How to Make Burial Style Beats (Computer Music Guide)

[wirez]

If someone can make dope ass tracks that sound like burial's tracks, fuck if I care. I'm satisfied with dope ass tracks.

Reading the amount of people on this forum who bitch about people copying Burial, I was thinking exactly the same as you... In my opinion Burial doesn't put enough new content out quickly enough, so the more people who make well produced music who completely rip off his style, the better... Gives me some decent music to listen to, Burial or not...

It's funny, it's all producers complaining about it. They have the ability and skills to produce whatever they want... So why complain about what other producers are doing? If you want 'something done right', everybody knows what you do... Lol. If people aren't going to make it anywhere because they're too busy copying somebody else, so be it... The moaners are too busy moaning about those people copying other producers that it's starting to look like they won't make it anywhere because they're too busy moaning, no time for tunes...

Just thought I'd add my two pennies regarding that

[wirez]

/thread

Make your own fucking thread if you want to attempt to end it you gimp. Lol.

[mico viejo]

the "nothing new under the sun" argument is a cop out. burial nicks bits and pieces but on a whole, the sound is new, if familiar.

there's a big difference between inspiration and copycats blatantly attempting at being something they are not
/thread

yeah, this.

i been keeping quite for a bit as i watched how this thread develops. and in a way i couldnt really care less what other ppl r doing. its fine. but this is basically what i been thinkign all along.

yeah, of course music is always a mish mash of whats gone b4. but its taken and mixed up, put in a new context, with sounds it never belonged with b4. and in a way u can get away with ripping stuff off if its old, forgotten, or was too obscure to ever really be known in the first place. burial resurected some old sounds, mixed them with other sounds they'd never been heard with before, and added somethign of himself.

and it was obviously somethign fresh and new or it wouldnt have got the reception it did.

but I'm sorry to say that (from what i can gather) most of the ppl on here r copying the whole burial formula, and injecting nothign new into it.

ripping off stuff that just came out is not "resurrecting".

and no, burial didnt invent the 2 step riddem, but the "2-steppy" stuf i hear now doesnt sound anythign like old 2 step, it sounds like it was made by ppl who have never heard real 2step, only burial.

yeah, put rain on yr beats if u want (i still think its copying...like r u really gonna suggest that rain was a common production technique before burial?) but please at least dont put it behind 2 step beats. steal one element if u must, but mix it with stuff u stole from soemone else too.

i linked combat recordings b4 bcos theres a guy on there called point b or somthign that does post-2step stuff, that has nothign at all in common with burial.

anyway, its your productions, not mine...do what u want. as im sure u wld anyway...

[cloak and dagger]

I don't get what's so bad about it. It wasn't useful to me, but might be to beginners who didn't know how Burial was making his beats. So apart from the regular armchair producer elitism, what's so terrible about it?

That's a big hurdle.

(one I haven't conquered myself yet)



I agree with everything slothrop's bringing to this thread by the way...I feel like people shouldn't shit on other producers trying to learn a specific technique based on someone else's, especially since you never know what their finished product is going to sound like. If their finished tune sounds like a ripoff, THEN you can lay into them. But I feel like a lot of my tunes come from me listening to other electronic music, hearing a technique that I can't do and then immediately wanting to figure out how to do it...not so I can make a track that sounds exactly like it, but so I can become a better producer, learn something new, and maybe incorporate it into a different context.

Now I guess I'm knowledgeable enough that you won't see me making threads like "how do I make those Drexciya pads?" or whatever, but I don't see anything wrong with them. And you know what? I read them, too, because I really enjoy learning how other people produce music and love the fact that there's 1000 means to the same end.

[mico viejo]

The moaners are too busy moaning about those people copying other producers that it's starting to look like they won't make it anywhere because they're too busy moaning, no time for tunes...

this is just a music forum cliche. it takes 2 minutes to post a decent moan

still, like u say, not really anyone elses business if ppl want to copy.

tbh, its the tolerance of, and demand for, unoriginal music "as long as it sounds like *insert favourite artist*" that really depresses me.

[hurlingdervish]

this is just a music forum cliche. it takes 2 minutes to post a decent moan

"yea man I almost had a release but then I had to bitch on the internet"

[wirez]

this is just a music forum cliche. it takes 2 minutes to post a decent moan

"yea man I almost had a release but then I had to bitch on the internet"

Haha, still two minutes is enough time to configure a nice reverb... Or find and detune a nice set of waves... It's all time that could be spent on music, 2 minutes or not Still, I love the hypocriticism

[wirez]

The moaners are too busy moaning about those people copying other producers that it's starting to look like they won't make it anywhere because they're too busy moaning, no time for tunes...

this is just a music forum cliche. it takes 2 minutes to post a decent moan

still, like u say, not really anyone elses business if ppl want to copy.

tbh, its the tolerance of, and demand for, unoriginal music "as long as it sounds like *insert favourite artist*" that really depresses me.

People discourage change, they get used to things and don't like it messed with.

[hurlingdervish]

this is just a music forum cliche. it takes 2 minutes to post a decent moan

"yea man I almost had a release but then I had to bitch on the internet"

Haha, still two minutes is enough time to configure a nice reverb... Or find and detune a nice set of waves... It's all time that could be spent on music, 2 minutes or not Still, I love the hypocriticism

EDIT: I almost defended myself here, then I realized I have absolutely no reason to.

