How do I use the Beat Maker in the Booth?

The Beat Maker lives inside the Booth. It lets you build a drum pattern or a melody on a simple grid, hear it loop, and drop it onto your song as a new track. You don’t need any music software or experience.

Want a hands-on walkthrough? The first time you open the Beat Maker, a How it works box appears; press Show me how to be guided through your first beat one step at a time. To bring the box back later, press the ? (How it works) button next to Play loop.

Opening the Beat Maker

1. Go to Creator Studio → Create Track (/creator/booth) and open a session, or start a new one.
2. Press Beat maker in the toolbar, or Make a beat if the session is empty.

If you don’t see Beat maker, it’s switched off on the site for now. You can still import beats and record.

Reading the grid

• Each row is one sound. In Drums mode the rows are the drums in your kit (kick, snare, hi-hat and so on). In Keys mode they’re notes of the scale you picked. Tap a row’s name to hear it.
• Each column is a step in time (a 16th note). The grid plays from left to right, then loops.
• Every 4 squares make one beat, and the numbers above the grid count the beats (1 to 4, or 1.1 to 2.4 for two bars). The shading alternates every beat so you can keep your place.
• 16 squares make one bar. Choose 2 bars under Length for a longer pattern.

Tap a square to turn a sound on at that moment. Tap it again to turn it off. While the loop plays, a highlight moves across the grid so you can see where you are.

Your first drum beat

1. Kick on beats 1 and 3: the first square of beat 1 and the first square of beat 3.
2. Snare on beats 2 and 4: the first square of beat 2 and the first square of beat 4.
3. Hi-hat on every other square (1st, 3rd, 5th…) for a steady eighth-note pulse.
4. Press Play loop. You can keep changing squares while it plays.

In a hurry? Pick a starter under Pattern (Boom bap, Trap or Four on the floor) and change it from there.

The controls

• Drums / Keys: switch between drum patterns and melodies. Each mode keeps its own grid.
• BPM: the speed (60 to 200). It’s shared with your session, so your pattern always matches your song’s tempo.
• Kit (Drums): the set of drum sounds. Kits with a lock are part of a higher plan.
• Sound, Key, Scale and Octave (Keys): the instrument and which notes the rows play. Every row stays in the key and scale you pick, so it’s hard to hit a wrong note.
• Swing: plays the in-between steps a little late for a looser, more laid-back feel. Around 20% is a good place to start.
• Volume: how loud the pattern is when it’s added to your song. You can change it later in the track’s settings.
• Repeat: how many times the pattern repeats when it’s added to your song (1×, 2×, 4× or 8×).
• Clear: empties the grid. You’re asked to confirm first.

Adding it to your song

Press Add to song (the button shows how many seconds it will add). The Beat Maker records your pattern, repeated as many times as you chose, and places it on the timeline as a new track: at the playhead, or at the start if the session has no tracks yet. From there you can move it, trim it, copy it, change its volume, or record vocals over it.

Adding a pattern uses one of your session’s tracks. The track counter in the Booth toolbar (for example 2/4 tracks) shows how many you’ve used out of what your plan allows. If the session is full, Add to song is turned off until you delete a track or upgrade. Your pattern is saved with the session either way.

Tips

• Build a short loop first, then use Repeat or copy the track on the timeline to make it longer.
• Make the drums in Drums mode and add them, then switch to Keys and add a melody as a second track.
• When your song is done, press Render to mix it down and save it to your Vault, ready to release. See How do I make a song in the Booth?

Troubleshooting

• “Couldn’t load these sounds.” Pick another kit or try again later.
• “That kit is part of … and up.” The kit or sound is locked on your plan. Pick an unlocked one or upgrade.