"Africa" by Toto is one of those songs that transcends generations. Released in 1982 as part of the album Toto IV, it became one of the most recognized songs in pop and rock history, and to this day it continues to captivate millions of listeners around the world. When Malinda Kathleen Reese asked me to produce the full instrumental remake for her YouTube channel Translator Fails, I knew this would be one of the most exciting — and challenging — projects I'd ever taken on.
In this post, I'll walk you through the entire production process, step by step: the tools I used, the creative decisions I made, and the challenges I faced while trying to honor the brilliance of Toto's original arrangement. Whether you're a music producer, a Toto fan, or simply curious about what goes into recreating a song like this, I hope you find something valuable here.
Step 1: Setting Up the Reference Audio
The very first step in any instrumental remake is getting the best possible audio reference of the original song. I imported the original "Africa" by Toto into my DAW as a stereo reference track, which allowed me to carefully analyze every detail: the tempo changes, the time signature shifts, and the overall structure of the arrangement.
I then mapped out the tempo, metric, and bar structure to match the original recording as closely as possible. This is a critical step because even small timing discrepancies can make the final result feel off.
In this image you can see the tempo I defined for the track according to the audio reference. You can also see the metric and how I adjusted everything with their respective bars.
Step 2: Recording the Percussions — Congas, Shakers, and Metals
Producing tracks for Malinda is always a challenge, and this time it was even more special because it involved one of my favorite bands and creating an instrumental for one of their most iconic songs. Like every Toto song, "Africa" has been meticulously composed and arranged, and the percussion sections, in particular, took me more time to carefully listen to and mentally separate the different sounds and patterns.
As always, I started by searching my library for VSTs that would closely resemble the original instruments — congas, brass percussion, and woodblock-type sounds.
The first sounds I found were congas and shakers within a sample pack for Kontakt. To that, I added the Latin percussion from EZ Drummer (congas, metals, and shakers) and completed the section with some metallic textures from East West Percussions.
In the image, you can see the instrument tracks and MIDI channels I set up for the Percussion section of Africa.
Step 3: Recreating Jeff Porcaro's Legendary Drumming
Listening to Jeff Porcaro on the drums is always inspiring, but trying to emulate his drumming with MIDI samples — without that irreplaceable human touch and the original room acoustics — is incredibly difficult. Even though it's a relatively simple drum pattern on the surface, it posed a significant challenge. I know the result isn't exact or identical to the original, and for that reason, I didn't attempt to replicate the exact sound. Instead, I chose to honor the pattern, because there should always be a clear distinction between a machine and Jeff's extraordinary talent.
For the drums, I used multiple VSTs layered together: EZ Drummer and PRO Drummer from East West. I mixed different timbres of kick drums and snares, combining sounds from EZ Drummer and PRO Drummer's Joe Chiccarelli Pack for the kicks and snares. I also incorporated a snare from the Spike Stent Pack of PRO Drummer. For the cymbals, I went with Drum Kit From Hell (the EZ Drummer expansion) for its tonal variety.
One fascinating detail about the original recording: Africa actually has two drum tracks. Jeff recorded a constant pattern that runs throughout the entire song, then added a second drum track on top of it with more intensity during the choruses. It's something very hard to notice by just listening casually, but if you focus and mentally separate the sounds, you can hear it. That kind of attention to detail is what makes Toto's production legendary.
You can see the distribution of MIDI tracks and notice that I have a separate channel for each element of the drum kit.
Step 4: Mike Porcaro's Bass — Simple, Perfect, Soulful
Wow! When I listened closely to what Mike Porcaro played on this track, I noticed not only that he played it with a pick, but also with tremendous heart — as in all his performances. It's a rather simple bass line, but with a perfect rhythm. And when I say "perfect," I don't mean being exact on the beat. I mean that sense of freedom in the groove, not hitting every beat precisely on the grid. That's what makes it a perfect interpretation for this song — and for music in general.
The bass sound I used is the New Stingray 5 Pick from the Ministry of Rock II pack by East West. It gave me the right punch and midrange presence to sit well in the mix alongside the drums and percussion.
As you can see in the image, I have 2 MIDI tracks: one for the main bass line, and another one for the bass glissandos that can be heard at the end of the song.
Step 5: Steve Porcaro's Synthesizers — The Other Porcaro Who Gave Me Trouble!
Once again, emulating Steve Porcaro's synthesizers was a great challenge. For this section, I turned to Arturia's virtual synthesizers: the MINI V, the SEM V, and the CS-80 V, as well as XPand 2 for one of the sounds used in the solo section.
