If you want to read the guide on my website check it out here: https://basscave.com/808s/
This guide is also more geared towards beginners, but I think the towards the end of it there are some good tips for all skill levels.
Table of Contents:
- 808 History
- Simplest Way to Make an 808
- ADSR Settings
- Making 808s Slide
- Sidechaining, & Layering Kicks
- Harmonics
- Distorting Your 808s
- Stereo Width & Layering
- How to Write 808 Patterns
Some 808 History
TL;DR
Roland made the TR-808 in the 1980s The TR-808 was a drum machine which became well known for its kick sample People eventually began to refer to the kick sample as just an "808" Invention
Back in the 1980’s, Roland invented a drum machine known as the TR-808. Eventually, people began to refer to the kick drum the machine produced as simply, an “808”.
808s were known for their long tail, and sub frequency content. 808s eventually became a staple of modern hip-hop and trap music (along with other sounds from the TR-808, particularly the snare and hi-hats). The 808 was simply a sine wave, played at a low octave and had pitch envelope with quick attack and decay settings.
808 vs Sub Bass:
An ‘808’ is generally a sample from a TR-808 or a sound synthesized using similar methods. A “sub bass” is any sound with a prominent frequency range around 60Hz or below. Basically, an 808 is a low sine wav with a quick pitch envelope, while a sub bass is any sound with prominent sub frequencies.
Often times people use the terms “808”, “sub”, and “sub bass” synonymously. Although there are slight differences most people will know what you're talking about when referring to either.
Simplest Way to Make an 808
TL;DR
An 808 is just a Sine wave with an envelope with quick attack and decay settings on the pitch Make sure you set your synthesizer to only have 1 “voice” or else this can cause “phase cancellation” How to Make a Simple 808
Heres all you have to do:
Take a sine wave, play it at a low octave, and add a pitch envelope with quick attack settings, quick decay settings, and no sustain or release.
Heres an Ableton example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbw-v4SKqL8
Heres a FL Studio Example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FP1XBxez10
Set Voices / Polyphony to 1
All synthesizers have an option to change the amount of “voices” or "polyphony". The more voices / polyphony the more notes that can be played at the same time. 1 "voice' means only one note can played at a time, 2 or more voices means 2 or more notes can be played at the same time.
Some synths use the word "polyphony", while others use the word "voices" If you're making a chords or playing notes in harmony, you want multiple voices. For 808s, its very important you only have one voice on your 808. When 2 or more notes play together it can cause phase cancellation.
I cover phase cancellation in greater detail in the Sidechaining and Layering Kicks section of this guide, but just as an example, here is what happens when you have 2 or more voices, and 2 notes play one right after the other:
https://clyp.it/x05lvndw
It doesnt sound good, so make sure you set it to only 1 voice!
ADSR Settings for 808s
TL;DR
You can use envelopes to automatically control a certain part of your sound, such as volume or pitch People mainly use ADSR envelopes on volume and pitch, but you can experiment with putting it on any parameter Envelopes only affect your sound if you tell them to, (if you assign an envelope to a specific parameter / knob in your synthesizer) Note: When I use the term "parameter" I am referring to any knob you can adjust on a synthesizer or in your DAW in general.
What Does ADSR Stand For?
ADSR stands for: Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release
Attack = the time it takes for the parameter to go from 0 to 100 Decay = the time it takes for the parameter to go from 100 to the set “sustain” value Sustain = the “constant” value of the parameter after the decay, until the note is released. If you hold a note down, the sustain determines the volume while it is being held down Release = How quickly it takes the parameter to go back down to zero after the note is released (Think of how when you hit a piano key hard it takes a few seconds for the volume to fade out, that is the “release”) Think of ADSR envelopes as specific instructions you can give another parameter. They won’t do anything until you tell it to affect another knob . Once you assign the envelope to affect another knob it will control that knobs settings automatically based on the ADSR settings you assign it.
Lets pretend we have an ADSR envelope on a random noise with these settings:
Attack: 1 second Decay: 5 seconds Sustain: -20 db Release: 2 seconds Basically we would be “telling” the volume knob, with our envelope, to wait 1 second before it reaches its max volume (Attack), then, to take 5 seconds until it goes back down to -20 db, (Decay is how long it takes to go from max volume to the designated Sustain, in this case, 5 seconds for the sound to get to -20 db), then after the note is done playing, 2 more seconds for the note to go down all the way back to 0 db (Release)
Knowing how and when to change your ADSR settings is a useful skill as different settings yield different styles of 808s. Which settings you use mainly comes down to personal preference and the direction you see the beat going in.
