The lo-fi sound

Lo-fi hip hop is slow and swung: drums that lean a little late, seventh chords that never quite resolve, a soft bassline and the hiss of an old record. Somewhere between 70 and 90 BPM is the sweet spot.

The studio opens on a lo-fi song at 86 BPM with the swing already on. Swap the Boom bap drums for Dusty shuffle or Half time, try Held keys or Arp drift on the chords, and keep the Vinyl crackle running underneath.

How to make a lo-fi beat

Keep the swing: the lo-fi style adds it to every loop.
Pick drums that breathe: Lazy or Rim ride leave room for the chords.
Let the chords do the work: seventh chords are on in this style.
Add a short melody, Sleepy or Sigh, and leave some bars without it.
Switch Sounds to Real for a recorded piano and double bass, then download the track.

Three ways to make music

Loops. Ready-made drums, bass, chords and melodies for each section. Any combination works together.
Pads. Play live with your computer keyboard: the number row plays chords, the top row the melody, the middle row the drums and the bottom row the bass. QWERTY, AZERTY and QWERTZ keyboards all work. Press Record to keep what you play.
Sequencer. Draw your own beat, bassline, chords and melody note by note, with as many lanes as you need.

More styles

Real instruments or synths

Switch the sounds between synthesizers and recorded instruments: piano, glockenspiel, flute, violins, harp, double bass, electric bass and acoustic drums. Electronic sounds like the 808 stay synthesized, as they should.

Download and share

Download your song as an MP3 or WAV file when it is done. Every song also has a song code, a short piece of text that holds the whole recipe: send it to a friend, who opens it in the studio and makes their own version.

Questions

Is Foxsoundi Studio free?

Yes. No account, no trial and no watermark on your downloads.

Do I need to install anything?

No. It runs in your browser on Chromebooks, Windows, Mac and Linux computers, tablets and phones. A keyboard makes the pads more fun, but touch works too.

Where are my songs saved?

In your browser, under My songs, as you go. Clearing your browser data erases them, so copy a song code to keep a backup or to move a song to another device.

Can I use the music I make?

Yes, your songs are yours. The sounds are either made by your browser or public-domain (CC0) recordings, so there are no samples to clear.

How long can a song be?

The timeline marks three minutes, the length of a typical single. Sections run from 2 to 16 bars, and a song holds up to 64 of them.

Recorded instruments: Versilian Community Sample Library (VCSL) and VSCO 2 Community Edition by Versilian Studios, and the FreePats electric bass. All in the public domain (CC0).