Illmuzik,,,Your thoughts on it currently...

[Chrono]

I actually have been working on music nearly everyday now and usually don't post unless there is something to contribute. Unless I have been drinking and in that case I'm all over the place. I haven't had a drink in a few weeks now so that I can start making the type of music that's in me. Honestly, I started to become a joke in my own eyes because I've been here for over four years and never competed in a contest or seriously approached a Showcase. I have actually started the piano lessons that Afrique posted and Kontents has in his signature as well as the other instruments I have invested in.

As far as Illmuzik itself goes, I don't have the time to read posts that are about drama or things that are not production, comedy or news related so I think I've missed a lot of this newbieness.

There are a lot of helpful people here and it is very unfortunate to see Wing's taking off. Hopefully he will come back some day, for me there are some Core members that Make Illmuzik what it has been. As long as these members (mostly mods) stay, then illmuzik is not going anywhere.

much love fam

 

[skidflow]

ILL IS NOT FALLIN OFF...ITS JUST THAT...THE HALFSTEPPERS AINT BUILT FOR THIS SO THEY DONT STAY LONG. I AINT GOING NOWHERE THOUGH...UNLESS CATS DON'T WANT ME HERE. SOMETIMES I FEEL THE BEAT THIS COMPS ARE BIAS THOUGH. LIKE THE TIME WHEN WE HAD THE "OLD SCHOOL THEME". I FELT I SHOULD'VE WON THAT...BUT THAT COMP WAS CANCELED BECAUSE OF "NOT ENOUGH ENTRIES". I FELT LIKE JUST BECAUSE CATS WASN'T ON THEIR GRIND FOR THAT COMPETITION...STILL THE ENTRIES SHOULD HAVE BEEN JUDGED. I FELT THAT WAS A EASY VICTORY FOR ME. THAT WOULD HAVE GAVE ME MY FIRST "B". KINDA MADE ME FEEL LIKE I WAS BEING "ICED OUT" ( and I aint talking about jewelry either) I DID'NT MAKE A BIG STINK OUT OF IT BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHO WANTS TO BAN YO ASS AROUND HERE.

 

[Cold Truth]

i'm on vacation until i feel like being an asshole again.

 

[Vice]

I truly believe Illmuzik perpetuates the essence of Hip Hop. I still love reading the information provided in the forums, but the site seems to be made of the "in" crowd and then everyone else...kinda like high school.

there's really no "in" crowd in my opinion....just people who talk more than others. Everyone is always welcome in every forum from what I see...nobody is really ever shunned as an outsider. There are those with disagreements, but it's usually split down the middle 50/50.

I don't know what the main objective was of Fade making this site, but from what I see it won't ever really get to gigantic because of the way it's geared directly towards producers and not just hip hop fans in general...which isn't a bad thing, because then it would lose that special feeling Ill has.

 

[2GooD Productions]

ILL IS NOT FALLIN OFF...ITS JUST THAT...THE HALFSTEPPERS AINT BUILT FOR THIS SO THEY DONT STAY LONG. I AINT GOING NOWHERE THOUGH...UNLESS CATS DON'T WANT ME HERE. SOMETIMES I FEEL THE BEAT THIS COMPS ARE BIAS THOUGH. LIKE THE TIME WHEN WE HAD THE "OLD SCHOOL THEME". I FELT I SHOULD'VE WON THAT...BUT THAT COMP WAS CANCELED BECAUSE OF "NOT ENOUGH ENTRIES". I FELT LIKE JUST BECAUSE CATS WASN'T ON THEIR GRIND FOR THAT COMPETITION...STILL THE ENTRIES SHOULD HAVE BEEN JUDGED. I FELT THAT WAS A EASY VICTORY FOR ME. THAT WOULD HAVE GAVE ME MY FIRST "B". KINDA MADE ME FEEL LIKE I WAS BEING "ICED OUT" ( and I aint talking about jewelry either) I DID'NT MAKE A BIG STINK OUT OF IT BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHO WANTS TO BAN YO ASS AROUND HERE.