Different ADSR Settings Changes the Style of 808:
The first style is having the Sustain all the way up with long MIDI notes and a short release time. This causes the 808 to be the same loudness for the entire length of the MIDI note. This is good for when you want 808 quickly and hold the same loudness for long period of time.
The second style is to have a long release time, and use short MIDI notes. Unlike the first style, this will cause the 808 to start at max volume and slowly fade out. This works well if your using your 808 as more of “pluck” and less of a sustained instrument.
The third is short MIDI notes with a short release time. You mainly hear this style used to accent the kick, and often is used in a breakdown.
I encourage you to play around with the ADSR settings every time you write an 808 pattern and get a feel for what sounds good to you, and how the settings can affect the overall vibe of the song.
One thing you will notice from listening to many mainstream trap songs is that many producers switch it up between to the styles. Sometimes they use long sustained 808s maybe during the hook, and switch to more of plucky, short 808 with long release settings for the breakdown.
How to Change ADSR Settings
Heres a video on how to change the ADSR settings in any DAW:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqBLT70xmPQ&list=PLvqvquGYMgJFEIQUToD1X5NfDrXsmwLkF&index=5
Making 808s Slide / Glide
TL;DR
Turn on “legato” or “glide” in the synthesizer you are using Turn the “portamento” time up to around 40-60ms Make sure when you are writing midi notes you overlap them if you want them to slide
What are Slide Notes?
One thing you hear very often in modern trap songs is something known as slide notes, or glide. This is a very simple technique and basically all it requires is turning on “Legato” mode in your favorite synth, and making sure that your midi notes are overlapping each other.
Here's an example of an 808 pattern with glide:
https://clyp.it/urrvnivu
Heres that same pattern without glide:
https://clyp.it/hkgp2fd0
Notice the difference? Thats why knowing how to utilize glide notes is extremely powerful.
Note: Some synths, such as Ableton’s Operator, don’t have a button called “Legato”, instead Operator calls it “Glide”, but these have the same function. So if you can’t find a legato option be aware some synths have different names for it.
Ableton’s Operator uses the word “Glide”
Synths such as Xfer’s Serum use the word “Legato” instead of “Glide”
Legato & Portamento:
Legato is an Italian word meaning “tied together”. Basically what this means in terms of 808s is that the next note starts immediately after the first note without any silence, essentially “tying” them together.
Its important to have your MIDI notes overlap with each other, or at least have the notes that you want to slide overlap, because that is the only way the legato function will work properly. So make sure when you want one note to slide into another, you drag it a little bit past the next note, or else they will restart.
Make Sure to Use Portamento:
The next thing you should play around with once you have enabled Legato or glide, is the portamento time. Portamento determines how quickly or slowly it takes for the pitch to slide from one note to the next. If you have the portamento all the way down at 0ms, then there will be no pitch slide, even if you have legato on.
There is no perfect portamento time as it varies based on your personal preference, but a good rule of thumb for 808s is somewhere around 40ms and 60ms.
How to Make 808s Slide:
Heres a video on how to make your 808s slide in any DAW:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3kyR1mHGdA&list=PLvqvquGYMgJFEIQUToD1X5NfDrXsmwLkF&index=6
Sidechaining & Layering Kicks
TL;DR
If you have a kick and an 808 playing at the same time it will cause “phase cancellation” Phase cancellation is when two sounds waveforms cancel each other out, causing both have less volume and create an unpleasant rumble effect "Sidechaining" is the way around this Sidechaining is basically lowering the volume of one sound, to make room for another sound Once you have a rough idea of how you want your 808 to sound, now is a good time to play around layering kicks and sidechaining.
Basically, when we layer a kick we are adding punch to the beginning of the 808 which can make the overall 808 sound like it is hitting harder
Here’s an example:
Here’s an 808 with a kick layered on top
https://clyp.it/zgswlbbf
Here’s an 808 without a kick layered on top
https://clyp.it/bs4y2h2r
What is Phase Cancellation?
