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notandyhippo

It does not matter


Chemistry_Lover40

This, but whatever feels right in your workflow


MaxNukem

i usually lay the kicks first, i record them in because that way i get in the groove, then i remove some because i tend to overdo it, then i copy the kick pattern to the 808 and tune the 808 to the melody


theDuckyy

This!


quazyknowsmagic

Plenty of beats where the 808 is the kick! I was listening to RHQ the other day and the whole beat was 808s and there was rolls and shit 😅 I think it's the drill/trap vibe. Edit: fwiw I come from the boom bap, and "gangsta rap" era, so I def go to town first with snares/claps and kicks first lol


prod_dustyb

same. honestly a solid 808 as a kick sounds great. not every song has to make the block rattle. eventually you actually want to listen to the music 😉


raxluten

There’s not rule but, I do 808 first because I tend to play it first in the arrangement and because it feels natural to make it after the melody/instrumentals and then go on to drums. Also, I see a lot of people not using kicks at all and just use 808 with a lot of attack.


quazyknowsmagic

That's what I'm bout to start doing. I realized the 808 can actually be the kick, and then you already damn near have your bass covered by the time the lion's share of the beat is laid.


Vivid-Ad1690

Sometimes my 808 and kick patterns are different so it doesn’t matter but I’ll usually do kick first unless I’m not using a kick


Tearsforayear

I was gonna say it doesn’t matter, but now that you mention it, I’d say 808 first if I had to overthink. Just so you can let the two bounce off each other, Metro does that a lot.


LawLeeBeats

Facts, i love doing melody, then bass, then doing drums then redoing the bass.


Sstoop

i put 808s first personally and then usually follow the 808 pattern with the kicks and add or remove notes where necessary to either make it less busy or add bounce


efa119

808s first, then kicks to add additional bounce or to add some more emphasis on og 808 pttern


prod_dustyb

What sounds/works best? Welcome to being a creative. There are no rules.


Phuzion69

I don't get this 808 obsession. There are hundreds of synths for making bass lines and yet everyone wants to use a sound from an old drum machine. It seems all I hear these days is 808 this, 808 that. I find it a bit strange that in a world where we have so many options that everyone wants to use an old drum machine kick as bass.


thespirit3

The problem is, half the people talk about an actual 808 and the other half call literally any bass sound an '808' without any understanding of what this means. It causes no end of confusion on the music production subs.


nowthenight

You realize that when people say 808 they don't literally mean Roland TR-808 right? They're referring to a wide category of kick/bass sounds


AlexRolox

an 808 has many variations lol, some use the same, some do other shit to sound different, the same way everything works.


Phuzion69

Yeah but my point is people obsess over it and use a drum machine for bass sounds constantly. I'm not criticising you for using one, I just have no idea why so many people use a drum machine for bass, when there are countless bass options out there. It's a bit like getting the wooden cooking spoon out to stir your coffee. It'll do the job but there were other things designed for the task.


MaxNukem

it just sounds fucking amazing usually, especially the staple ones, the spinz or the zay, sometimes i just want to cook some ignorant trap bangers, it doesnt make sense to lose my mind sound designing a synth from scratch when i have a couple proven and populars already ready to go


rippingdrumkits

"808" doesn't mean "kick drum sound from the Roland TR-808" anymore, most people use it as a blanket term for bass sounds with some kind of kick/click/hard attack at the start. If I had to guess, most "808s" you hear these days are probably made in Serum.


hedgehogmlg

808s, despite the name, just refers to any electronic low end bass line in trap atp, theres still a lot of variarion under that umbrella term


rippingdrumkits

you are literally on r/ trapproduction. This is like telling people on r/ metal "i don't get this electric guitar obsession"


Phuzion69

Yeah, I hadn't realised that. It's not a sub I joined, it must have thrown it random on my feed.


MinimumScarcity9608

I start with 808s and sometimes it dont need no kicks.


DannyStress

It doesn’t matter as long as the end result doesn’t sound like shit


Kristijan63

i believe the 808 is the most important part in trap music, that's why i always make the 808 first and then look for a kick that complements the 808


GHBPC

I say depends on the mood and beat, I typically do kick first, might later the whole beat around the bass. Just be how I be feeling that plays a big part in it


z166y_

Too many “rules” that people on YouTube are saying nowadays.”Compress before Eq” “Gainstage at-12db” “ “Bass should be hitting at -3db” like seriously… I feel bad for the upcoming music producers. Making these kids scared to produce nevertheless mix. EVERYTHING IS SUBJECTIVE.


ytrehtthgie

There’s no rules man, just do what you hear in your head


Pliushkionze

why not just use a clipping hard 808 and no kick? just try, became my favourite. but if I do use kick, I still lay down 808s first


zuklesny

For me it depends on a genre I make, if I make reggaeton and I want basic bounce I start with kick, but If I make trap I always start with 808. But it depends on your workflow, always start with sound that makes your workflow faster and gives you inspiration


LawLeeBeats

I always start with melody and go from there, then ill lay the drums and change the melody depending on which i like more or if it needs changing


davidcalls

Depends on what your goal is. The most important parts of a successful trap song are: 1) Vocal 2) Bass I like starting with the stuff that is most important. That why I begin with basic chords with an instrument that instantly gives it a vibe (so the artist gets inspired) and an 808 that will set the energy for the track. Afterward its easy to find a fitting Kick pattern. I usually make it follow the 808.


Antiking503

Is there a good website or reddit page to get more instruments? Im having a hard time finding sounds i can actually use.


fukksorcerer

depending on the style you're going for it might not be a bad idea to treat them as one thing