Right wheres that ban button!!!!!

Does it really seem that bad?
With the recent spate of idiots and bannings I can hear what you are saying, but nobody gets banned without a real reason. If a mod steps out of his boundary and bans someone for something personal and not a banning offence then Fade unbans them.
I also was very surprised with a beat this being cancelled due to lack of participation, but thats just another casualty of not enough people getting involved.
I can understand your pain, oldskool is your style and to have your chance at a B! taken away must be annoying.
Something I have learned pretty recently is that it doesnt matter where the beat competition is, there is going to be dodgy voting. Every competition result depends on the taste of each particular judge. And not everyone has the same taste.
Props on your participation in the showcase, I think your are the single biggest contributor to the showcase.

I should post a disclaimer before I post feedback on the showcase, Im just giving my most honest opinion when I give feedback. Even if a track is hot, I will always try to find some sort of constructive criticism.
I dont try to get personal, I just say what my ears are telling me.
And when I say something like "its not my sort of thing" especially about "Southern Lil John style music", its to point out that because I dont listen to this sort of thing, then Im hardly in any position to be a good judge of the genre, so take my opinion with a pinch of salt.
Because of my honesty when giving feedback, I feel personally now that people are taking my comments personal. That was never the intention.
Sometimes I should critique some of my own music to show people that Im just as hard on my own tracks.
Im forever going over old tracks, changing stuff that I have grown to really dislike about them.
One thing the showcase has done to help my music above anything else, is it has helped to tune my ears in, and be able to listen for anomolies.
Anyway, Id rather a producer take my opinion as my honest truthful opinion and accept it as that, rather than me tell a producer how good his tune is and not offer anything constructive. There is nothing to be gained from thinking a tune is the best it can be when it isnt.

 

[2nd_Man]

First of all, understand I'm a warbeats faithful. I practically live at warbeats.

Its interesting that youve noticed a dip in activity, because over at warbeats, there is a huge loss of activity on the site. Theres many old members who don't come by any more, many of the faithful rarely post. But generally the forums are pretty much dead, its been discussed.
We came up with the summer answer. And the weekend point is definitely true, Sunday its dead.
So its not just Ill expriencing this.

wrt to beat making hype, i kind of agree. but i'm in a weird position that i'm a newbie, i only started back in Jan/Feb. i was discussing the other day about whether FL and image line helped towards the downfall in beat making. It made it possible for any old person to make beats (such as me). and theres so many people making lil crunk beats, selling them for next to nothing that rappers that just want a beat to rap on. and those producers who are really working and trying to get up are suffering big time.
i hope the beat making fad is over, it gives me more room. i dont agree at all hip hop is dead, but it certainly needs something to get it going again. a few new artists, a few new producers, of real quality, real passion for the game, and its fixed.
i think Nas' new album will tell this abit, without hearing it, i have an unwanted feeling that its gonna be a disappointment. sure the production may be good, and the lyrics may be allright. but i can't see it being the huge album it could of been and was billed to be. i think the album could represent where hip hop is at. a great lyricist, with some well known producers, and a message, but it jus doesnt work. any1 feel me? (sorry, ive just released thats way offtopic, i kind of got carried away in the hip hop and beat making discussion ...... again)

this is something ive noticed of ill, is the constant discussion of hip hop. i'm not saying thats a bad thing, but its a state of mind that doesnt suit every1 and is maybe not the best. i know ive got really caught up in such discussions, and at the end i realise all thats been acheived it a bit of extra stress and alot of typing. a conclusion or a point is never drawn other than "every1 has their own opinion and is entitled to it".

just some thoughts, but ill offers alot to me. i would consider it a secondry site to me, but it offers a whole new wealth of knowledge, because there are so many dedicated members, all talented and generally of an older demographic.

