In today’s music world, creating beats is very common. It’s exciting, fun, and even controversial. Beat making is everywhere, even if you didn’t know it. Popular culture around the world is replete with its influence from Japan to the British Isles. We listen to music every day that has been created, at least in part, if not entirely, by beat makers and that’s right, you guessed it, it’s here to stay!
If you are wondering how to make music on a computer, you may have some questions like:
1. What is rhythm creation?
2. Why do some people say that it is not art?
3. What is your place in the world of music today?
4. Who can make beats?
These are all great questions that we can explore together here in this article. Maybe we’ll find some answers, and maybe we’ll end up with more questions.
In any case, it is easy to understand what creating beats is. It is the creative art that involves the arrangement of rhythmic concepts in recognizable musical patterns that we commonly refer to as “rhythms.” In other words, it is what Dr. Dre. He does it when he drops a hot one and generally these rhythms form the underlying base of our melodies that we lay on top of.
Don’t be fooled though, just because we call them beats doesn’t mean all you get are unfilled drum tracks, like the old drum machines of yesteryear. Today’s rhythms can be fully orchestrated works of art. Ask T-Pain and Kanye West or go listen to techno or house music. That will make you clear.
Nowadays, the creation of beats is very much involved with the use of computers, which is very different from any other time in history. Now, you can create drums and percussion, bassline, strings, horns, keyboards, and just about any other instrument you can think of, all on your own from a computer console if you wish.
The artistic part comes into play when you start to see the creativity involved. Just because much of this is done using a computer does not mean that it is easy or does not require talent and imagination. Yes, it’s easy to get started and you can make beats in minutes, but it takes time and effort to get really good at it, no matter how talented you are. In fact, learning the technical part of making music on a computer is only a small part of the battle. The other, bigger part of the challenge is creating something new and fresh knowing that no two people will ever do it in exactly the same way.
What do i mean? Well, consider two English-speaking poets. They speak the same language, have roughly the same vocabulary, and may even have grown up and lived in nearby communities. However, they will never write the exact same poems. Forever! Creating beats is the same way. When you use your own inspiration and expression, you will have no choice but to be unique and thereby develop your own voice for the world to hear. You will be an artist.
Some people say that it is not art because the beat maker does not have to spend years of his life and hundreds or even thousands of hours in solitude perfecting his ability to express himself through his instruments as traditional musicians do. As a musician of this type, I understand that point of view.
But it turns out that beat creation software is just another tool that allows us to express our individual uniqueness, experiences, and perspective in a whole new way. In my opinion, that’s what makes it art.
The proof is in the fact that computer music is an everyday thing now. Many of the most beloved hits of all time were produced in part, if not entirely, using the processes involved in creating beats and creating computer music. Computer music software is now a requirement in music studios around the world and things will never work again.
The best part of all this is that anyone, including you and me, can participate and make their own music on a computer right now. And while we may not all be as great as P-Diddy and Jay-Z yet, we can all have the opportunity to express ourselves using this phenomenal new set of technologies that are at our fingertips.