Hi all,
This post is about what prompted me to start making beats and I will take it back to some of my earliest memories of discovering new music growing up. To briefly put it; when I was younger, I would basically hear songs and have two different listening experiences:
First, I would hear the packaged song, complete with vocals and instruments cohesively working together to paint pictures.
Or, I'd flip a switch and only hear the instrumental.
It is almost like having a built-in audio interface, being able to switch my listening focus from one sound to the next. You probably know what I'm talking about if you listen to music. This process actually has a name, and it takes place inside the audio cortex near your ears. It's the same part of your brain that analyzes melodies and harmonies. I always sought out the most enjoyable beats over what was hot at the time.
This was before I knew anything about music production though. I just figured artists created songs entirely on their own... and some people I talk to nowadays STILL think it works this way. 🙄
One day I realized that there was an actual person behind the beats - the producer. Then, it made sense to me; the instrumentalist takes center stage, but there would be no story if it wasn’t for their instrument. The producer is the instrument of all music. They deserve more credit in my opinion. At that point, I was curious so I hopped on YouTube.
I found videos of Jay Z and Kanye in the studio, working on songs that I had heard before on the radio. Something about listening to beats before they became hit songs is what did it for me. Think of all the bangers you like and just remember that 9/10 times, the producer inspired the artist who then created the song. Nowadays, building around acapella has become a good way to collaborate with artists on new records, hence the 10% I left out.
Well, a little later I started watching the Genius “Deconstructed” YouTube series where producers walked through how they made popular beats. You also got to see that musicians and producers are just normal people, and I saw that it was possible for me to do it too if I just learned the steps.
In 2018, I bought a 2012 MacBook Pro for eighty dollars with a cracked version of Logic Pro X installed – this is the digital audio workshop (DAW) I use to produce music. My friends and I tried recording music on it for fun in the past, but I never really knew how to use it. The laptop didn’t run great but it still hyped me at the time. That was a fun first few weeks.
I opened Logic, dragged in a melody, and started sequencing some drums. I watched a few tutorials to get started and learned how to use the software to lay out basic beats. After an hour or so, I had my first beat;
I thought it was insane (it wasn’t). It was scrappy, but that's ultimately what led me to get started.
Fast forward to today - I'm still cooking. Whatever it is that inspires you to do something you enjoy, keep chasing that. For me, it just happened to be music. Once I got started, I was officially a part of it.
There's been ups and downs since that first beat. Lots of learning experiences, like almost getting scammed by some dude on IG trying to sell Omnisphere for $30 (got my money back, lol).
COVID sucked. I’ve been through college. Made a ton of beats. Onto better things.
I just recently switched my producer name as well. You can read about why I chose to change my name in my latest post here.
That’s all for now. Just some background on how I was introduced to music. Hope some can relate.✌️
If you’ve read this far, like this post and comment on what inspired you to get started!
Keep making music.
Cheers. V4 🪂
Next Post: Coming soon!
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