Worse Laptop, Better Beats (Or Why Limitations Are Good)

[@pawewronowski4222]

3:24 I think it comes down to this: You cannot think outside the box If you can't see the box.

[@jonmakesbeats]

Bars

[@BevAudio]

You have to be outside of the box to see the box. And if youre outside of the box you dont have to THINK outside of the box. You just know.

[@VyezN-ar]

mouse dragging 16th notes off beat in a piano roll on a 13" screen is a hidden art

[@thesadist7740]

You sir, are the Bob Ross of production, and I am 100% here for it, and this has helped remind me of why I love tinkering rather than mousing. Cheers

[@M4ST_]

I'll just lay some happy lil beats over here...

[@thesadist7740]

@@M4ST_ ....happy little accidents anyone?

[@schnoodlevideo]

"A bad workman blames his tools"! I cut this on a Palm Pilot! thanks for watching everyone!

[@theroyalcrane]

Palm Pilot. I haven't heard if them in years.

[@buckbreaker5185]

A bad workman pays 500% markup for crappy tools, like Apple

[@NicolasGodon]

I'm a 20 years digital artist, freelancer and design teacher. I'm somehow blown away that while talking about sound design, music production, you manage to explain such a counterintuitive concept as "limitation being actually good for creation". More than good, it's needed, but it's really hard to explain it to people that didn't experience it first hand. Congrats, keep up the great content !

[@bemci1975]

Bro.... I've been feeling less motivated these past few months...and I was reminiscing back to 2019 on my potato pc days... my work rate and productivity were off the charts

[@CanadianReset]

Oh boy this really speaks to me. I'm a professional game developer and I gotta do what I gotta do but for personal projects I found that the more gear/power I got the shittier job I did on my personal stuff. I guess I'm one of those types that can only work in a constrained environment. For my home computer I use a potato bucket from like 15 years ago and I feel more creative than ever. Similar story I had a standard midlife crisis and bought a crapload of synths. I hate my wall of synths. I feel like the quality of my work dipped like crazy since I had so many options. I picked the 2 I love (standard keyboard synth and a sequencer) and am trying to sell the rest. The concept of "having the power to do whatever you want" causes me to get paralysis. Sorry for the talking about myself ramble, this video just happens to speak to me a lot. super cool channel!

[@sebp400]

well, I've been doing graphics(openGL shaders) on a crappy laptop with an integrated graphics card and that has a i3 cpu and it sucks. I can't even run most shaders on Shadertoy.. so, limitations don't make you more creative all the time.

[@CanadianReset]

​@@sebp400 I also do graphics programming as a hobby on a 12+ year old computer and can't run modern graphics api's as well so I can empathize to some degree. That said there's still a lot I can do with the only the older api's though and I've had fun working withing those constraints. If you are into graphics look into the demo scene. A lot of fun can be done without involving the GPU. Sometimes I prefer it because you don't have to worry so much about the direct pipeline and can read stuff back more easily etc. Another option is a raspberry pi can run OpenGL ES 3.1 which is more than enough for doing a lot with shaders.

[@Kaitain]

I make music on a 2010 Macbook, and it's stable a runs fine. I use Reason, which is extremely light in CPU, and even perform live with it sometimes.

[@rappersorbee]

This is very intuitive especially once you consider what "creativity" actually means. I think people often think of creativity as a synonym for being imaginative even tho thats not what it means, it usually relates to, l creative problem solving, so it makes sense that having those problems to solve, like hardware or source limitations for music in this case, would boost creativity, rather than having ultimate freedom and no points of reference or areas where you have to be creative with your decisions to make things work. Dope video as always!

[@kaelinellis]

That is exactly the laptop i am using right now. lol

[@jonmakesbeats]

And you’re making better beats. I rest my case!

[@willybobo8846]

a vid of you're mixing/mastering process would be cool...

[@keithprice1950]

My dual core Ryzen and 6gb of RAM shed a tear hearing this. My process? Freeze and flatten, freeze and flatten.

