Producer Ben Lindell shows you how to produce a track with his midi controller and the built in Pro Tools virtual instruments (Boom, Mini Grand, Xpand & Vacuum)
He starts with a simple piano idea and adds drum machines, bass synths, pads and a solid 8 bar groove that’s ready to be arranged into a full song.
He also explains how he uses mixing techniques early in the production stage to shape and build tracks together.
Learn how to:
Work with MIDI in Pro Tools (don’t listen to the Logic-heads, Pro Tools has equally great MIDI everything)
Record, edit and quantize while maintaining a natural human feel
Mix as you produce
Navigate presets and then tweak to taste
Head-bop like a pro
Plugins used:
Avid Mini Grand, Boom, Xpand, Vacuum, AIR Vintage Filter
Learn more about Ben Lindell here or follow him on Twitter
00:00:08 Hey, how's it going?
I'm Ben Lindell
today I'm gonna be taking you through
the making of a hip-hop/RnB track.
00:00:13 I came into the studio today
with a piano idea already,
so actually I'll get that
down in Pro Tools
I'm gonna start layering drums, bass,
pads, etc using just Pro Tools plugins,
and my MIDI keyboard,
so let's get started.
00:00:26 I'll show you my piano idea,
let me pull off my Mini Grand plugin.
00:00:32 And let's hear how that sounds.
00:00:57 First, I need to find the tempo
for my track;
so to do that, I'm gonna turn off
the conductor track,
and tap my tempo in.
I'm gonna click on the tempo,
and then press T on my keyboard,
and tap in the tempo.
00:01:11 So let's see.
00:01:17 Yeah, 93, sounds about right.
00:01:20 So next I need to create a Click track;
to do that, I'm gonna go to track,
create Click track.
00:01:27 Now I'm ready to record in my idea.
00:01:56 First, I'm gonna quantize this.
00:01:58 I'm gonna select the region,
then press Options+0 on the number pad,
and then under the quantize grid,
I'm actually gonna select 8th note,
'cause I didn't play anything more than an 8th note on this one,
and press apply.
00:02:12 There you can see the MIDI data,
they just moved slightly right on the grid,
so I'm gonna close that up.
00:02:19 I'm gonna trim my regions by using
A to trim the beginning,
and S to trim the end,
then I'm gonna double click
on my regions,
so I can change some of
these velocities.
00:02:30 Let's listen to it and see
what it sounds like first.
00:02:41 You hear that one? It was a little too soft;
so I'm gonna select those notes,
and then come down here and just drag
the velocities up a little bit higher.
00:02:50 Let's see what that sounds like.
00:03:00 That's close but now that one
is definitely too loud. Here we go.
00:03:04 The thing I'm hearing is that velocity
sustain pedal information
on that first note.
00:03:09 So to get that back,
I'm gonna come down to these lanes,
add a lane,
and select sustain,
and there you can see all my sustain pedal information,
and right here there's nothing.
00:03:22 So to fix that, I'm gonna add a
data point right after the downbeat,
and then lift that up, now I have
sustain. Let's check that out.
00:03:52 Cool, last thing I just wanna make
this chord a little bit stronger,
and I'm pretty happy with this.
00:04:02 So now I need to build
the rhythmic foundation for my track.
00:04:05 To do that, I'm gonna open up Boom
and find my Kick & Snare sounds.
00:04:14 Now I just need to find my Kick & Snare
sounds that I wanna use,
let's try these out.
00:04:19 Nope, that's not it.
00:04:23 Nope, still not it.
00:04:27 Kinda like that kick, but definitely
not that snare.
00:04:32 And that's the opposite,
I like that snare,
but not so much that kick.
00:04:35 So what I can do is I can actually
go back one more preset.
00:04:38 That was Urban 2, just for the kick,
but keep the other snare sound.
00:04:44 Alright, that's pretty good.
00:04:45 We'll just shorten
the decay a little bit,
just wanna make my kick a little bit shorter,
a little bit punchier sounding.
00:04:51 Sounds pretty cool;
now I need to record this in
and build up my rhythm track.
00:05:22 I didn't really like that take,
but there are a couple of cool ideas,
I think I need to come up with a simpler
pattern that's a little more consistent,
a little groovier.
Let's get that.
00:05:57 I like that one better,
let me quantize that
and see how it fits with the piano.
00:06:02 To do that, I'm gonna select the region,
press Options+0 on the keypad,
I definitely have some 16th notes
in there,
so I need to change my quantize grid.
00:06:11 Now I could use the 16th note grid.
00:06:14 What I actually prefer to do most times,
especially making hip-hop & RnB tracks,
is to use the MPC Style Grooves.
00:06:21 And even if I wanna be
pretty much straight,
still using 51% or 52% swing
to add an extra feel to my drum tracks.
00:06:29 Press apply. All the notes just moved
a little bit, just to give that feel.
00:06:36 Now let's listen to it to see
how it sounds.
