So I'm going back to square one in terms of understanding music so I can producer better music but in BPM for example if with 60bpm there has to be 1 beat every second and with 120 bpm there has to be 2 beats every second does that mean there has to be 240 beats in that one minute (for the 120bpm)? Or is bpm just a device to govern tempo of the entire track and really shoulden't force you to hit a certain kick or notes at a certain pace or amount of times within the span of that one minute? Can bpm also relate to notes of chords or is it specifically for percussive's? Does it mean I have to have a certain amount of note percussive or both sounds within that one minute? Also would it matter when I have "the beat" hit? like instead of every 1/4 can i have ever 2/4 or 3/4 to fulfill the bpm? please correct me if i'm wrong or help me understand temp better thanks. Also I think my math is wrong lol but whatever I've never been fluent in numbers

Here's from the Wiki page on tempo/bpm

"Beats per minute (BPM) is a unit typically used as a measure of tempo in music and heart rate. The BPM tempo of a piece of music is conventionally shown in its score as a metronome mark, as illustrated to the right. This indicates that every one minute there should be 120 quarter notes (or crotchets). In simple time signatures it is conventional to show the tempo in terms of the note duration on the bottom. So a 4/4 would show a quarter note, as shown to the right, while a 2/2 would show a minim (or half note)."

Your question, "Does it mean I have to have a certain amount of note percussive or both sounds within that one minute?"

The answer I believe to be no, but my music theory isn't too strong so I could be wrong.

Try changing the bpm of a blank track and watch the timer. When you play 128 bpm you should go through 8 bars in 15 seconds. Now cut the bpm in half and see what happens.

Quick and dirty theory 101 on Tempo and Meter:

When you see something for a song that says 4/4, 2/1, 3/8, or whatever, that's the Meter of the song. The top number is how many pulses there are per bar, and the lower number is what kind of note receives that pulse. 4/4, which is the most widely used time signature in western music (hence the alternate name of common time), has four quarter notes per bar.

Tempo is simply the pace of the song, and outside of the digital realm doesn't always get marked by a specific rate, just more general terms like fast and slow. As Kenny mentioned, BPM is just a tempo that is synced to the clicks of a metronome. What's important is that you are dividing the tempo into the correct divisions - which for dance music will most likely be 4/4 or 3/4.

You don't have to have any amount of any sound hit every pulse, but if you're producing something like house music there's probably gonna be a kick drum on every pulse for large sections of your track.

Exactly! Here's a good little exercise to help you understand it:

• Make a simple drum pattern at 70 BPM - kick on the 1 and 3, snare on the 2 and 4. Listen to that on loop a few times. First with the metronome, then without.
• Change the tempo to 140, and put it so you have a kick on the one and a snare on the three. Listen to that on loop a few times. First without the metronome, then with.

Notice anything?

Exactly! Here's a good little exercise to help you understand it:

• Make a simple drum pattern at 70 BPM - kick on the 1 and 3, snare on the 2 and 4. Listen to that on loop a few times. First with the metronome, then without.
• Change the tempo to 140, and put it so you have a kick on the one and a snare on the three. Listen to that on loop a few times. First without the metronome, then with.

Notice anything?

Okay sorry man, I was away learning secondary triads & primaries but okay so, you want me to do a kick kick kicksnare kicksnare or kick kick snare & snare??

Okay, I think I wasn't clear. When I say 1 & 3, 2 & 4, I mean the different pulses of the beats. The divisions of the first bar would be 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4. The second would be 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4. So a kick on the 1 & 3 would be a kick on 1.1 and 1.3, 2.1 and 2.3, etc.


Here is the 70 BPM pattern:



Here is the 140 BPM Pattern:



Play each pattern a few times - some without the metronome, some with.

You should also be noticing that they're the same rhythm when you take off the metronome. Here are the exact same patterns I just showed you, recorded out. First the 70 BPM, then the 140 BPM, both with and without a high hat hitting on every quarter note to mimic a metronome. If you're not hearing something like this, something's going wrong.

And instead of answering your question, I'll provide another little experiment:

Go pick a future bass song and bring it into your DAW. Set the BPM of your DAW to the BPM of the song. Build a basic drumkit that copies theirs, and find a moment where you have a full drum loop. Copy the beat exactly, then you tell me if they play the kicks on beat or not.