Whatup family. I'm new to the site, so this is my first post. I have been rapping for numerous years and have decided that I am tired of using other's beats, so I went out and bought FL9.0. NOW. lol. Being the intellectual  that I am, I was expecting this shyt to be a breeeeze. OK. Not so smart after all. I know there is information everywhere on the net, and I have been reading into alot of it. But other than, "be persistent" and "be patient" and "you have to put work in to get it," where is a good starting point? I know I have the capability to do this, but everything seems in code in the program, and I know, it will just take some getting used to. But simple things like just getting a note to stretch out longer i cannot figure out, even after messin with the channel settings and all. And I have no clue how to sync my microphone into the programs mixer. I realize that there is waaayyy too much to explain to me, but I figured here would be a good place to get some advice on just where to start?
Thanks
TaP

Well , heres my advice to you

watch each and every single of NFX's tutorials, then come back here and ill be happy to answer any questions you have left =]

The best thing would be to watch his tutorials... you will just pick up little ish here and theres like "oh thats how i stretch out a note in the piano roll" or "ok so you can copy and paste channels..." just watch the tutorials... then you will be addicted to making your beats better and better... then youll be asking "how do i make a good melody... or how do i variate my tracks..." after that its all up to how much time your gonna put into it...

you have a lot of work ahead of you NFX has Tutorials on this site and on youtube you will find some useful tips be prepared to fall asleep watching vids and also getcha popcorn ready

I'm gonna get slammed here but if I had to say the biggest mistake I see new musicians make is that they try to learn it all at one time. If I HAD to put learning to make beats in order (once again, I know I'm gonna get a lot of crap for this but...)

1. Learn to program drum patterns. If you look at the patterns in the remakes sections you will notice some patterns like the Kick drum being on the first beat and the snare drum being every fifth step (second and foruth beats). Then you can experiment and try to come up with your own variations or try to fill in the steps so they match one of your favorite songs... Drum beats cannot be copywrited so stealing blatently here is completely legal. I'm only talking about drums here. I'm not talking about advanced fills here just basic beats that nod your head "lunchpail" beats.   There is a book that talks about drum programming, it's ten bucks and was really helpful to me when I started

Drum Programming: A Complete Guide to Program and Think Like a Drummer

I might start there if you get really overwhelmed.  It ain't hip hop but the basics of how to program in a step sequencer with diagrams that basically match up with FLStudio.

2. Learn to Match up your bass to your Kick drum and take out notes (at first, later you can add a couple to make it more interesting - sometimes the bass is busy sometimes the Kick drum but almost never both). There are a lot of songs with one note basslines however you can also go to websites that have chordpro versions of songs and change the notes to the roots of the chords (if you don't understand anything I'm saying here NFX has videos on each of the topics I'm covering.) Chord progressions also cannot be copywritten so the order that you change bass notes is fair game for theft (legally) too. Change notes every two, four, or eight beats... whatever sounds good to you.

3. Take the notes you used for the bass and play them out of order a little until you learn scales and stuff you can probably invent some good melodies that way... don't copy melodies from songs if you plan on selling them... that will get you in trouble it is not legal. Copying melodies (and everything else is good practice though).

4. Use the chords you got from the chordpro songs (gutiar tab etc.) and put them in the piano roll matching the rhythm of the bass, snare or high hat or follow the rythym of one of your favorite songs. Now you gotta be careful here if you follow the same rhthym with the same chords sometimes the top note of each chord makes a melody so it's best not to copy the chords and rhythm from the same tune from a legal stand point just to avoid copywrite issues.   If you had to buy only one book I've recomended it would be:

How To Write Songs On Guitar - Revised

DO NOT get the one the same guy wrote about piano, even if you only play keyboard if you don't know how chord progressions work at all and you are overwhelmed get this book and save yourself years of frustration.  HE HAS A LIST OF ALL THE COMMON CHORD PROGRESSIONS used in Rock, Hip Hop ect... in the key of C so you can mix and match them, change the keys etc...  Everything you wanted to know about chord progressions but were afriad to ask.

5. Start learning more advanced techniques starting from 1 to 4 and repeat over and over....

Now your probably gonna want a good all around vst to start with that has good presets I would recommend downloading the Kore 2, Kontakt 3, UVI Workstation, Proteus VX and Sampletank free demos cause they have pretty good sounds and that way you can get an idea of which way you want to go as far as the least expensive quality VSTs before you get into the Ministry of Rock and all that type of stuff that doesn't have a free version. That way you can see the logic of the system, check out the sounds before you commit hard earned cash and you can copy the presets in other FL synths and learn to program that way. I really like the N.I. stuff particularly Kore 2 because the preset system is so fast and easy to navigate compared to other softsynths. I'm more of a presets hound than a real synth programmer so take anything I say about synths with a grain of salt.   However if you want the basics of how to pick instruments that go together...

Principles of Orchestration

Best book on what notes should be played by what instrument and why in a simple easy to understand form (IMO).