00:07:00 There we go, I'm pretty happy with
that. So let me just trim my regions,
pressing A at the beginning, S at the end,
and close out my quantize window.
00:07:10 I need to add some hi-hats to it
to really get the groove going.
00:07:12 I need to create a new MIDI track,
send the Output to control my
boom instrument.
00:07:24 So that's working,
here we go.
00:07:52 Ok, so I'm happy with the pattern
that I played on my hi-hats,
I just wanna quantize them, just to
lock them into my groove.
00:07:58 So to do that, Options+0
to bring out my quantize window.
00:08:02 For the groove, I'm just gonna add a
bit more swing to them,
try like 54%.
00:08:07 Apply, and let's take a listen.
00:08:30 Cool, that worked well.
00:08:32 As you may have noticed, I'm kinda doing
the same things over and over again;
that's my workflow, I like to record in
the part using MIDI keyboard,
and then inside Pro Tools,
quantising,
and editing the note velocities,
sustain, etc.., just tightening up my performance.
00:08:46 It's worth knowing that quantising
isn't necessarily a rule.
00:08:49 Now for this track,
I'm using quantisation to lock together
my groove and make it super tight,
but still with a little bit of
groove to it.
00:08:56 Sometimes you'll find that
it just feels right,
and if you quantize it, it may
actually take that feel away.
00:09:02 That's why you just have to listen
and use your best judgement.
00:09:05 Moving forward, I'm gonna focus
a bit more
on the creative aspect of adding layers to my track,
I'm gonna show you some new sounds,
effects and some cool stuff.
00:09:13 So let's keep going.
00:09:15 I'm gonna start adding some textures to my track;
I'm gonna start looking for a pad.
00:09:20 Let me open up Xpand.
00:09:28 Let's go preview the huge pad folder,
see what we can find.
00:09:37 It's alright.
00:09:40 No, no, not it.
00:09:45 Nope.
00:09:48 How does that sound like?
That's not too bad.
00:09:53 Maybe if I just take some of the
release off,
so it's not quite as long at the end.
00:10:02 That could work. Let me play with track
and see how it sounds.
00:10:35 That sounds good, adds texture to the track,
but it's a bit long and languid
sounding,
I'm gonna add some more
emotion to it,
to add some hype and keep it up
with the track,
I actually know a great plugin for that,
it's called Vintage Filter,
let's open that up and I'll show you
how to add emotion to a pad.
00:10:55 Ok so, off the bat,
it's just a filter,
but if I turn the LFO on,
bring the depth up,
set the rate to 8th notes,
and take the resonance down
just a little bit,
now it's gonna add some emotion
and activity to my pad.
00:11:16 Kinda gets your head bobbing
a little bit.
00:11:19 So let me try to play that part
again, but with the filter on.
00:11:48 Definitely more the sound
I was looking for,
adds a bit of emotion to it,
and it's not just this long drawn out
pad anymore.
00:11:56 So now I'm gonna anticipate
a little bit,
I know that when I'll mix this track,
I'm gonna want this further
in the background,
so I'm gonna add a Plate Reverb to it,
just to set it backwards in the mix.
00:12:08 I'm just gonna use the stock
D-verb plugin from Pro Tools,
I'm gonna set the input to 0,
bring the mix down to maybe 50%,
go with like Medium Plate,
roll the high frequencies down
a little bit.
00:12:21 Let's see how this sounds,
it should set the plate in the back
which is what I'm looking for.
00:12:31 So I really like how the reverb sets
the pads at the back of the room,
and it's gonna leave me lots of room
upfront to add more layers.
00:12:37 So let's move on and add a bass,
to do that, I'm gonna open up
Xpand again,
let's just go searching through
the synth bass folder.
00:12:55 It's not too bad.
00:12:59 Let's try this one out.
00:13:06 I think this sound will be cool
in the track, so let's play it down.
00:13:37 Alright, cool, let me just
quantize that.
00:13:45 Now let's hear that back.
00:14:09 I like when the sound kinda jumps
from place to place,
I got a cool idea I can layer on top
of that using the same sound.
00:14:17 to do that, I'm gonna add
another MIDI track,
send it to Xpand,
which is number 2.
00:14:30 Let me try recording something.
00:14:57 That's pretty cool,
except maybe for the end,
but the rest of it it's pretty sweet.
00:15:01 So I'm gonna quantize that
and hear how it sounds.
00:15:04 I'm gonna chop off the end
because that wasn't good.
00:15:07 Let's listen to it.
00:15:30 Great, let me just fix up a
couple of notes inside that.
00:15:45 here's that.
00:15:50 There we go.
00:15:52 I like that sound but
I'm not so sure it's a bass anymore,
seems more like a low-lead line,
which is still really cool,
but I meant to get a bass out of it.
00:16:00 I think I'm gonna use the EQ to get rid of all the low tones out of it,
and then layer an actual bass
underneath it.
00:16:08 So I'm just gonna pull up
a one band eq,
set it to the hi-pass filter,
set the frequency around 200 Hz,
let's see how that sounds.
