While it can be fun to spend hours sculpting the “perfect” kick drums, tweaking snares and fussing over every detail of your hats, sometimes us producers and music makers are really up against the clock and just need easy to use beat makers that can get the job done with a minimum of fuss.
If you’re looking for the easy to use beat making apps and plugins to create rhythmic backing tracks and loops then check out my top 5 selection below – all of the software on this list can help get your tracks off to a flying start with the minimum of fuss (and even without needing to read a manual!).
The 5 easy to use beat makers I’ve picked for my list are:
- Beatmaker Hype
- Beatmaker Dope
- Beatmaker Glory
- Beatskillz The Sequel
- AIR Boom
1.Beatmaker Hype
Best For: Progressive House and EDM
UJAM’S Hype is an easy to use instrument stocked with ready to use Progressive House and EDM samples, presets and grooves. As with other software in the UJAM Beatmaker range, Hype gives you everything you need to lay down beats with just one click of the mouse or press of a MIDI key.
To get started with Hype you need no more musical talent than the ability to hit key C3 on your MIDI
keyboard (or on the interactive keyboard) and Hype will start playing a pattern.
Hype’s focus is on upfront, driving four-to-the-floor beats with a party and anthem flavor. In total you get 10 different kits to play with and you can mix and match elements (kicks, snares, hats etc) from different kits and make use of some basic sound sculpting tools to create your own unique kits although I tend to just stick to the presets as are as they come pre-processed and ready to go.
Unlike some synths and sample based instruments, there are no complicated controls or multiple screens with Hype instead you get a straightforward and attractive interface with everything you need and it only takes minutes to install too (internet Connection required for download and authorization).
Hype is also a really useful source of MIDI drum patterns which you can simply drag & drop from the Hype interface directly into your DAW session and then edit to taste or even bypass Hype’s sounds and use the MIDI to trigger your own drum samples. MIDI also has the advantage that you’re not locked into one particular tempo.
Hype features a ‘Riser’ knob which gives you control over a highpass filter, reverb and delay combination effect – simply push up and pull down to create builds. It’s perfectly adequate as far as it goes and no doubt comes in handy if/when you can’t be bothered to deal with firing up more plugins or creating your own effects chains but I suspect most producers will simply ignore it most of the time.
For a similar vibe to Hype you can also check out the Eden Beatmaker which focuses on rave and EDM beats with a dynamic pumper (sidechained kick) effect.
Formats: Windows 7 or later (64-bit only)
OS X 10.11 / macOS 10.12 or later (macOS 11 Big Sur supported) (64-bit only)
VST, AU 2, and AAX. AU 2 version is only compatible with Logic Pro X and newer.
More details: www.ujam.com/beatmaker/hype/
2. Beatmaker Dope:
Best for: Hip hop, rap, downtempo and lofi beats.
While Hype covers your dance needs, Dope is the UJAM beatmaker you’ll want to fire up when you need to create hip hop, rap and lofi beats.
Dope Beatmaker is a useful source of 1990s era one shots and MIDI based phrases (690 in total divided into intros, fills, verses, choruses, breakdowns and endings). As with Hype you can simply drag any MIDI patterns straight into your DAW and work on them further or use them to trigger your own samples.
Dope features a ‘Vinyl Drive’ knob which simulates a retro turntable noise & compression – it’s a fast way of adding some retro dirt and punch to your beats although you might still be tempted to reach for dedicated third party plugins for better results.
Fire up one of the presets and then play around with the individual drum samples (you get controls for volume, pitch, decay and filter), the mix settings, Vinyl Drive and mastering section to quickly create hundreds of production ready beats.
Combine Dope with a chord generator plugin such as Scaler and you can be churning out those Youtube friendly lofi tracks in minutes!
Formats: Windows 7 or later (64-bit only)
OS X 10.11 / macOS 10.12 or later (macOS 11 Big Sur supported) (64-bit only)
VST, AU 2, and AAX. AU 2 version is only compatible with Logic Pro X and newer.
More details: www.ujam.com/beatmaker/dope/
3. Beatmaker Glory:
Best for: Trap, tuned 808 Kicks, contemporary sounds.
