My songs have too much going on, but they sound boring without?

C

crabtwins

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How do I put this? I make hip hop tracks and lots of times when I am composing I get all kinds of melodies, counter melodies, fills, breaks, etc.. but then I listen to alot of what is out there and they are really basic! Often times, one melody with alot of sprinklles. Anyone else face this problem in the past? How did you get over it? thanks if you have a comment
 
Instead of overwhelming your tracks with sounds, try adding effects to the main sounds. Some delay, reverb, etc. I know with my tracks, those are the things that matter... not just adding another sound to fill in a blank spot.
 
i hear what u are saying, most of my music now has a lot of parts, from guitars and organs and pianos aswell as the ear candy stuff, i would keep on doin what u are cuz thats ur style, but make sure it all fits, sometime it can get a bit carries away, just think about the 70s music, they had strings and all types of stuff , but it was all in its own space and came in at the right time
 
from what it sounds like, your problem isnt one of composition, but rather of realizing what the most important parts are. things seeming "too busy" occurrs when there are too many parts trying to be the focal point of a listener's attention. if you find a way of negotiating what the most important parts are (these can vary, in the case of counterpoint, etc), you should be set.

the easiest way to tell what your most important parts are is by turning off the music and humming the melody. if you sing it, highlight it...if not, push it down a bit in the mix/ composition

-Lodger
 
sometimes its best to not overwhelm your beats with so many sounds cuz that leaves room for the artists to go all out with the vocals. and alot of times the vocals will make the beat. i would try recording the song and if u feel as tho it is still lacking then go back and add more to the track.
 
just use thick sounds..

if u use rich sounds.. u wont feel the need to add 2 much. just fill the ranges with wats needed..


in the past i added too much because i was using thin sounds... so i was tryna blend everything to fill the ranges. then i started comparing my stuff to commercial joints.. and eventually realized you dont need much long as u fillin the ranges good.


we dont like thin tracks round here
 
I learned that rappers like the "lesser going on in a track" first (you can always mix in melodies or anything, when it's finished and it would still fit)
and singers they do like when there are a lot of instruments etc, they are a bit different than the rappers.
 
Regarding this topic, beatmakers are like poets - we should try to say more with less words...
 
Thanks for the replies. I guess i get caught up in the instrumental and its banging to me with all the stuff I put in. But there isnt any mc on them so I lose the feel for the space it needs. thanks
 
It's been hinted at already, but production has a major role to play. For example, go into FL or whatever and use their stock snare and kick...and just loop kick-snare-kick-snare. It's going to sound terrible. However, if you do this same beat with an incredibly "rich" sample, you'll notice that much more space is filled. Quality beats start with quality samples.
 
crabtwins said:
How do I put this? I make hip hop tracks and lots of times when I am composing I get all kinds of melodies, counter melodies, fills, breaks, etc.. but then I listen to alot of what is out there and they are really basic! Often times, one melody with alot of sprinklles. Anyone else face this problem in the past?
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Depends. Too much going on in my tunes? No. Songs out there are a lot simpler than mine. Yes.

crabtwins said:
How did you get over it?
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By realizing, though I love listening to some of the hip hop that's out there, I'd be bored as hell making it. Either the music I make won't be considered hip hop, or I'll just be bringing something different to the table.



But if you actually feel you have too much going on in your tunes, work on your arrangements. Not everything has to be going on at once. Not everything has to run through the entire tune.

I read in the Mixing Engineer's Handbook that there are 5 elements to a mix. Foundation, Rhythm, Lead, Fills & Pads. And it said 4 of them happening at once is plenty... that it would take a hell of an arrangement to have 5 of these going on at once. I apply this to my arrangements.
 
No_Worries said:
...with an incredibly "rich" sample, you'll notice that much more space is filled. Quality beats start with quality samples.
Click to expand...

I think this hits an important nail on the head, you could take any song and almost change the whole mood of it by using different instruments for the beat (this is something that I do alot, go into an old song and re-assign new drums to all the parts.)

As for how to remove a "busy" or cluttered sound, there are two specifics you could try. Number one, the melody/main-point of the piece is buried by the loudness of other sounds. This is easy to fix with using eqs to "make room" in the frequency range for the sound you want to come through. On my songs it's common for me to cut the mids in background parts cause that's where the vocals and melody likes to live for me, and it helps the good **** come out. Another thing to consider is simply tonal ambiguity. Maybe you don't have too many voices cluttering the sound, but you could have a "sonic clutter". What I mean is that you may need simpler chords or rhythms to easy the tension. Remember, funky chords are cool, but they don't always paint a pretty picture. If you're going for smooth maybe more major and minor chords should be in order.

hope that helps a little?
 
just listen to one of DJ Quik's beats you'll hear a gang of different instruments on just one track. but he knows how to make it work and his productions are phenomenal.
 
I've heard some pretty complex stuff, if you listen to Stoupe's beats he goes crazy interlacing different samples together
 
Like VolatileBunny said,

Another thing you can try,....

Have the different melodies/instruments come in at different times.
8 bars strings then 8 bars basic//
8 bars piano then 8 bars basic//
8 bars synth then 8 bars basic.... etc
 
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