BUILDING BEATS WORKSHOP LEADER & MUSIC PRODUCER VAUGHN LEVI HAS SOME TIPS ON HOW TO CREATE A LO-FI 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: Rebecca Miller aka DJ REBEXX

In this video tutorial, Vaughn Levi shows us how to make a Lo-Fi type beat in Soundtrap using a free resource called Chord Player.

Let’s do it!

We’ll start off by looking at Chord Player. On the top left you have controls for volume, instrument, style (chords and basslines), and scale (major or minor scales).

Vaughn Levi starts off with a basic D major chord and selects Dmaj7, F#m7, Gmaj7 and Em7 as the chord progression. He plays some notes to see how it sounds.

Once you listen to it and like how it sounds, you can export to a MIDI file. Vaughn Levi decides to export the MIDI files for both the bass and chords. Once saved, you can drag and drop the MIDI file into Soundtrap and then audition Soundtrap’s instruments with the MIDI notes.

Here is a preview of Vaughn Levi’s beat in Soundtrap. There is an intro, a hook, a verse and then another hook.

Here is a breakdown of what’s in the beat:

1. Piano chords and bassline, which originated in Chord Player

2. Kick, snare, hi-hat and shaker as percussive elements, all made within Soundtrap

3. A guitar lead at the end, also created within Soundtrap

Vaughn Levi starts this beat by taking the MIDI file from Chord Player and dragging it into an empty track in Soundtrap with the Lo-Fi Upright Piano instrument selected. He then adds Vibrato, Reverb and Delay effects to give it that Lo-Fi sound.

Next up is the bassline. Similarly, he takes the bassline MIDI file created in Chord Player and drags into an empty track in Soundtrap with the Bone Bass electric bass instrument selected. Vaughn Levi picks Bone Bass because it has a jazzy tone.

Now it’s time to make Lo-Fi drums. 

Go into the drum track in Patterns Beatmaker and select Drums—>Machines—>Racoons. Raccoons already has that Lo-Fi sound.

Keep the Kick “lazy” by playing it once every other 4 beats. 

Then add a Snare to come right after the kick drum. Add Hi-hats to feel “lazy” like the kick. You don’t want to quantize it or keep it on the beat grid so that it has a feeling of being played live. 

Next, add a Shaker in-between hi-hats to give it that open-hat sound that holds the space and the rhythm for the entire drum track.

To finish it up and add a hook, Vaughn Levi adds a guitar lead using the Mountain Top Lead II to play notes using Soundtrap’s built-in keyboard.

And there you have it! That is how you make a Lo-Fi beat in Soundtrap using imported MIDI melodies from the free resource Chord Player.

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