

When you click PAT, you are playing the pattern you created, nothing else. To the left of the play button, you should see PAT and SONG. You can also change the tempo by hovering your mouse over the “140” tempo displayer, holding down the left mouse button and scrolling up to speed your tempo and scrolling down to slow it. Play back your sequence by pressing “Play” (or hitting the spacebar). You should see play, stop, and record buttons that look like this: If you want to hear how your beat sounds, go to the top toolbar. You can compose your beat how you want, but the below picture shows you the beat I made: This could be changed, but like drum sounds, we won’t discuss that in this tutorial. This is to stick to a 4/4 time signature. You should see a pattern on this sequencer. We will experiment with adding drum sounds, so you understand how to compose a basic drumbeat. We will not discuss that with this tutorial. The drum sounds in this sequencer were built in with FL Studio, but you can change them. In this sequencer, you have four basic sounds for drums: kick, clap, hat, and snare. On this screen, you should see the FL Studio Pattern Sequencer: Once you clicked that small icon, you should see this:

If you don’t have FL Studio, you can download a trial version here. If you already have FL Studio installed, click on the icon that looks like this: Step 1: Open FL Studio and Create a New Track

Today we’ll be covering the very basics of producing two different drum beats, and adding those beats to your track. In an ongoing series of tutorials we’ll be providing producers and artists with expert advice and tips on beat production, recording, mastering, and promotion. Creating a memorable drum pattern is the heart of any beat.
