Making Beats in Audacity with a Label Grid and Loops

**NOTE** there's no need to turn on the snap to make the grid snap to the click like I state in this video. This snap feature is for something else. So you can leave that as is. Continue reading for description.
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This is a video made by request of José on Facebook. He asked "Hey. I use audacity but I don't play drums or have anything to record drums. I wanted to record songs on audacity with midi drums but I don't know how. Can you make a video on that, please? Stay cool!" Since Audacity doesn't work with MIDI very well, I showed a work around by using a tempo track, label grid, and loops. Hopefully this will help Jose and others looking to make their own beats without drums in Audacity.
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[@Semitotal]

This is so wildly helpful and clearly explained I want to stand up and cheer. I've been trying to figure out the best way to sequence samples and self-recorded audio snippets in Audacity for a while now. This it is. Many thanks!

[@johnwsharpe4063]

This is excellent! Me and a couple of former band mates are doing some 'long distance' writing, and want to use Audacity to record our drum tracks. You helped us out a TON, thanks MUCH!

[@GrimmSmile23]

Dude you’re making all of this really simple. You’re cool, dig the nickname, and the fact I see you (may) like RA Wilson’s work I’m looking forward to the progress I can make with your advice, and any other future projects you may provide. Thanks a ton!

[@JeffreyHackReacts]

Thank you for the wonderful tips and lesson! I'm a filmmaker so this website you introduced me to just saved my life forever. I'm making a Christmas cover of Let It Snow and found a drum beat that sounded perfect for background percussion. Happy Holidays!

[@AlexanderWernerJr]

I was looking around for "drum machines" to create automatic beats, but I didn't think about using audacity like that before. Thanks very much, mate!

[@darwingnormanhernandez9619]

what are you using ?

[@karessacamillesuelan504]

Thanks! Finally found something to do with the dormant audacity program on my laptop. thumbs up! Enjoyed the tutorial!

[@TheQuietRiot]

So happy I came across your tutorials. Perfectly paced and incredibly helpful. Thanks so much for all the effort you put into these

[@demonicsweaters]

Thank you, glad they're helpful to you!

[@ukulelesojourner5976]

This is pretty cool. I watched this before and kinda shrugged it off as not needed but now that I've put up my own recordings I can see that this is going to be a big asset. Thanks for sharing.

[@geroffmilan3328]

Watched several of your videos, they're all excellent. Time to smash that sub button! Now I just need to figure out how to line up my guitar tracks...

[@RLDeMerritt]

Awesome Videos I've been spoiled by FL so much, you are showing me that this is how I used to have to produce in the mid 90's on keyboards and tape machines.

[@SkipRogersJr]

I'm sure you already know, but you are really putting out excellent content for those of us who want to make music in linux. Thank you so much!

[@demonicsweaters]

SkipRogersJr thank you! I'm sorry I haven't done as many lately, my day job is pretty intense these days. I'll try to do something soon though

[@TheBug1961]

Very thorough and well done. I feel like I've just had the ultimate Audacity class

[@demonicsweaters]

thank you!

[@ronnieo9571]

I am loving this channel.

[@RobertsonDMcI]

Good for you ... this made my day & you brought me into the field of sound.

[@prachand.not.prachanda]

Thank you so much Sir. This is what I was looking for. Educational and entertainment.

[@danielb.4461]

What is most impressive is that you are making the most out of freeware. Most would go straight to Abelton or Reason etc.. but you are using the basics - which actually forces the creator to be most creative - as there are limitations in Audacity.

[@vnmeast9360]

Nice video bro learned more then just creating beats even picked up some useful short cuts. Thanks

[@AAmoroso]

thanks for the video :) another approach is to generate a tiny bit of silence and then "Repeat" it a bunch of times to make a grid (because Audacity will snap to the start/end of any clip). then you can import/copy/paste samples to sequence a beat by snapping to the silent clips. if you want something BPM-friendly, generate a Rhythm Track with just one bar and one beat and then "Repeat" that 'tick' as many times as you want. That will create a grid with quarter notes according to the BPM you specified. i do that, duplicate the track, and shift the new track to mark the eighth notes. then you can do another track for sixteenths, etc :) pro gamer move: silence the Rhythm Track 'tick' to make for silent BPM action.

