Trouble finishing beats?

S

SpacedOutBeats

New member
Hey, I have recently gotten into beat making, and as much is i love it, its frustrating as hell! I have only finished 3 beats out of the 6 months i have been doing this. I usually start a beat and love it, and get half way through and then say fu*k this beat. I get so frustrated that i can't find the perfect sound, or something to blend with it the way i want. Is this normal for beginners? Any tips on getting past it? By the way it takes me usually 15 hours or so to do my beats, i can never just put out a quick banger. I am also doing all original stuff, i haven't really dipped into sampling yet. Do you guys have any tips on transitioning from being a frustrated beat maker to producing decent tracks within a decent amount of time? I played my 3 beats for this hooka bar owner and he loved them and he wants me to start doing my tracks there. I told him id love to once i get more tracks, so i want to start making beats on the fly...what is wrong with me...I think one of the main problems is i have to many options, I'm using logic pro. USually i just scroll through sounds and instruments until i find something that kind of works then edit it so it sounds good. I think having all these sounds available is just slowing me down, i get to picky. Any ideas?
 
same shit here man lol everytime i make a beat, i'm like "this shit bangs" but after a while, "**** this shit" lol.. one of the main reasons is the bassline tho, im fightin to understand what's the best way to match the melody with the 808's.. tuning the 808's n all that..
 
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This is not just a beginer issue. There is no real cure for it, everybody get's listening fatigue after a while, you need to understand that if your working on one track for 15 hours, you are listening to the same sounds over and over again. You ears will get tired and the sounds will get less and less interesting the more you hear them. It doesn't mean you track is shit. Imagine listen to your favourite song on repeat for 15 hours, I garauntee you you will end up hating that song after about 30 minutes. Doesn't mean the song is shit just you ears are sick of listening to it.

Having a break is healthy in any aspect of life, especially music creation. You don't want to force your self to finish a beat because your beat will sound well... Forced. It's about finding a happy balance. Take some time off and come back when you ears are sick of listening to something else.

In regards to your point about having to many options, have an idea of what sound you want instead of just flicking through presets or randomly tweaking parameters on a synth. Try to direct your projects rather than randomly stumbling upon stuff (even though a hell of a lot of good music has been created that way.)

Just my 2
 
Perfectly said...alot of beginners do not understand the fact that it's OKAY to take a break every 20 mins whether you are producing or mixing just to re-calibrate your ears...I guarantee if you do this from now on your mixes will sound ALOT better and you will finish all of your stuff..
 
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what do you mean by 3 beats in 6 months? 3 tracks or 3 beat sequences? either way of course 6 months for 3 tracks is a very low turn out, so there is a problem with your production. I am newb too, but ive churned out some good tracks in the past 2 months. I also have been stumped after creating a 30 seconds sample. As DJR have said, if you listen to the same beat for a long period of time, it does start to sound shitty, you have to take a break from it UNTIL you feel like coming back to it again. sometimes it takes a week to come back and listen to it with fresh ears.
I was going to suggest to download more samples so youd have something new to chose from, but it sounds like you have enough. I do exactly the same thing as you do, i go through different samples to see what fits, so basically, the only way you can feel motivated to continue is when you find something new. So maybe instead of trying to find new sounds, try using new mixing techniques.
Also, dunno if you smoke the sticky-icky to motivate yourself, but when I smoked, i produced a track a day, although I was using pretty simple methods back then. After i stopped smoking for a while, I coudlnt get motivated to make anymore beats. But after a while i got back into it and made some pro tracks without any pot. It takes me on average 3-4 days to create a track without any pot, sometimes a week if I get stuck and have to take a break. So maybe your not enjoying your pot?
 
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I know how it is its hard to finish stuff just have to push yourself.!!
i have about 30 or more unfinished tracks....

JUST REMEMBER QUALITY OVER QUANTITY!!!!!!!
PEACE
 
kidneypunch said:
I know how it is its hard to finish stuff just have to push yourself.!!
i have about 30 or more unfinished tracks....

JUST REMEMBER QUALITY OVER QUANTITY!!!!!!!
PEACE
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yep quality over quantity, but pushing yourself doesnt get you good results. I do agree that sometimes you ahve to sit down and restart your work on a track even if you dont want to, but ONLY if while your looking about on how to finish it, you do become motivated about it again, but if youre gonna push it to make your track 5 min instead of 3 with some generic stuff, then might as well just trash it.

30 unfinished tracks is alot dude, i would suggest chopping them up and combining some of them together to form full tracks. Otherwise they will most likely never be finished.
 
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You will get faster in time. I can knock out a beat in an hour and a half now. But I always make sure I finish them. I can't leave it just there, it's crazy to me to do that. Maybe I just start what I finish, who knows! Good luck to you homie. Have a plan and execute it.
 
Try to direct your projects rather than randomly stumbling upon stuff (even though a hell of a lot of good music has been created that way.)
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That's the trouble I'm having. I want to direct my projects because I have this awesome sound in my head, but I just can't ever seem to get it down. What say you?
 
I just started making beats myself and I'm also having this same issue.I get stuck in an area of whether I should add another sound or just leave it as is and move on.
 
i used to have this problem a lot because i was on FL every day and eventually it almost became a chore. now i only produce when im in the mood and tend to get more tracks finished. a lot of the time i dont save the tracks im workin on if i feel i wont come back to it.
 
