FL STUDIO | Hip hop & Trap Tutorial

[00:00] Welcome, in this tutorial we'll introduce you to the key tools for writing hip-hop and trap music, already included with FL Studio.

[00:12] We'll show you the tools to make a beat and edit drum samples. Add tuned 808's from Flex, how to slide their pitches around, how to tune your own samples, use audio tracks to chop loops into individual one-shot samples and flesh out a loop you've

[00:26] made using these methods to create something like this. Of course, there is also a download link in the video information so you can explore the project I'll make in this tutorial.

[00:38] So let's get into it. Let's start from a basic 808 with limited template that includes 4 samples to sketch out a trap beat idea. You can of course load your own samples. I'll also go ahead and set the tempo to 140 bpm.

[00:52] Right-click the tempo display and select type in value. Now you can type your desired bpm. Use the step sequencer to place drum hits. A left-click creates a new step, a right-click deletes it.

[01:08] Press the space bar to hear what you've done. In the channel settings of the kick, there are lots of controls to tweak the sound. One of the hidden power tools is the Pogo effect in the pre-computed effects tab.

[01:23] In particular, this radically transforms kick drums as it affects initial transient or the initial punch of the kick. On the main tab, there are sample start and length controls.

[01:37] These will let you adjust where the sample starts and ends, with a quick volume ramp to avoid clicking. The start offset influences where the sample begins playing inside the range defined by the

[01:49] sample start and length controls. This has no volume ramping, so it will click when you start the sample at any point other than exactly on the center line, which can be very beneficial for drum sounds.

[02:01] You can further customize your sample in the envelope tab. There are envelopes for volume, filter cut off, resonance and pitch. I'll demo just the volume envelope for brevity's sake.

[02:13] The curve represents volume, from silence to maximum output level. In the sampler, this curve will play every time a note is played. Attack is the time it takes for the volume to reach maximum output level, and decay is the

[02:28] time it takes the volume to reach the sustain point, which is the level the envelope will stay at until a note is released. The release is the time it takes the volume to drop down to zero again after a note is released,

[02:44] and the whole parameter defines the time between the end of the attack stage and the beginning of the decay stage. Next I'll add some high hats. A nice time saver is right clicking the channel button to select fill each two steps.

[02:59] This will create a simple 8th note high hat pattern. Now we can customize that a little. Shift the steps by right clicking the channel button and selecting rotate left or right.

[03:18] Now we'll open the graph editor and make some variations to the velocities for emphasis. You have access to a lot more parameters here too.

[03:30] Let's add the pattern to the playlist by clicking in the playlist window. You'll notice I've painted it twice. That's because I'm going to open the clip menu in the top left of the second clip and select make unique.

[03:45] This will make a new pattern with the same information in it, allowing me to make variations without messing up the first one. After doing that, to listen to your drum beat in context,

[03:57] you'll need to switch FR Studio from pattern mode to song mode up here. FR Studio will now play what's in the playlist window, not just loop a single pattern.

[04:16] Nice. Time for some bass. The 808 bass sound has been a mainstay of hip hop production for the last 40 years, and there's no sign of its popularity waning. However, in recent years, there's been a trend to use the 808 as a pitched bass line,

[04:30] accent it with pitch slides. So let's get some thumping 808's going. Open Flex and choose the mobile tuned 808 bass pack. These are also available in FR Studio mobile, hence the name.

[04:46] Perfect. These are already tuned and looped, so we'll sustain as long as a note is held. As we noted, pitch slides are a key part of the trap sound. To slide an 808 from Flex or a sample, use slide notes in the piano roll.

[05:02] Painting slide notes works like it does with standard notes. Left click to paint, right click to delete. Notes slide from the standard to slide note pitch over the length of the slide note.

[05:17] If you've already got your own 808 samples, drop one on a playlist track header to make an instrument track.

[05:29] And drop a tuner on its mixer track to see its pitch. Cool. You can now use that information to change the root note of the sample in the channel settings,

[05:44] so notes on the piano roll are correctly pitched. I've linked a video in the Info to a Metro Boomin video that specifically covers this topic.

[05:56] Now let's write the bass line.

[06:08] Once you have the bass in the box, it's time for the rest of the drums. Do you wish there was an easier way of cutting a top loop into pieces that make sense than doing it by hand? Well, there is. Drop your top loop on a playlist track header to make it an audio track.

[06:23] This means all audio that is placed on that track will be linked to the same mixer track. Now go to the clip menu in the top left of the clip and select one of the time-based chopping options.

[06:39] This will slice your loop into equally long pieces. You'll have a much easier time rearranging the loop to fit the vibe you have in mind.

[06:55] Let's rearrange this to fit the vibe a bit better. Right-click to delete slices. Left-click to paint the one you clicked on last.

[07:10] You can also use fruity slicer to have your loop automatically chopped. This will make every individual slice playable in the piano roll.

[07:31] This loop has some swung notes in it while my beat is perfectly straight. So I'll press Alt and Q to quantize. If you'd like to know more about quantization check out our video on the topic. At 4 bars this loop is also a little long for what I need.

[07:46] So I'll select the last 3 bars by right-clicking and dragging in this area up here to make a time selection. Then I'll press the lead on my keyboard to delete those notes. Then I'll select the first bar and press Ctrl and B three times to duplicate my selection.

[08:06] OK, now it's just the matter of adding some keys or other interesting sounds from Flex to flesh out the tune.

[08:18] And you have a very solid core idea in the box. Something's missing.

[08:32] Let's add an instrument loop and arrange it using SliceX. SliceX as the name implies can automatically slice away file into pieces based on transients and play them from the piano roll.

[08:53] This technique of triggering melodic loop slices comes from the NPC days when samples were predominantly used to create hip hop.

[09:15] As a final bit of spice, let's add some high-hat rolls in the piano roll. We'll switch the channel rack to piano roll mode here, then click the high-hat's piano roll to open it.

[09:33] I'll draw a long note where I want a roll to happen. Select that note and then use the chop tool in the edit menu to set the speed of the rolls.

[09:51] You can also quickly access this tool by pressing Alt and U. Now that you've seen the basic components and workflow of the hip hop sound, there shouldn't be anything in the way of you making your first hip hop beat.