Future - Mask Off (FLP & STEMS) - 100% Accurate (Patreon)

Hey patrons!

Here are the FLP and stems for the next remake to hit the channel, breaking down how Future's "Mask Off" was made. This instrumental was originally produced by Metro Boomin.

The song samples "Prison Song" by Carlton Williams, which Metro distorted in a few different ways. Through the majority of "Mask Off", the flute sample from "Prison Song" can be heard. At some points, the flute sample plays in halftime, which you can replicate by stretching out the sample and bringing down the pitch by an octave, or by using a halftime plugin like Gross Beat or Cableguys' Halftime. 

For the drums, Metro used popular (A.K.A. generic A.K.A. reliable) drum samples such as the Spinz 808, Rack Kick and Hit_1 high hat. These were actually the exact same samples used in my last remake of Lil Uzi Vert's "XO Tour Llif3". What's interesting about these samples, however, is that the 808 was taken up by +8 cents or 0.08 semitones. This was likely done during the mastering stage, where I am assuming the sound engineer noticed that the sample of "Prison Song", being an old, live-recorded sample, was slightly offkey and so they adjusted the pitch of the 808. Also, the high hat was taken down in pitch by -47 cents or 0.47 semitones. This could have been done for a number of reasons. I would assume that either Metro used a modified sample of the Hit_1 high hat when making the beat in the first place, or once Future's vocals were recorded, the high hat just sat better in the mix when at a slightly lower pitch. I'll be going through how I discovered these slight pitch shifts in the video breakdown..

For the arrangement, one thing that Metro did in this beat which I am a huge fan of, is he created 2 different high hat patterns, kick patterns and 808 patterns. Then he alternated between these patterns every 16 bars. This is a very subtle way of adding depth to your beats and it can allow you to slowly introduce more complex drum patterns without making your beats overcomplicated. This is also something you can start doing straight away to immediately improve your beat making. I have personally seen more success in the beats that I've sent out that have a drum progression over beats that only use the one drum pattern.

Anyway, feel free to check out the FLP & stems below, and I hope to see you all at the premiere later this week!

Aiden