Phasing is what happens when two sounds with similar frequencies play at the same time, and there waveforms are opposite of one another, or “out of phase”, causing either less volume, or a weird rumble noise.
The main technique is to put a kick on a separate track, and make sure that for the small amount of time the kick is playing, the 808 is silent. This leaves space for each element and stops frequencies from clashing and causing phasing.
Heres an audio example of a well layered kick with no phase issues, and poorly layered kick causing phase cancellation:
Without sidechaining, causing phase cancellation:
https://clyp.it/zkxxk23i
With sidechaining, no phase cancellation:
https://clyp.it/uy0gxrm3
This problem only sounds worse on bigger speakers, especially club sound systems, so make it a habit to check for phase cancellation at all times.
How to Sidechain
The solution is use a technique known as “sidechaining”.
You can skip straight to the video tutorial on how to sidechain in any DAW here
There are a few ways to do this, but ill go over the 2 most common.
Before I go on I’d like to say that layering your 808 with a kick is not a necessity, and there are plenty of examples of songs that use just an 808, without a kick. It comes down to preference and artistic direction.
Sidechain Compression
Sidechain compression, is the old school and most common way of doing this.
Separate your kick and 808 into 2 different tracks, attach a compressor to your 808, and set it to receive input from kick track. Use quick attack and release settings, so that it only compresses your 808 while the kick is playing and not a second longer, and play around with the threshold.
Basically what it is doing is telling your 808 to get quieter when the kick plays, and then go back normal volume once this is done playing.
This creates space for each track and glues your 808 and kick together, making a more cohesive sound.
Volume Automation:
The second method is something known as volume automation.
With sidechain compression, your 808 will actually get “compressed” by the compressor every time your kick plays, while with volume automation, you're turning down the actual track volume instead of compressing the waveform.
Technically, this means you can bring your 808 all the way down to 0 db for the split second your kick hits, and since each element will be able to play without being affected by one another you can make them each louder.
You can automate your volume manually with the track volume, like I’m doing in the above picture, or with specific volume automation plugins such as Volume Shaper by Cable Guys, or LFO Tool by XFER Records
Each Method Has Its Own Place
Each method of making sidechaining has its own place.
For things like layering kicks with 808s and basses, I prefer to use volume automation, because phasing issues can be a major issue with bass frequencies.
If I’m sidechaining something in the higher frequencies, like a lead or hi-hats, I prefer some less extreme sidechain compression.
How to Sidechain in Any DAW
Heres a video on how to sidechain your 808s in any DAW:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhKw_cCGn5k
What are Harmonics and How Do They Affect 808s?
TL;DR
Harmonics / overtones are the additional frequencies you hear after the fundamental tone (the lowest tone you hear in a sound Adding harmonics will make higher frequencies more audible which can add some crunch and grit to your 808 You can add harmonics through distortion and overdrive, or by adding extra higher pitched oscillators in the synthesizer your using to make 808s Have you ever wondered how professional producers achieve that grit in their 808s?
They achieve that grit and crunch by adding harmonics and overtones to their 808s through various processing techniques.
Frequencies, Fundamentals, and Harmonics
All sounds produce waves that vibrate at varying frequencies (speeds).
The lowest frequency a sound produces is known as its “fundamental” frequency. If we play a sine wave at a low octave we can see the fundamental on an equalizer.
Since we used a sine wave with no processing, it only produced the fundamental and nothing else, but most sounds produce other frequencies as well.
These additional frequencies are known as “overtones”, and if an over tone is a positive multiple of the fundamental, it is known as a “harmonic”.
These overtones cause higher pitches to more audible, and can create some very unique sounding 808s based on how many overtones and the space between each one.
The trick is to get good at creatively adding harmonics and overtones
How Do You Add Harmonics?
Adding harmonics is extremely simple, and there are 2 main ways I do it:
Add distortion to your 808 with various distortion VST plugins Adding extra oscillators at higher pitches
Heres a quick example of what harmonics are:
https://youtu.be/NRbfGfbV41Y?t=49s
Distorting 808s
TL;DR
Distortion changes the shape of the waveform, creating additional harmonics and overtones When first using distortion on your sounds, put an EQ or a spectrum analyzer plugin AFTER the distortion plugin to see what is does to your sound
How Does Distortion Work?