SpacedOutBeats said:
Hey, I have recently gotten into beat making, and as much is i love it, its frustrating as hell! I have only finished 3 beats out of the 6 months i have been doing this. I usually start a beat and love it, and get half way through and then say fu*k this beat. I get so frustrated that i can't find the perfect sound, or something to blend with it the way i want. Is this normal for beginners? Any tips on getting past it? By the way it takes me usually 15 hours or so to do my beats, i can never just put out a quick banger. I am also doing all original stuff, i haven't really dipped into sampling yet. Do you guys have any tips on transitioning from being a frustrated beat maker to producing decent tracks within a decent amount of time? I played my 3 beats for this hooka bar owner and he loved them and he wants me to start doing my tracks there. I told him id love to once i get more tracks, so i want to start making beats on the fly...what is wrong with me...I think one of the main problems is i have to many options, I'm using logic pro. USually i just scroll through sounds and instruments until i find something that kind of works then edit it so it sounds good. I think having all these sounds available is just slowing me down, i get to picky. Any ideas?
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Exactly. Basically once' you've realized that your creative drive on a beat is slowly falling back and you're losing interest. Save it and start a new project. I can tell you that from experience, I started about 6 different instrumentals in 2 weeks. Anywho I saved them even though they felt like ehh. So then I go and start a new beat, and this one is like woah I finished it straight up no bs. Right after that I was so motivated and had all this excitement to just keep creating, so I go back and listen to those "ehh" tracks... Man all I can say is that out of nowhere I suddenly knew how to approach them, what to change, what to add, etc! I finished them and was very proud and it's crazy! All in all Breaks are necessary! Plus when you return it'll be fresh again, and a fresh mentality will be present too!
 
welll if you don't know.. POST YOUR BEATS TO THE SHOWCASE THREAD AND ASK PEOPLE IF ITS DONE OR NEEDS MORE ETC.. FROM THEN GET A FEEEL OF WHEN YOU NEED TO ADD MORE..
 
I have the same problem bra, only way around it I'd say is experience. With time you'll know what goes good with what, or you'll think back to an instrument u used on another track and think to urself how it would sound good.
 
If i make a beat in a couple hours i would still save it and next day do all the finishing touches with fresh set of ears..
 
SpacedOutBeats said:
Hey, I have recently gotten into beat making, and as much is i love it, its frustrating as hell! I have only finished 3 beats out of the 6 months i have been doing this. I usually start a beat and love it, and get half way through and then say fu*k this beat. I get so frustrated that i can't find the perfect sound, or something to blend with it the way i want. Is this normal for beginners? Any tips on getting past it? By the way it takes me usually 15 hours or so to do my beats, i can never just put out a quick banger. I am also doing all original stuff, i haven't really dipped into sampling yet. Do you guys have any tips on transitioning from being a frustrated beat maker to producing decent tracks within a decent amount of time? I played my 3 beats for this hooka bar owner and he loved them and he wants me to start doing my tracks there. I told him id love to once i get more tracks, so i want to start making beats on the fly...what is wrong with me...I think one of the main problems is i have to many options, I'm using logic pro. USually i just scroll through sounds and instruments until i find something that kind of works then edit it so it sounds good. I think having all these sounds available is just slowing me down, i get to picky. Any ideas?
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if that shit is hot to you when you first bang it out and you feel some type of emotion with the track..... then keep it..... and take ur time with it.....everyday you'll have fresh ears and your track will sound better everyday... keep working on it because when you listen everyday something will come to you, or you'll have an idea just pop in your head..... you'll just hear something that needs to be added to the track....... because ur mind isn't so overwhelmed from working 15hrs straight???? RIGHT?........

You're a human lolz....good thing our tools dont say **** THIS THIS SHIT...THIS MOTHA****A IS NOT BANGING OUT A TRACK TODAY and then you'll have to wait until ur tools are ready to get cranking and that wont sit well with you or me ha................. im just sayin u can always go back to it :)

take it easy, and just relax.... it seems like you're anxious and excited because the guy at the bar likes ur tracks and u'll get to do some work in public and you do not wanna miss an opportunity.... you can work on a fly but produce quality trax..... dont rush.......

you'll get faster over time

things that helped me get better
- learning some basic stuff about mixing, Cleaning up mix with eq (kill the muddy crap, cutting frequencies) and blah blah... im not an engineer but it wont hurt to know some basic stuff i guess lol.....
- music theory, scales, chords, keys
-frequencies, your lows(bass), mids(,maybe some piano in mid range), highs(string in high range)....drums, percussion - **BOOM** U HAVE A TRACK LOL
- just basically eager to learn and lots of reading and watching videos and crap like that...
-experimenting with sounds (and learning them),effects..... stuff that im totally unfamiliar with and just messing around. learning what the effects do, learning what kind of sound a sound makes...... reading manuals....reading this website.... google searching futureproducers
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just knowing ur sounds i guess..... im kinda new at beat making (started in 2008)

programming sounds from scratch.... its all types of stuff that can help you.....

finding melodies that are in your head using scales......etc
PLAYING IN KEY.........

understanding what quantize is...... what is 1/16 note .....1/16T note, 1/32 note....etc etc....... if you stick with it you'll learn a lot over time and then you'll keep learning when you think you know it all....... because ur so dedicated to it..... stick with it

taking vacations from making beats help too
sometimes our tracks are done but we have think they're not so we over do it.....
i usually like to record myself over my tracks to mimick an artist on the track and i'll see if the track is done or not... or if it sounds done and doesn't need anything else... might even take something away...... take ur time....

but work at it everyday, because ur ear will tell you something new.... and u'll know when u're done..... the vocals will help making the beat also


sorry got carried way :berzerk:
 
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