Spooky or dookie?

Hello Everyone!
I’ve been lurking on this site for sometime. I originally joined as I wanted to try my hand at some of the beat battles, but the display of skill by some of you is genuinely intimidating. I’m not name dropping but you know who you are. I like to think I’m more skilled than I was 3 years ago when I signed up for this forum but who knows.

Anywho! I’ve been making full on tracks recently and I have been struggling to get feedback on what I could improve on.
When I ask those close to me the only insight I ever seem to receive is
“It’s ok”- which unfortunately doesn’t help me make better stuff.

So, on this previous Halloween I challenged myself to create a song in one day to see what I could come up with. I usually work on them over the course of a few weeks before I call it done, but I had the day off and decided this would be fun.

I know the mix isn’t perfect on this i.e. limiter cutting breaths at some points, levels off a bit. I just loaded my usual plug-ins and used presets from previous songs so I know it needs some more fine tuning overall.

With that said, what do you guys think I could improve on? There are certainly some things I would like to change up on it but I’m curious if some of you will feel the same about aspects of it.

Beat?
Vocals?
Hook?
Mixing?
Doo doo?

Beat is really offkey in a good way, I really like the sampled vocal chops that you have put in there. But I dont feel like the spoken word parts have any relation to the beat, makes it hard to follow personally, there seems to be two different timings going on. I think if the delivery of the words was tighter to the beat, it would work a lot better. Just my 2 cents.

the beat works really well. The lyrics are not bad either. The vocal perhormance sounds like you are holding back or you pretend to be too cool to really rap to the beat. Has potential.

I like the beat and how it kinda sounds "off" but like 2Good said, in a good way. But I also agree with Kane that the vocals could use another take, to make sure they align to the beat and also to bring them front and center more with a little more energy.

Oh, and most important, keep posting!

Beat is nice, I like it as other mentioned with the sounding off stuff but the vocals killed it for me, not in a good way. It just doesn't make sense for me so not to be hard on you or anything that's just my take but vocals need to be on track or it's a no-no for me. I think there's potential though.

2GooD Productions said:

Beat is really offkey in a good way, I really like the sampled vocal chops that you have put in there. But I dont feel like the spoken word parts have any relation to the beat, makes it hard to follow personally, there seems to be two different timings going on. I think if the delivery of the words was tighter to the beat, it would work a lot better. Just my 2 cents.

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Due to inflation (and how your music sounds) your 2 cents is worth a lot here!
I think the track as a whole was a lot of good in theory bad in practice (skill issue) and your thoughts show that.
I'm out of pocket for 2/3 of the song and don't really catch the beat until the last verse and it hurts it a lot.
It could've been dope!

Kane the MOD said:

the beat works really well. The lyrics are not bad either. The vocal perhormance sounds like you are holding back or you pretend to be too cool to really rap to the beat. Has potential.

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Dusty B said:

I like the beat and how it kinda sounds "off" but like 2Good said, in a good way. But I also agree with Kane that the vocals could use another take, to make sure they align to the beat and also to bring them front and center more with a little more energy.

Oh, and most important, keep posting!

Click to expand...

It's super rad to hear you guys like the beat! Sometimes I open the DAW and just feel like I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing so this is reassuring to read.
No doubt I'm offbeat a majority of the song! I know how I can fix that! Be less trash!
As for the vocals themselves, can you elaborate a bit more on them being front and center? I understand you are saying I need to get on the mic with more "emotion" if you will, but I'm confused on that part. (Louder?)

Earsblower said:

Beat is nice, I like it as other mentioned with the sounding off stuff but the vocals killed it for me, not in a good way. It just doesn't make sense for me so not to be hard on you or anything that's just my take but vocals need to be on track or it's a no-no for me. I think there's potential though.

Click to expand...

I'm here for the feedback! As long as it is insightful stuff like this and not "sounds shit", I promise it is not taken in any bad context.
I agree with you! I'm not trying to hear some fool who doesn't know when the kick or snare are coming in and knows how to stay on them. I can work on that!