Ill try to keep this part simple, as there are plenty of resources out there on the more technical aspects of distortion. Basically, when you distort something, you change the shape of the waveform which introduces harmonic and inharmonic content.
Lets imagine a sine wave:
We take that sine wave and make it so loud that it starts to change shape. That change in shape will introduce other overtones that were previously inaudible.
The 2 main parameters you will be altering when using distortion will be “drive” (Some plugins use the word “pre-gain”), and the curve type.
The 'Soft Sine' is the curve type, and 'drive' affects the volume of your sound before its distorted by the curve type
FL Studios WaveShaper plugin is very similar to Ableton saturator, but uses the word "Pre" (short for "pre gain") instead of "drive" The drive setting turns the volume of your signal up or down BEFORE it is distorted by a curve type.
The curve type generally determines how harsh the distortion will be. Steeper, more aggressive looking curves distort your signal more than softer curves.
The “Hard Curve” will distort your signal much more than the “Analog Clip”
You can get some really unique results by altering the drive in combination with changing the shape of the curve.
Look at Your EQ
Placing an EQ after my effects chain helped me out tremendously in not only 808 design but all sound design in general.
You can instantly see the effect your processing is having and you get a better feel for getting it to sound right quicker.
Stereo Width & Layering Your 808s
TL;DR
Splitting your 808s into 2 layers is a good way to add grit the high frequencies without over distorting the lower and more delicate frequencies Split into two groups, from around 60Hz-100Hz and below, and about 100Hz and up
Layering Your 808s
Lets say you want a really distorted 808, but you want more control over it. You don’t want the entire 808 to be distorted, but maybe just the higher frequencies. In this case, you can split your 808 into 2 parts:
the sub (frequencies at or below 60Hz) the overtones (anything above about 60Hz - 80Hz) The exact frequency at which you split your 808 into layers will depend on which key your in, but in general it will be about 60Hz.
First thing your going to do is make a clean 808 with a sine wave.
Next, duplicate that track, start distorting it, THEN put a high filter on after the distortion at about 60Hz.
This is also very useful if you want to put some creative effects on your 808s like a flanger. Since putting a flanger on something with sub frequencies can sound weird, if you split it into two layers and only put a flanger on the higher frequencies you can have a really unique sounding 808.
Heres an example:
https://clyp.it/bvxvjb1r
This leads into the next trick, widening your 808s
Widening Your 808s
There are two ways you can go about widening your 808:
separating it into layers and widening the overtones layer widening the whole thing, including the sub Now, some people will tell you that your sub bass should always be in mono. That it should be 100% straight down the middle of your stereo field.
While I tend to agree with this for some genres / style of music, you can get away with it in more abstract genres and at the end of the day there are no rules in music.
Kaytranada is a perfect example of widening your 808s, especially his track Glowed up.
The Haas Effect
The haas effect in a delay setting where you turn the mix up to 100%, and delay the right and left channel a few milliseconds apart from each other, generally anywhere between 2ms and 30ms.
Heres a quick video of how to add the HAAS effect to your 808s:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ob0MGE8fG4
Make sure you have the delay mode set to “time” and not “sync”
The causes you to hear one channel right away, and then the other channel a milliseconds later, which creates the illusion of width.
Heres an 808 pattern with the Haas effect applied:
https://clyp.it/nd44ek3h
Heres an 808 pattern in mono:
https://clyp.it/c1yxlqye
How to Write 808 Patterns
TL;DR
When writing patterns, get a simple melody / baseline written out with 1/4 notes, then slowly change there position and add in additional notes at varying pitches Try making a drum beat first, then add 808s every time the kick hits Copy other professional beats for learning purposes Coming up with your own 808 patterns can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be.
While I’m no expert at music, first thing I will say it that getting a solid grasp of the basics, especially scales and chords will help you out a ton in the long run.
Luckily though, the music theory involved involved in most trap beats and especially 808 patterns is pretty simple.
Make Sure Your 808s Stay in Key
Before I talk about how to actually write 808 patterns I want to quickly talk about how to make sure your 808 stays in key.
Use Ableton’s “Scale” MIDI effect OR use FL Studios “Pitcher”
 This makes it so that if you play a midi note out of scale, the plugin will automatically pitch either up or down to get in key. This very useful if your like me and never played an instrument and have minimal music theory knowledge.
