First Beat Ever....

  • Thread starter Thread starter Abyyss
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Abyyss

Abyyss

that's life
Right. I've been round here long enough, so it's 'bout time u all heard summit from me. This track's just named beat 1 (very interesting, I know) and it definately isn't perfect nor ready yet. I've already given Stray a couple of samples of what this is like, but back then it had a naff drum beat. Well, takin' his advice I've added a new beat, though simple I think it works well with the track.

Anyways, peep it out here.
 
Transplanting this here from my thread.

QUOTE]Originally posted by Abyyss
No offence was taken. I just didn't want u wasting ur time explaining every bit of the way when I already know it. Believe or not I am quite a musical person, I just haven't produced before in my life or attempted 2 make a hip hop track.:D [/QUOTE]

Abyyss,

Cool. I don't find it hard at all to believe that you have a musical background. I think this is evidenced by your track, that piano line is nice and musical and along with the low piano note really give a nice vibe to the track, aggressive. So either you got really lucky with that combo or you knew, at least partially, what you were doing. Either way, I hear potential here for sure, especially since this is your first attempt at production. I'll be the first to tell you it ain't going to be easy, but you seem to be very diligent and willing to learn so you're definitely going about this the right way.

As always, just let me know if and where I can help.

Stray

BTW, I'm going to have a listen to the changes you made and Ill let you know what I think.
 
Abyyss,

Excellent work on the changes man!!! The hi-hat pattern is nice and clear and keeps everything in motion. I hear what you're saying on the kick, it's definitely kind of quite, but as compared to before it seems to be out front more. I'm really liking the hook section on this, the drumline seems to help bring that out more for some reason. That double snare hit seems to fit this nicely.

I would say overall the drum level is still a little low. Can you bring it up more? If not can you lower the levels on everything else and keep the drums where they are? Do one of those two and you'll be where you need to be level wise.


Stray
 
Abyyss,

Some sort of problem with the board today. Even though there are 2 replies the board says there are 0. Also I've been trying to post this for the last 15 minutes, hopefully it works this time.

Anyways, I've had your beat on for the last 15 minutes picking it apart. Aside from what I've mentioned already there are couple more things I'd suggest.

First, you start the track off with the snare on just 2 and 4 and then you add the double hits, but you don't change back to single hits again. I would suggest switching between these two, maybe have the singles in the verses and the doubles in the hook. BTW, really like how you bring the drums in after the intro.

The other suggestion I would make is on the instrument you have preceding the hook. Sounds like a synth or horn of some sort, you play a sustained note with it. I think this is too loud and I'm not sure I like the sound of the instrument, but I do like how it builds into the hook. I would keep it, but lower the level and only use it when building up into the hook, you have it playing in the verse as well, which doesn't sound right to me.

I'm liking this track Abyyss, definitely impressive for your first attempt. Huge difference from the first time I heard it. I think the drums make a world of difference. Keep it up.

Stray
 
stray411 said:
The other suggestion I would make is on the instrument you have preceding the hook. Sounds like a synth or horn of some sort, you play a sustained note with it. I think this is too loud and I'm not sure I like the sound of the instrument, but I do like how it builds into the hook. I would keep it, but lower the level and only use it when building up into the hook, you have it playing in the verse as well, which doesn't sound right to me.
Stray
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thought it was a bit loud. The reason I've got it halfway through the verse is because this beat is for my group and me and another member share the first verse (right down the middle) that's where his verse ends and mine begins. Then, because we've shared a verse, the two of us have less time flowin' so we do a proper joint verse for the last one.

I'm currently uploading V. 2.3 which doesn't have any of what u said here, but a slightly louder piano so it's easier to here the low notes and better links on the drum beat plus an improved outro (I slowly take away parts: normal drum beat-> snare only on 2/4-> hi-hat in half as much: all this time it's getting quieter like on the original.)
 
Abyyss,

I see, that makes perfect sense then and would probably work nicely to differentiate between the 2 portions of the verse, but definitely should be lowered. From what you've said it sounds like you've got the changes under control, let me know when it's up.

Stray
 
Actually, don't bother listening to 2.3 I've just finished....... well... I suppose it's version 3 by now. And I've included most if not all of the points metioned here. I'll tell u when that's up (it's 6.6MB! So it takes ages! Well, I have got it on 160KBS and best quality, and stereo)
 
Abyyss,

This board does have a mind of it's own sometimes.

Alright, listening to V3 now. Wow, huge improvement. I'm switching between this and the first version you e-mailed me and I'm just amazed at the difference. Drums are sitting out very nicely now. That instrument I pointed out before seems to be lower in the mix and sounds a lot better that way. You're changing up the snare part as well, works nicely.

Only one more suggestion and you can probably just take care of this when you record the song. I would take the entire mix and boost the low end a bit. You'll have to experiment, I would start with a boost around 100 hz.

Very nice work man, you've really put some work into this track and it shows.

Stray
 
Thanks, but what do you mean "boost the low end"?

If you mean, make it so you can actually hear the bassline, then I've already done that in V 3.2

?
 
Abyyss,

Well your "low end" is relatively thin, the bassline and kick drum specifically. I was suggesting an EQ adjustment as a lot of times that is enough to bring out insufficient frequencies as long as they are consistently insufficient, which I felt to be the case. A level adjustment may also do the trick, I was just suggesting EQing because it's a quick fix. Like I said, I didn't see this as a big problem at all.

I'll peep V3.2 shortly.

Stray
 
Abyyss,

V3.2 - I can tell you raised the bass level but the low end is still a little thin. Again not a big deal and something that should be easy to fix. FYI, I'm listening in headphones so if the bass instrument is a real deep subbass I'm going to be missing some of that. I can hear the buzziness of the bass patch but it doesn't have much punch to it, that's one of the reasons I suggested EQing. I think the low piano line will augment the bass and kick so you should have the low end covered if everything is boosted at the same frequency range.

BTW, I am being very critical of this track, which is what I'm assuming you are looking for. The advice above is definitely nit-picking and, like I said, not even that big of a deal right now.

PS. I'm off to the studio now for an all nighter so I probably won't be back here again until tomorrow PM. If you can make a download possible send me an email and I'll have somebody download it for me and bring it to the studio so I can hear the track on my monitors.

Stray
 
OK. I know what u mean about it being thin, both the synth for the bassline and the kick (as discussed before) are pretty quiet. I don't mind you nit-picking, that's the only way it'll be perfect. Do you reckon I should just sort this out at the mastering stage?

BTW, thanks for all the feedback, it's really appreciated.

I might start a new thread to get peoples' attention so I can get feedback from other people, too.

Thanks for everything,

Abyyss
 
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