How to Create an Afrobeat Track

In today’s newsletter:

• 💪🏻The power of colors and emojis in Ableton Live: top-notch organization and creativity

• 🫘Exploring: Seed Generator

• 🔌Using MIDI Ports on Hardware FX with Ableton Live

• ♪How to Create an Afrobeat Track and Who to Draw Inspiration From

• 🌍 Ableton Live Community Live performance Behind the Scenes

• ⚡[Workflow Trick] Save a Default MIDI/Audio Track

💪🏻The power of colors and emojis in Ableton Live: top-notch organization and creativity

Coloring your tracks in Ableton Live isn’t just an aesthetic choice. It is an essential practice for boosting efficiency and ensuring a smoother workflow. Here’s why:

1. Streamlined Workflow and Visual Organization: Assigning colors to your tracks helps you visually organize your project and enhances your workflow. By color-coding different groups of instruments, vocals, and effects (e.g. bass, drums, synthesizers), you can quickly identify specific elements and reduce the time spent searching for tracks. This method also simplifies managing automations and making adjustments: when related tracks share the same color, it becomes easier to focus on specific sections like drops without navigating through a  interface.

2. Facilitated Collaboration: Colors can greatly improve communication when collaborating with other producers. A well-organized project, where tracks are categorized by color, helps team members quickly understand the layout and make adjustments more efficiently. This clarity in the project can lead to faster decision-making and less confusion during the production process.

3. Enhanced Project Accessibility with Emojis: Adding emojis to track names further enhances visual accessibility. Emojis provide immediate visual cues, allowing you to identify track types and sections at a glance. For example, use 🎸 for guitars, 🥁 for drums, or 🎤 for vocals. This additional layer of organization can save time and make navigating large projects more intuitive.

Practical Examples

1. Colors for Instrument Groups: Use blue for synthesizers, green for basses, and red for percussion. Pair these with relevant emojis like 🎹 for synths or 🪘 for percussion to speed up track identification.

2. Colors for Song Sections: Differentiate song sections with unique colors and add emojis like 🟢 for intros or 🔴 for choruses to quickly find specific parts.

3. Colors for Effects and Automations: Use separate colors and emojis like 🎛️ for effects or 💡 for automations to avoid confusion when adjusting settings.

In summary, using colors and emojis in Ableton Live enhances both organization and creativity, optimizing your workflow for more efficient music production.

🔌Using MIDI Ports on Hardware FX with Ableton Live

Hardware effects with MIDI ports, such as the Hologram Microcosm, open up a world of creative possibilities when integrated with Ableton Live. These features make it easy to sync effects, automate parameters, and even change presets remotely. Let’s explore how MIDI works in this context.

What Do MIDI Ports Do on Hardware FX?

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) allows you to communicate between devices. On pedals like the Microcosm, MIDI can be used for:

1. Syncing with MIDI Clock:

Time-based effects like delays and loops can lock to Ableton’s tempo using MIDI Clock. This ensures perfect synchronization with your project, whether you’re creating ambient textures or rhythmic loops.

2. Automating Parameters via MIDI CC (Control Change):

MIDI CC messages control specific parameters on the pedal. For instance, you could automate the Microcosm’s reverb mix, granular delay length, or modulation depth from Ableton, adding movement and dynamics to your sound.

3. Switching Presets with MIDI Program Change:

MIDI Program Change messages allow you to jump between presets without touching the pedal. This is especially useful during live performances or when you want preset changes in sync with your arrangement.

Key MIDI Terms Explained

• MIDI Clock: A signal that keeps devices in sync with the tempo of a track.

• MIDI CC: Control Change messages that adjust parameters like mix, feedback, or modulation.

• Program Change: MIDI commands used to switch presets on a hardware device.

How to Integrate with Ableton Live

1. Connect the Pedal:

   • Connect a MIDI interface to your computer. Run a cable from its MIDI OUT to the pedal’s MIDI IN.

2. Enable MIDI Clock: 

   • In Ableton, go to Preferences > Link/Tempo/MIDI and enable “Sync” for your MIDI output.

   • Set your pedal to receive MIDI Clock (refer to its manual).

3. Automate Parameters via MIDI CC:

   • Check the pedal’s manual for its MIDI CC mappings.

   • Create a MIDI Clip, open the Envelopes section, and assign a CC value to automate parameters.

4. Program Change Presets:

   • In a MIDI Clip, use the “Program” field to select a preset. Each number corresponds to a specific sound on your hardware.

Sync, automate, and experiment to discover endless possibilities!

♪How to Create an Afrobeat Track and Who to Draw Inspiration From

Afrobeat, born from the fusion of traditional African rhythms with elements of jazz, funk, and soul, has taken the world by storm thanks to its infectious energy. If you want to produce an authentic Afrobeat track, it’s essential to understand not only its rhythms but also its structure and harmony.

Rhythm

To begin, rhythm is the heartbeat of Afrobeat. The typical rhythmic foundation revolves around syncopated patterns, with percussions like congas, djembes, and shakers creating a polyrhythmic web. The tempo usually ranges between 95 and 110 BPM, allowing the track to be danceable yet relaxed. The kick typically falls on the strong beats, while the snare emphasizes the weak beats, creating that characteristic “offbeat” groove.

Polyrhythms

Polyrhythms are crucial for adding depth and dynamism to the track. By layering different rhythmic lines, each with slightly different accents, a sense of continuous movement is generated, capturing the listener’s attention. In addition to the drums, the bass plays a fundamental role: it should be powerful and driving, following the kick’s rhythm while maintaining a simple, repetitive melodic line that is almost hypnotic.

Harmony

Regarding harmony, Afrobeat tends to use very simple chord progressions, often in major or minor keys, which convey a sense of warmth and openness. It is common to find progressions based on two or three chords repeated cyclically, played on keyboards, electric guitars, or acoustic instruments. Here too, repetition is key: the goal is to create a harmonic cycle that repeats, allowing space for the rhythmic section and other elements to emerge without being overly invasive.

Structure and Vocals

The structure of an Afrobeat track tends to be fluid, but it generally follows a straightforward format. After a rhythmic introduction, various instrumental layers develop, starting with bass and percussion, then adding chords, and finally the vocals.

Vocally, it’s important to maintain a rhythmic approach, with short phrases that blend with the base. Vocals, particularly in contemporary artists like Burna Boy or Wizkid, tend to balance melodic lines with rhythmic accents, creating a flow that perfectly follows the groove.

Inspiration

For inspiration, beyond the great innovators like Fela Kuti, who created the original Afrobeat by blending jazz, funk, and African percussion, it’s helpful to explore the work of modern producers like Sarz or Legendury Beatz, who have contributed to modernizing the genre while incorporating electronic sounds without losing the Afro touch.

To dive deeper into the Afrobeat sound, let yourself be inspired by this link!