Any Questions for Andrew Lloyd can get answered RIGHT HERE

[as20gp]

I try my best to give real unfiltered advice for folks on here as much as possible, and since im not really doing anything this weekend but tracking things out and getting my life together, i figured i could answer any and all questions you might have about anything. Whether it be the industry, my favorite sports team, what model would i want to sleep with, my favorite strain of weed, im here to answer any questions

the reason why i've made a thread about it compared to just answering them on twitter or in my PMs, is because i get a lot of great questions that i feel like the whole forum could benefit from

so if you want to ask me a question you can post one up in the thread, or if you dont want to ask in public, PM me and i'll post a response (with your identity hidden if its embarrassing or whatever for you)

or if you dont want to bother with any of it, and you think im stupid lol thats cool too, just figured id extend my hand once again because the last thread i made i felt like went over really well and people seemed to appreciate it, and also sometimes i dont check my Private Messages often. So let me know, and if i get enough responses or anything.. i'll throw em all together in a word document and post em on my tumblr, or something, maybe a PDF so you can reference them.

ya'll stay up

 

[Isk2009]

I'm just saying........I knew the Knicks werent gone be about sh!t....


lol, but on the real, has anything at all changed for you since your music business post a while back? I remember you said you weren't seeing any new work even after the Wayne album and grammy nomination. That still the case?

 

[as20gp]

I'm just saying........I knew the Knicks werent gone be about sh!t....


lol, but on the real, has anything at all changed for you since your music business post a while back? I remember you said you weren't seeing any new work even after the Wayne album and grammy nomination. That still the case?

man dont get me started on my Knicks, them niggas are trash smh.. but shoutout to Baron Davis.. im glad he in NY now he got a dope label and some dope artists on the roster

but naw, i mean things havent really changed, my doors havent been knocked down or laced with sessions.. Grammy weekend should be intense as ****, im still tryna figure out if thats the move i want to make. But the homies will be out there shopping records if i dont go. Everybody is gonna be out in Cali that weekend partying and recording, every studio that big named artists record at is ****ing locked up, so hopefully some things come from it. But naw no new work, ive had a couple labels hit me up for publishing deals but they didnt really come at me correct. So ive just been working on other things

its only been less than 6 months since the album has dropped so who knows, but im not counting on it lol, im still out here grinding

 

[Isk2009]

That's what's up w/ Baron, and at least you're not banking on him saving the team like my brother...lmao...


But fasho, hopefully something will work out for you on grammy weekend. you know the drill, keep FP updated if you can lol

 

[crazybeatz]

Say a producer spent a good 5 years perfecting his craft and now he has a quality sounding production that could compete with todays standard and then some.

Hes got the music and creative part down pat.

But this producer wants to get active and get tracks heard by artists/labels/etc. To land placements and build a resume and name for himself.

With the over stauration of producers and rappers now days, what should be the very NEXT step to making this happen?

Assuming the music is very good, and if it got in the hands of the right people, they more than likely pick up on it.

But how is one to "Get it in the hands of the right people"?

What should one producer do to start building these relationships, in the mist of all these not-so-good producers getting in the way?

 

[as20gp]

Say a producer spent a good 5 years perfecting his craft and now he has a quality sounding production that could compete with todays standard and then some.

Hes got the music and creative part down pat.

But this producer wants to get active and get tracks heard by artists/labels/etc. To land placements and build a resume and name for himself.

With the over stauration of producers and rappers now days, what should be the very NEXT step to making this happen?

Assuming the music is very good, and if it got in the hands of the right people, they more than likely pick up on it.

But how is one to "Get it in the hands of the right people"?

What should one producer do to start building these relationships, in the mist of all these not-so-good producers getting in the way?

this probably the question i get the most. its kind of difficult to answer because everybody has their own ways of doing things. If the music is up to par, signing up for certain websites like the PMPs, the Istandards help, but it cant be the sole way you get yourself out there. I got a lot of work by collaborating with a bunch of producers who were on the come up and starting to get placements, and i met most of them right here on FP and other forums

so i cant really tell you what you should do to make sure your music gets in the hands of the right people, theres a bunch of A & Rs and people actively looking for music on twitter, and they post their emails up, or you can contact them directly and get a private email for yourstuff.