00:16:35 Alright, that sounds pretty cool.
00:16:37 So I'm gonna open up Vacuum,
and create a bass synth;
hopefully it will actually turn
out to be a real bass sound.
00:16:47 Let's go browsing through
the presets here.
00:16:51 We'll start here and see
what this sounds like.
00:16:55 Mmm, nope.
00:16:59 It's okay.
00:17:01 Not that nasty.
00:17:03 No.
00:17:05 Nope.
00:17:06 Nope.
00:17:08 Definitely not that sound.
00:17:12 Nope, not how I need it.
00:17:16 That's bassy.
00:17:21 There we go, that's some fun
bottom end.
00:17:23 Let me lay down the track with it
and see what it sounds like.
00:17:52 I played essentially the same part,
just with a fatter, more bassy sound;
so I'm gonna turn that down
a little bit,
Kinda put it up underneath
the other bass sound,
and they should work
really well together.
00:18:03 I feel like the track needs
more emotion,
a little more brightness to it,
so I think I'm gonna add some
more hi-hats.
00:18:09 Boom only has a few Hi-Hat
sounds in it,
but it's actually a great sound,
and Xpand has a whole bunch of
different Hi-hat sounds,
so let's open that up.
00:18:21 Alright, click here,
and go down to drums.
00:18:26 It's like the hi-hat menu x2+,
let's see what this has.
00:18:35 That's a bunch of different
hi-hat sounds,
now I need to find a few of them,
and kinda make a groove out of it.
00:18:56 I think I found a few I'll mess with,
let's try some stuff out.
00:19:27 Let's quantize that
and take a listen.
00:19:52 So, if you're like we have a good
foundation for the track,
the chords, drums, bass, a bit of
texture and some groove happening,
but this is still just
an 8th bar loop.
00:20:01 Next time we'll go on arranging,
adding layers,
creating some variety and spice,
and really try to transform this
into a full song.
00:20:09 So, till next time!
Once logged in, you will be able to read all the transcripts jump around in the video.
Ben is a NYC based producer/engineer who has worked with artists from MGMT to Soulja Boy, Bebel Giberto to Lloyd Banks, Ryan Leslie, Olivia, Tony Yayo, Red Cafe, Edie Brickell, Carole Pope and hundreds of other artists from around the world. He grew up in Iowa and then attended the University of Miami.
In addition to being a fantastic musician he is also a tremendous geek when it comes to anything technical, be it software, plug-ins, microphones or outboard gear. It's this marriage of musical creativity and technical know-how that makes him an in demand producer/engineer.
Ben is also the Director of Marketing at pureMix.net, feel free to reach out to him directly, ben@puremix.net
Now where is part 2? I want some of that arranging and re-arranging knowledge!
Afum koranteng
2017 Mar 14
Nice video Ben need part 2
Daypas137
2016 May 28
Also why not show how to setup a proper send and return reverb, so you can send multiple tracks to the plate?
Daypas137
2016 May 28
As a mix Engineer for over 15 years, please please tell people to label there tracks before hitting record!.
marlsongibbs
2015 Oct 13
where is part two? Need completion Ben.
isreal95
2015 Jun 23
Nice video. Serves it's purpose -- demonstrating Pro Tools' midi capabilities. I just wish you'd shown some of the samplers' functions.
thomasweigl
2014 Jul 28
@benlindell: thanks ben, but my version ProTools 11 shows only the standard ones, the Groove Clipboard below is empty, saying "no groove templates found)...
benlindell
2014 Jul 28
@thomasweigl it's built into Pro Tools Event Quantization, you just need to select MPC Style Grooves from below the standard Quantize Grid values.
thomasweigl
2014 Jul 25
How to get the MPC na dither grove templates you show in your video Event Operation/ Quantize?
ShineOnStudio
2014 Apr 11
Great video, Ben. I'd like to see how you develop this groove. Would you consider using a delay on the snare at the end of the loop? What about some panning or stereo modulation to create movement within the different parts? Really looking forward to your next video.
AdRi__Forn
2014 Mar 19
Swing!!! Thanks 4 the tricks Ben!
trofy
2013 Apr 08
Please leave a comment about the video. For personal inquiry and private counseling please post a message on the forum.
davidcurry
2012 Nov 25
Very cool, Ben. Inspiring to watch you work so quickly and efficiently (with sounds, effects and shortcuts) and remain creative. Thanks.
5Lives
2012 Sep 20
Cool video! Great to see this new area - looking forward to the future videos on it and more advanced topics. Would love to see different genres as well (like country or pop)!
Sofine
2012 Sep 18
Good video. Looking forward to the next one, particularly to see how this idea gets fleshed out into a full arrangement.
Thanks Ben and Fab.
Tin0
2012 Sep 14
Yes, that is a great video!
When is the next one due? :)
wfgiles
2012 Sep 12
Great video.
A nice easy demo of a process for building a beat.
