How fast can you make a beat? What's your personal record?

crosstevsky

beats architect
Battle Points: 127
I can make a decent loop maybe around 5 or 10 minutes...but then I spend hours "sculpting" a sound, switching synth presets and replacing drum sounds...and I end up with many 4 bar loops and not many beats...thats why now I focus more on arrangment and mixing.
 

Fade

The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
I can make a decent loop maybe around 5 or 10 minutes...but then I spend hours "sculpting" a sound, switching synth presets and replacing drum sounds...and I end up with many 4 bar loops and not many beats...thats why now I focus more on arrangment and mixing.
Exactly. I usually end up doing the same thing.
 
As in the title, what's your personal record in the time you spent making a beat? How fast did you make it?

My personal record is probably about 30 minutes but it was a long time ago. Now I don't know what would be the answer. I would have to measure it. :D

I'm curious about your replies. :D
i did a 12 min beat like ... 2 weeks ago. the mix isn't perfect but it's a beat, and in my experience (cuz i view mainstream a lot so i can see what makes money) that 12 min beat is probably my best beat ever (in money & the retarded people who buy most of the music point of view of course).

all i did was make a loop, do a ttt t t t t t t t t t ttttt t t t (hat) and gup, ch, ch ch gup ch with 808's & shit and a few other stuff & done. I can post it here if u want
 
I learned in the end that its really about quality, not quantity.
Attention to detail takes time, and attention to detail is what separates a good beat from an average beat.
I have made beats really quickly, whether they are any good or not is another matter.
Sketching a beat takes 10 mins, making it a dope beat takes a few hours.
 

DJ Wax-Turtle

ILLIEN
Battle Points: 1
For copy/paste standards nowadays i work very long on my beats.
I want it to be more than just a loop, i want it to be a song.
I can make a beat in 30 minutes but than it's just a simple loop still.

Most of my beats are based on a sampled loop though but there's progression through out the track with FX mixed.
I work literally for like a whole week (maybe 12 hours total) on 1 beat.
I know it sounds crazy but a lot of professionals work on music just as long or even 2 times longer.
 
Pick 3 or 4 chords, base melody on chords, make 808s bang on the roots of the chords, ad snare on the 3, hihats every other note with some rolls, kick to accentuate the 808 hit and maybe add a lil syncopation, add another perc like a bell or chime or woodblock. Then to arrange just lead in with chords and melody, drop the beat, do 8 bars with everything playing, 16 bar verse drop out the 808 and hihats, bring hats back for 2nd half of the verse, chorus again for 8 bars, 4 or 8 bar bridge just melody chords and snare, then verse, chorus and finish. 10 minutes if you have good drum kits and you know a handful of good presets so you dont have to hunt for sounds. Then if you wanna export the melody to wav and reverse it and half time it you have the industry standard intro in another 1 to 2 minutes. This is what 90% of youtube producers do almost exactly. Its so formulaic but it can be fun and if ur just making some quick tracks to rap over its fine.

I would say the average amount of time i work on a beat that is good enough for me to want to rap on and release is around an hour. If i really want to perfect everything maybe 3 hours. I would include a sample 10 minute and 60 minute beat but im on mu phone...
 

Sucio

Old and dirty...
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 304
I was messing around with a sample when I first hung out with some friends out here. I had my computer with me, and dudes was like "make a beat". I did a beat in about 15 minutes. Granted it was a sampled record...but I chopped it up, threw it in FL, and dropped drums and a bassline on it pretty damn quickly. They were super impressed.....

But I was even more impressed with myself.

ah...the good ol days.
 

TACTIK

The most unique producer on here
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 527
@TACTIK You have quite of an equipment there :D Could you please tell me where I can get this "Madrid" vst?
I ended up saving up for Korg Gadget 2 and it was so worth it for 200!
Been almost a year and I'm still coming across new things about it since I'm not always making keyboard beats...
http://gadget.korg.com/
Gadget 1 is on torrent sites but isn't as amazing as 2.
If your gonna torrent and want bass I would suggest Massive.

This is the free stuff for iphones ha still looks cool but i only have an Android...
Moog is dope though I wish this was for Ableton!
 

Fade

The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
@TACTIK Dope video! It's a good tip about the pre-kick. I hate hearing the same one doubled up! The pre always make the drums flow smoothly.

Great job on that low end, sounds dope. And the singing! That was a surprise but it sounds good though. :up2: :clown:
 

TACTIK

The most unique producer on here
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 527
Excellent, thanks much for your feedback @Fade. I will be getting into more tutorials soon, MIDI and sampling for sure. Maybe I'll try and surprise you with a freestyle next time!
 

YannFer

The Mr Bernard Who Laughs
Battle Points: 166
I tend to consider it key to let my beat rest for a moment (one day or so) and when i come back on it with a fresh set of ears, I know what must be taken off and what it needs added. The process might be repeated several times.
So it always takes more than one day from start to finish. And then there's mixing.
 

GlassyMusic

Member
Battle Points: 1
1-3 hours digging
1-3 hours arranging
hit a vibe
1-3 hours of dialing it in
mix for an hour or 2 a day for 2-3 days till mix is tight and passes the car test and phone test.

if you want to help your future self dial in levels AS YOU GO, applying at least a light baseline of compression and limiting
mix a little along the way for levels, tuning and clean the worst out of resonant and sibolant frequencies it so its not embarrassing at any point if you export...but dont knock yourself out with frequency isolating and multi-band compression and fine mixing till most instruments are laid out and arrangement is tight... leave headroom for vocals to sit nicely.

BEATMAKER CHALLENGE:
Build something dope that makes you nod your head even before adding drums.
 
I tend to consider it key to let my beat rest for a moment (one day or so) and when i come back on it with a fresh set of ears, I know what must be taken off and what it needs added. The process might be repeated several times.
So it always takes more than one day from start to finish. And then there's mixing.
Thats so true, Ive lost count of the number of times Ive been working on a track for hours, think its an absolute banger, then come to hear it the next day and it sounds like total shit.
 

members online

Top