but i can tell you what you SHOULDNT do.. what you shouldnt do is spam, nobody likes spam, nobody likes people who bombard their music down other peoples throats like "HEY LOOK I MAKE BEATS I MAKE BEATS", i really got all my industry connects by becoming actual friends with people, and through word of mouth.. and less of "Oh **** with Drew because hes a dope producer" it was "yo **** with drew he a cool ass nigga, hes good people"

so i think by being a good person, being reliable (sending stuff when you say youre going to send it) and having the music to back up all that stuff will take you a lot farther than people tend to give it credit, if i was an ******* i probably would never get work a day in my life just because thats how i kinda branded myself, as just a regular nice guy. Theres no facade with me, and i think A & Rs and companies appreciate that just as much as they want to hear good music

 

[alxgry]

this is a generic question, but how did you learn to do what you do? I mean, ive hard some of your random stuff and obviously what you have placed, and its good. Your sound selection is nice, everything works well with itself bla bla bla enough ass kissing lol

My question is what did you do to learn what you know today? How do you make "good" music?

And also, how much of it is your mixing and mastering vs. i made this beat, its nice, heres how I mixed it to sound good to me, but here are the trackouts so that you and artist A can engineer it yourself?

 

[kyng]

Drew I know you already hit me up bro, and I appreciate that. . .

but just so everyone else can get an idea. . .

Can you tell us about Berklee?

-How was the audition?

-Would the audition be harder for less experienced players than yourself?

-What to practice to make sure you get in. . .

-Life at Berklee.

-The curriculum and the teachers. Did you learn anything?

-Is Berklee worth it? Or are you better off sitting at home on your ass and practicing diligently everyday?

Thanks again homie.

 

[as20gp]

this is a generic question, but how did you learn to do what you do? I mean, ive hard some of your random stuff and obviously what you have placed, and its good. Your sound selection is nice, everything works well with itself bla bla bla enough ass kissing lol

My question is what did you do to learn what you know today? How do you make "good" music?

And also, how much of it is your mixing and mastering vs. i made this beat, its nice, heres how I mixed it to sound good to me, but here are the trackouts so that you and artist A can engineer it yourself?

appreciated fam

as far as "making good music" i come from a musical background, so i really spent my time emulating people that i looked up to and literally making beats like them and stepping my sounds up. Once i started making my own sounds it helped me get my sound selection popping because i was literally creating sounds that fit perfectly well together and a lot of experimentation

i realized my music wasnt on par with the people that i looked up to so i just kept trying to get better, making beats everyday, its kinda like sports.. making beats is like practice.. even when i take a break from beats, i'll come back and be really rusty, nothing will sound "good" to me, but once i knock out like 4 or 5 "wack" ones, then i get back in the groove of things.

as far as mixing and "mastering" i dont do any of that lol, honestly i just get my levels right, and panning right, and a lil bit of compression and boom, i dont know how to mix, i dont even really know how a compressor works, i do everything by ear. And honestly you really just want it to sound good.. because most artists are 2-tracking everything.. like most of the placements i got like on my bandcamp were 2-tracked, just beat and vocals lol. so im not really a mixing expert im still trying to get better and get good at that sort of thing.

---------- Post added at 07:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:28 PM ----------

Drew I know you already hit me up bro, and I appreciate that. . .

but just so everyone else can get an idea. . .

Can you tell us about Berklee?

-How was the audition?

-Would the audition be harder for less experienced players than yourself?

-What to practice to make sure you get in. . .

-Life at Berklee.

-The curriculum and the teachers. Did you learn anything?

-Is Berklee worth it? Or are you better off sitting at home on your ass and practicing diligently everyday?

Thanks again homie.

