Audiotuts+ Updates - Quick Tip: Creating A Simple House Beat In FL-Studio – Basix

Quick Tip: Creating A Simple House Beat In FL-Studio – Basix

Posted: 29 Oct 2010 04:33 AM PDT

Today we’ll be creating a simple beat using FL-Studio. This should help you get started with this amazing software. I’ll show you how to compose a beat, use effects, create transitions and more.

Step 1

First set the tempo to 130BPM. Now, lets import our first sample. Go to “Packs-Dance-DCN_Kick_2″ and import the sample. Click on it with the right mouse button and select “Fill each 4-steps”. This is what you should get:

Now we’ll fill up our pattern to make it a drum loop. Now import these samples “Packs-Dance-DNC_Clap_5″, “Packs-Vintage-VT-MC”, “Packs-Vintage-VT-MA”, and fill them up as shown in the picture below:

This is what you should get:

Download audio file (Pattern1.mp3)

Step 2

Go to the highlighted area (the pointing down arrow) and click “Smart Find” or just “Find”. Then type in the box “Mute Bass” and import it. And thats how you can easily find files in FL-Studio.

Step 3

Go the a second pattern, make it eight beats per bar and open the piano roll for the “Mute Bass”. Fill it up as shown in the picture:

It should sound like this:

Download audio file (Pattern2.mp3)

Make a third pattern, 8 beats per bar, and fill it up as shown in the picture (again for the Mute Bass).

Download audio file (Pattern3.mp3)

Step 4

Go to the playlist and set the first, second and third patterns as shown in the picture:

Now we have put together the drum loop and the rest.

It should sound like this:

Download audio file (CompositedBeat.mp3)

Step 5

Now we are going to create an “Automation Clip” for the “Mute Bass”, so we could gently raise the volume of the second pattern in time. Put the Automation Clip and adjust it as shown in the picture:

Step 6

Insert a Crash, you can find one in “Packs – Dance” and put it as shown in the picture, reverse it and set the FX switch to 6 for example. Then go to “Mixer-Insert 6″ and put a “Fruity Reverb2″.

Before the reverb effect:

Download audio file (Transition.mp3)

After the reverb effect:

Download audio file (TransitionReverbed.mp3)

Now feel free to put this transition wherever you like.

Additional Tip

This tip is super basic. This is where you can adjust your tempo and switch between patterns:

Enjoy!

Download audio file (FinalResult.mp3)

How to Make a Dubstep-Style Wobble Bass in FL Studio 8

Posted: 28 Oct 2010 06:17 PM PDT

Twice a month we revisit some of our reader favorite posts from throughout the history of Audiotuts+. This tutorial was first published in October 2008.

The wobble bass, used frequently in the Dubstep genre, is a sound that well, wobbles! It consists of a low pass filter with a LFO assigned to the cut off. That may sound extremely complicated, but in actual fact it's quite easy to do and master. You can find examples of this technique used in Benga’s "Drums West."

For this tutorial we will be using FL Studio 8, Sytrus VST and Cakewalk's Z3TA+.

Step 1: Setting Up

First we want to open Fruity Loops on a blank template. We then want to add a Sytrus to the sequencer and put it on its own mixer channel. We also want to open the preset CERBERA SAW.

Step 2: Making a Melody

Next we want to create a melody on the Sytrus channel.

Cerbera without Wobble Effect

Assign a Fruity Fast LP to one of the FX slots on the Sytrus mixer channel to set up for the wobble.

Step 3: Making the Wobble

Now we must right click the cut-off knob and go to Edit events. This brings up the automation for the cut-off knob. Notice the lower the cut-off filter is the less high end we get on the sound. This is because it is filtering the high out of the sound and only leaving us with the bass.

Step 4: Define the Wobble

We then need to create an LFO. To do this we either press Alt+O, or click the spanner icon and select LFO.

Value defines how high the wobble will go; it basically defines the highest point of the cut-off to apply to the wobble. Range defines how low the cut-off goes at the lowest point. Speed defines how fast the transitions between low and high on the cut-off apply.

If you right click the speed knob, a set of predefined steps come up.

If we leave the End box ticked we can set the end of the wobble to change, so that over the length of the wobble you can set it to get faster, higher and lower.

Cerbera with Wobble Effect

Step 5: Using Z3ta+ to Wobble

An alternative way of wobbling is to use a VST with a Modulation Matrix so that we can create the wobble inside of the VST. For this tutorial I'm going to be using Cakewalks Z3TA+, with the preset THUMP BASS in BANK C.

First we need to load up the VST into the sequencer. We also need to make sure it's not on the same channel as the Sytrus.

Next we need to open the VST interface and load the preset in the top right corner.

Z3ta+ without Wobble Effect

Step 6: Adding the Wobble to the Mix

Now we need to assign the LFO to the cut-off filter. We do this in the Modulation Matrix in the bottom left corner of Z3TA+.

In the Source column, select LFO1. In the Range column, we want the value to be quite high but not all the way to the left. We’ll leave the Curve column and the Control column blank.

Last but not least, we want to change Destination column to All Filters Cutoff.

Step 7: Defining the Wobble

In the top right corner of the Cakewalk Z3TA+ VST is a section called Low Frequency Oscillators. This area is where we can define how the wobble sounds.

For this tutorial I will be using a Sine for the Wave 1 value, and leaving the rest as default. As you can hear by turning on Wave 1, the wobble starts.

But what if we want to change the speed? Well, we have to change the Sync. The sync is equivalent to speed on the Sytrus LFO; the lower the number, the faster the wobble.

We can also add a second wave to the Wave 2 box to manipulate the sound even further.

Z3ta+ with Wobble Effect

Step 8: Final Touches

The last step in the process is to add the final touches. I've added some drums, an arp, sirens, beat box kicks and a lead. You can check out the Fruity Loops file in the sound pack.

Final Track

Download the Play Pack for this tutorial (816KB)

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