any advice would be mostly appreciated

[creation]

So basically I've been working on beats on and of for a few years now. I'm not happy with what I work on.

I know something is missing but I have no idea what it is? i don't know wether or not my beats need to be mixed better, wether I need to use more sounds. Wether the melodys im creating arnt good enough?? I just know something is missing from them.

I listen to someone like preemo who can work with a kick, snare and a couple of samples and that shit sounds banging, yet I can use a ton of instruments and the beat still sounds incomplete and amateurish.

If I knew what was missing I could focus on learning how to fill that gap but without knowing I can't work on it.

If I could take a "90's hip hop production course" I'd do it but I'm pretty sure they don't exist.

If anyone has a bit of time and could have a quick little look at my beats and other any type of advice I would be eternally greatful 😬

https://soundcloud.com/user2880443/made-it

Thank you 🙌🏻

[KonKossKang]

It would be best to learn all you can about audio production, because that's what helps you be able to do almost any style you can think of.

The manual & youtube, plus wikipedia searches of each and every genre you are interested in.

[Wikipedia moreso]

[alienaircraftmusic]

i would say just a better mix. your highs are kind of obnoxious. you should make the lows stand out more like your kick for that particular beat.

[MarioDaKid]

I know exactly how you feel man. Went through the same thing about a year ago. My advice to you is to try and remake some of your favorite beats or look online for a project file thats a remake. I know a lot times the guys on youtube will post their FL project files for downloads. This way you can see some of the techniques used to make a killer sound. Also try messing round with parameters in your DAW that you usually wouldn't mess with. I just started messing with this built in ping pong delay FL Studio has, not that Ive never used a delay, but I started to using it on different parts of my drums such as the snare and the sounds Im getting are just crazy.

But honestly just try to incorporate some techniques from you favorite producers into your own style. You'd be surprised to see what you come up with.

[creation]

Thanks a lot for the advice guys, I've got about 20 beats in my SoundCloud and I don't feel 100% about any of them. I get to a stage where I start making something, get annoyed because I don't feel it's good enough, not sure how to improve them then give up on the beat. So do the beats on my SoundCloud seem like the melodys are ok but the mixing needs improvement?

If that's the case I might look at taking a mixing course.

Thanks again for your help.

[OGBama]

I'm no producer but the best advice is to understand that, for example, Premo was working at a time when Hip Hop producers studied alongside other producers in commercial studios and going to those studios didn't come before said producer started from his bedroom and/or friend's house first. More sounds, mixing, melodies, etc. mean nothing if you are looking to polish turds.

If you take a mixing course, beware as it all comes down to being able to only apply what is needed. Every aspect of the industry is powered by those preying on suckers willing to fork over any amount of cash to say they studied with so-and-so.

[marrelarre]

I make samplebased music and then add instruments to that and after listening to your soundcloud profile i have a few tips. Firstly with sampling its obviously a lot about what kind of samples you get - they gotta be great!
The main thing i noticed in your beats is that they're quite repetative in the sense that theres a lot of 1 bar loops which can be fine but then its gotta be a GREAT 1 bar sample. Just spamming the same chop repeatedly makes the beat feel stuck - no progression or movement, just a chord being spammed forever.
So my first tip would be that you should try to make longer segments/sequences (like 4 bars maybe?) and try not to spam the same chop over and over again. As a exercise you could just try to find a killer loop that is 4 bars and just put drums to it and then compare that your own music.
take this sample that preemo used for example - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEhQxPR7ZQM
its just a loop but its dope as fuck and really makes sense musically. Now use that loop but dont chop it up too much, keep it the like the original.

that leads to my second tip - make it musical, there were a lot of drum patterns that were all over the place. often a more simple straight forward pattern is better - add drums to make the groove better, not just to fill the place up. If it still feels empty i would solve that with more instruments rather than drums. Same goes for the melodies, they lack that catchiness cus its just the same chord over and over again.

Lastly - start with making a greaaat sequence that you just wanna listen to over and over again. Once you have that you can make a variation of that and make it into a song - dont build a house on a crappy foundation.

Hope that helps - feel free to PM me for any question.

[creation]

Thanks for your in depth reply marrelarre, I think the problem is I find anything with a slightly catchy loop "in my opinion" and try to make a beat out of it, and when I try to write my own stuff I just can't get the instruments sounding how I want, I can never find the right baseline for sampled music or writing my own either, I also have no idea if you can make samples with some records work with other samples from other records using with etc or if they just won't work full stop.

Don't say I can pm you mate you'll end up getting a restraining order against me for harassment as I'll be hitting you up all the time for advice 😂

Cheers for the advice guys 🙌🏻

[OGBama]

About making samples work with other samples study Pete Rock and also The Bomb Squad, Sir Jinx, DJ Pooh, etc.

[Your Local Musician]

I think personally you do need to pay more attention to your lows and focus on making them a bit more present in the mix, for the most part I believe your issue is a confidence thing, you just need someone to tell you your beats are hot to give you that extra boost.