Drums or Melodies first? | Waiting for MPC 3!

Talking about the the workflow of starting with the drums or the melody first when I make beats. Will MPC 3 change your workflow?

[@trackfammusic2979]

Do you guys start with the Drums or sample/melody when you make beats? I wonder if the MPC 3 update will inspire us to try different approaches? Let me know what your process is and why you prefer that way.

[@mrdew9042]

For me it all depends on what I sample,. if I sample something that has drums in it, I'll build on drums already there., then I'll work out the melodies. Then there are the moments ill do a drum beat, find a sample, or come up with something on my keyboard.

[@trackfammusic2979]

@@mrdew9042 yeah, Same for me. But more often I go with sample/melody first.

[@GenocidePanda]

drums first ! nowadays i’ll make multi samples of my breaks for extra expression . then look for samples. look for instruments in samples like a piano or horns rather than straight loops or chops. and layer multiple samples together or multiple pieces from one sample, really trying to get all the mileage out of the samples. then last playing ear candy and of course bass v importantly

[@trackfammusic2979]

Dope! You mean you chop up the breaks and instrument loops into one-shots and play it differently than the original loop? When you do stuff like that, beat making and creative work in general becomes next level fun and fulfilling. Of course there is nothing wrong with matching a drums loop with a 4 bar instrument loop, but it can easily get boring, especially for people who only use pre made perfect 4 bar loops from splice etc.

[@user-cv1vt8rc7z]

Always the sample / melody first. Think I won't update to MPC3 atm as it's a whole new workflow. I'm fine with the current system.

[@trackfammusic2979]

@@user-cv1vt8rc7z ok cool. I usually start with sample/melody too but sometimes nice to switch up. I’m actually very exited to try 3.0.

[@cdot803]

Same man. Impatiently waiting. I always start with a sound or sample first. Maybe I should switch it up and try drums sometimes

[@trackfammusic2979]

Yeah, definitely try switching up your workflow and habits sometimes.. you may feel like it’s a waste of time and you’re not getting the result you want initially, but you may also find something that works even better for you.. I think it goes for anything in life.

[@theillsun]

I start with whatever melody or rhythym that comes to me first. If you write the same way all of the time, then all of your beats will sound the same.

[@trackfammusic2979]

Agree 100% you can’t be afraid of trying new things and feeling like you’re “wasting time” and making “wack beats”… ..its all part of the process of getting better, and advancing with anything in life.

[@88GURP]

Sample or melody then shape drums around that sound so it be cohesive

[@trackfammusic2979]

Usually my process too but for sample based hip hop it’s pretty nice to start with the drums

[@joefire4265]

Both

[@trackfammusic2979]

Yeah. Me too. Depending on what type of beat I’m making. And sometimes i just switch it up to see what I come up with. Id say 50/50 when I make sample beats, but if I playing the melody myself I usually do that and then drums.

[@rashadhaynes5690]

More so I start with drums first

[@trackfammusic2979]

Ok. I’m more of sample/melody first type of guy… but trying to switch it up sometimes and start with drums.. it really helps sometimes to already have some really solid drums before you start going through samples and sounds. I feel this approach works great with sample based hip hop and when your using drums breaks.

[@Funko69]

Always the drums first and then search for a samples to chop up and play over the drum. After that search for mire samples to put over the sample you have chopped, some horns or a sample with high pass filter on low volume you have in the background to give the beat some texture. And at last the bass

[@trackfammusic2979]

That’s dope. Like I said in the video, I usually start with a sample or chords/melody and then hear how I want to program the drums.. but for 90s hip hop I feel it’s great to start with the drums. Especially if you’re using drum breaks. What kind of beats do you make?

[@boomboombaby9140]

Why not play your own melodies instead of using something someone else did ?

[@trackfammusic2979]

@@boomboombaby9140 I do both. But sampling has been appreciated for a while lol. The video is about if you like starting with a melody or sample, or to start with the drums.

[@Funko69]

​@@trackfammusic2979 Im only working with samples and making gritty and crispy beats with influences from Madlib, Pete Rock, Damu the fudgemunk, Dj Shadow and Premier. Some times i work with breaks and some times i just work with one shoots. If you want to hear you can find me under the name Lord69 on Spotify, KZbin and Bandcamp

[@GenocidePanda]

@@boomboombaby9140who cares at the end of the day? chords are chords most times we sample for the texture although we could easily pull from libraries

[@mel7697]

Had do I tune the sample to fit the drums?

[@mel7697]

How do I tune the sample to fit the drums I usually warp my sample

[@trackfammusic2979]

I guess that’s a matter of preference what you think sound good. Some people like to tune the sample down to make it sound darker and slower, I usually try up and down and see what sounds right for the type of beat I’m in the mood to make.. and if it’s too fast or too slow you have to time stretch it to the bpm you want. The easiest way in the MPC is to “warp” your samples to stick to the bpm you want, but it can easily mess up the sound quality of the sample.

[@mel7697]

I use pitch down just two semitones or pitch it up to send tones so you talking about tuning using the tuning, right

[@trackfammusic2979]

@@mel7697 yeah exactly. Sometimes it can also be good to fine tune the samples or drums so they match because certain drums have “tones” and it sounds much better if they are atleast in the same “scale” and fine tuned… but I don’t think that’s what you were asking about right?

[@GatisKaulinsh]

Well yaah everyone makes beats but you know actually nothing of it is interesting. All those millions of sounds releasing each minute and all they same. There are also you won't listen like I have even few people I follow on soundcloud just because they are musicians but they make those noisy metal sounds with synths and screams. Or others do hiphop even with sampling other artists they still sound same. But what can I say as a beginner and I can agrere with you that it can change and sometimes you begin with beat sometimes with melody. The point there is if you have tallent you won't even care. Me - at this point I still can't understand what fits me best because as I said I am beginner. Otherwise really does not matter.