Berklee is great!, im still in school ima be finished by august but the audition wasnt as bad as i thought it was.. basically they ask you to play a prepared piece, and basically try to gauge how well you can read music, and read chord charts, its really laid back and not as difficult as i thought it would be. For less experienced players, it might be a lil daunting because you gotta know chords, scales, a prepared piece and then random stuff they'll ask you on the fly. I didnt practice anything specific, i just made sure that i knew my piece by memory and could perform it well

life at berklee is great, lots of good people.. boston is wack though, not a fan and its too cold even tho im from NY. Its a sports city though so theres always lots to do.

the berklee curriculum is SUPER difficult, its a lot of information, ima music business major and i had to take a lot of classes that were out of my major and were hard as ****, but i def learned a lot, built a great network with other students and teacher and made some really good connects into film, TV, and other industries. It opens your eyes to other industries that make money using music so its a lot

Berklee... i mean.. the only thing i can say against berklee is that if youre looking to major in music production and engineering.. its not WORTH it.. because school is so ****ing expensive, but if money isnt an issue for you, i would def suggest it, i major in music business so that at least if i dont wanna make beats anymore i can get another job with my degree. Theres def some things you will learn at berklee that you wont learn staying at home practicing. Overall its been a good investment for me so far, i have no real complaints except its pricey

 

[J.Son]

Appreciate you taking your time to post.
Good insight in this threat.
Keep doing what you do! True inspiration keep them questions coming.lol

 

[fataltone]

appreciated fam

as far as "making good music" i come from a musical background, so i really spent my time emulating people that i looked up to and literally making beats like them and stepping my sounds up. Once i started making my own sounds it helped me get my sound selection popping because i was literally creating sounds that fit perfectly well together and a lot of experimentation

i realized my music wasnt on par with the people that i looked up to so i just kept trying to get better, making beats everyday, its kinda like sports.. making beats is like practice.. even when i take a break from beats, i'll come back and be really rusty, nothing will sound "good" to me, but once i knock out like 4 or 5 "wack" ones, then i get back in the groove of things.

as far as mixing and "mastering" i dont do any of that lol, honestly i just get my levels right, and panning right, and a lil bit of compression and boom, i dont know how to mix, i dont even really know how a compressor works, i do everything by ear. And honestly you really just want it to sound good.. because most artists are 2-tracking everything.. like most of the placements i got like on my bandcamp were 2-tracked, just beat and vocals lol. so im not really a mixing expert im still trying to get better and get good at that sort of thing.

---------- Post added at 07:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:28 PM ----------




Berklee is great!, im still in school ima be finished by august but the audition wasnt as bad as i thought it was.. basically they ask you to play a prepared piece, and basically try to gauge how well you can read music, and read chord charts, its really laid back and not as difficult as i thought it would be. For less experienced players, it might be a lil daunting because you gotta know chords, scales, a prepared piece and then random stuff they'll ask you on the fly. I didnt practice anything specific, i just made sure that i knew my piece by memory and could perform it well

life at berklee is great, lots of good people.. boston is wack though, not a fan and its too cold even tho im from NY. Its a sports city though so theres always lots to do.

the berklee curriculum is SUPER difficult, its a lot of information, ima music business major and i had to take a lot of classes that were out of my major and were hard as ****, but i def learned a lot, built a great network with other students and teacher and made some really good connects into film, TV, and other industries. It opens your eyes to other industries that make money using music so its a lot

Berklee... i mean.. the only thing i can say against berklee is that if youre looking to major in music production and engineering.. its not WORTH it.. because school is so ****ing expensive, but if money isnt an issue for you, i would def suggest it, i major in music business so that at least if i dont wanna make beats anymore i can get another job with my degree. Theres def some things you will learn at berklee that you wont learn staying at home practicing. Overall its been a good investment for me so far, i have no real complaints except its pricey

what are you looking at as far as the use of your music business degree??
just for personal use??

 

[SFTRAXX]

Excellent thread Idea.

Although I don't have any questions at this time I do wanna ask you:

What are your feelings about working with Indies vs. the majors?

I've noticed a lot of people on this site bash the "working with indies" approach because they feel like its harder to make things happen with someone who's unestablished. I'm kinda on the other end where I fux with indies because IMO if you connect with the right artist you and that artist can develop a prosperous relationship and build together....

Thoughts?

 

[xXx_Dugan_Fire_xXx]

Whats good bro? what up with a collab?

 

[as20gp]

right now im trying to weight my options on what exactly my goals are for my degree, i dont know if im going to use my services for other companies or create a business of my own. I have a list of companies that i would interested in working for/towards so im going to see what the market is like when i graduate

on top of doing freelance production as well

---------- Post added at 09:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:47 PM ----------

Excellent thread Idea.

Although I don't have any questions at this time I do wanna ask you:

What are your feelings about working with Indies vs. the majors?