[@crispy_vinyl]

Same for me. Freeze and flatten is out there saving lives 😂

[@jonmakesbeats]

Freezing and resampling is secretly the greatest way to stumble on great ideas

[@ropeburn6684]

Every 2000s kid hearing you: Your whines aren't impressive. Up your game.

[@JethroDAvis024]

Consolidating tracks for the last 3 years. ❤

[@officialbestkeptsecret]

I have a Mac Studio and STILL freeze and flatten 😂 It’s part of my process, helps me commit.

[@bartektrame8801]

creativity from friction. rubbing shit together till its 🔥🔥

[@au5music]

I made a bunch of songs on a 11 inch Macbook Air from 2014 with minimum specs, Live stock devices, and Serum. Best workflow and innovation I've ever had.

[@a11pu1poj]

good shit as always jon. I often think of how the white stripes use to have a rule that they would never use more than 4 tracks for a song. This might be a false memory and not true lmao but i often use this idea to impose limitations on myself when writing songs and it helps "clear the path" towards a final song.

[@jonmakesbeats]

I have a 4 track recorder too and love working within the confines of that as well

[@peoplelikefrank]

The M1 base model MacBook Air is a bargain and has enough power for 90% of the home studios. And it’s quiet 🤫😃

[@charlesedison1310]

Agree. Just run as much as possible off of an external HD

[@DavidC45]

RJD2 says the same thing about the 2000xl. Limitations are SO helpful to the creative process.

[@djofortunato5799]

I’ve learned more about the economics of production using only ableton Lite ( limiting my vsts, sample size & immed cutting up long takes into smaller audio or midi clips ) on my 2nd hand 2012 8 gig MacBook Air in a very short time than just about anyone I know with a more powerful processor & seemingly no limits. I appreciate this - as it also did create the appetite for something just powerful enough to run cpu heavy sample libraries & vsts like konract or analog lab.

[@b00ts4ndc4ts]

I started of lite 4 mate on a computer that was no better than a calculator watch. My best music (imo) was always made up of 4 or 5 tracks.

[@Stickadonkonit]

I've still got my 2003 Macbook titanium 1ghz ram & 1ghz processor, still works to this day 😊

[@eliasmeza2484]

Your videos just keep getting better. HE DOES NOT MISS

[@dustyaudio]

Great message. I’m on 11 Intro w/ a 2012 MacBook Pro. Still works.

[@antonlazarenko]

This is exactly why I always wear a bit smaller shoes.

[@jonmakesbeats]

Always a good thing

[@milocero]

I’ve been rocking the base model m1 and it’s been solid for my production

[@leobonnes921]

m1 base air was my first real laptop for music production - and that's the laptop I've really grew as a producer with today I switched to custom m1 pro with a limited au plugins setup as my m1 air taught me exactly the thing you are talking about - creativity and style comes from limitations nice video

[@whiiite808]

I will forever swear by Addictive Drums, I'm not 100% sure, but I'm almost certain this is what Hudmo used for some of that crazy "live" sounding drum programming from Hudsons Heeters and Butter. Absolutely lethal in the right hands. Awesome video as always dude!!!

[@jonmakesbeats]

When did the first AD launch?

[@whiiite808]

@@jonmakesbeats I cant find any press release material for it, but I found a Sound On Sound review for AD1 in July 2007, so maybe too late for Heeters, but definitely in the right timeframe for Butter.

[@sampull]

Been blending AD with trap drums for years now, definitely brings a human feel to my drum processing and being a drummer for 15 years this AD program is amazing, it emulates hi-hats like open to close quickly so well I can practically fool anybody with it

[@RattleCanCollective]

I can definitely feel this. I own multiple pieces of gear including an MPC X SE. I still find myself using my MPC 2000 XL when I have beat block because it seems to bring out more creativity due to its limits. It really helps.

[@notronblanco]

The idea of hardware leading to more possibilities being a red herring is so spot on! Also, the bassline in this one is hard af. Lil Ableton tip: if you reduce the lookahead on the limiter to 1.5ms it'll half the latency

[@dbts704]

Man I’ve been consuming so much of your hardware centric videos this was awesome to see as I just bought a MBP for making music on the go. Keep it up (the videos, you’ve got the music on lock). Shits dope.

