Lofi Beats

Many people played instruments when they were children or performed in high school shows, but lost touch with their musical side as they grew up. Admittedly, it’s hard to belt out a show-tune or practice playing the drums if you are living in an apartment building, or with a roommate or family member. Messing around with lo-fi beats is the perfect way to reconnect with your musicality and create music you and your friends can enjoy. 

Lo-fi stands for low-fidelity, which encompasses the simplified, unrefined sound of lo-fi beats. Lo-fi music is typically a combination of slow-tempo music and calming background sounds, like vinyl crackling or rain falling on a roof. These cozy beats are ideal background noise for setting the mood when studying, cooking, or just moving about the house. 

Lo-fi beats are purposely not highly produced, making them an approachable genre of music for anyone to make. You can work in GarageBand, an app that is automatically downloaded on every Apple computer, or Cakewalk by BandLab. These softwares make it easy to import, cut and layer audio to create your lo-fi beats.

And remember, you don’t have to start from scratch when working with lo-fi beats. You can sample or remix existing tracks that you like. If you want to learn more about sampling, give this guide from Avid Technology a read.

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It’s best to start with a drum beat when making lo-fi music, to give yourself a solid base to build upon. Then, you can add some synth music or old-school jazz on top. As you begin to layer, you can add in unique, environmental elements to give the track that rough-around-the-edges vibe that lo-fi music is known for. If you’re struggling to get to the tone you’re hoping for, lo-fi tracks and playlists are abundant, and a great place for you to draw inspiration.

Hyperbits has lots of free resources for people just beginning to produce lo-fi beats (in addition to paid products), including workshops, guides, and sample audios to pull from. Other websites that have free samples include Black Octopus, Cymatics.FM, 99 Sounds, Echo Sound Works.

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Remember, creating lo-fi beats isn’t about the musicality of the track; it’s about the vibe created. Think about what you would want to listen to while doing work at your desk, or the cozy feeling you want to create when you invite friends to your house. The world is your playground when it comes to lo-fi beats; you just have to start mixing!