BUILDING BEATS WORKSHOP LEADER, DJ & MUSIC PRODUCER MISHA “SILKY” SAVAGE WALKS US THROUGH CREATING A BOMBA ESTÉREO TYPE BEAT, USING THE FREE BROWSER-BASED MUSIC PRODUCTION PROGRAM SOUNDTRAP. YOU CAN ACCESS SOUNDTRAP ON YOUR LAPTOPS, PHONES, AND IPADS USING THE CHROME BROWSER.

By: Aaron Ziman

Bomba Estéreo is a Colombian band notorious for their complex rhythms, drawing on both traditional South American influences and modern Hip Hop, Electro and Reggaeton sounds.

Misha begins the tutorial indicating that Bomba Estéreo likes to use a variant of the Colombian nose flute in their music. However, because we don’t have that exact sound in Soundtrap, Misha uses the African Pan Flute to record his melody. This melody carries throughout the beat (though during the verse, he takes out the first 2 notes).

From here, he adds some effects to the melody by clicking the Flute icon under the ‘Show Instrument’ tab, then clicking the purple ‘Effects’ tab on the upper-right side of the piano roll. Misha adjusts the ‘Low Cut’ yellow filter tab to take out unnecessary low-frequencies & then adds some Reverb. He also adds a Sweep to the beginning of the track to give it some motion.

Next, Misha adds the Caribbean Sines synthesizer to the track while playing the chords of Dm9, Dm7, Dm9, and Bb maj 7. Misha also carries this synth pattern throughout the track, though after the breakdown of the verse he changes the pattern for melodic context.

Again, jumping back into effects, Misha adds a little bit of Reverb & Compression to give the synth that extra punchy sound. 

Now it’s time for drums! Misha creates a standard Reggaeton drum beat by adding a ‘4 on the floor’ beat, which is a bass drum hit on every beat (1,2,3,4) in 4/4 time. This pattern is capped with a ‘Kick’ on the ‘&4’ (see Fig.1 below) in the second bar.

Next he adds a snare pattern typical with Soca or Afro-Beats Tembo patterns, except the second half of the measure has the first snare hit on the ‘&’ rather than ‘e’, or on the eighth note rather than the sixteenth.

Fig.1

Rhythmic Counting Breakdown in 4/4 Time:

1,2,3,4

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

1,2,3,4 = Quarter Notes = 1/4  

& = Eighth Notes = 1/8

e,a = Sixteenth Notes = 1/16

***Each number, symbol or letter represents a piece of time in the rhythm or measure _________________________________________________________________________

Next, Misha adds percussion which he informs as critical for a Bomba Estéreo Type Beat. Misha begins with a Triangle to set off the track followed by a Shaker to fill the space of a Hi-Hat. On the second half of the recording, we have a Conga on the ‘&’ which is reminiscent of the Conga pattern found in Cumbia music.

From here, Misha highlights the Hi-Hats by bringing them into the second half of the song for some additional intensity. Misha then adds some Reverb to the track.

Next we have the Electro Bass. Similarly to the Hi-Hats, Misha brings the bass in around the middle of the song rather than the beginning to act as a ‘drop’ or sudden change in rhythm or bass-line. His chord pattern here mirrors that of the Caribbean Sines synth & the African Pan Flute from above. Misha then boosts the Low-End frequency in ‘Effects’ to give it that fat, sub-heavy sound.

The Silky Savage adds some flavor to the track by recording his own guitar playing into the DAW.  

Note: This (or dragging in your own guitar samples) will be necessary for a Bomba Estéreo Type Beat because of their use of heavy Treble(d) & Delay(ed) single note guitar in their music.    

He begins by alternating the sounds of ‘G’ & ‘F’ and then adds a chordal pattern with lots of Delay (as well as a Pan & Filter) as is consistent with the characteristics of Bomba Estéreo’s sound. Underneath this, Misha duplicates the recording and transposes it an octave down for extra width and heaviness in the final chorus.

While the elements are in place now, if you truly want to make a Bomba Estéreo Type Beat you have to listen to a lot of their music! You have to be mindful of the different patterns that are getting played. Their percussionist draws from traditional South American rhythms as well as more modern Hip-Hop and Reggaeton style beats, so it’s important to listen and absorb all of the elements and sounds present in their music.

And there you have it. All the parts for creating a Bomba Estéreo Type Beat in Soundtrap!

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