[@asobas]

Great video Joseph 🥁

[@northkaskazini721]

I realized the funky force was is blood at 14:28 Man took it there. 🔥

[@brianrainsfordmarshall2692]

Efficiency puzzle is a genius analogy. This is great info for beginners and even pros, there's so much misinformation about what specs you need to make music. I find that when beginners ask on forums what setup they should get, people answer with what THEY would want in an ideal situation, but everybody isn't coming from the same situation or has the same needs. I started out with a super low tier Acer laptop and while the fans went absolutely crazy under even the lightest of loads, it lasted me a good 3 - 4 years of making music. I would have done some criminal shit for a laptop as capable as this Macbook Air back then. The limitations are still there, but they're right in that sweet spot where most people won't be constantly hitting the wall of what the computer is capable of. I upgraded to an M3 Macbook Pro with 36gb of RAM a couple months ago, but I still have a fairly low spec PC which I still often use for making tunes. I love both of them, they just have different purposes, both are very capable machines.

[@BlxntedBandit]

Im on a mid 2012 mac book pro uograded the ram to 16gb & soon 1TB ssd hard drive no issues at all i make beats and use final cut pro alot

[@oledirtyvangogh6591]

This is exactly why I took to the sp 303 off the rip. While that thing is literally a box of limitations. It simplifies the entire workflow into a very streamlined process. Sick frickin song man. I love your vids and music. Been feelin mad inspired lately ❤️

[@TheMattmatic]

Great video. I've been producing on a M1 Macbook Air since the model came out - a big draw for me was that there's no fan, unlike old laptops that would sound like a jet engine when they were strained. It puts some limitations on my workflow, like you said, software instruments or plugins that drain a lot of CPU/RAM is a no no. I like making beats in cafes though, so the portability is a big thing for me.

[@Beatsbythor]

The m1’s are crazy!! I started making Music on my base 8gb 3 years ago, and it still rocks! Tho im Way more productive with my 404, Keep up The good work! Love your Channel and Music, you are such a inspiration

[@jonmakesbeats]

Hell yeah keep rocking it

[@rottingsunrecords666]

I’ve been using the same base model m1 as my main recording computer for a couple years and i love it.

[@twanli]

i had been holding off on installing ableton n fl studio on my laptop with 8gb ram due to just having a crazy fast desktop setup i can always go to. but lately i've been thinking about making music in places other than my room and was put off from using my current laptop due to the low ram, but I decided to just make the move and install fl (a daw i've wanted to learn for a while), ableton, and copy my sample library from the main setup. has me excited on the same level as when i first started making beats. seeing this video only has me more excited haha. thanks for the great vids

[@jim_beau]

Got an SP for Xmas and became addicted to it for like a month because I was having so much fun learning the process vs. making beats on logic which was becoming v samey and uninspiring. However, I've got back into logic this month and I'm having even more fun switching between laptop and SP (which is v easy due to the SD card) and basically using the SP for sketching out ideas / adding FX and then using logic for the stuff that I struggle to do on the SP. I think limitations are necessary for the creative process but sometimes a laptop is better for creating the exact sound you want. (I especially love doing synth sound design in logic, exporting and adding FX on the SP and then using that as a sample / basis of my beat)

[@2yoosooh]

The title of the video is (for me) 100% true. I bought a new laptop in 2020, i was able to do everything and a bit more. Even more than i ever wished for. After 6 months i was completely uninspired. The craziest writersblock i ever had. Then i started making beats on the MPC 2500, and now on the Rossum SP-1200 with only 20 sec of samplingtime, and i feel more inspired than ever! Limitations will really get the most out of you. At least, this is what works for me.

[@em8969]

I thought it was just me!!!! I have an M Chip Apple computer but I can Never produce on it. I bought a 2015 MacBook and it’s giving me nostalgia and giving me inspiration as I am so limited compared to the new computer, it forces me to think! Thank you for this brother

[@4tado]

Someone make a joke about Madlib and the iPad

[@djofortunato5799]

Madlib produced more bangers n a throwaway guitar efx sampler with less memory than your old tamagachi Than anyone has with 24 years of iPads lol

[@SentaAerger]

@@djofortunato5799 i think this comment was about madlib claiming he did the freddie gibbs shit on an ipad.

