when your putting to much into your beat?

[RhyanCrisis]

ok so far i've been producing and making beats for a little over a year now, i've gotten way better from when i first started, but i think i have a thing with adding TO much into a beat.. so my question is... when do you know enough is enough?? (i notice some beats are complex having strings, piano's, brass, drums and perc and all this other stuff going on.. and some have just bass, drums and a synth sound.. yet they sound good full like it fits). so when do you guys usually stop adding on to a beat?.... i am thinking maybe i should do drums, add a melody and counter melody and leave it like so...

 

[mwandishi]

U make the call. That's the producers job.

 

[bandcoach]

The more you practice the sooner you will understand when enough is enough

 

[Smokingfilla]

When it sounds like musical diarrhea.

 

[ObiK]

Just remember, if you are writing a beat for a rapper without lyrics the song is always half done. Leave enough space for the lyricist to sing or rap.

 

[RhyanCrisis]

thanks guys... and LMAO Obik.... i never read such a straight forward answer that really makes sense, that was like a philosophers answer, but it makes a whole lot of sense, thanks, Any tips you guys got tho that you lean towards that you say "Hey this is to much"

 

[ObiK]

You'll have to learn for yourself. There can be super simple songs like laffy taffy or super complex songs like Show em what you got. Just make as many as you can and with each one you'll learn, grow and strengthen your ear.

 

[1oakproduction]

It always varies from song to song, but it really comes down to what you feel. It may help to start analyzing songs you like and note their instrumentation and most importantly how each instrument contributes to the overall song. Soon enough you will understand how each instrument plays a role in the song and hear when your instrumentation begins to conflict. Hope this helps, check out my FREE CD "Chase The Dream" available for download here.

 

[rexl12]

i think i have a thing with adding TO much into a beat

definitely can relate, i used to have that exactly same problem in the worst way (still probably do, to an extent). stop adding sounds just to add them, focus on the FEEL of the song. once your song gives you a specific emotional response, its alot easier to know where you want to go with it since ul be adding sounds specifically to complement the mood and not just to fill space. if you have a bunch of sounds but they you dont feel anything listening back to the track, you might want to watch out cause you can get carried away really quick.

sometimes its a chord, or a drum pattern, or even a really nice, rich pad, but you'll know when you got it cause you go from just "hearing sounds" to feeling the music (if that makes any sense)



^ good example (imo), mood is established at 0.35, after that everything else falls into place

 

[ortamusic]

Exactly the same question I have asked Onra about. The answer is quite simple and obvious: you have to rely on your ears and your ears only.

 

[eXigObeats]

sometimes you know exactly what to add and where to put it but when you hear it back together with the rest it sounds like crap. this could be because you're either putting too much or you just don't know exactly how to mix all the parts together. i've found the latter to be true more often. i believe if something tells you should add a synth/pad/bass ...., it probably belongs in the mix. if it sounds lousy in the end, you just have to work on mixing all components together. try some deep research on EQ techniques so you can make compromises between different instruments in the same frequency range. you can also use EQ to remove unnecessy low frequencies that build up from the different instruments in the mix.(these frequencies tend to add an unwanted muddying effect to the mix making it unclear overall) also look into sidechain compression which is a smart way of mixing instruments of the same frequency range without compromising individual qualities. (esp kick and bass) that's all i have for now. keep learning everyday!!!

 

[myflashstore]

Well I reckon you should add what you think makes sense and then start taking things away one by one. If the beat/song still sounds great without the additional instruments, then leave them out. If you find yourself adding and adding, trying to make a beat/song better, maybe the main part of the beat/song i.e. melody or rhythm is not strong enough to begin with. Perhaps that particular beat/song is one you should come back to later and maybe even ditch.

Agree with an earlier post that if you are writing for an artist, the beat/instrumentation is only half finished, so maybe wait until they've done their bit before you add anything else.

 

[AdeBeats]

IMO, no matter how much, it's never enough. When the pros make a song and they put it out there, you might say it's 'enough', right? What if they come with the remix then and add more on top, is it 'too much'?