dw about activity droppin, it happens every where. and if theres fewer members joining because the beat making bubble has burst, i think thats gd too. theres a real gd fam here, and as long as those stay faithful, theres nothing to worry about

 

[Chrono]

i was discussing the other day about whether FL and image line helped towards the downfall in beat making.

yeah,the music world always has those people who feel that they are going to make it rich from making music. these programs that people can find for free make it even easier.. in hiphop a producer does not need a group of 4-5 to have a band and make music. so you have a lot of people working hard to make it and then realize they need a real job and then move on. Even Mr. Eon from Eastern Conference is now selling real estate somewhere on the east coast.

I go to school and work very hard for a future career outside of this while music is something that drives me personally.

My point is that we all do it for different reasons and some of us are actually making livable careers out of music. You can't judge a websites activity to understand what's really going on. There have always been little kids on the internet acting childish and there have always been members (of every forum on the net) who started to socialize too much in forums and develop a hierarchy which "talk's down" to those not in their "social group". I do not have much time to read everything here so I have not noticed this but if this occurs to a large degree then illmuzik will not be much different from any other production site out there.

 

[mono]

a few thoughts

allright, as a member who visited this forum on a daily basis in 2004/05, learned quite a lot from the community, vanished, and now came back, i have a few observations to contribute. i wont try to be nice neither mean, just what popped into my eyes;

- theres the beatnetwork section on the start-page. there are beats in there i wouldnt give 5 bucks for. but guys are like "500", "1000". any new visitor with some advanced skills (or at least ears) will think its not worth the effort if thats the straightedge

- the main logo is toy. any graff-fan or writer will take it as a suggestion for the inside of illfam. but its the heads you have to get in. the ones that still do it for unconditional love. there are still lots of young cats like this. it aint over yet.

- how about building a single-source to upload beats to and listen from for the showcase section. it would decomplicate the whole beatposting-and-feedback thing? (edit: i know thats said very easily...)

- i agree with the too many subforums point. mainstream, gutter, i dont think like this and by the way, lively discussionns and a little friction is what made the forum realy alive in my eyes

- i do not agree with overall decreasing quality in beatproduction. theres just more of it annd more equals more shit. but thats some sort of hmmm universal. have to give the talented young cats a reason to come to illfam.



thats it for now, just a few thoughts. id like to stress that i have mad respect for the whole illmuzik project, for musical as well as for social reasons. keep up the work

peace

 

[Formant024]

nice read...^^ werent you HaZwaiO or something

Anyway, an appeal to the site would be a technical improvement or 2 but in terms or actually in reflection with other sites i frequently visit i must conclude that the level of on-site education is limited by technical skills level in regards to the genre. Shortly said, in the eyes of SF or gearjunkies, illmuzik remains a novice on production skills (i dont mean the site, the visitors that make the site by opening threads and responding to posts). I wont judge for myself, but showcase for example, i'd not be the person to mention that i dont like the style of a song, regardless of preference i'd try to give constructive criteria and suggestions but im still limited in doing so because i dont know what anyone's using(hint). If this was done than you might rule out feedback on your song which contains irrelevant remarks, even if meant kindly, its does not provide food for thought to anyone reading it. Im kind of rare i guess because, for the freak i am, can relate to a lot of gear and techniques but only very here can aswell, ive also pretty much layed out all the basic over the years but its not being picked up. I dont mean my advises but the general interpretation of producing hiphop has been very much simplified over the years, automaticaly destroying more impulses that establish questionmarks in your head....dont get me started about cats not reading manuals and posting questions about why sounds are not stored (yes you..sorry) -> if you dont read manuals, do trial and error then you tend to stop thinking much quicker so asking simple question wont help you as you're not getting it and not using the search button. When cats do this, you raise the bar on the overal production skills @ illmuzik, then things will get interesting about topics on the subject of hiphop productions.