[@milk_bath]

@@djofortunato57991. You completely misunderstood the point of that comment. 2. iPads have not been out for 24 years. 3. Simmer down.

[@discowolf25]

@@djofortunato5799 wow you really didn’t catch that? You new here. Know what a floppy disc is? Ever heard of Fabfilter?? What about Bandana??? 💀💀💀💀🤣

[@outthefryinpan]

i learned a lot with that rundown how to dial in on addictive drums, sick beat man

[@nickolasm1938]

I love your videos man. The way you break everything down so fundamentally is *chefs kiss*

[@gamonutz]

Geez Loise, Robby. This was a 🔥 beat that reminds us it aint the gear...its YOU. Thanks man.

I have the same model but with less storage (more limited I guess) and it never let me down. Yes from time to time I have to make space in my drive but we all do that so I can say that this machine is a workhorse

[@icykangaroo]

You know that M1 chip is soo good I really wonder if that Xeon chip in the iMac Pro really runs as many circles on it as you think. Good stuff though!

[@harrywatson6184]

You really killed it with this one 🔥

[@eltripps9684]

Although my computer is pretty powerful, I've found using stock plugins for basic tasks like eq, filtering, and send fx has allowed me to just create templates that allow me to work very fast.

[@sampull]

Great video!! This has been one of the most relatable videos I’ve seen in years, glad I haven’t let limitations stop me in my tracks You can do anything you want - big advice Jon thanks

[@ggsound4492]

Time and experience can take you anywhere; the means are not important. You do always something that i like and love, non only music but also your mood to approach it.

[@_boof]

M1 8gb ram GANG. Them stimulus checks came in clutch.

[@nathanjacobson4128]

This channel is amazing. I've been a musician my whole life, and dabbled with recording/producing off and on over the years. On the subject of working with what you've got, right now I have a pc I bought mainly for gaming but just recently got Reaper again and I'm building a sample library to work with. Thing is, I'm struggling to figure out how to (this is going to sound silly) get that "chopped sample" vibe in my beats. Like everything sounds sterile somehow, even with effects. Not sure exactly what I'm trying to get at here because I'm so new to this. Just trying to learn how to get the vibe I hear out onto the DAW.

[@MartenBunt]

Loving this! I easily lose my inspiration before i get to it on my computer/tablet..Because of this problem I bought a Remarkable 2 tablet...it can do almost nothing..(no youtube, mail, spotify, browser, no notifications..) so no distraction...so it keeps me to the task: Think and write and reading and keep the flow of being inspired or dig in my thoughts or reading something that I need to understand and remember. ...Loving and appreciating it more every day...it took a while for me to accept the price...I could by a new Ipad for it...which can do endless things..... The ipad...that's my amusement / it's okay to be distracted unit ;)...the Remarkable my inspiration / concentration preserver...."less is more" in reality.

[@cragland94]

i have the exact same laptop and started making a music again today. hell yeah

[@kenwho]

really appreciate all the intention explained here

[@BIGpony777]

wow i couldnt have put it better ive been in love with the analog workflow of recording directly to tape and whatever i recorded is what ive got- by taking away the daw ive made the best music in my life and done it 4x as fast as my digital stuff!!

[@Enelkay.]

This song you made is dope

[@ChunkySq]

As a piano player I am having an amazing experience playing keys on pads using the MPC one. The limitations allows creativity to shine through 🌞

[@ritofuturito]

Nice one! I'm using a 2010 Toshiba for my music and I haven't encountered any issues

[@LLAAPPSSEE]

I frequently try and tell anyone that asks me questions about production that limitations can be good. My set-up is pretty simple stuff. Good vid, good track. You don't need everything under the sun. Also, I love Glover64 and I've used Addictive Drums a whole lot.

[@AlecBoyd]

Always glad to see more content on here about real creativity. Just use what you got!

[@jaykay4288]

I build my own desktops, but I relate because between 2015 to 2022 I used the same laptop. It had Fl studio 10, Nexus 2, and a few free drumkits. That's it. I had to get really creative and turn knobs to find out who I am and what I wanted.

