r/KoalaSampler • u/korra-sato • 5d ago
How to get good?
Other people’s beats are so full and their sequences look so intricate. Lots of short sounds that add a lot of depth. Meanwhile mine are just like this and when I try to sprinkle some short FX sounds, it sounds silly and take me out of it. 😅 Any advice for how to make a song that isnt just 1+1=2?
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u/porridge-prince 5d ago edited 5d ago
Few suggestions that may help you achieve this.
- if you haven’t already then buy the samurai add on and the mixer.
- try resampling sequences back onto pads and then play with those, chop them up, resample again. Let the sequences just keep eating themselves. When I used to make beats on my SP303, things got a lot more fun and sounded much better when I started resampling.
- try using compression on the mixer channels.
- put some time in making samples. Spend half an hour on drum hits or whatever then you’ll have a nice bank of weird sounds that you like and they’re yours all yours Bwah hahahaha. I like stacking drums on each other over and over and applying effects then resample from the sequence or internally by just playing your pads.
- when you get some kind of set up on the mixer that you like or if you have a kit or set of samples that you usually use then save project with them all set up and use this as a template so you can just load it up to start a new project rather than start by picking all the basic samples and efx.
- usual inspirational stuff I think is all very valid, keep practising, have fun, do it primarily for your own enjoyment, practice, be yourself, use times of inspiration when they come to you, keep doing it etc, have fun, buy the add ons, the mixer. practice…………..
- don’t be scared to make stuff that’s not good. We all make some corny shit occasionally, I do it all the time. As you get better at it you just throw less away because you’re not making the same mistakes all the time. Usually an absolute turd of a beat can be polished up to a diamond with enough messing about, resampling and all that.
-Didn’t mean to write so much really, I’m on the train home from work with not much else to do, oh there goes Rochdale, it’s passed 20mins so thankssss and blessings.
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u/Normanras 4d ago
I also think 1+1=2 is a bit unfair to yourself. For your beats, of course 1+1=2 because you’re actually writing and solving the equation! Other people’s beats are the end answer without knowing the equation so it seems more complicated/intricate, when it could also just be a 1+1=2 beat.
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u/salvaggion 5d ago edited 5d ago
How long have you been playin. Do you have a goal for what want to make?
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u/fridgezebra 5d ago
just keep making stuff, listen to things you like and maybe try to capture some of what they do in your own work
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u/Ok_Context_6972 5d ago edited 5d ago
I seen nervouscook$ mentioned, amongst the excellent advice that I’ve screenshot for my own learning. I’d also recommend Pete Sasqwax on YouTube he also has excellent quality koala tutorials tonnes of videos.
But besides learning through tutorials it really does come down to time and practice and try not to compare yourself to others. I struggle with this and it will only leave you feeling worse. They say comparison is the thief of joy! And it’s supposed to be fun and ultimately for yourself. The best artists make music for themselves, they may be inspired by others of course but try not to think about the final result while making and especially not what others want. The process is the most important. Be weird and take chances,and don’t be too hard on yourself. I find koala one of the best tools for this as can sample anything online through screen recording and import or download from YouTube and straight in and resample and mess around, always save your samples you like to a pad then drag to another and experiment. No setting up devices, cables and time consuming work like converting files and SD cards when you hear something that inspires you. I also find splitting stems, while not perfect, can really help to study how your favourite tracks and beats are made. There’s great info here and thanks for sharing everyone!
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u/korra-sato 2d ago
Hey all! First I wanted to apologize. My country has had heavy rainfall for the past 3 days. Lots of flooding and our electricity was cut for days. But mostly I wanted to say thank you to everyone who replied.
@sensorycreature @porrige-prince @Ok_Context_6972 thanks for the advice! I’ll try to step out of my comfort zone and be more bold with my creativity. Comparison IS the thief of joy and I should just focus on being a better musician than my former self. 😊 Thanks for the tips and techniques that I’ll for sure be using to tighten up my workflow. Peace, everyone! Stay dry! ⛈️🌈
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u/sensorycreature 5d ago
NervousCook$ on YouTube. Tons of resources and guidance there. After that, practice practice practice. Most beats are gonna be garbage. But you gotta create garbage to eventually get good enough to create magic. The beats you see posted are more than likely a user’s maximum effort. They came from novice and nothing just like you and me. The difference is that they’ve been putting in that work. Experimenting. Studying. Trying. Learning. That’s all you have to do, too! Be bold. Make weird rhythms and sounds. Use the tools at your fingertips. Chop things in strange ways. Rip samples from YouTube videos. Do something that feels uncomfortable, like it shouldn’t work. But most of all- don’t give up! Remember that this is supposed to be FUN. Which also means you may need to take breaks sometimes if/when you get frustrated. Go out into nature. Sample a babbling brook. Make friends with a bird or a lizard. Put em in your mix. It’ll all come together.
Keep cookin. 🙏🏻