Blog
Producer guides
Straight answers to the questions producers actually search for — with free tools to match.
FL Studio
How to Make a Beat in FL Studio — a Beginner’s 7-Step GuideMake your first beat in FL Studio in 7 clear steps: tempo, drums, melody, 808s, arrangement, mixing basics and export.
FL Studio Keyboard Shortcuts That Actually Save TimeThe FL Studio shortcuts producers use every session: piano roll, playlist, mixer and recording hotkeys, organized by how often you'll need them.
How to Make 808 Slides in FL Studio (Portamento Done Right)Three ways to make sliding 808s in FL Studio: slide notes in the Piano Roll, sampler portamento, and pitch automation — plus why drill relies on them.
The Best Free Plugins for FL Studio (That Don’t Sound Free)The free VST plugins worth installing in FL Studio: Vital, Surge XT, TDR Nova, Valhalla Supermassive and more — plus the stock plugins that already beat them.
How to Sidechain in FL Studio (3 Ways, From Easy to Pro)Three ways to sidechain in FL Studio: Fruity Limiter compression, Peak Controller volume ducking, and manual volume automation — when to use each.
10 FL Studio Piano Roll Tricks That Level Up Your MelodiesMaster FL Studio's piano roll: scale highlighting, ghost channels, strumizer, randomizer, slide notes, quick chords and more.
How to Record Vocals in FL Studio (Setup to First Take)Record vocals in FL Studio step by step: audio interface setup, ASIO drivers, arming a mixer track, monitoring without echo, and comping takes.
Beatmaking
How to Make Trap Beats: The Complete Pattern RecipeThe trap beat formula: 140 BPM half-time drums, rolling hi-hats, tuned 808s and dark minor melodies — with exact pattern placements to copy.
How to Make Drill Beats: Sliding 808s and That BounceUK/NY drill beat recipe: 140–150 BPM, the signature 3-3-2 bounce, sliding 808s, dark melodies and the ghost-note percussion that makes drill knock.
How to Make Lo-fi Beats That Actually Feel WarmThe lo-fi formula: jazzy 7th chords, drunk drum swing, vinyl texture and tasteful imperfection — plus the mistakes that make lo-fi sound cheap.
Tempo & Keys
How to Find the BPM of Any Song (3 Easy Ways)Learn three fast ways to find the BPM of any song: an instant free online analyzer, tap tempo, and counting by ear.
How to Find the Key of a Song — Instantly or By EarFind the key of any song two ways: instantly with a free online key finder, or by ear with a simple method any producer can learn.
Best BPM for Every Genre: Trap, Drill, House, Techno & MoreThe typical BPM ranges for trap, drill, hip-hop, house, techno, dubstep, DnB and more — plus why half-time makes trap at 140 feel like 70.
The Camelot Wheel Explained: Harmonic Mixing Made SimpleWhat Camelot codes like 8A and 9B mean, how the Camelot wheel works, and the simple +1/−1 rule DJs use to mix tracks that never clash.
Theory
5 Chord Progressions That Always Work (And Why)Five battle-tested chord progressions for trap, R&B, pop and house — with the Roman numerals, an A-minor example, and how to make borrowed progressions yours.
Music Theory for Producers: The 20% You Actually NeedSkip the conservatory: keys and scales, the minor-key chord set, why melodies resolve, and octaves for 808s — the working theory behind modern beats.
Bars, Beats & Phrases: How to Count Music Like a ProducerWhat a bar is, why almost everything is 4 beats, how 8-bar phrases structure songs, and how producers count while arranging and DJs count while mixing.
Mixing
How to EQ 808s and Kicks for a Clean Low EndStop the kick and 808 fighting: who owns the sub, complementary EQ cuts, sidechain glue, mono low end, and checking your mix on small speakers.
Compression Explained Simply (Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release)What a compressor actually does, the four knobs in plain words, starting settings for drums, 808s and vocals, and the mistakes that squash your mix.
Reverb & Delay: How to Give Your Mix Space (Without Drowning It)Sends vs inserts, which reverb sizes suit which sounds, timing delays to the BPM, and the pre-delay/EQ tricks that keep mixes clear.
How to Mix Vocals: A Simple Chain That Always WorksA vocal chain in the right order: cleanup EQ, compression, de-essing, tone EQ, saturation, then spaces — with settings and the reason for each step.
Workflow
How to Convert Audio to MIDI Free (In Your Browser)Turn a melody recording into editable MIDI notes free, right in your browser — no upload, no signup.
What Are Stems in Music? (And Why Everyone Asks for Them)Stems explained: what they are, stems vs multitracks, why labels/mixers/DJs ask for them, how to export stems in FL Studio, and how AI stem separation works.
How to Actually Finish Your Beats (Beat the 8-Bar Loop Curse)Why producers get stuck on loops and the fixes that work: the 20-minute arrangement sprint, decision limits, reference structures and done-not-perfect exporting.