What are the newest trends and tools in beat making?

I firmly believe that the new trends in beatmaking, given the great but limited growth of artificial intelligence, will be 360° musical education.

In a world where everything is digitized, made fast and automatic, many people will look for what will be analog and artisanal.

For this reason, as I wrote above, the need to know how to play a musical instrument will be more than necessary.

The new trends, from my point of view, will be:

• Sampling
• Knowing how to play an instrument
• A search for a purely analog sound, from other times, with characteristics that completely exclude the use of synthesizers that will be completely replaced by AI.

As for the use of some tools, I don't think there is one better than the other, considering that nowadays every DAW already has some more than valid stock plug-ins.

This answer should not discourage you, on the contrary, it should make you think on the fact that the only way is experimentation. 

Start thinking about beatmaking exactly as a composer would think.

What cultural background do you want to represent?

What influences do you have?

What do you want to express musically?

Enjoy this musical journey.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you'll know that AI has exploded on to the music scene!

AI Singers:

• You can now upload the crappy voice note you made on your phone, and get AI to re-sing it 'professionally' in any number of tones. You can make it sound like certain singers or even mix two singers together to make something new. Think I'll be getting BeyoncAdele to sing my next record! Check out www.lalal.ai

New Synths:

• Synplant 2 - flipping heck this is bonkers. Dont believe me? Do a quick youtube search and be blown away bit it!
• Vochlea - Ever wanted to turn your singing mumbles into actual sounds? Now you can.

Groove engine:

• Check out Drum Monkey from Unison
• Or Even the Logic Pro session drummer is pretty great (and you can drag the midi onto other sounds

Fixing your Mix:

• Izotop Neutron/Ozone
• SoundDoctor from Unison 
• Max H on Fiverr

Always up for talking music! Get in touch if you fancy it

Producers are increasingly focusing on advanced sound design techniques to craft unique and intricate sounds. This includes using granular synthesis, spectral processing, and complex modulation. With the rise of synth plugins like Synplant 2 and its Genotype Engine feature build-in you see more and more producers using AI to (for example) generate synth settings based on your source sample input. This creates completely new ideas and can transform an organic sample or idea into a synthetic replica of the sound. 

The newest trends in beat making are hybrid genre experimentation, and modular synths. As a seasoned composer with over 20 years of experience, I see the blending of genres, such as trap with orchestral elements, becoming very popular. Modular synths also offer endless possibilities for creating distinctive sounds.