[@ely2833]

That was very helpful. I need to learn how to make radio jingles, so rhythm is important. :) Thanks !

[@MaridianGG]

Most helpful video I've found yet...

[@trevormason3825]

This was HUGELY helpful! Thank You!

[@trevormason3825]

Victoria Owunna it helped me a ton cause I couldn’t figure it out

[@kooksm48]

Thank you for the great video. You are just great. I am sure many have benefited from your videos.

[@princessnitishasahu2252]

Thank you so much 🥰, I'm learning, I'm new to this composing music thing. Good job 👍

[@demonicsweaters]

Happy to hear that!

[@travishanson166]

This was incredibly helpful. While I would have eventually figured it out, you saved me a large learning curve. I finally have a pc/audacity version combo that doesnt crash. So I'm finally able to compose something.

[@demonicsweaters]

Glad to help

[@MelikeYersiz]

This was exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!

[@tejalpatel8041]

This is genius!! Thank you for sharing this much needed knowledge!!

[@TerraRiley]

Thank you SO much! The world makes sense! Haha.. I'm not a producer- I'm a writer- but I've been having some fun with music lately. I'm using Audacity because it's free, since I'm just playing for now, and I'm definitely not up to understanding or knowing WTF I'm doing with DAW or Midi... Or pads.. or anything! But thanks for giving me an AWESOME base education! XOXO ♥️ TR

[@demonicsweaters]

You're welcome! I'm glad you found it helpful!

[@Tocy777isback0414]

OH WOW, THANK YOU! :O sorry for shouting but THANK YOU!

[@Daniel_Antonio_Arellano782]

You shouting in my ear.

[@Tocy777isback0414]

@@Daniel_Antonio_Arellano782 ok

[@Tocy777isback0414]

@@urshitsux no one asked you

[@robertsoverhere1]

Super fresh and dope video

[@kevinstuart5105]

No need to apologize! Great video. Super helpful. Thanks.

[@JemH2]

May God bless you my friend and may your life be succesfull for a tousand years .. Thank you

[@AlexanderArendar]

thanks for teaching us. Really good tutorial

[@pacerhythmandtiming.4109]

This was really good, thanks!

[@NM-jn6cp]

Quality content! Keep working on your craft!

[@DanPitrello]

Awesome! Now I can just generate loops in energy XT, and mix them all up with live instruments! Thanks a million!

[@demonicsweaters]

Happy to help!

[@QGTM868]

Subbed. Your the best man

[@demonicsweaters]

Thank you! What kind of videos would you like to see me do in the future?

[@gautamkumargupta8319]

it is very useful for me,Thanks a lot buddy.

[@Nora-lc3nz]

Needed this for school and it really helped me! Thanks :)

[@demonicsweaters]

Glad to help!

[@TriadTravelogues]

Dude, you are friggin awesome.

[@ZOMBIExSlayer89]

Awesome! Very informational my dude

[@demonicsweaters]

Glad it was helpful!

[@teachellie4624]

This is great I learnt so much. THANK YOU

[@demonicsweaters]

glad to help!

[@joanneburton1409]

Thanks very much! So informative and clear-really helpful!

[@mybit7470]

This is excellent work. Thank you!

[@nazliidris9052]

You're super great. Thanks a bunch

[@jescod3]

Thank you very much for your video. It's very instructive. I'm going to practice a little bit with some examples and make a video in catalan for my students! They can make interesting loops, rap rhythmic bases, or even can learn about theoretical concepts like repetition, variation, contrast and so on. Many thanks!

[@demonicsweaters]

that's great! Glad you find this useful!