I'm not saying that this is the only way to do it but that rhythm is easier than bass, bass is easier than melody, and although coming up with a good melody is the hardest thing (IMO) from a standpoint of the theory and harmony you need it's easier to construct (technically) than a good chord progression. I would just start basic with step 1 until you get bored and work your way through the cycle picking up what comes easy and when you get done something will be easy with drum beats cause you had a chance to let what you learned before "sink in" and then learning is always easy.

I've taught music for a long time and usually the reason some people get frustrated (usually the talented ones) is cause they can "hear" what they want it to sound like but they can't get the equipment or their fingers to do what is necessary.

In these cases you need to break it down to small bite sized pieces. Start out with a video in the tutorials that almost bores you to tears... it will contain some nugget you don't have (I still pick them up everytime I pick up a beggining guitar book I learn something). Then you will not be overwhelmed.

Sometimes you get stuck and you have to watch the same video over and over and over. Repetition is just part of learning and sometimes you know there is something there you need to learn but you haven't memorized something yet that will "unlock" the creative part of the lesson.

Sometimes you don't know what term to use to search for some knowledge, in that case just look through the forums here or http://www.theflipsideforum.com/index.php and look at questions that other people asked and that can give you a lot of ideas of what to "put in the google bar". Then you'll waste hours looking for how to program the Bass Lil' Jon uses like hacks like me.

-=Rate My Beat=-

Thanks for that post... I've just ordered all three books on your recommendation.

Here isan online version of Principles of Orchestration. I haven't read the book so i can't confirm if it the same as the book. http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=77

Yeah, that's the online version, not quite the same cause you got audio examples (very helpful) however it's missing some stuff, when I say it has everything you wanted to know about this I MEAN EVERYTHING this book will choke a horse. But if you want to look up what instruments go well with a french horn and then look up what register they should play in for what your trying for (complete with "in this register it's spooky, in this resister it's sinister" type suggestions), well that's why this interactive thing is based on it, and why the book has been around so long. But yeah, this that online version is a really cool condensed tutorial that is based on the same book. It has most of the meat and potatoes. Some of the vegatables are cool cause they are "healthy for you" though, if you get my drift.

Plus honestly, I have all three books next to my nightstand. They don't leave there unless I run and get em' when I'm making a beat.  They sit right there along with the Dance Music Manual,

The Dance Music Manual: Tools, Toys and Techniques

I forgot that one, synth programming, sorry about that. That book is "everything you wanted to know about synth programming but were afraid to ask... It is heavy though, careful, you can get lost in there. Do not try to learn everything in one pass or you'll be sitting in the corner rocking back and forth, the hip hop section is a little weak though. But effects, basic synth programming, explanations of different electronic music genres. Good ish, but only the strong survive, only the strong...  Argghh!!!

Hmm I might try and get my hands on the synth programming and the orchestration ones

NFX,

Put this long drawn out overkill of a post wherever you want, sorry about the length. Anything I write your free to edit and post however you want no doubt, I owe you big time, wouldn't be making beats at all without you, not even the unfinished ones I keep pumping out. If only there was a video tutorial on arranging (dropping out instruments, putting in breaks, verse chorus structure ect...) I would stop posting so much and start finishing beats. (cough, cough, ahem...)

-=Rate My Beat=-

Posted By Fisha on 07 Oct 2009 12:46 AM
Hmm I might try and get my hands on the synth programming and the orchestration ones

Oh oh....  I shoulda kept my mouth shut...

Check out the previews on Amazon, you will like.   Just look at the table of contents for the Dance Music Manual.  If I know you (musically) half as well as well as I think I do, you will pee yourself trying to get to your credit card...  There's more than synth programming in there, much more.  It's just reaaaaly complete in everything about synth programming, I wish we had used this book when I was in college, it's really to the point and just what you want.  The techno, trip-hop, ect sections are excellent. 

The first half of the book goes though all the synth theory from start to finish with detailed explanations of presets used in trance, house, ect...

If your wondering why I ask for your help with synth programming so much, let's just say when I ask for your help, sometimes it's cause I just got done "rocking back and forth staring off into space in the corner" and I want someone to tell me to "press this button, now press that button"... 

I still get overwhelmed sometimes, sometimes you bite off more than you can chew and you need someone to tell you "slow down, Rome wasn't built in a day".  I think we all feel overwhelmed sometimes.

-=Rate My Beat=-

Haha don't want me telling you just to look it up. Naa I don't mind but it sounds like a really good resourse. Of ocurse it's a barsted of a time getting hold of any of these things in Australia.

Excellent resources A.G.C.

Posted By GP Studio on 07 Oct 2009 04:51 AM
Excellent resources A.G.C.

Thank you sir,

I'm addicted to books, can't get enough... like most people are with gear I collect books.  I have bought quite a few over the years and my basic criteria for recomending a book is that there is something of interest in at least every other paragraph.  These ones, it's at least every other sentence. 

What's weird is that I haven't found the perfect reference for mixing yet, I got a bunch of stinkers (most of them got sold almost immediately) and some that are interesting in spots but I haven't found one that made the nightstand yet.  There's just so many on the market and most are written by hacks showing you where the mixer strips are in Logic or Cubase or something or someone who can't articulate what they are doing in words. If anybody knows of one, hit me up...