[@b00ts4ndc4ts]

Brother i hear you, i started out on Ableton live 4 on a really slow computer. Every decision was ' do i need to add this or can i do without it' Most of my best work were very simple. The best chefs only use a hand full of ingredients that compliment eachother.

[@mattbettinson4576]

So sick! in ableton its always recording so you can record the last midi you were playing by clicking that box with holes in it near record

[@christophschumacher640]

Thank you very much zen master - jon . There is so much wisdom you share with all of us . It‘s a real treasure 😌🙏❤️

[@tomaso0]

im loving 2024 jonmakesbeats

[@rundajulesproductions7735]

Nice bass line! Necessity is the mother of invention. Constraints keep you from experiencing agoraphobia. My laptop cost hundreds less than the one you got; even buying extra RAM for it! I made whole albums on computers from the early 2000's. People made whole albums, and videos, on Amigas and old Apple computers in the 90's. It's not a lack of tech holding us back (if you feel held back) it's more akin to when I try to watch something on Netflix and end up staring at all the choices of things to watch until I just turn it off. A good alternative approach to buying a new old thing is to constantly switch up what DAW, or gear, you use to make music. That way you don't get pigeonholed into one way of making beats and you still keep that mental attention bc you are learning with the ones you are not as expert with. The restraint, or limitation, in this case would be the boundary of your knowledge of that mileu. Having Herbie over your shoulder makes it easier to agree with your point, but it is actually one I have been exploring over the last couple of years myself!

[@SONWU]

Great work! Love the talk and the music :)

[@Old_Crookedhats]

Awesome message, actionable advice and fun / engaging editing. Awesome vid as always! Hella digging the insights and videos, thanks

[@daysaverproductions]

I’m really glad you made this video people get so hung up on gear especially newer producers who think you need x box for x sound. Not true at all. It truly is how you use what you have. I have a £600 laptop and a £40 soundcard and people say my music has never sounded better. More of this and more debunking type videos please

[@vraalten]

Great and inspiring message! All musical tools are just tools, being virtual or physical. In the end it is all about how you as a creator can create a creative flow with these tools. I have all the tools that I can dream of. In the end I have the most fun and creative flow with my IPad because of the direct interaction with the device and because I can transform the IPad into any instrument I want. And in the end the IPad is by far the cheapest music production tool ever with the the low priced apps. But as always, let’s play, experiment and create whatever we like. Keep up the great work!

[@AOblongApe]

I found recording vst midi tracks to audio after effects can reduce ram when running out too. dope beat as usual, thanks!

[@jonmakesbeats]

I need to try doing that when I run into this

[@ghost-user559]

@@jonmakesbeatsYeah there’s an older dude who does orchestral stuff on here, and he swears by bouncing everything in place to audio because audio requires next to no processing power or ram, so once you are cool with a track, bounce it out, and you can multiply the number of tracks infinity compared to having the machine processing and calculating midi info (which is a giant complex math equation per track). You can also freeze any tracks you are comfortable keeping. Combine the two and you can use anything you want in a track working with very little Ram.

[@wehackedbutter]

I had a $10,000 setup for about 7 years.. times got hard had to sell it... now I got a way smaller setup and I get way more work done on this little MacBook air, a mpc, and a mini midi board! And I didn't load it up with 1000 sound kits and vsts... just 3 vsts and a few important plugins.

[@ECOGtheMC]

More of this please Senior Wayne

[@TheLo31]

"Thinking of a master plan " - Rakim for the Scratches. ( In my head)

[@SeanRaine]

imagining you and mndsgn hanging out together is fuckin awesome. I can imagine y'all smoking it up and just vibing.

[@dangermouse22]

This was such a gem. I remember when I started on a 512 MB averetec laptop and a pirated copy of flstudio, and a mpd24. Most the beats were trash as I hit the limits but it was fun. I’m just restarting with the ep 33ko 2 but this definitely took me back

[@briancase6180]

Hey, really nice. I agree though I don't subscribe often enough: limitations are the roots of creativity. It's sorta forced. Imagine being back in the 80s and *creating* techno and EDM in general.... Thanks also for showing the app that gets phone recordings into the project so quickly. Very useful, I think.

