Hey it's Slick, lead producer for SFR Beats! First off, thanks for get beats from our team, we're excited to help you with your creative projects! Here I will walk you through how to get started making songs with SFR Beats. I'll be covering the basics so this is great for beginners! I'm excited!
Got Garage Band? Check out this tutorial here: https://soforeal.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360052157173
1) From your computer or laptop browser, go to your orders page https://sfrbeats.com/orders and find the order with your beats you want to work on. Click on the order.
2) Click on either your MP3 or WAV download button. This downloads it to your computer, usually in your "Downloads" folder. The WAV download requires your system to be able to use "24-bit" audio. See your device manual to check compatibility of your "sound card" or "audio device".
3) Open your recording software, also known as "DAW" (Digital Audio Workstation). For Apple users, your device usually comes with a program called "Garage Band".. you can open that up. For Windows / PC, we recommend using "Studio One".. they have a demo version you can download for free - https://www.presonus.com/products/studio-one/get-studio-one - I highly recommend reading the manual to whatever software you work with, over just looking up how to use it on YouTube. The manual will be perfect, whereas YouTube videos will be mixed with "opinions".
4) Now create a new project in your software. Name it if you need to.
5) Set the tempo / BPM of your project to the same BPM as the beat you want to work on. The tempo is given next to each beat from your orders page.
6) Set your audio timeline to display "measures" instead of "seconds / minutes" . This will help tremendously when you start recording... I'll explain later.
7) "Drag and Drop" the MP3/WAV you downloaded to your computer into your DAW. You may have to add the beat to your project by clicking something like "Import Audio" from the menu.
8) Be sure you have the file starting at "zero" on your audio timeline. If the tempo is set right, you should see the "peaks" of the wavs line up to the "1's" of your measures or timeline (if your software is set to show "measures" instead of "seconds / minutes")
9) Lower the volume of the track the beat is on by like 10 dBs. That will give you good headroom to record on top of without possibly causing your audio to distort later on.
10) Pull up another audio track.. mono or stereo is fine for now, and set your audio track to record the input of your mic. See your software's instruction manual for help configuring this area.. but usually you just select "mic input" where your input section is on the track.
11) Hit "SAVE". Get used to hitting SAVE multiple times while working... just in case (computers love crashing for some reason)... we don't want you to lose your work!
12) Now... if you haven't written anything, go write!
13) Once you have something ready to record, "arm" your microphone track, and hit record!
14) A note on song structure - A straightforward basic song structure has the following parts:
Intro
Verse 1
Hook
Verse 2
Hook
Bridge
Hook
Outro
Your song could come in with the hook and then verse 1... it doesn't really matter as long as it "feels" right to you! So you could record a hook, then "copy and paste" it to the next part where you want your hook, by simply lining it up using the measures in your audio timeline. That's why you want to have your audio timeline set to "measures" and not "seconds:minues". I teach more advanced techniques in our Music Help blog here https://sfrbeats.com/music-help?tag=recording
15) Once you're done recording, adjust the volumes of your vocals to sit just above the level of your beat. Keep an eye on your "master volume fader" and make sure it doesn't clip (go above 0). If it goes above just a bit, it's not much of a big deal.. just listen and decide for yourself if it's distorting too much to your taste. FYI we do have Grammy-winning mix engineers available to mix your songs if you want to go that route.. details here - https://sfrbeats.com/mixing-mastering
16) Once you have your vocals at the volume you want it at, "export" or "bounce" your song from the menu of your DAW.
So there you go! Congrats, you've just recorded a song with SFR Beats! Your license agreement allows you to publish and upload your song anywhere you want, and you're free to monetize it forever and keep 100% of all royalties you can earn!
Recording can seem a bit overwhelming at first, but don't worry, the more you do it, the better you get. In the meanwhile, we'll keep supplying the highest quality tracks we can to keep you inspired and creating! Happy Recording!
Slick
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