Producing Amapiano Explained
Join veteran Groove3 instructor Gary Hiebner for a comprehensive course on producing a song in the Amapiano subgenre. This popular style, which originated in South Africa in the 2010s, combines elements of deep house, jazz, kwaito, and more in a unique and compelling way. You'll learn about all the conventions and elements commonly found in this style, including instrumentation, arrangement, processing, and mixing ideas. By the end of this Amapiano production course, you'll be well on your way to creating your first Amapiano hit!
Videos
• Introduction (02:01) - We begin with a quick description of what Amapiano is and explain what's going to be covered in this video series.
• Kick, Hats & Shakers (07:50) - See how to program a kick pattern and tonally design the kick that's used in Amapiano. After this, we add a hi-hat pattern and some shaker samples.
• Adding Snares, Claps & Rimshots (04:59) - In this video, we see how to add snares, claps, and rimshots to our groove. We add snares on the offbeats and then shape the snare with an EQ. Then we add claps on all the offbeats and finally see how to add a rimshot as a counter rhythm.
• Bongos & Congas (06:24) - You can also add other types of percussion to elevate the Amapiano groove. In this video, you'll see how to add some bongo and conga percussion patterns to enhance the groove.
• Adding Djembe & Cymbals (03:06) - Next, we add a djembe drum to the production for an authentic world percussion flavor. You also see how to use cymbals and reverse cymbals in an Amapiano groove.
• Electric Piano Chord Progression (06:49) - We move on from the beat and start building up a chord progression for the song. For this we use an electric piano and also layer a pad over the top.
• Extra Synth Sounds (03:24) - We create some synth stabs using the analog-emulating Retrologue synth treated to some delay effects to bounce the synth around the stereo field.
• Creating the Log Drum Hook (04:51) - Now we explore the important log drum instrument and hear how it's used in Amapiano. You'll see what log drum instruments to use and how to build up the main melody for the song.
• Adding Sine Sub Bass & Distorted Log Drum (05:13) - Watch how to layer a sub sine synth bass sound under the log drum to reinforce the sound. Also, learn how to tonally change the log drum by adding a bit of distortion and saturation.
• Log Drum Rolls (04:10) - Discover how to create a log drum roll, where you use very short notes before a pitch to create an interesting rhythmic effect. In this video, we create log drum rolls using 16th and 32nd notes.
• Electric Jazzy Guitar (03:56) - Next, we'll add a bit of a jazzy element into the mix with an electric guitar playing some more complex chords over the chord progression.
• Adding Vocal Samples (09:14) - So far, this has been an instrumental Amapiano song. Here, you'll see how to add in vocal samples and re-pitch, edit the timing, and process them for the mix.
• Arranging the Song (11:14) - To finish off the series, we see how to create an Amapiano arrangement from the tracks. To do this, we use a subtractive process by which we copy across all the event parts and then remove events where we don't need them. This makes the arrangement feel organic so that it grows as you listen to it.