How to Make a Summer Walker Type Beat (Trap-Soul R&B, + Free Loops)

What BPM and key is a Summer Walker type beat?

Most loops run 119 to 140 BPM, with the bulk sitting around 140 BPM. Producers cutting these beats from scratch tend to slow down into the low 100s, often around 100 to 120 BPM, and let the half-time feel do the rest, so the groove reads slow even when the grid is faster.

The key is mostly minor. Easiest is to take the key straight from your loop and put the 808 and the melody on the same root.

How to make a Summer Walker type beat in 6 steps

The loops in step 1 stream right here and the mp3 is free. Then work through the six steps.

1. 1Pick a sample▾

   Take a mellow loop built on a glassy Rhodes or electric piano in minor, 119 to 140 BPM. The glassy electric piano is the single sound that sells the vibe fastest, so start there. Grab a loop from the list right below, one with a soft, vintage feel.

   • ▶
     Did you want too
     140 BPM
     AmbientDancehallDeutschrap
     @ndacompany
     ↓
   • ▶
     Caretaker
     122 BPM · G#min
     AmbientBeautifulEpiano
     @ndacompany
     ↓
   • ▶
     Calibri
     140 BPM · G#min
     AmbientGuitarVintage
     @ndacompany
     ↓
   • ▶
     Seemless
     140 BPM · Gmin
     AmbientEpianoHappy
     @ndacompany
     ↓
   • ▶
     Pita
     140 BPM · Fmin
     AmbientChoirPiano
     @ndacompany
     ↓
2. 2Humanize the keys▾

   If you are playing the chords yourself, stagger the notes so they are not dead on the grid, randomize and strum the chord, and pull the velocities right down, then turn the instrument volume back up. You keep the soft low-velocity texture but can still hear the piano. It is the difference between a robotic loop and one that breathes.
3. 3Lay the 808▾

   It is the foundation, kept soft. On the root of the loop key, eight bars kept plain. Bring the attack down so it does not pop, add a slide note or two for movement, set it to cut itself so the notes cannot overlap, and give it a touch of saturation. A soft clipper on the master catches the peaks.
4. 4Hi-hats on top▾

   Keep them airy. A relaxed two-step with single hats taken back out, the open hat in the gap. Add a couple of extra hats off the main pattern and ride the velocities up and down for bounce. Save the fast rolls for the turns.
5. 5Clap and kick▾

   A soft clap, snap or rim on two and four, plus a second quieter layer panned to one side. Nudging the clap slightly ahead of its usual spot keeps the groove feeling a touch faster. The kick stays quiet under the 808 and shares the low end with it.
6. 6Try the pitch▾

   Only once the drums sit. Move the whole melody group one or two semitones up or down and hear which position fits the voice. Pull the 808 to the new root afterwards.

Where the Summer Walker sound comes from

Over It, her 2019 debut, was mostly produced by London on da Track, with OG Parker, Scott Storch and Stevie J among the others. The follow-up Still Over It kept the same mellow lane.

The records take clear cues from 90s R&B, one track even leaning on Usher's You Make Me Wanna, under a modern voice and modern themes.

So aim for that blend: a warm, slightly vintage loop and a soft, modern trap-soul groove. The mood is intimate, not loud. The fastest way in is to reference the actual songs rather than other type beats, and pay attention to how spare the real mixes are.

Which sounds do you actually need?

For the melody a glassy Rhodes or electric piano carries most of it, with acoustic piano and guitar as options, all kept warm and a little vintage. Keep the loop fairly dry and let it breathe instead of burying it in effects. For the 90s flavour specifically, producers reach for the glassy pianos, bells and strings of the classic JV-1080, plus a soft sine lead.

Build the chords bigger than plain triads. Start from the bass note, stack up to ninths, double a note or two to thicken it, and lean on the occasional diminished chord for that R&B colour. That is where the lush, many-note look of these progressions comes from.

The 808 is soft and round, not aggressive. Set it to cut itself and give it a touch of saturation so it sits under the loop.

Clap and hi-hats hold the grid gently. A soft clap on two and four, airy two-step hats with gaps for the open hat.

For ear candy, layer a pad or some strings very quietly under the chords, and drop a buried vocal chop or a touch of vinyl crackle in the background. Kept low, they fill the track without crowding the singer.

Arrangement in bars

16 bars as the hook, then the same thing as a verse with one track taken out completely and a simpler 808 pattern.

A bridge with a real change: a different lead, stretched chords or a second melody layer. Coming back into the hook, let the drums arrive one bar late. Dropping almost all the drums for a bar before the section lands gives the listener a breath and makes the return hit bigger.

Pitch the sample up and down

The position of the loop is not fixed. One or two semitones change the whole mood.

Up the melody gets brighter and thinner, down it gets heavier and warmer. The key moves with it, so pull the 808 to the new root afterwards.

Common mistakes

Drums too loud. The groove is soft and intimate, so pull the drums back under the melody and the vocal.

Leaving the lows in every track. Cut the low frequencies off each melody track with a high-pass, around 200 Hz, and shave a little off the top too so nothing fights the vocal, so the bass stands alone at the bottom.

Cluttering the beat. The singer uses the voice as an instrument, so leave gaps. If in doubt, take a sound out rather than add one.

Only other type beats as a reference. Those are built to rap on, Summer Walker sings. Listen to the real songs first.

Using the loops from NDA Company

Every loop here is played by hand, no AI, and free as an mp3. They are built as the glassy Rhodes and electric piano beds these beats start on, so you can skip straight to the 808 and drums.

Grab one, pitch it a semitone or two to fit your idea, and build out from there.