3 Must-Have Effects Plugins for Beat Producers

Making unique beats is a whole lot easier when you have good effects plugins at your disposal. They can help spice up your drums, add variation to your melodies, and even give you new ideas that you would have never thought of without being able to turn a few effect knobs. Here are three must-have effects plugins for any beat producer.

Half-Time

Although it is similar to and has overall fewer functions than Gross Beat, the paid stock FL Studio plugin, Half-Time allows for more streamlined and easy to use effects. Half-Time allows the user to slow down melodies by different looping speeds with useful settings that can change the smoothness and frequency of the affected sound. Playing around with this plugin can lead to some unique sounding melodies.

For only $12, this plugin is quite the steal. Learn more about it by clicking here.

RC-20 Retro Color

If you are looking to make your melodies sound more like they were recorded with actual instruments, you may want to acquire a vinyl effects plugin. RC-20 Retro Color allows you to apply a large variety of vinyl effects, such as crackling, wobble, and distortion, among others. It also comes with presets that have different themes so that you can instantly apply an array of effects onto your sounds (which can also be tweaked to your liking).

RC-20 Retro Color is currently $99.95 - to learn more about it, click here.

Valhalla Vintage Verb

Valhalla Vintage Verb is a reverb plugin that allows for stronger, more deep reverb effects. Although FL Studio and most other DAWs come with their own stock reverb plugins, they are more limited in their functionality. Valhalla Vintage Verb allows for much greater customization and comes with many tweakable presets that are designed specifically for different feels. This plugin is also great for melodies made from one-shot sounds as it makes them sound less dry.

For $50, you could have a whole different world of reverb effects at your fingertips. Learn more by clicking here.

3 808 Mistakes to Avoid in FL Studio

Properly using 808s is a struggle for many newer producers, and it takes a while for many of them to learn how to get better at using them. This guide aims to eliminate some common mistakes that cause 808s in producers' beats sound subpar.

808 is Out of Tune

Since most sounds are tuned to C, they usually don't need adjusting. However, 808 samples are sometimes tuned to a different note. Sometimes, the difference is so subtle that some producers don't even notice. A good way to check is to place the 808 onto the root note of the melody, and pitch it up a few octaves to be able to hear it better. Since the 808 is the bass, it becomes harder to notice that it is out of tune when it is placed on the lower octave where 808s are usually placed.

If the 808 sounds out of tune, right click it, and click on "Edit in audio editor," then right click the sample that is now open in Edison, hover over "Regions" and select "Detect pitch regions." This will display the note that the sample is tuned to. Now, go back to the sample window, and click the wrench icon at the top left, and select the note that was detected in Edison on the piano roll. The 808 should now be tuned to C.

For more screenshots of the process, check out this page.

808 Sounds Drowned Out

Another common struggle for newer producer is getting their 808s to stand out in the mix. Since the 808 is supposed to be at a very low frequency, it can often get buried beneath the the other sounds. Although we don't want it to overpower the other sounds in the beat, the 808 should have a good presence in the mix. The issue often comes down to not cutting enough low frequency out of the melody or just outright making the 808 too quiet.

To EQ the melody, add a visual EQ tool to the mixer track where the melody is (Fruity Parametric EQ 2 works well). Right click Band 1, click "Order," and click "Steep 8." Drag the band to the right until the lower frequency is cut out enough for the 808 to have room.

Another way to make the 808 louder is by boosting the frequencies on the actual 808 sample. Click on the 808 sample, find the "legacy effects" tab in the settings, and play around with the EQ and Boost knobs. This will make the frequencies of the 808 stand out more. Don't overdo it though, because then the 808 will be too distorted.

Use both of these techniques to make the 808 stand out and cut through the mix properly.

For more detailed information regarding frequency editing, check out the official Fruity Parametric EQ description page.

Low Quality 808 Samples

Often times, sound quality comes down to sound selection. If you are using a low quality 808 sample, no amount of effects will make it sound good. Make sure that you are using good sound samples in your beats. A good way to make sure you are using good sounds is to look at what sound kits top producers use. Follow your favorite producers and see what sounds they use. A good place to find kits is on Reddit, at r/DrumKits. Check out the "Shares the Screen" kits, created by Lunch77, which compile sounds that are used by specific producers.