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Tips and tricks - Share your beatmaker secrets

jason7jason7
edited January 2009 in General
hi:

Lets start some discussion on tips and techniques you use in beatmaker. Things that are not in the manual or are not used much.

Here is one:

Fake delay:
Instead of applying a delay to a sample you can fake it with velocity. You play the note and then a beat later you add it again but you make the velocity half of it. Then one more and make it half again. With this you can add occasional delays in your song and you still have a clean sample to play melodies.

Comments

  • DigMeDigMe
    edited 3:19AM
    Cool. I'll have to play around with that. It would have to only be used on short samples though since it would retrigger a longer sample before it was finished playing... like if it was a vocal loop.
  • sorengosorengo
    edited 3:19AM
    One I am using a lot is to set velocity to zero in order to stop samples from playing.

    Sorengo
  • andjarnicandjarnic
    edited 3:19AM
    Explain how you do that sorengo. I am wondering..can you use a very long sample, and "mute" it in the middle of it playing?
  • JRKJRK
    edited 3:19AM
    "sorengo&quot wrote:
    One I am using a lot is to set velocity to zero in order to stop samples from playing.

    Sorengo


    Thanks for this tip!!!
  • atbsigmaatbsigma
    edited 3:19AM
    I'm pretty new to beatmaker, but have figured out how to use the kits that came with it. Will be downloading some of the user-created kits and BeatPack soon to make some of these projects better.

    One thing I found was that the sounds were influenced by the iPod EQ settings. As soon as I turned the iPod EQ off, I could hear the samples clearly. After that, I used an 'acoustic' EQ setting and the samples were still clear. So I have no idea what was going on when I first installed the program <!-- s:| --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_neutral.gif" alt=":|" title="Neutral" /><!-- s:| --> But if anyone else runs into the sample sounds not 'working', that may help.

    I owned a drum machine in the past, so it didn't take long to learn how to change pitches and velocity within patterns. One thing I do right now is create a few different patterns of one or two instruments - then mix and match within the song. With house music... you may want the '4-on-the-floor' beat in for 4 bars, out for the next 4, then in again, etc... all while other sounds continue playing. So I make the '4-on-the-floor' beat it's own pattern and put it in and out of the song where I want to. Same with the snare drums and other percussion.
  • ognistikognistik
    edited 3:19AM
    "sorengo&quot wrote:
    One I am using a lot is to set velocity to zero in order to stop samples from playing.

    Sorengo

    hmm... which velocity? stoping the samples sounds very useful, but I can't find velocity anywhere...
  • mrcrappypantsmrcrappypants
    edited 3:19AM
    iPod Eq eh? Interesting.
  • rarerare
    edited 3:19AM
    Pls help

    How can i clear a pad?

    I would like it to be a sample free pad

    Thanks a lot

    Rare
  • zeezee
    edited 3:19AM
    In the PADS window, select the pad you want to remove a sample from,
    click the "sample" icon on the left,
    Go down to the "EDIT WAVEFORM" button
    Grab the big yellow bracket on the very right side of the screen and drag it all the way over to the left where the other yellow bracket is.

    Now it won't play any sound.

    However, it would probably be more efficient if you just loaded a new kit from BeatPack and just left one of the pads empty. But either way works.



    EDIT: I just realized that I'm not sure what the point of having an empty pad is? Just don't play it if you don't want it.
  • zeezee
    edited 3:19AM
    "ognistik&quot wrote:
    "sorengo&quot wrote:
    One I am using a lot is to set velocity to zero in order to stop samples from playing.

    Sorengo

    hmm... which velocity? stoping the samples sounds very useful, but I can't find velocity anywhere...


    Go to your Sequencer view,
    click the pattern you want to change the velocity on,
    click the "VELOCITY" button at the bottom
    Find the note you want to stop and drag the bar where that note is all the way down.
  • rarerare
    edited 3:19AM
    "zee&quot wrote:


    EDIT: I just realized that I'm not sure what the point of having an empty pad is? Just don't play it if you don't want it.

    to dont hit it accidently, and i like things tight and clean so i dont want to take the volume down or other tricks

    just to be able to clear a pad thats all

    i think before 1.3 we were able to do that?

    thanks for reply anyway
  • zeezee
    edited 3:19AM
    If you try what I mentioned, the pad will not play anything at all. It's totally clean, and basically the same thing as clearing it. You're basically giving the waveform a length of 0 bits... in other words: nothing.
  • StexlerStexler
    edited 3:19AM
    An undo button would do! Intua, take note. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->
  • T-WillT-Will
    edited 3:19AM
    "zee&quot wrote:
    If you try what I mentioned, the pad will not play anything at all. It's totally clean, and basically the same thing as clearing it. You're basically giving the waveform a length of 0 bits... in other words: nothing.

    Could you just upload an "empty" sample then assign that to a pad?
  • zeezee
    edited 3:19AM
    Yeah, of course; you could use a .wav that is basically 0ms long and has no sound and use that. Alternatively, why not just make a kit with one or more pads left empty? I've never tested it, but I'm pretty sure BeatPack doesn't force you to use every single pad when exporting a kit. Am I wrong?
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