How do i make my hip hop beat not repetitive?

P

Picassoo

New member
I've been producing for 3 months and people say my beats sound repetitive, i dont know how to not make it sound repetitive. Usually i've been making beats with a max of 3 melodies, but now im pushing it to add more melodies for example, i would have 5 melodies(different) not overlap. Its overwhelming because my beats with 3 melodies at most sounds comfortable to me but ppl are saying be creative and not repetitive. What should i do? Im really confused, because most beat will sound repetitive but ppl say its the small changes. What small changes? Can someone please guide me through this? Thanks.
 
Introduce a bridge in your beat that will give your song a break from the main melody. Really makes a difference too. A bridge is basically a different melody from the main one that is somehow connected to your main melody. For example, bridge can be a an octave lower or higher, or in a different key as long as it sounds good.


You can also drop melodies or instruments out of certain parts of the song for variation.
 
Try using variation on the melodies, like: A-B-A-B and then A-B-A-C. You can also modify the last bar on the drums. There are literally lots of ways to make your song be more complex. This is where experimentation and creativity comes in.
 
Changing things up means more than just the melody. You can have 16 melodies if you want - but if they're over the same bed of other sounds, and the same bassline, and the same drum beat, then it's not going to sound all that different.

Plenty of beats feature a similar theme throughout the verses and hooks, but generally the hooks will be fuller (more full?). Start with your hook, and then create the verses by cutting elements. By the time you get back to your hook, there should be 2, 3 maybe 4 elements the listener has NOT heard in the verse that beefs up your chorus.

Taking it a step further, you can add a bridge, where the chord progression can change up completely. Just make sure it makes sense with the rest of the song. Going even further would be to make your verse and hook 2 completely different progressions/melodies/everything. I like that style, but I actually don't hear it too much in commercial rap songs.

Anytime you change parts, try to use some kind of transitional effect - an uplifter, sweep, reverse cymbal, etc. - and get some kind of "hit" on the 1 of the new part, like a crash cymbal or other effect/noise. These are things I do to spice up the track and aid the listener in realizing there's a change.
 
The way I do is I always make my beats if it was only done to be listen like that, without any singer or MC on them.... Having that in mind, I will try to arrange my track in a way that when people listen to it, they have the impressions that they listen to a song and not a ''beat''.....

you can take a listen to what I'm doing on my soudcloud, it will give you a good idea....Most of the songs, I have my singer on it but I do have a few instrumentals also...you will get the idea....

Thanks!

 
make a few drops in your beats.
turn the bassline off for a few bars. the the snare out 1 bar or 2 bars. etc.
 
Hip Hop beats will always sound a bit repetitive. That's why you get a MC on it. If you drop Instrumentals, just drop a beat with the lenght of 1:30. No need to be longer imo.
 
keep producing and listen to other top producers beats with a critical ear.. listen for what makes their beat hot and try to emulate...
 
Arpeggiate

I see several great suggestions here. Another thing that I would suggest would be to arpeggiate your melodies at certain points. There's a right and a wrong way to go about this though, and you don't want to rely on only this technique. Use it sparingly and take into account what the others said. One thing to keep in mind is that you don't want to over-complicate your beats because vocals not only need to be heard, but they need a little breathing room too. The are plenty of Youtube videos out there than can explain how to do this in detail.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Holla sounds

Picassoo said:
I've been producing for 3 months and people say my beats sound repetitive, i dont know how to not make it sound repetitive. Usually i've been making beats with a max of 3 melodies, but now im pushing it to add more melodies for example, i would have 5 melodies(different) not overlap. Its overwhelming because my beats with 3 melodies at most sounds comfortable to me but ppl are saying be creative and not repetitive. What should i do? Im really confused, because most beat will sound repetitive but ppl say its the small changes. What small changes? Can someone please guide me through this? Thanks.
Click to expand...

To honest dose it mater if it is repetitive ? Depends what kind of music it is but let's say your making hiphop beats. Some beats In made are basically the same 30 sec loop over and over. Some rappers prefer these kinda beats as they will change it up by adding there own coruse or vocals. Remember G Unit and 50 Cent? Beck in early 2000s so many of his beats where loops with random sound FX mixed in and it worked. Sometimes I loop beat sometimes I want to make a beat that changes all way through. Make what you want to and not what others say.
 
Picassoo said:
I've been producing for 3 months and people say my beats sound repetitive.
Click to expand...

Who are these people and do their opinions matter?
Can they rap?
Do you want them rapping on your beats?

or are they just 'friendly' offering what they think is constructive criticism?

You need to be careful which people you heed.
If you wanna know if your beat is dope get an MC you rate to spit to it. You'll both know.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top