Thank you guys for giving it a listen and providing feedback.
I don't know if I like the song enough myself to go back and fix anything or not, but if I do, i'll be sure to update this thread with it.
I've always appreciated the community here and am going to try and be a little more involved looking forward!
We will see what the future holds!

digis said:

Due to inflation (and how your music sounds) your 2 cents is worth a lot here!
I think the track as a whole was a lot of good in theory bad in practice (skill issue) and your thoughts show that.
I'm out of pocket for 2/3 of the song and don't really catch the beat until the last verse and it hurts it a lot.
It could've been dope!



It's super rad to hear you guys like the beat! Sometimes I open the DAW and just feel like I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing so this is reassuring to read.
No doubt I'm offbeat a majority of the song! I know how I can fix that! Be less trash!
As for the vocals themselves, can you elaborate a bit more on them being front and center? I understand you are saying I need to get on the mic with more "emotion" if you will, but I'm confused on that part. (Louder?)


I'm here for the feedback! As long as it is insightful stuff like this and not "sounds shit", I promise it is not taken in any bad context.
I agree with you! I'm not trying to hear some fool who doesn't know when the kick or snare are coming in and knows how to stay on them. I can work on that!



Thank you guys for giving it a listen and providing feedback.
I don't know if I like the song enough myself to go back and fix anything or not, but if I do, i'll be sure to update this thread with it.
I've always appreciated the community here and am going to try and be a little more involved looking forward!
We will see what the future holds!

Click to expand...

Your voice is an instrument. You need to adjust the pitch to the beat. Rhythmically you have to pay attention to the snares of the beats.
You don't have to perform louder but open your mouth and pronounce every word as self confident as you can.

This as a starting point.

the vocals need to come up bro... the mastering sounds good tho... the beat feels like madlib... I like this lol... makes me think of madvillainy

XIS said:

the vocals need to come up bro... the mastering sounds good tho... the beat feels like madlib... I like this lol... makes me think of madvillainy

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Thank you ! I've had a few people tell me my beats are very madvillanesque, i've never had that goal in mind but it's cool to hear my stuff is akin to something so renowned!
I listened to a few of your tracks, I fuck with it man.

digis said:

Thank you ! I've had a few people tell me my beats are very madvillanesque, i've never had that goal in mind but it's cool to hear my stuff is akin to something so renowned!
I listened to a few of your tracks, I fuck with it man.

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thanks... working on Project 3 soon... any input would be dope

Beat - as someone said it's off-key. I agree with that. I do like the FX every now and then. Super quirky. Do your thing!

Vocals - yea bro cool. It's different. Different in an interesting way. The whole 'I'm just talking, sharing my thoughts' feel is good. The video could be you walking down the street, really casual.

Hook - it doesn't jump out as a hook. It sounds the same as the verse, vibe wise. Sounds intentional though. Like you want to stay on vibe which is cool.

Mixing - your vocal is right here with that sample's frequency...maybe the kick too?? I like that they are low in the mix but, frequency wise it's too close to your vocal to make it clean. Especially with the delivery style, you need them to have maximum clarity, so we can follow along. It's an interesting style though man. I was just appreciating Childish Gambino's new album...a track called les. He is speaking more than projecting as a rapper. This reminds me of that. So, I'd either bring the vocal up some, so it sits on top of that sample and kick or cut out a hole in the sample's frequencies, so the vocals can cut through and be heard.

Doo doo - not at all

digis said:

No doubt I'm offbeat a majority of the song! I know how I can fix that! Be less trash!

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This is harsh bro. Always support yourself because yourself believes what ever you say, and eventually you'll be that.

If you say you are trash, yourself (mind, brain and so performance) will be trash. If you say I can do better or I have done better in the past or I can see a tiny little bit of improvement in three years then that's what you will see in your creations...now or later. You are your own best motivator or person who will shit on you. Choose motivator

Gotta say I really enjoyed that, different, like the vibe and style. Now re-listening…….

I get what’s been said about the vocals and beat off but after my 4th listening I like it. My brain is engaged and feels like I’m listening to 2 parts of a whole at the same time together but slightly off and it works for me.

A kind of welcoming dissonance fitting to an eerie Halloween theme like those horror films that suddenly have that off jerky motion.

Look forward to more from you, the vibe was dope.