My Beats Are Sounding The Same

I

imdarius

New member
I've been making beats for about a year and a half now, and I'm getting to the point where all my beats are starting to sound the same with everything. The same drum loop of a kick and snare and etc. When I try and make something different it doesn't sound that great so I just go back to what I've known to do. Does anyone have any tips on making your beats more versatile? Thanks!
 
Stop making what you know.

You are not making any money from your music so you have no reason to be great, good, or even average.

You have to listen to different music than what you are listening to. You will then pick up an ear for new sounds. You will start looking for those new sounds. You will get new sounds and try to compose new music. You will suck. You will continue making music. You will improve. You will have more and more fun. You will get good. You will get great. Then you will get sick of it all and start over.

Get to work!
 
Desire Inspires said:
Stop making what you know.

You are not making any money from your music so you have no reason to be great, good, or even average.

You have to listen to different music than what you are listening to. You will then pick up an ear for new sounds. You will start looking for those new sounds. You will get new sounds and try to compose new music. You will suck. You will continue making music. You will improve. You will have more and more fun. You will get good. You will get great. Then you will get sick of it all and start over.

Get to work!
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Yeah that's what I've heard haha I'm going to start doing that soon. Do you have any places to send me where I could do this?
 
What kind of music are you trying to produce? what programs are you using? that way I can probably help you. As far as sounding the same, keep trying something new with your beats. Watch youtube videos on beginning production. try new techniques. as far as the other post, listen to new music, you can go to last.fm and type in an artist you like.. it gives suggestions on similar artists. listen to those guys and see if you like anything you hear.. try new genre of music. and always keep in mind that the more you practice the better you get. so keep up the good work and dont be afraid to try new ways of doing it. perhaps you will be introduced to new ideas.
 
if all your beats are sounding the same, it usually means you are taking the same approach everytime you make a beat. If you usually start off wit a melody first, start off with the drums first, if you start off with the drums first, start off wit a melody first etc etc... try different drum patterns, different sounds... sky's the limit
 
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What I do when I start sounding too much like previous work, I gather a list of really good tracks I've recently stumbled on and use them as reference. Obviously don't copy / paste from your reference songs, they are there just to inspire you. From there you'll have something new to work with.
 
I'd say just experiment with making tracks in a completely different genre, even ambient electronic or something, and then come back to your main focus and see if you incorporate any of the skills you learned. If it's really about the drums though maybe you could try some different time signatures, sounds and loops. You could start using old drum breaks to add more variety...
 
My old producer told me to spend a day recreating beats from songs you really like (production wise). You will learn new sounds and techniques through trial and error, and sometimes venture off into a new beat of your own. Choose songs that sound different from your current sound (obviously). Have fun with it.
 
Get some new sounds/vsts.. Den download some new drums... And don't worry alotta producers shit sound the same.. Like luger shit sounded the same.. And he switched it up completely.. It'll come just wait..
 
Your sound will change as you listen to new music and acquire different vsts/samples/drums/equipment....but then again, you don't want to be too diversified...early on when I was trying to sell beats, I had cats come over and like only 2-3 of about 30 tracks because a lot of them weren't the style they were looking for. find a niche and rape the market
 
the only way to think outside the box in music is to actually step outside the box. if you are accustomed to making, say trap beats, then that is the style you will continue making. The main reason people tend to have this habit is either they only listen to trap music, or only admire producers who make trap beats, and try to emulate what they believe is hot.
Step outside your comfort zone and start listening to all different kinds of music from pop and country to symphony's.
Once you find a different style to inspire you, try and make that kind of music. It may sound different, or not as good, but that is most likely because it's new and foreign to you. Don't trust your instincts and stick with these other styles. Let others hear the music.
A good way to find out if someone truly likes your beats is to take rapper acapellas, put them over your beats, and burn them to a CD. When you play it for someone don't let them know that those are your beats, and just ask what they think of the music. You tend to get a more organic response.
 
I would say to just try stuff you normally wouldnt, and incorporate it into your stuff. do something different. For example, I used to HATE glitch music, and to an extent, i still kinda do, but one time I tried to make one. It didnt turn into a glitch track, but more of an insanely unique techno track. I never considered making owl city-type music, but one day, I tried. It ended up being the best club track I ever made. Its really the unique and unexpected things that really add to your stuff.
But the best advice?
MAKE A TON OF UTTER CRAP.
You cant make good music until you know what makes bad music, making a terrible track is probably one of my favorite feelings, its the moment when I realize what I need to make it a hit
 
Wow thanks your responses were all really helpful. I usually chop either jazz or soul samples, and start with the drums first. But I just downloaded Native Instruments sounds so that should help me out. I'm going to just start with a melody for one beat, drums for another and so forth. I'm just trying to become more versatile that's all. I've had people say my beats sound the same, but I just want to tell them that's just my style you know?
 
imdarius said:
I usually chop either jazz or soul samples
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That's another thing, don't limit yourself to sampling one genre of music, there's and endless amount of samples you can flip from all sorts of music, you just have to condition your ear to knowing what to hear
 
try to not go back to what you are familiar when you tried something new and you dont like it..insteadt keep pushing
go where no producer before you has gone haha
 
First of all, why are you using a sample drum loop? Make your own. Delete that sample and forget you ever had it. Writing drums is not hard. Just make it in time and it will sound good. Start with a simple 4 4 kick snare beat then get creative and throw in some random(but in time) beats. Change it every few bars to make it interesting.
 
Try challenging yourself, for example, tell yourself to make a beat with a xylophone in it as a main sound and make it have a sad tone, even if your not successful you'll end up teaching yourself new tricks.
 
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