My name is Patty Castillo and this is my SoundCloud for the class Beat Making Lab (MUSC 156 - 002) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There are so many things I learned as a beat maker this semester. First and foremost, I learned how to use Ableton. Getting familiar with this program not only allowed me to actually make my beats, but it also taught me so much about the elements within music. Aggregating elements, sounds, and lessons from the class discussions to complete the assignments and giving myself ample time to prepare (and research) the different styles we emulated ultimately guided my creations. Over the course of the semester, I used the instruments Cord Dub Keys 3, E-Piano Short Soft, Neptune Arc, Sunrise Wave, Chord Analog Brass 9, Eurythmical Arp, Sweet Lead Operator, Spectrum, Basic Sub Sine, the drums 707 Drum Kit, 808 Drum Kit, DS Drum Rack, the effects Vintage, Glue, Erosion, Saturator as well as the Simpler and Arpeggiator. The second thing I learned was the importance and versatility of samples. Even sounds that do not “sound” like they have samples can pull from other people’s loops to make something new - of course, while staying within the legal limits of ownership and making sure not to infringe on anyone’s property. Having access to SampleFocus this semester allowed me to explore the different style sessions effectively and listen to the sounds that people publish online. Finally, I reflected in my journal that I spent a lot of time trying to perfect the loop - something I mentioned almost in every one of my journals - but now I realize that there was never going to be a beat that I would agree is “perfect”. It is so early in my beat-making and I am so picky about the music that I listen to, so realistically I will have to improve extensively as a beat-maker and my Ableton abilities to actually be satisfied with what I created. I realized this towards the end of the semester, and it is vital for me to remember that this class was merely an introduction to the possibilities of beat-making. Before taking this class I would not have been able to fathom the DAW capabilities or even imagine that I could use them to create my own beats.

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