I've noticed a lot of people on this site bash the "working with indies" approach because they feel like its harder to make things happen with someone who's unestablished. I'm kinda on the other end where I fux with indies because IMO if you connect with the right artist you and that artist can develop a prosperous relationship and build together....

Thoughts?

I'm super PRO indie, i think building something with somebody that you connect with is a great feeling, and if you look at all the artists that are winning in this music thing, outside of Pop acts.. if you look at hip hop acts.. all of those artists mess with producers that they came in with, i dont think you live or die with either though. I think its all a balance, i enjoy working with indies, but i also enjoy the pay i get (when i do get it) from majors

i dont entirely focus on one or the other

and as far as collabs, i mean haha i wasnt really expecting that but i might take you up on that offer fam, i kinda got other projects im working on at the moment, but if i ever see a time where im not working on any beats specifically i got you Dugan

 

[xXx_Dugan_Fire_xXx]

right now im trying to weight my options on what exactly my goals are for my degree, i dont know if im going to use my services for other companies or create a business of my own. I have a list of companies that i would interested in working for/towards so im going to see what the market is like when i graduate

on top of doing freelance production as well

---------- Post added at 09:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:47 PM ----------



I'm super PRO indie, i think building something with somebody that you connect with is a great feeling, and if you look at all the artists that are winning in this music thing, outside of Pop acts.. if you look at hip hop acts.. all of those artists mess with producers that they came in with, i dont think you live or die with either though. I think its all a balance, i enjoy working with indies, but i also enjoy the pay i get (when i do get it) from majors

i dont entirely focus on one or the other

and as far as collabs, i mean haha i wasnt really expecting that but i might take you up on that offer fam, i kinda got other projects im working on at the moment, but if i ever see a time where im not working on any beats specifically i got you Dugan

Figured id ask before everyone else do

 

[shawty1]

do you see any immediate or long-term disadvantages coming from selling non-exclusives for under $10.00? - regardless of how "good" or "complete"-sounding the records are? eveeeryone keeps telling me I'd be selling my music short with cheap non-exclusives/leases, but I don't really care, lol.

 

[as20gp]

do you see any immediate or long-term disadvantages coming from selling non-exclusives for under $10.00? - regardless of how "good" or "complete"-sounding the records are? eveeeryone keeps telling me I'd be selling my music short with cheap non-exclusives/leases, but I don't really care, lol.

im on the fence with it, i mean i used to be anti non-exclusives that low, but my suggestion is find whatever price you can get customers at.. its really all about the consistency and how many customers you get

like even though im more than qualified to have a 5k asking price per beat, i know i wouldnt get a lot of work like that.. but then im not gonna sell beats for 2 dollars.. if you can consistently get 50 dollars a beat non-exclusive go for it..

nothing worse than when youre trying to barter a price with somebody and you aim low.. when they are willing to pay higher

 

[shawty1]

I could get 50.00 . . . but not in frequent volumes, when my catalog gets deeper I'll revisit this question though.

 

[as20gp]

I could get 50.00 . . . but not in frequent volumes, when my catalog gets deeper I'll revisit this question though.

yea man i mean just charge what people are always willing to buy from you.. if you can get people to drop 1000 on your stuff everytime, charge that. I kind of figured out a price range that works for me for certain caliber artists and it works for me so hypothetically i assess the situation like

okay Indie Artist, Unknown, Nobody has heard of no buzz= 200
Indie Artist, Known, On the Come Up- 500
Indie Artist, Known, Big Fanbase- 1000

Major- 2k-5k depending on the budget


all those numbers are hypothetical but thats around the price ranges that i know i could get consistently and not have to worry about anything

 

[alxgry]

appreciated fam
And honestly you really just want it to sound good.. because most artists are 2-tracking everything.. like most of the placements i got like on my bandcamp were 2-tracked, just beat and vocals lol. so im not really a mixing expert im still trying to get better and get good at that sort of thing.

---------- Post added at 07:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:28 PM ----------

THAT is some gold right there. Thanks for sharing.

You also mentioned sound design. At least I think thats what you meant. Ive been looking to try and learn some of that too cause I dont even know what an LFO is and I dont wanna be a preset whore forever but I cant ever find any good tutorials. Ill just have to keep searching