What's your mindset when making beats?

A

ALXIII

New member
I was wondering what's people mindsets when making beats. Are you subconsciously making beats with an artist in mind? Or are you just going with the flow and what ever you make is what you make. I make my best beats when I'm not thinking about an artist or anything specific. Sometimes it's a beat just to listen to because there's really no room or pocket for an artist or sometimes it's the perfect beat for an artist. It's hard for me to make music trying to make a beat for someone. I feel super restricted. I just wanted to know what is everyone else mindset while making music.
 
I just make music, enjoy doing it. So my mindset is set to having fun and that's it.
Differs when your actually busy with your job, wanting to earn money. Can be fun, but then you might have to have a different mindset then only having fun.
 
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I just going with the flow, I know some people can have an artist in mind so they listen to a lot of their tracks before starting.
 
I do the most random thing and sometimes something interesting happens during that.
Speaking of which, god bless akai mpd218.
 
I can't make beats when I'm angry - nothing good comes from it.
I can make angry beats when I'm chilled out though.

Most of the time I go into the studio excited that I have some time in the studio - cos with a 13 month old child - I don't get as much time in the studio as I used to.

Excited to have the time seems to work for me though. My output is way down on where it was before my son was born but the quality is definitely up.
 
Personally I don't even start a beat until I have one fraction of the whole project already worked out in my brain. For example if I find a loop that I love i just sit down and listen to it repeatedly until I can think up some drums, or if I hear a song with one or two elements I love I use those elements but craft something different on top of it. So basically its easier to make a beat when you have one part of it already in your mind instead of just starting from scratch.
 
I have to have a purpose to it otherwise i end up extremely frustrated these days. Sometimes I can be chilled and happy and just messing about yields some good results.

I find the best mindset is when someone approaches me and wants a beat, whether I sell it or whether I do it for a friend or whatever (I know, I do this sometimes and can hate myself for it on occasion) I like the feeling of writing for a purpose.

Another good one in my opinion is being that inspired by another piece of music and using it as a "starting point" - not ripping it off but taking ideas from the feel, from the elements used, or even the different layout. What I finish up with is usually a million miles away from the piece that inspired me anyway, but it all helps.
 
It's strictly a hobby for me so I just go with the flow and try to do something new so I can learn. I love to get stoned, sit down and start with something unique and build on that. Occasionally I start with the drums but more often than not a unique sound. I love vocal chops, but sometimes I'll stretch out a vocal sample, edit it, add FX, fuck around with it untill it's looped cohesively. From there I just build on it with sounds I like, sounds I'm trying out or a new technique I read about.

As for drums, I once had this sample that was basically coins being banged on a table (Think like a slot machine type sound). It layered awesome with my snare drums and as soon as I had even a basic drum loop featuring that I had inspiration and knew exactly where I wanted to take the beat.

Another time I took a bunch of bass one shots, put them in a drum rack and made a loop from those all put together in a sequencer. It sounded awesome.
 
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For me its part time because I do have artists that i work with. However, for me I just let the music flow. Whether I start with a melody or dum.
I to get stoned. Music seems to sound much better that way. Or somehow my music senses are heightened at this point.

NONE THE LESS I work best when the music just flows
 
It just depends in the mood I'm in I suppose. I sell beats to artists online so sometimes I will look at what songs are really popular at the moment and make beats with a similar sound. But that is really just once in a while. I personally think that the best music any producer can make comes from your own style and originality so just "going with the flow" and creating what is already inside of you sometimes is just the best way to go about it. If you think about it, every famous producer out there all have their own unique style, this is what separates them from the 1,000's of producers out there.
 
When I make beats, I try to be not listening too much any specific artist, because I want to create my own melodies. So normally I try to empty my mind and just figure out something new inside my brain. Or sometimes I just play with keyboard and then I find something that sounds interesting. If I'm freestyle rapping i need to have some kind of aggression but beatmaking is not the same.
 
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