I started with the signature pad that can be heard throughout the entire song. For this, I used the MINI V and created a custom patch from scratch, mixing 3 oscillators, adjusting the filters, and adding Cutoff Frequency control mapped to my keyboard's modulation wheel. Getting the right attack definition to emulate Steve's original pad sound was crucial — too fast and it loses that lush, evolving quality; too slow and it becomes sluggish.
The different VST synthesizers I used for the instrumental of Africa.
Step 6: Steve Lukather's Guitars — Acoustic and Electric Layers
The first thing I thought was: what guitars do I have to emulate Steve Lukather? I reached for a variety of guitar sample libraries in Kontakt, along with the beautiful packs from East West, including Goliath and Ministry of Rock II.
For the acoustic guitar, I blended the 2 Guitars preset from Goliath with a Small Steel String in Kontakt. For the electric guitars — arpeggios, rhythm parts, and distorted tones — I used the Gibson Lead, Cavin Bridge Lead Long, and Jaguar Lead, all from Ministry of Rock II.
One important technique I've learned over the years: I almost never mix different sample libraries lightly, because each one has different velocity-triggered articulations. When you combine, say, an acoustic guitar from a Kontakt pack with another from East West, the dynamics won't respond the same way. So in each MIDI track, I carefully control the velocity and intensity of every single note. The result is a much more cohesive and natural-sounding mix.
In the MIDI track distribution, you can notice that I record 2 different tracks for the acoustic guitars.
Step 7: David Paich's Piano — The Heart of Africa
One of the pianists and keyboard players who has influenced me the most in my own playing is David Paich. That's why I saved him for last, both in this blog post and in the actual recording process of this instrumental.
Like almost everything in Toto's orchestration of this song, the piano part is deceptively simple — but played with so much heart and, in my personal opinion, absolute perfection. In other instrumentals I've produced for Malinda, I usually start with tempo mapping and the piano so I can send her a guide track to record against. But with Africa, I took a different approach.
The piano sound I used is a Steinway D in Kontakt. It has a very defined, clear tone that was perfect for this song. I could have used Keyscape by Spectrasonics or one of the East West pianos, but the Steinway D was simply the right choice for this track.
Steinway D in Kontakt. A piano with a well-defined, clear sound.
The piano, like the drums, percussion, and partly the guitar, follows a repeating pattern that evolves with subtle inversions starting from the solo onward. And that's exactly what makes this piano part something truly great to play — the beauty is in its restraint and consistency.
Africa (Toto) – Piano Recording Session in One Take
The piano recording session for my Africa instrumental remake. I rehearsed for almost an hour, reviewing the chord voicings and harmonic rhythm that David Paich and Steve Porcaro crafted for this legendary Toto track. Then I hit record and captured it in a single take.
Step 8: Exporting 36 Tracks and Delivering the Final Product
This instrumental required me to export 36 individual tracks of separate elements. Malinda has a fantastic mix engineer, so I just needed to generate the audio stems separately — I don't have to worry about pre-mixing anything. That said, I always generate a simple reference pre-mix so Malinda can use it to record her vocals and produce her video, while Johnny DelToro handles the final mix.
The instrumentals I produce for Malinda are set at 48 kHz / 24-bit, which provides excellent audio quality for YouTube video — her primary platform for publishing.
Listen to the Multi-Track Demo
Here's a small demo so you can listen to the individual tracks from the Africa instrumental remake I produced for Malinda. It features 6 stereo tracks with the sounds grouped by instrument type: Drums, Percussion, Bass, Guitars, Synthesizers (along with the Marimbas), and Piano.
Note: I originally developed this multi-track player for another purpose, but it turned out to be much more useful here. I hope that YouTube will someday allow us to publish multi-track audio alongside videos!
Download the Africa Multi-Track Stems (Free)
You can now download the stems from my instrumental remake of "Africa" by Toto — completely free. These are the same grouped tracks you can preview in the multi-track player above.
Download the Africa Stereo Mix (Free)
You can also download the full stereo mix of my instrumental remake of Africa by Toto, also completely free.
The Final Result — As Featured on Translator Fails
This is the final result as published on Malinda Kathleen Reese's YouTube channel Translator Fails. I'm incredibly proud of how it turned out, and I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed producing it.
Behind Every Great Song, There's a Story
Thank you so much for taking the time to read through the production process behind this instrumental. Every remake I produce is a labor of love and a learning experience, and sharing the details with you is one of the most rewarding parts of what I do.
If you're a musician, producer, singer, or worship leader looking for professional backing tracks, multi-track stems, or drum loops, feel free to explore my Music Hub — I have a growing catalog of free and premium resources designed to help you sound your best.
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