[@NealCaen]

Great video as always, I’m sold on Addictive Drums.

[@drewfellows1977]

"I just care about my own creative efficiency". Damn man... this is my new life mantra. Perfect words.

[@Jus.freekhz]

Loving the longform content 💙

[@martheataca]

It's been a privilege to keep up with You Jon

[@fredgeley]

This is exactly what I needed to hear,I’ve stopped going through all the specs on a new MacBook Pro m3 ,trying to decide if I can afford £2000+.I’ll stick with my 2017 i5 MacBook until it dies.More fun committing things to audio and moving on.

[@PabloRodriguezwhyCharlieWhy]

Thanks for the inlightment words , we always think that more we get the better we going to be, when is not!!!..... that my psycological struggle!!

[@mestizodrb3013]

Jon you are awesome liked and subscribed you are really inspirational

[@GamingHisoka]

I used to own an msi laptop really powerful one, my music was not really get better mixing and production wise whenever it broke i had to use a pentium laptop with 4gb of ram and my production skyrocketed, i do hate the fact i have to export after using 1 plugin everytime but honestly the greater the limitations the more the ambition, whenever i had the freedom to use my creativity fully i was taking it for granted and i wasn't doing much, i will eventually get a better laptop but the lesson i learned will be permanent.

[@mr.dikkens]

i 100% agree on limitations being great for inspiration and creativity. But I don’t think Xeon processors, traditional ddr and ssd on the iMac Pro run laps around Apple silicon tbh, the m1 speed of the 8gb ram working seamlessly together with the ssd. I just traded in my iMac Pro 2018 for a M1 Pro, and its faster on most fronts, especially for music purposes. I did go from 3tb to 512gb and 32gb ddr to 16gb, but I’m not feeling I’m running in limitations rather feel like I can do more 😊 Anyway, dope beat as always and congrats on the new laptop

[@benhunter5896]

great vid mate, saturator has 2x oversampling on by default so it doesn't clip sadly, must disable it and save as default to work!

[@soejrd24978]

Heck yeah, this is the reason I want with a Syntakt + custom midi controller + some offboard gear instead of endless posibilities. Way more fun for me. And it's not forever, just for now.

[@cstarcrusher]

duuuude, glover is a sick game. childhood memories unlocked.

[@krazywabbit]

"this is the right answer for me" I really hope many take to heart the good advice you are sharing. We tend to look at everyone else's setup and question what, why, or who are you shilling for. Find what works for you are get to making more noise and less here in the comments. Good work sir.

[@raz_van__]

Jon, you rock dude!! 🫡

[@MamboGimbobili]

Ive been using Macbook Air computers for music production since 2014 because I dont have anything better. You can get so much out of these things

[@jonmakesbeats]

I think people really blow what’s necessary for music production out of proportion

[@leonardobalderas519]

i love these type of content keep it up!

[@ricklkkwok]

i think we all watch this channel is because of the coolness u can do on the octatrack vs other tubers with some gaming monster with a bajillion plugins just compressing and filtering out frequencies

[@jonmakesbeats]

I think both ways of working can be entertaining to watch. It’s just easier to form a clear narrative when there’s less going on.

[@rudolfsvilnis3832]

every time i watch your videos i get really inspired! thank you! :)

[@SeanRaine]

I feel this. I feel like thats why I have a higher music output using native instruments machine than I do with ableton

[@MrMarcLaflamme]

Jon Makes Bass...lines.... daaaamn.

[@agentofalienation]

I've been using an old netbook with an Intel Celeron N2806 and 4GB, booting to linux. It surprisingly runs Pure Data smoother than my much more powerful Windows machine, although CPU is a bottleneck. Been using it to make music and never had more fun working around these software and hardware limitations, feels like a puzzle every time. Also it makes me more conscious of each creative choice, like I won't be doing so much stuff just because.

[@djkickflip_amsterdam]

this is incredibly inspiring! Big ups Jon!