{"id":19,"date":"2020-10-22T14:14:28","date_gmt":"2020-10-22T18:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/samplehunt-com.ibrave.host\/?p=19"},"modified":"2024-03-25T10:04:07","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T14:04:07","slug":"how-to-use-lmms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samplehuntcom.local\/how-to-use-lmms\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use LMMS to Make Beats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What’s not to like about LMMS?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a free and open source digital audio workstation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It works on all major operating systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s easy to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it’s also ranked very highly on our list of the best free beat making software<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this LMMS tutorial, we’ll break down the essentials for how to use LMMS<\/strong> to make beats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Interface<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The LMMS workflow is similar to FL Studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has a modular interface, and all the work takes place in different windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting at the top left is the project menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where you can open, save and export your projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below the project menu is the view menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where you can find all the main windows you need to create your beat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The view menu consists of the Song Editor, the Beat+Bassline Editor, the Piano Roll, the Automation Editor, the FX Mixer and Project Notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the middle is the transport section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where you can play\/pause your project, view your system resources, and update your project’s tempo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the left side of the interface is the media browser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The media browser stores your virtual instruments, samples, projects, presets, and files on your computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To import audio elements to your project, you can drag them into the Song editor or Beat+Bassline Editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Song Editor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"How<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Song editor is the core section of LMMS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It stores your entire audio project, including your audio samples, drum beats, virtual instruments, sound effects and automations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you add an element to the Song editor, it will create a new track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For each track in the Song editor, you can adjust its settings by clicking its name. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also use the Song editor to adjust a track’s audio properties. For example, you can mute or solo a track, and adjust its volume and pan, without using the mixer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The song editor adapts to the track type you’re using.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, when editing a virtual instrument, you will get settings unique to that instrument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s take a closer look at virtual instruments:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virtual Instruments<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

LMMS comes with some basic virtual instruments that can be found in the media browser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To add a new virtual instrument to your project, open the Instrument Plugins tab in your media browser, and drag one of the options to the Song Editor window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you’ve added a virtual instrument to the Song editor, you will be able to input MIDI notes directly into the timeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also customize your virtual instrument by clicking on its name in the track list. A window will open with various settings to adjust the sound of the instrument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virtual instruments can also be further customized with effects plugins in the mixer (which we’ll cover later). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make the most of your virtual instruments, you’ll want to use the Piano Roll to compose your chord progressions and melodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piano Roll<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"lmms<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once you’ve added an instrument to the Song Editor, you can double click a note in the timeline to open the Piano Roll. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Piano Roll in LMMS features a graphical representation of a piano, and a grid interface that represents the time signature of your project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To compose your music, use the Pencil tool to place notes on the grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can access more tools in the top menu to select, remove and pitch bend notes in the Piano Roll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For realism, you can even change the note velocity at the bottom of the Piano Roll window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any changes you make to the notes in the Piano Roll will be updated in the Song Editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beat+Bassline Editor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Besides virtual instruments, you can also create drum tracks using the Beat+Bassline Editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Beat+Bassline Editor is a step sequencer that creates patterns in the Song Editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To add a new instance of the Beat+Bassline Editor to your track list, drag the module from the media browser into the Song Editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Beat+Bassline Editor window will open without any samples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can then drag and drop samples from the Samples tab into the Beat+Bassline editor to add new sounds to the step sequencer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each block represents a step in the sequence, and clicking on a block will trigger a sample to play for that beat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The default sequence will be four bars of four beats, but you can add more bars when necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also loop the playback of your sequence by clicking on the loop button in the menu bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will create a highlighted area above the sequence to indicate that section as a loop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Beat+Bassline Editor is great for quickly sketching out simple patterns, but sometimes you’ll need to make further customizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can use the Piano Roll to fine-tune your patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just right click on a step in the sequence to open it in the Piano Roll. This allows you to slice notes and arrange them freely on the timeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, you should have drum patterns, chord progressions and melodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now it’s time to add variation and movement to your sounds using automations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Automation Editor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Automations are like instructions for your project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You would use Automation tracks to change specific parameters of any audio property or effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, you can create automatic volume fades using automation tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To create a new automation track, click the Add Automation Track<\/em> menu button in the Song Editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Automation Editor will open in a new window with a familiar interface. The grid represents the track timeline in the Song Editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside the Automation Editor, you can left-click anywhere in the grid to insert a new automation point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will set the parameter to the desired level at that specific time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, the automation track isn’t controlling anything…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’ll want to connect the automation track to a parameter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To map the automation track to a parameter, open the window with the parameter that you want to automate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, while holding the control (ctrl) key on your keyboard, click and drag the slider or knob to the Automation track in the Song Editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will connect the parameter to the Automation track, and the changes will update as you change the automation points in the editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make the most of the Automation Editor, you’ll need to add effects to your tracks using the FX Mixer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FX Mixer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"lmms<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The FX Mixer controls the master volume and the audio settings for each channel in your project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you create a new project, all your tracks will be assigned to the master channel, and any changes you apply in the mixer will apply to the entire project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it’s a good practice to map your instrument and drum tracks to different channels. That way you can adjust their settings separately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To open the FX Mixer, click the FX Mixer button in the menu, or use the F9 key on Windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To add a new channel, click the plus button along the right side of the FX Mixer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can then map individual tracks to your newly created channels from the Song Editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To add effects to a channel, select the channel by clicking on it in the FX Mixer. Then click on the Add effect<\/em> button in the bottom right corner of the window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new window will open with a list of available effects. You can search the effects library and choose the one you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you’ve added an effect to a channel, it will appear in the effects chain in the FX Mixer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now you can change specific effect parameters, automate them in the Automation Editor, and make your final adjustments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you’ve completed your mix in the FX Mixer, it’s time to export your project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exporting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To compile your song into a playable file on your computer, you’ll need to export your project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s how to export your project in LMMS:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, navigate to the File menu and select Export<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new window will open with your computer’s file browser, and you can choose where to save your exported WAV file. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also export your project to MIDI by navigating to the File menu and selecting Export MIDI<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then you can choose where on your computer you want to save your completed music project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you a beginner who wants to learn LMMS? This LMMS tutorial will teach you the essentials for how to use LMMS to make beats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[88,6,9,3],"class_list":["post-19","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-software","tag-archived","tag-daw","tag-lmms","tag-software"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samplehuntcom.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samplehuntcom.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samplehuntcom.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samplehuntcom.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samplehuntcom.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/samplehuntcom.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samplehuntcom.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samplehuntcom.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samplehuntcom.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samplehuntcom.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}