[r]

the funniest thing of all is that the beats aren't the hardest thing to make as in burial's kinda tunes. it's the atmosphere and use of space that's killing. Melodies, stabs and filtered sounds.... Guitars, marimba's, violins. To fuse these elements in his kinda way is the element of the darkside.

[Genevieve]

o.o People should make the music that comes out of their fingers, what they feel like doing and if other people don't like it, they shouldn't listen to it.

But personally, I'd rather listen to Burial than the worse version of Burial. o.o

[slothrop]

I feel like people shouldn't shit on other producers trying to learn a specific technique based on someone else's, especially since you never know what their finished product is going to sound like. If their finished tune sounds like a ripoff, THEN you can lay into them.

I guess it's kind of an effect of the whole internet thing - that in the old days a band could work through their days of learning their chops by knocking off their heroes while playing third support slots at the Calf and Khazi in Bedford and wouldn't actually hit the public consciousness until they started coming up with something distinctive, whereas now as soon as they can string together three minutes of noises that don't sound like someone putting a drum machine in a biscuit tin and shaking it (and sometimes sooner) they stick it on Myspace and start spamming forums...

[hurlingdervish]

I feel like people shouldn't shit on other producers trying to learn a specific technique based on someone else's, especially since you never know what their finished product is going to sound like. If their finished tune sounds like a ripoff, THEN you can lay into them.

I guess it's kind of an effect of the whole internet thing - that in the old days a band could work through their days of learning their chops by knocking off their heroes while playing third support slots at the Calf and Khazi in Bedford and wouldn't actually hit the public consciousness until they started coming up with something distinctive, whereas now as soon as they can string together three minutes of noises that don't sound like someone putting a drum machine in a biscuit tin and shaking it (and sometimes sooner) they stick it on Myspace and start spamming forums...

fuck sometimes you say just what im thinking but in a completely different way

this is really only an "issue" because people are producing alone majority of the time

in a band where each person idolizes a certain sound and artist the meshing of all those ideas creates their sound, even if each member would be happy in a led zeppelin cover band or whatever else they are into...

no one is shitting on tunes btw, especially not someone who is new at the game. its an interesting topic to discuss, i dont know why people get so uncomfortable about it ...not just here either, anytime the subject of copying is brought up people act like its taboo or not needed to be discussed.

[cloak and dagger]

no one is shitting on tunes btw, especially not someone who is new at the game. its an interesting topic to discuss, i dont know why people get so uncomfortable about it ...not just here either, anytime the subject of copying is brought up people act like its taboo or not needed to be discussed.

Nah I wasn't referring to this thread, just the general attitude that at least ONE person is guaranteed to post in every "how do I make ______?" thread...nobody's shitting on anybody in this thread because nobody asked for a Burial tutorial, it was provided

[JFK]

That Burial tutorial made me chuckle.........

That beat at the end is the worst type of gash.

[cartoon_head]

Using things like samples of rain is a good tip though. Adds a lot of interest to a track.

No. It added interest to Burial's tracks. To your tracks it will only add accusations of copying Burial.

Tbh, i don't really rate Burial that highly. Certainly not enough to have any desire to copy him, but obscure samples like rain and what have you have been used in tracks for a long time. The only people that will throw about accusations are the same people who, while everyone else is dancing away in a club, will refuse to dance to a tune opting instead to stand still talking to the person next to them about how the tune uses Massives brutal electro patch or whatever the fuck you people are moaning about these days.

[mico viejo]

The only people that will throw about accusations are the same people who, while everyone else is dancing away in a club, will refuse to dance to a tune opting instead to stand still talking to the person next to them about how the tune uses Massives brutal electro patch or whatever the fuck you people are moaning about these days.

these people are called "music journalists", and they will make or break your career.

[86.]

Tbh, i don't really rate Burial that highly. Certainly not enough to have any desire to copy him, but obscure samples like rain and what have you have been used in tracks for a long time. The only people that will throw about accusations are the same people who, while everyone else is dancing away in a club, will refuse to dance to a tune opting instead to stand still talking to the person next to them about how the tune uses Massives brutal electro patch or whatever the fuck you people are moaning about these days.

True enough. Before I was even into dubstep I recall using shit like fire samples, etc.

I have not much more to add to all that's been said.

But as for the mid-range wobble thing, only reason I think people aren't accused of being Vex'd/Coki clones is based on the amount of them sorts of producers. At this point, it's beyond trying to shut down those particular imitators. It's too late.

perhaps in 5 years trying to call people "Burial imitators" will be redundant...perhaps the "Burial aesthetic" will be more common.

[hurlingdervish]

Using things like samples of rain is a good tip though. Adds a lot of interest to a track.

No. It added interest to Burial's tracks. To your tracks it will only add accusations of copying Burial.

Tbh, i don't really rate Burial that highly. Certainly not enough to have any desire to copy him, but obscure samples like rain and what have you have been used in tracks for a long time. The only people that will throw about accusations are the same people who, while everyone else is dancing away in a club, will refuse to dance to a tune opting instead to stand still talking to the person next to them about how the tune uses Massives brutal electro patch or whatever the fuck you people are moaning about these days.

are we in a club? you're the one whining here
music forum discusses music...imitation is a part of the game, if you don't want to discuss it....don't

[contakt321]

I need a refill

Who would have though me answering a question that's been asked on this forum at least 10+ times would yield this kind of drama.

Carry on!