Beat Maker Program

Beat Maker Program

Kelly Foxx Here...

If you are an aspiring DJ just starting out, the chances are good that your budget simply can't afford a fully equipped musical studio.  Your next best bet is a beat maker program for your computer.  A quick Google search for beat maker programs, however, may leave you overwhelmed by the sheer number of beat maker programs available.   Beat maker programs come in all varieties, ranging from insultingly simple to insanely complex, bare-bones basic to professional-grade, and from free to cripplingly expensive.  How do you narrow down your search?  What do you need in a beat maker program?  This article will tell you what to look for.

First, look for a beat maker program that has at least a sixteen track sequencer, preferably with a separate volume control for each track.  Simpler, cheaper beat maker programs frequently have only an eight track sequencer.  This is fine for creating a good quick and simple rap or hip hop beat, but leaves no additional room for the instrumental or vocal tracks you'd need for an entire song.

Likewise, unless you are an experienced professional, don't bother with beat maker programs with thirty-two tracks.  No only are they more expensive, but this is more than a beginning musician really needs.  Worse, novice musician may feel they need to fill all the empty tracks with sound, which can actually hurt the song overall.

Second, make sure any beat maker program you get has a virtual keyboard and, preferably, a virtual drum pad.  Sometimes it is faster and easier just to tap out a beat line in your head instead of trying to build it beat by beat from the ground up.

The virtual keyboard is important for constructing instrumental hooks.  They virtual keyboard can be used play any instrument, including piano, strings, bass, brass, synths, vocals... pretty much any non-percussion instrument.  You could be sample random sounds and feed it into the virtual keyboard.  The keyboard will convert that sound sample into different notes, which you can use to create a melody

Next, look for a beat maker program that lets you control the BPM, or beats per minute.  This allows you to adjust the tempo, which gives you a great deal of control over the type of song you are composing.  For example, 200 BPM would be a better tempo for an energetic party song, while 70 BPM would be better for a romantic love song.

Finally, choose a beat maker program that has an easy to use export option in a common music file format.  The MP3 file format is preferable, since it is open-source and almost every electronic music player can use.  Beat maker programs that only let you export you completed songs into an obscure or proprietary music file format that is compatible with only a limited number of players can quickly get frustrating.

These are the essentials that you'll want in any decent beat maker program.  Other frills like large sound and sample libraries or VST plug-ins for special audio effects are bonus.  By all means, get any additional features in a beat maker program that your budget can afford.  Unless you're only wanting to make a very simple, basic drum line, don't settle for a beat maker program that has anything less than the requirements listed above.