Gnarly: Making a beat from the Naruto soundtrack
Finger-drummer and music producer finds inspiration in epic anime OSTs
Gnarly is a British-Sri Lankan music producer and finger drummer whose presence in the global beat-making scene is shaped by her love of rhythm-driven, genre-bending production, drawing on hip-hop, jazz, funk, UK bass, and neo-soul to create her futuristic, groove-rich sound.
Today, we join Gnarly in the studio as she takes inspiration from a piece in the iconic Naruto soundtrack, “Grief and Sorrow”, a track beloved for its mournful string lines and haunting melodic core, and turns it into an epic piece all of its own. Watch as she flips the anime OST into a hard-hitting beat below.
From soundtrack to sound samples
To begin, Gnarly finds the melodic core of her beat by recreating the main chords using ROLI Piano. From there, she begins layering behind the delicate piano motif, stacking cinematic strings. To add contrast and texture, she taps into Equator2 with the preset The Lotus Garden, a plucked-string synth sound that adds subtle rhythmic punctuation. Later, she grounds the track with a Serum 2 sub-bass, sculpting a dark, resonant undercurrent that balances the melodic layers.
Using Maschine, she chops and rearranges samples, experimenting with repetitions to create tension and release. Another clever trick Gnarly adopts is separating stems from denser samples, making each element sit comfortably in the mix without losing the OST’s emotional pull. Throughout her workflow, Gnarly shows that, whether you’re using samples from packs or finding your inspiration in a beloved childhood cartoon, you can always pull things apart and merge things together to create a sound that speaks of you.
The result? A cinematic yet hard-hitting beat that bridges anime soundtrack nostalgia with modern beat production techniques. Inspiration can come from anywhere, and with instruments like ROLI Piano, you can turn that spark into something original.
ROLI Piano: the keys to unlocking inspiration
Feeling inspired by Gnarly’s approach? It’s time to try it for yourself with ROLI Piano. Whether you’re flipping anime soundtracks, sketching melodies for a beat, or producing full arrangements, ROLI Piano’s expressive playability, 49-key range, and seamless integration with software like Ableton (or whatever your preferred music-making software) make it a powerful tool for turning sparks of inspiration into finished tracks.
See just what ROLI Piano can do to bring your ideas to life, no matter where you find your inspiration.
