it's not the DAW or wt EQUIPMENT u have it's all about fixing and figuring it out. Peace....
Would you be able to show how to make a BROCKHAMPTON type beat? I know those videos don't really teach people, but I have an idea. Make a beat that you come up with based on the sound, and breakdown why you used certain things. Show how different things can contribute to making a beat like theirs. (Doesn't need to be BROCKHAMPTON, I just think they have a unique sound)
Or are successful people more likely to attribute more of their success to themselves, whereas unsuccessful people feel that they are in their situation despite their efforts?
I am guilty of posting every day only because of RU-vid's scheduling feature. Also, I am not worried about ridicule or pleasing others. Ya, I have slow growth (4 years in and only 1.8k subs), but growth nonetheless. I guess having a job outside of this and not having to stress by pleasing others helps me produce whatever I like, which in turn builds fans that truly appreciate me for who I am as a creator. 🔥fellow/producer and subscriber here 🙌🏽 peace from Japan 🍣
NavieD.... I've had my windows Hp laptop.. Super cheap 279.00... I've been using this 2 years.. I'm pretty sure it wasn't made to make music... Also for head phones I've been using Hesh Evo skull candy's... For speakers I've used JBL Flip 5. I practiced with Reason 10.2.2 trial For a bit... Then got FL Studio trail mode as well.. Then I got the fire edition cause the controller.... It completely flipped my learning experience and didn't help me at all.. I've been saving... If you could get a new setup How should I go about it.. I want the full FL I don't want the beat of things I just want to do this right.. 🔥🤘🥀
I personally think I have my locus controls on both external and internal. I think my beats are bad/amateur because 1) I don't use high-end plugins and 2) I'm still a beginner + I get beat/producer block a lot
I think many experienced producers will say that getting high end plugins won't help. Your beats will still sound bad/amateur, just in a different way. At least that was my experience.
@@Xenowave a plugin made for a specific purpose usually that cost more than a more generalized plugin usually like if you bought a plugin like Omnisphere you’d think because it has a bunch of sounds and options it would help you make better beats but as you increase your understanding of production you start to use less variety of expensive plugins and use the ones that accomplish a specific task like a good eq for example you can use your stock eq or you could buy a more expensive 3rd party one
@@AaronZuniga617 Yep, which is why I feel like just understanding what the general tools are and how to use them will always take folks to the next level
@@Xenowave I strongly agree I spent a bunch of money plugins but as I slowly get better I learned this I wish I could explain this to newer producers one of my main focus’s rn is going back and learning and mastering the basics
That why I fucked with that classic dj mustard sound, those bass stabs where the shizzle. Check out enrgy beats from Michigan, very unique sound imo, leans into distorted textures in a similar way to Ronny j, tho a little tamer haha
I think the understanding behind dilla mpc talk was banter or an open ended statement. I get it, what the person was probably saying is that the way dilla used the mpc was unique to what other producers did at the time. And if you don’t understand the pioneering that dilla made with the mpc, don’t come after him. But the question is come after what about him? I don’t think it was about you need this to be better. But I do think the locus of control statement is needed with many producers. Countless people retain the same ways hoping that the external will pick them up when it’s them that needs to work harder!
lol Dilla used multiple samplers and synths depending what was available at the time. MPC is most known but Dilla didn't start with an MPC. Do like Dilla actually did: use whatever available and within your reach
I think the worst idea people have these days is that they want to post there beats everywhere online and just let people use them.... In my opinion, there is no better way than to make friends and just work with people.
@@Koraxus yeah, but then they miss out on all sorts of opportunities because when people want beats, or want to do collabs, its "what will you pay me?". On of my friends just missed out on being involved in a project with 30+ artists cuz he asked how much he would get paid. Legit would have been like 30 minutes of work and he missed out on all that exposure and all those connections cuz he wanted like 20 bucks.
Yea whenever I’m making something, I feel bored if I’m not talking to someone or having them listen to it. Part of the fun is doing it with friends so you can get lots or perspectives and ideas.
I had an MPC one after producing on FL studio for years and I hated the MPC. I could sample better and faster on FL Studio. The quality of the vsts on the MPC was garbage. Why do I want to push a thousand buttons to do something a few mouse clicks can do for me and I can produce magic much quicker making it 10 beats in not time.
I own a 4K and I'm going to have to disagree. The only advantage of the 4K (or any MPC really) is just how it changes your workflow so you come up with different ideas.