[@bluefilmsltd]

What a great teacher.

[@hamidahmed8076]

Amazing stuff 👍

[@RatnavelRajavel]

Thank you so much. I learned something today.

[@guitargod66]

This is excellent! thank you!

[@pmpsubba7232]

Really helpful bro . Thanks a lot . Been searching for this shit ,..

[@Michvl_1]

excellent video, well explained, thank you!

[@stageactor1958]

Really great tutorial. Learned a lot! Where'd you get ALL those plug-ins?!

[@dessiplaer]

Lots of helpful info in this video.

[@TheBinaryWolf]

Excellent tutorial.

[@14961942]

Great tutorial. I learn alot thanks.

[@NoDebut]

Hello from 2023 :) Thank you so much for creating this, I'm mind blown right now!

[@demonicsweaters]

Glad you like it!

[@chimrui6772]

It really helps me a lot. Thank you so much. I've subscribed to your KZbin channel..... BTW, could you tell me where did you get all those plug-ins?

[@demonicsweaters]

well I'm using linux here, and all of those plugins are avalible through the ubuntu repos.

[@MariusVideoOfficial]

Many thanks for your tricks! :D

[@gabrielrosas5173]

Thank you for this

[@braahast]

I try to play a drumbeat in audacity and then later post it on KZbin.. But I can't fint the right settings to play and to help audacity find my drumset.. Im using an AUX cable.. Does that work? Plz help!

[@halimpv]

Thanx a lot bro for the share.

[@meikoni9705]

Very helpful. Thank you.

[@pianokeyjoe]

Oh wow! This reminds me of when I used Protools on my friend's mac lol! Who knew!?

[@benbaker-martin3759]

You give me Maynard James Keenan vibes thank you for the tutorial

[@AlfredSoul]

Throughout the whole video, I was wondering who he reminded me of xD

[@AAmoroso]

i think the "offset" is because (maybe) Beat Finder marks the "beat" in the median point length-wise of the detected sound. like it's not sophisticated enough to feel where that detected sound is the loudest and mark that as the defining point of the "beat". it just says "oh. this is a sound. here's the middle of where it happens. k bye."

[@demonicsweaters]

Yeah, that sounds correct!

[@marcus.guitarist]

That's pretty cool. What's the purpose of the beat finder? Couldn't you have done all of this without it?

[@botnetsPolarBears]

Thanks for this. New subscriber, looking forward to checking out the rest of your channel

[@demonicsweaters]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!

[@vinniemask]

Wow! I'm impressed!! I have never been compelled to leave a comment on a YT video but Great Job!!.. I am not a "new pup" to home recording..I started on a Tascam 424 MKII when cut,copy,paste meant razor blade and splice tape and punch in and punch out was on a cool foot pedal you could buy extra(total rig recorder&pedal was about $900.00)...anyway 2 questions How to normalize overall volume of the loops and where can I check some of your work? Warm Regards ~Vinnie~....oh p.s. still have that damn tape machine lol!

[@demonicsweaters]

Hey Vinnie, thanks! Well you can use the normalize plugin for that. And if you want to check out my work, it's at www.anthillrecordings.bandcamp.com, I just released a new album "Turn Of The Scroct"

[@bxg2116]

Thanks dude! It helped alot

[@demonicsweaters]

Glad it helped!

[@audiobooksandstoriesbyever6428]

Excellent tutorial thank you :)

[@rakeshtandekar]

Thank you so much sir for your valuable video

[@rakeshtandekar]

From India

[@demonicsweaters]

You're welcome :)

[@Mr3mos]

Hi - sorry a bit off topic - I cant find the 'Delay' effects button in Audacity - im using Macbook Pro El Capitan 10.11.6 - is there somewhere I should be looking other than effects menu?

[@IrisMiz]

Hey thank you so much for this video! I actually just wanted to ask that are the loops that you are using from freesound copyright free? I mean can we use them for our original songs and post them on KZbin?