Pick a scale, copy the notes in the piano roll, and use them as a reference
For this trick, just google a scale, it can be anything, and then copy down the notes in that scale in the piano roll.
If your using Ableton, you can highlight and drag all the notes behind the grid and click “Fold”, that way you only see the notes that are in scale. This is a super helpful trick.
If your using FL Studio, I don’t believe they have a “Fold” function but you can just as easily write patterns using them as a reference.
This way, you have all the notes highlighted when your pencilling in notes and writing a pattern and you always check the notes at the beginning of the midi clip / piano and see if it matches up with any of those notes.
Cool, so that we have a few tricks for getting our 808s to stay in key, lets learn how to write our own patterns.
Here are a few techniques I like to use:
Start Simple and Slowly Add Complexity
This is more of a best practice and less of method.
The trick is start with a simple grid, say 1/4 notes, and make a super basic 808 pattern using only 1/4 notes. Once you get that laid out, switch your grid to 1/8 notes or 1/16 notes and start to move them around and add in some variation.
Make a Drum Beat First
First technique that I use is to make a drum pattern first. Find a BPM you like and get a basic kick, snare / clap, and hi hat pattern written down.
Next, make an 808 and put one down every time the kick hits.
After you have your 808 pattern written out, come up with a melody or some chords to play on top of everything else. At this point, this are no rules. You can bass your melody off the timing of the 808s, or not. I encourage you to experiment.
Write A Melody First
Another approach is to write a melody first. Doesn’t matter how simple or complex it is, but if you're a beginner start with simple stuff and try not get frustrated that you're not writing some Beethoven-esque melodies from the get go.
Start with a super simple melody, something like one note every 1/4 bar.
This is what that sounds like:
https://clyp.it/wvsl4ruo
Then, what I like to do next is to start adding a little variation. This is actually an extremely useful concept when making music, often times people try to start with the most complex variation, which ends up causing frustration and wasted time. Start with the simplest possibly version, and slowly add complexity.
In this case, I just delayed the second note a little bit. Since this is just an example I kept it super simple but you can change as much as you’d like, but even still, just the slight variation adds a lot.
It now sounds like this:
https://clyp.it/prnz0zro
Next, load up an 808 and start playing around with different patterns based on the melody.
I played around for about 2 minutes and came up with this:
https://clyp.it/ibrugncp
One tip when doing the melody first method is set your grid to either 1/8 notes or 1/16 notes, write an 808 patterns on every 1/4 note, and then start to move something to the left or right by either 1/8 or 1/16 of a note.
This sounds simple (and it is), but it works really for adding in some variation and helps add some spice your 808 pattern.
Next, just for fun i added another piano layer. (same melody as the first one, without the delay on the second note and played 2x speed), and then added a clap and came up with this:
https://clyp.it/1babyz5e
Keep in mind, non of this is mixed or even EQ-ed. This is just an example of how quickly you can come up with stuff once you get the hang of these techniques.
Copy Other Peoples Beats!
Disclaimer: Im not telling you to copy someones beat and then release it as your own, I’m telling you copy beats for learning purposes so that way you can learn how to make your own beats faster.
This next trick probably helped me out the most in terms of helping me learn faster. All your going to do is get an mp3 file of a beat you like, drag it into DAW, get the BPM right and line it up on grid.
Make sure you check the songs BPM and match it.
Then, what your going to do, is copy the drum pattern. Put it on a loop and make your own drum pattern based off the one in the song, use your ears and your eyes. Look at the waveform and look for “transients”, or peaks in the waveform, for signs of when the drums hit if your having just using your ears.
After you copy down the drums, start to copy everything else you possibly can. Often times, they might use a sample or sound from a synthesizer that you don’t have, so focus on copying the structure, and not the exact sounds.
After a while of practicing this with many different beats, you will quickly start to pickup on certain patterns that a lot of producers use, and start to develop some patterns and habits of your own.
Once you have copied some beats and improved your skills that, start to copy beats but then change them up. Copy it to the best of your ability, and then use that as a skeleton map and start to change things around and experiment with different patterns and structures.
Submitted March 30, 2017 at 05:08PM by edmtuts-com https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/comments/62ggam/free_really_long_808_guide_covering_how_to_make/?utm_source=ifttt