Let’s address the elephant in the room: producers look for and watch “how to make a <insert artist here>-type beat” videos on Youtube. Not all producers but certainly upcoming ones and that’s fine. Older, more established producers would be lying if they said they never wanted to make beats like their idols (they often namecheck their predecessors in anecdotal interviews about their origins anyway). Hell, I’ve been producing for 10 years and I still do it (although I take the advice with a pinch of salt and don’t copy verbatim). Whatever you need to get inspiration on your journey, do that. Just don’t copy forever and find your own voice during your exploration as a producer and musician.
Okay, the elephant has vacated. Kaytranada tweeted about this video from BNYX called ‘How to Make INSANE Beats for KAYTRANADA in UNDER 10 MINS!’ and it was in praise rather than criticism.
So I gave it a watch. And my mind was blown too.
BNYX starts by laying down a piano chord track, chopping it up to make it swing more, and adding the necessary Kaytra-style elements—chorus effects, heavy sidechaining, some vinyl effects—and then the percussion with even more swing.
This is by far the best X-type-beat-style tutorial video I’ve ever watched and I hope it inspires other musicians without creating a bunch of Kaytranada clones.
Stream it below (and if you’re interested in the Nicky Romero Kickstart plugin, it’s available on his website for €10/$15).
Update: looks like the video was taken down or made private so here’s a different one where Splitmind tries to make a Kaytranada beat in under 5 minutes.
