Struggling to find that "Genuine" Sound

[eyelikeboats]

Hey everyone , its my first post in this forum. I've been producing for about 2 years now and I need some advice/ feedback for this problem I've been having since day one.

I always struggle to find that authentic sound when I'm making my "type" beats. I always feel like its missing some sort of depth or some sort of vibe or feel. I try to mix and do better melodies but I always come up short. An example of what I'm talking about is attached below on a Isaiah Rashad type beat I have worked on, where I feel like its just missing the "Isaiah can be in this track", as opposed to the you tube counterparts. I want to say that I'm self-doubting or I shouldn't measure myself on others works but I still feel like my beats are missing something that I can't pinpoint.

I would appreciate any kind of feedback given on this track in terms of how it could be better.

I use FL12.

I layed a kendrick acapella on it for anti theft purposes.

 

[TheFluff]

The variation in percussion on this is really interesting. There's a lot of good ideas in this beat, but I can't help but notice the drum samples and even some of the backing melodies sound really dry; like they were lifted straight from a sample pack with not a whole lot of processing. Samples are great, but you have to make them fit into your mix or they'll just sit "on top" of it all if that makes any sense. For example, that clap really could've used just a liiiitle bit of reverb. Also, beats usually lack that lush, full sound before they're mastered and put through compressors and shit. Try not to compare a fully mastered track to your own, when it's still not even done with the mixing phase. I definitely wouldn't say it's bad to compare other people's stuff to your own, but a fully mastered track is pretty much always gonna sound way better than something you're still working on. Don't let that discourage you!

 

[eyelikeboats]

The variation in percussion on this is really interesting. There's a lot of good ideas in this beat, but I can't help but notice the drum samples and even some of the backing melodies sound really dry; like they were lifted straight from a sample pack with not a whole lot of processing. Samples are great, but you have to make them fit into your mix or they'll just sit "on top" of it all if that makes any sense. For example, that clap really could've used just a liiiitle bit of reverb. Also, beats usually lack that lush, full sound before they're mastered and put through compressors and shit. Try not to compare a fully mastered track to your own, when it's still not even done with the mixing phase. I definitely wouldn't say it's bad to compare other people's stuff to your own, but a fully mastered track is pretty much always gonna sound way better than something you're still working on. Don't let that discourage you!

Thanks Fluff, It seems like I needed to hear that

I went back later this day and did some edits to the track, which even though I dont feel its still as full, theres now more depth to it.