How long does it take?

nonie

Kohie
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 4
This question is for the other guys that compose cuz I don't know if I'm moving along too fast or too slow. Question is simple, how long does it take you guys to finish a composed beat? You guys know I've only been doin this for like 5 months now with only 14 beats in the catalog and I pump out about 3-4 beats a month now. I'm not sure if that's too slow or what? And keep in mind that I don't do this full time, I got school too.
 

GRAFIK

Vinyl Addict
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
oh if you are talking about finding the samples as well, then it is a whole different story. i will still make about 3 or 4 beats a week, but i spend all my other time searching for records and i will buy 100+ records at a time so i have those records there when i need them, and i doesnt take me that long to find a sample, because you basically can cut anything up and make a beat, you know. I dont know if you sample or not?
 

KEV31

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 4
It usually takes about an hour or two to get everything sequenced right. After that, i usually come back and edit. It's been so long since i came up with a hot composed beat.
at the end of the day, the composed stuff i do takes about 4-5 hours all together. you shouldnt worry about how fast it takes to make the track. just focus on making it the best you can.
 

Qwerty

Sshsh-Straight fiya!
ill o.g.
GRAFIK said:
yeah i am still in school myself, but honestly i make 2 to 3 beats a day and only end up liking 1 of those beats and the rest i usually delete. sometimes i dont like any of the beats, but i usually end up with 3 to 4 beats i like a week that i keep


NEVER DO THAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTT, ALWAYS KEEP YOUR BEATS!!!! You know sometime you'll hear a beat of your favorite producer and you think it sucks?? well there's good chance that your producer too thought it sucks, but somehow the rapper felt it. SO DON'T DELETE

Now Seoul P...Well i don't sample a lot, maybe 1 beat out of 4-5 is sampled. I go to school too, when I go to school i really don't make a lot of beats, like 1-2 a month, sometime none. But now i have a month off for the holidays. I've been home since the 23rd, i made like 6 composed beats, that's almost 1 a day. It takes me about and 1hour and a half. But that's one i find the right melody, cuz finding the right melody is something else, it can take me like 1h or 2h going through my sounds, trying a piano tweaking it try to make a melody, than change to a string, etc. So i would say it takes me 3h.

But today and yesterday, i spent like 1h30 yesterday and couldn't come with nothing and 2day I spend 2-3h couldn't come with nothing :(
 

FSC

Royal Souf Productions
ill o.g.
Back in the day when i used live instruments it usually took me about 1 or 2 days to compose a track. That was when i was in school.. But now since i'm takin a break and since i am using new gear it takes me a little longer.. I dont' think that there is a certain time limit that you should finish a beat in.. If you don't have a deadline then it shoudn't matter..

Quality over Quanity..
 

Hypnotist

Ear Manipulator
ill o.g.
It all depends what my plans are for the beat. On simple compositions it can take anywhere from an hour to 5 hours to completely finish it. But on the more complicated stuff it can take me days to finish.

NEVER THROW YOUR BEATS OUT!!!

There are times when I'm fuckin with a piano and playing chords for an hour, then my ears get tired of it and it starts to sound corny. So after that long of just coming up with a melody, it would be easy to walk away from it and make something else.

BUT...

When I open it again and hear it with a fresh pair of ears, I'm like "holy shit... this is something I can work with!"

So never throw something out. Don't expect to "make your quota" or anything and think that it SHOULD take you a certain amount of time to complete a composed beat. Because you may write something that you'll finish a year later. I've done that too. I've remade old beats that I look back at now and think lack harmony or structure, and with some new sounds I can make it sound sick.

But when you compose, you're giving birth to something new, so treat it delicately. Treat it like your baby. Put the time in it that's necessary. But don't overdue it, either. If you add too much to it, it can change it too much. Okay I'm going on too long.

pce
Hypno
 

400-m

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 5
anywhere from 2 hours to 2 weeks. i might have to learn a riff on a gutiar... or i may want to sample my 8 bars.... or i may play every track all the way through... it depends on the final feel you want
 

izodone

The Wizard Of ODD
ill o.g.
Since your jusy beginning naturally it's gonna take longer than it will down the road as you learn morw techniques then gradually apply your own little twist to those so you can develop your style.sometimes it takes me five minutes and sometimes five days.sometimes the vibe is right and it seems like they just make themselves.other times your not so lucky.But like souf said I'd focus on quality over quantity.plus there are a lot of steps to it besides jus creating the sequence like the mixing stage,mastering and all the in betweens but don't forget to leave room for the MC!Sometimes less in more in that sense.
 

mono

the invisible visible
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 20
as long as it takes. 4-6 a week. usually the beats i finish in one session are the best ones. but sometimes, you know, takes longer to find the right sounds to fit. i tend to not overdo them, if the basic loop is tight, mcees will feel it and write to it straight away. you can then do arrangements, intros, outros or even change sounds later on, when stuff is recorded. i dont feel the use of arranging a beat when theres no rapper on it. like painting a perfect picture and possibly nobody will look at it. waste of time
 

Greg Savage

Ehh Fuck you
ill o.g.
Composed tracks I can generally get 3 done a day

May take me 3-4 hours to get those done though but hey

I don't think you're working too slow everyone moves at their own speed has their own workflow

When I was still in school I actually did more tracks per day but that was only because I had more inspiration and was still learning alot of things so Ideas were coming from everywhere.

Just do you mna you'll be fine
 

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