[@demonicsweaters]

read the license for each loop on freesound.org you are downloading.

[@dennismeredith6944]

Thank you much!!

[@notvanna432]

Awesome 😎😎😎

[@LiZNaM19]

Damn its a long process but thank you dude it works

[@tekieko]

Amazing!!!

[@tracy420bckfrd]

Ok. Got it! When i downdoad the musis, do i put it somewhere or is it automatically there for use?

[@demonicsweaters]

Best to just create a folder somewhere on your computer, then save all the files there. You could create subfolders too by sample type of you wanted to be very organized.

[@vengeuse2]

Thank you very much !

[@exotichordz819]

hey im trying to do what your doing here but the audacity has changed a bit plus im a new comer to recording with daws...im able to do everything your doing but when i do the beatmaker on track 2 i cant slide thetop track to be even with the second track..im trying everything,also theres no snap to nearest its only got snap to seconds milliseconds etc. hopefully u can help me out..by the way your video has been by far the most informative out of every reaper and audacity tutorial ive ever seen.you explain things for a beginner to understand and your not skipping little details or assuming everybody knows how to do something..i started with reaper and rn thats too much for me to comprehend..its much more simple on audacity.do you do a lot of daw videos?

[@demonicsweaters]

Sorry for the late reply. I need to go back and see the changes and try to make an update on this

[@lance4151]

Seriously helpful, thank you for taking the time to produce this video, BTW, love your green clown nose, matches the red glasses perfectly!! JK

[@demonicsweaters]

Lol

[@averagejoexd2340]

On audacity how do you get drums high hats 808 etc, do you need to download a pack thing?

[@jeremydyar7566]

That heat

[@leerios9034]

Thank you sirr

[@rhylechner525]

You the man, cleared up so much for me thank you!

[@mauricemcgary10]

Hi justin , I'm trying to edit a song but the beat goes off track all through the track. How can I use audacity to correct it

[@DETROITALIAS]

Can u make a video on how to import a track for track beat and how to record on it........

[@goodingreen4736]

Dude! Thanks!

[@caringbrit7cups537]

subscried ty for making it look easy to do ive always wanted to make my own music now i can so ty

[@caringbrit7cups537]

im trying to make a track now was hoping to gain some feedback too could i once i made it email it to you @Demonic Sweaters

[@demonicsweaters]

Sure, you can get my email by going to the "about" tab on my channel, scroll down until you see 'details' and there's a contact box. I don't post it here because of spam. If you have trouble just let me know.

[@demonicsweaters]

And I'm glad to help!

[@dachshund_gaming]

Is there a way to analyze the BPM of a drum loop if you don't know it?

[@paranoidsmoke]

Your voice reminds me of Keynard James Keenans voice, singer for the band TOOL.

[@tgrimes175]

Hydrogen Drums is a free drum program that has a step sequencer. You can do up your drums in hydrogen and then export it as a wav file and then import into audacity.

[@muhammedaslamc.s3301]

very very very helpful I think I want to reward you

[@abhinashgo1825]

How to make the recorded audio in correct timing or tempo..??? Plz help me...

[@truthfinder4973]

you have to set audacity to stay in time hear a link when you see it to do this you have to have a mic record the play back to set it kzbin.info/www/bejne/eXasdnd9et2ip68

[@rofcay1]

Thank you !!!!!

[@rofcay1]

Thank You !!!!!

[@tracy420bckfrd]

What im trying to say is, how do i download the music effect from the free sound page? I dont see a down load. Just an uplaod.

[@demonicsweaters]

after you log in, and click on a sample, there's a big yellow button on the right that says download :)

[@tracy420bckfrd]

Very helpful! It says i have to register to download music. It this what you did?

[@demonicsweaters]

are you talking about freesound.org? Yes, you have to register, but it's free.

[@isaiaharteaga603]

ur awesoe bro thanks