Chords for How To Add Melodies Onto Samples - Music Tutorial

What's up, [Ab] welcome back to the channel, my name is Sam Savita.
[E] Let's talk about samples.
So the Kip Club hooked me up with a bunch of new samples,
so I thought this would be a good opportunity to teach you guys
how to add your own melodies onto samples.
This tutorial is gonna be a bit different.
By the end of [G] this video, you're not gonna learn this right away.
It takes a bit of practice.
So we're gonna go through a bunch of these samples,
and I'm gonna show you how I add my own melodies to them.
Now, the first step is to find the key and the chord [N] progression.
Now, if you're lucky, some of the samples will have the key signature on there.
For the sake of this video, let's rename [Eb] these.
We'll just call it these.
We'll do both rename.
_ Hello. _ _
Here we [N] go.
So now there's no key signature, so we can't be cheating.
Now, there are a few ways to do this.
You can use a program like Keyfinder,
or, you know, you can drag and drop it, go to Add Sample,
look at the pitch regions like this.
The way I'm going to show you is not the easiest way,
but it's gonna be the most beneficial for you [Gm] as a musician.
I'm going to teach you guys how to [Dbm] find the key and the chord progression by ear.
Let's get a sample,
[C] and then we're going to pull up FL Keys so we have a reference.
Let's hear the sample [Bb] first.
_ _ _ [A] _
_ _ _ [Dm] _ _ _ _ [Gm] _
_ _ _ [N] So when we're looking for the key, we have to find the tonic note.
And to do this by ear, it's kind of like an educated guess.
We have to find the most stable chord in the sample,
and then we have to find the root note of that.
So let's listen again and try to [Bb] find the most stable chord. _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ _ [Dm] So _
_ [Gm] _ _ _ I [Bbm] think the most stable chord is in this [Dm] third bar.
_ And then [N] the strongest note is_
I don't know what note that is.
So we're going to go into FL Keys and try to figure it out.
So I [A] _ went_
[B] _
_ [C] _ [D] _ _ So [A] it's a D.
So if we play along with it, it should work.
[Dm] _ _ [Eb] _ _
So now we know we're in the key of D minor.
Now the reason I know it's D minor is because of the chord quality
[D] because major sounds [Dm] happy,
minor sounds sad.
This one sounds sad.
[N] So we say D minor.
So now that we have the key, it's time to find the chord progression.
And I do this by listening to the lowest notes
because that's usually the baseline.
So it's a bit hard to hear it in this instance.
So a trick you can do is load it up to a [Eb] mixer,
_ _ put in a hi-cut,
and then you can just isolate the bass manually.
[Bb] _ _ _ _
[A] _ _ _ [Dm] _ _ _ [Bb] Let's do that now. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[A] _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _
[A] _ _ _ [Dm] _ _ _ _ [Gm] _
_ [Gb] _ _ [G] _ _ _ Yes.
So this is [Bb] the baseline.
_ _ _ [A] _ _ _
_ [Dm] _ _ _ _ [Gm] _ _ _
So now that we have our [D] baseline and our key,
it's pretty easy to [Em] fill this out.
So let me do the [Bbm] notes in the scale first to show you guys.
Okay, so we [Dm] start here.
_ Right [A] there.
_ [D] This [Db] is up [Eb] here.
The [C] E. _
[D] _ [Gb] [F] We already know this [A] is D minor. _
[G] [A] And this [Gm] goes here. _ _
_ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _ [Dm] _
_ _ _ [Gm] _ _ _ Let me show you another one.
Okay, let's listen to [Ebm] this one. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _ _
[Bbm] _ _ _ [N] So in the last example, I did it really slowly
so I can show you guys step by step.
But usually when I'm doing this on my own,
I go straight for the chord progression
because that dictates what the key is
and we can find those at the exact same time.
So let me show you how I would usually do it.
So let's have the new chords now.
_ So first we listen to the [Ebm] baseline.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ So I hear.
[F] _ _ _ _ [Em] _
[Eb] _ _ [Ebm] _ _ _ _ _ _
[Bb] _ _ [A] _ [Ab] [Gb] I [G] _ _ [Ebm] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [B] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Bbm] think [Db] _ _ it's that.
[Dbm] So here's the full baseline.
While I was listening to the sample,
I [Ebm] thought that this was the most stable note.
So I think we're in D [G] sharp minor.
[B]
And now that we [Bb] know that,
we can fill [Db] out these notes pretty easily.
_ [Eb] _
_ [Ebm] _ [Db] This.
[F] _ _ _ [Ab]
So let's listen to it [Ebm] now. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [B] _ _ _ [Db] _ _ _
_ [N] So now let's actually talk about making counter melodies.
Now you have a lot of freedom when it comes to making melodies,
but there are a few things you should consider.
So one thing you should take into account
is the rhythm of the original [Ebm] melody.
_ _ _ _ _ _ Now [N] the melody in this sample has a really distinct rhythm
and it's your choice whether you want to follow that rhythm
or do something to contrast that.
So let's do one that follows it for now.
And now that we know [E] the chord progression,
making the counter melody is a lot easier.
So right now I'm just following the chords.
_ [Ebm] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [B] _ _ _ _ [Bbm] _
_ _ [Db] So in this counter melody, I mimic the rhythm.
So let's do one where we contrast it.
_ [Ebm] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _
_ [Bbm] _ _ _ Now this [N] melody I made is in contrast of the other one.
So the other one was playing in these areas
and I play right after.
So it's like a call [Ebm] and response. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [B] _ _ _ _ [Bbm] _
_ _ Let's [E] do another example. _
So _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ [Em] _ _ _ _ first thing is first, once again,
we listen for the [Ab] bass.
_ _ [A] _ _
[Cm] _ _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _
[Cm] _ _ _ [B] Okay, _ _ _
_ _ [Fm] _ _ [E] _ _ [F] _ [Cm] _
_ _ _ [B] _ _ _ _ [Fm] _
_ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _
_ so once again, we have [Cm] our chord progression.
I thought the C at the beginning was the most stable.
So I think it's in C minor.
Let's test it out.
_ _ _ [G] _ [B] Okay, so now we know [D] that.
We can [Fm] fill out the rest of the chords pretty easily.
That's going to be [B] a minor.
That's going [D] to be a major.
[Cm] Very easy. _ _ _
[B] _ _ _ _ [Fm] _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ If you guys don't do it this [N] fast, don't be discouraged.
It takes a lot of practice.
There is another thing you have to consider
and it's where the sample plays in the frequency spectrum.
So if the sample is playing somewhere here,
you don't want to make a melody there.
You want to make something up here or down here.
But in addition to that,
you can actually just pitch the sample up or down
or just remove those frequencies altogether.
[Eb] _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ [N]
So this sample takes the higher frequencies up.
So let's do something in the low and the mid.
So let's add a bass.
And since we know the chords, this should be pretty easy.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Cm] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ [Fm] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ [Ebm] [Bm] Let's add one more instrument.
Let's keep in mind of the [Ab] rhythm again.
_ _ _ [Bm] _ _ _
So this one is just playing in straight quarter notes.
So let's do something a bit faster. _
_ [Cm] _ _ _ _ _ _ [B] _
_ _ _ [Fm] _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ And there we go.
Thank you so much for watching [N] this video.
I hope you enjoyed it.
Big thank you to the K-Plug for sponsoring [D] this video.
They have so many great samples in their library.
I [Dbm] suggest you check them out.
[Eb] I'll leave their link in the description.
I'll see you guys soon.
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