How do you all do your projects?

[dacalion]

Do you focus on one beat at a time?

Do you work on multiple beats at once?

Does it vary depending on how you feel?

The reason Im asking is because sometimes when I work on multiple beats, I kinda compare the group with each other and pick my favorites out whereas if I do one beat at a time, I tend to put more effort in that one beat.

Also, when I do multiple beats, my favorites get put into action and my least favorite gets put in storage.

 

[UNORTHODOX]

well, oming from an artists perspective, thats working on an album. I work on everything at once. Tracks that catch my ear off the bat get worked on the fastest. I do all the chorus/hooks first (Verses aint nothin to write). I try to complete each beat as much as possible, I'm in the zone NOW. I dont know if I'm going to be in that zone at all again/as strong as when I made the beat.

For me comparing the group to each other is a good thing! It creates a sense of uniformity. You just gotta go in knowing what you have and what you need.

 

[Relic]

Things are built one beat at a time.

 

[LouBez]

Its all about what works for you

What works for me?

One or two days outta the week that I can spend 6-8 hours with my musicians get all the ideas demoed then go into songwriting and vox recording then bring the musicians back to final out the tracks....take a break for a few weeks....cop and ounce of OG and bring in my key/bass/guitar player/production partner for mixing and mastering vibes

Before when I used to do mixtapes and street albums I would just get high and record and put the tracks in order after I did bout 30 of em...

Its all about what you are trying to accomplish...If you know what you are going for then you can set up the vibes just right so you get the best outta your time working...Its all about vibes though

 

[gballin123]

Dude this is funny because I was just thinking to myself few days ago which would be better for me. I tend to be impatient and just want to finish a track and get to the next one and not really "go in" on the beat in front of me. I think my ADD just kicks in about 30 minutes in usually lol I usually work on multiple beats through the week. Gets toward friday I finish them then spend the weekend mixing them.

 

[wrightboy]

1 beat at a time

 

[5th Sequence]

I work on multiple beats at once. I've noticed it keeps the creative juices flowing if you have multiple projects to work on (i'll switch between any of them if I get tired of what i'm working on).

It's not a rigid method though, i'll stop and focus on one beat if I want to finish it entirely. I like to be able to throw down as many ideas as possible for each beat, save them and have the option to come back and fine tune them later.

 

[Ominous]

I work on multiple beats at once. I've noticed it keeps the creative juices flowing if you have multiple projects to work on (i'll switch between any of them if I get tired of what i'm working on).

It's not a rigid method though, i'll stop and focus on one beat if I want to finish it entirely. I like to be able to throw down as many ideas as possible for each beat, save them and have the option to come back and fine tune them later.

That is pretty much exactly how I work.

And with the way I am set up with Reason and Logic, it makes it pretty easy to produce remixes because I can audition beats to vocals and pick the one that I like the most. Same thing with the MPC. I just make a few beats on that and stop. So after I have a few beats, I put together another remix volume. Which I am due for this March which will contain some NAS, Aesop and Lodeck.

But what I have done lately is focus on one specific project and it has been one song at a time. This is the first time I have worked in a focused structure like this.

 

[LouBez]

I forgot to mention....The only strict rule I have for the studio is, If its not fun to work on then we aint working on it.

 

[dacalion]

It seems like there is no "better" way of doing this other than what works for you personally. 1 at a time raises good points and multiple beats at once does too. Im gonna stick to what Ive been doing. I'll open several projects at once but only focus on what Im working on at the time. Most of the time I don't finish 1 beat before I move to the next and I think that helps me from overthinking a single project. Plus, I find it works better when I step away from a beat and then listen to it at a later time.

Also, I cosign with LouBez, when its not fun...I take the headphones off.

 

[Shonsteez]

I forgot to mention....The only strict rule I have for the studio is, If its not fun to work on then we aint working on it.

Thats a great rule, cuz whats the point of working on something that you aint feeling in the first place!?....

As far as my routine:
I seem to be pretty ADD with my beats these days, I think cuz I just have so many alternative ideas going through my head while Im working on the initial idea that made me start the beat in the first place.

So what happens is I either get bored of the beat Im working on and start another, or I start going an entirely different route all together from the OG one I had when I started and before I know it the beat is already stale to me and Im grabbin a cold one from the fridge and movin on.

Right now, Im trying to mainly focus on breaking that mold and making the arrangement part of producing more swift and productive....I feel like thats usually where I stop working if I get burnt cuz I got a grip of beats that are still loops in the MP but have all the parts and still need to be sequenced out.

When I successfully bang out a whole joint tho I typically start with the samples which generally dictates my tempo about 80% of the time...