UJAM’s Glory makes it both fast and easy to make beats with a contemporary pop, hip hop, trap and electronic music sound. UJAM pitch this one as a beatmaker for modern, radio and chart friendly styles.
Glory delivers 10 kits of 16 drum instruments per kit. The unique selling point of Glory is the tuned 808-kick drums and the dial on the left of the instrument interface which lets you easily tune the bass drum to the key of your track.
As with the other apps in the beatmaker range, Glory instantly syncs to your DAW’s tempo, and you can drag and drop any of the 460 patterns directly into your DAW.
To finish off your beats, Glory boasts 12 custom mix templates each of which is a hidden multiple effect chain so you’ll need to use your ears to determine which one (if any) to plump for. Seasoned producers might find themselves reaching for third party plugins for greater control over the finer details.
Formats: Windows 7 or later (64-bit only)
OS X 10.11 / macOS 10.12 or later (macOS 11 Big Sur supported) (64-bit only)
VST, AU 2, and AAX. AU 2 version is only compatible with Logic Pro X and newer.
More details: www.ujam.com/beatmaker/glory/
4. The Sequel:
Best for: huge sample library, vintage vibe beats, lofi, synthwave and chill.
The Sequel from BeatSkillz is an easy to use Drum Machine plugin.The Sequel boasts an impressive library (over 600 samples) of famous 80s Drum Machine sounds plus an 8 part Sequencer in which you can lay out your drum patterns and also sequence pitch, levels, and note length per step.
To get your beats off to a quick start, The Sequel comes with over 150 ready to use pattern and – as with UJAM’s beatmakers – you can drag the patterns as MIDI le straight into your DAW.
The Sequel’s drum library is organized by vintage machines, processed kits and also as single category hits like: kick, snare, hats, etc.
When you want to replace any of the sounds in a kit with your own sounds you can just drag and drop your sample onto one of the 8 pads or select a sample from the plugin’s browser.
The Sequel works as a basic software sampler to with the ability to trim, pitch shift, filter and reverse samples.
Another cool feature is the “Vintage” knob which allows you to downsample and bit-crush your sounds (although for some reason it only works on outputs 1 and 2) plus you get a drive control that is meant to emulate the drive of analogue pre-amps built into vintage samplers. There are better lofi plugins out there with more comprehensive ways to bring lofi dirt and grit your sounds but these are fun and easy to use tools nether the less.
You can assign any pad to any MIDI Keynote on a keyboard or controller and each pad can be sent to its own track in your DAW for further sound processing.
A useful selection of presets ensure The Sequel can get your beats running in seconds then you can dive in and adjust the sounds and patterns to taste.
Windows 10 or later, MacOS 10.14 Mojave or later (macOS Big Sur / M1 Mac supported)
VST3, AU, AAX (64-bit only)
More details: www.beatskillz.com/shop/sequel/
5. AIR Boom
Best for: Ready to use drum patterns and vintage drum machine sounds. Light on features – easy to use for beginners.
When it comes to making beats things don’t get much easier than Air’s Boom plugin. Boom pays homage to the most popular vintage drum machines of the past with 10 ready to use kits including classic 808 and 909 kits.
Each drum kit contains 10 different drum parts and you can adjust the panning, volume, tuning and decay of each drum within your chosen kit.
You can mix and match drums from different kits to make your own custom drum kits but you can’t import your own samples.
To get you started Boom ships with 50 presets covering a decent variety of electronic/urban musical genres but you can move beyond the presets via the onboard sequencer where you to create your own patterns, which can be saved and recalled as presets. The sequencer is as simple as it gets (that is to say it’s rather limited).
Boom does look and feel slightly dated and I wouldn’t use it to make tracks destined for clubs nowadays (The Sequel is a serious step up in terms of options and features) but it can be picked up for next to nothing during seasonal sales and it still has a place in my DAW after 10 years of use thanks to its library of pattern presets which I often use when creating for simple tracks and loops for my less demanding clients.
MacOS 10.8.5 – 12 (macOS 12 Monterey supported) (64-bit only) (M1 Mac not supported)
Windows 10, 8 or Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (64-bit only)
A Free iLok account & Licence Manager is required to authorise Boom (a physical USB iLok is not required).
More details: www.airmusictech.com/product/boom