After that, I like to lay down a scratch track of my drums and keep them as natural as possible so that it doesn't feel like like the rhythm section is an entirely different joint getting mixed with the samples since my goal is to make them fit as naturally together as possible.

Then from there its all about digging for additional bits and pieces to layer over the OG samples....

At this point, I lay down some bass either by taking one whole oscillation from a kick or bass sound and filtering it down to just a bass tone and playing in 16 levels mode, OR once I track my joint into Logic I'll use a soft synth.

As of late - Ive been thinking of arranging in the computer more and more, but I also still like to arrange the joint on the MP too so its a toss up on that ish.....

Then its pretty much just fine tuning the mix to taste and its off to tracking vox.

 

[5th Sequence]

I forgot to mention....The only strict rule I have for the studio is, If its not fun to work on then we aint working on it.

The exception to the rule is when clients are paying a price that is actually worth it for you. The broker I am, the more I'll put up with.

 

[Shonsteez]

Word, if thats how you make your paper I can dig it. Thats a whole nuther can of worms.

 

[UNORTHODOX]

As far as my routine:
I seem to be pretty ADD with my beats these days, I think cuz I just have so many alternative ideas going through my head while Im working on the initial idea that made me start the beat in the first place.

So what happens is I either get bored of the beat Im working on and start another, or I start going an entirely different route all together from the OG one I had when I started and before I know it the beat is already stale to me and Im grabbin a cold one from the fridge and movin on.

This has been my situation for the last few weeks actually. Idk if its lack of inspiration or what but, ideas seem to get stale quicker these days. Alot of music seems stale but I dont want to start that convo lol. I DO know that I used get a good skeleton then come back later, and add finishing touches and mixing. Its that 1st spark that doesnt come as often anymore. I may have just gotten used to progressing at a certain rate and I'm hittin a dry patch idk lol.

 

[Icemanbeats]

I just make a beat and it either gets finished or abandoned.. i never go back and change stuff or try and complete stuff.. if I don't get it done to a good standard in one shot, it's not happening. This is productive for me becos it forces me to aim for that insant high standard.

And the vibe is never lost..for me, going back to something old, u lose that fresh energy that u get when starting a new 1. Plus, i'm always going with the rule "If it doesn't sound great after a certain amount of time, it get's deleted". Drop & go & pressure urself.

The only time I go back is when vocals are in, when the final edits need to be done to bring it all together.

 

[Sucio]

I do all of the above...

One instance I may be working on just one beat and one beat only...

Sometimes I just go on a make a few more beats and go back to them later on...

Sometimes I just make a bunch........then never touch them until I feel the itch to...

Sometimes I feel like a nut...sometimes I don't..

 

[dacalion]

I just make a beat and it either gets finished or abandoned.. i never go back and change stuff or try and complete stuff.. if I don't get it done to a good standard in one shot, it's not happening. This is productive for me becos it forces me to aim for that insant high standard.

And the vibe is never lost..for me, going back to something old, u lose that fresh energy that u get when starting a new 1. Plus, i'm always going with the rule "If it doesn't sound great after a certain amount of time, it get's deleted". Drop & go & pressure urself.

The only time I go back is when vocals are in, when the final edits need to be done to bring it all together.

I actually like this plan but I never trash a beat, I may never use it but I think its a good idea to keep your first instinct just in case you decide later to bring it out of retirement. What I really like is that you challenge yourself to the max. Trashing an unwanted beat probally helps this process but I personally can't do it.

 

[Shonsteez]

Word, I just dont have the balls to delete a joint that I didnt finish or didnt like as much as usual cuz Ive found that sometimes those exact beats are the ones people want the most which is totally unexpected. Only time i can bring myself to delete something is if its eating too much of my harddrive or flash media and I know I could replace that space with something better...lol.

 

[wrightboy]

Word, I just dont have the balls to delete a joint that I didnt finish or didnt like as much as usual cuz Ive found that sometimes those exact beats are the ones people want the most which is totally unexpected. Only time i can bring myself to delete something is if its eating too much of my harddrive or flash media and I know I could replace that space with something better...lol.

EXACTLY!!! i can't tell you how many times i've had people come through and go crazy over a track that i thought was a piece of shit. for that reason alone, i've stopped trashing tracks, even if i KNOW that they are gahbage.

 

[LouBez]

The exception to the rule is when clients are paying a price that is actually worth it for you. The broker I am, the more I'll put up with.

Oh yeah absolutely when I'm dealing with clients I do whatever they want, but I'm pretty good at the actual art of production (not beatmaking) and I can usually get everyone comfortable so they can drop their egos and vibe. Make the beat is easy the hard part is actually producing.