 

[Relic]

First of all, understand I'm a warbeats faithful. I practically live at warbeats.

Its interesting that youve noticed a dip in activity, because over at warbeats, there is a huge loss of activity on the site. Theres many old members who don't come by any more, many of the faithful rarely post. But generally the forums are pretty much dead, its been discussed.
We came up with the summer answer. And the weekend point is definitely true, Sunday its dead.
So its not just Ill expriencing this.

I stopped going to warbeatz forever because I brought up harbal over there and got reemed beyond belief with the most haughty attitude I have ever scene anywhere on the net, I will NEVER in life go back over there, even if they are giving away free mv8800's honestly I'll never go back.
Im sure there are good people over there, and they seemed to have promise when I was looking around, but nu uh, I cant deal with them.


Mono , one reason for the mainstream and gutter sections is because we had too much junk in the basement section, people start arguing about how much they hate/love JZ or TI or something.
Then of cousre the gutter is for the underground music posts. Bottomline is it was too cluttered and we were closing threads enmasse so Fade came up with the concept of how it is now.

 

[2nd_Man]

kinda going offtopic, but bear with me, i lead back ontopic. and im not trying to overly defend or plug warbeats, jus bear with me
but i saw that post a while ago actually, wondered if it was you. first remember that warbeats is were newbies go, they see NFXs tuts on youtube, sign up, and start posting. this means if u start with your first post about the "ultimate mastering software", people arent likely to take notice. as for the 2 people you encountered, ive both encountered them myself, one is Croatian and has bad english, meaning he misunderstands and is misunderstood alot, the other i have encountered a few times and is very upfront
those people do not represent warbeats

but i understand why you wouldnt want to return, you have no idea of how i felt like i was bein treated by some people when i joined here. i felt like i was bein belittled and there were one or two who seemed to consider themself the best and ultimate, and every1 shud worship them. but i realised the site had so much to offer and there were a lot of great people on it, so i stayed/. i can easily see how a lot of people wud come here and easily get scared away. here you like to shut down a thread asap if its already been discussed. and if a newbie (to the site) has a thread shut down for such a reason, whilst totally legitimate and understandable, they will still feel like they have done something wrong and are therefore not wanted on the site. at times it can seem slightly elistist
im just givin my opinion on how i felt when i joined

 

[Relic]

^^ That makes sense.. I was p-noid about getting banned when I first joined.

I live here ironically so Ill take your wisdom about warbeatz.
Hell the warbeatz guy is a member here I believe.

 

[2GooD Productions]

i felt like i was bein belittled and there were one or two who seemed to consider themself the best and ultimate, and every1 shud worship them.

I would assume that is in some way directed at me, 1 because of the name 2good, and 2 because of my entirely honest feedback in the showcase.
When I first joined ill I really did think my beats were all that, illmuzik was the first place to make me realise that my beats were average at best. I took it hard, and I thought there was some sort of elitism going on, but i worked hard and kept honing my craft based on the feedback from some of the very talented members that posted regularly in the showcase and sampleflips as feedback wasnt such an issue back then. I also learned so much just by listening to their music, there music has been some of the greatest influence to my own production technique,
I think a major factor in my improvement has been the often harsh, but very honest and informed feedback Id received. I can also understand how that harshness can seem to a newbie, but also beleive that harshness is what makes us try our hardest to please and get some sort of recognition for the hard work we put in as producers.
I was new once, and had the same feelings, I saw it as a challenge, to be accepted as a dope beat maker.

Im still working on it. But in the process of working on it I have come to really respect the members here that knew what they were talking about and consitently produce hot music.
I wont name names in case I offend anyone by not mentioning them, but I think they already know who they are. I thank them for helping me on my learning curve. Which grew exponentially after joining illmuzik.

 

[2nd_Man]

no not at all 2good. you actually made me feel welcome. and ive never uploaded in the showcase section either, i dont think ive even been there, lol
i'm not gonna name names as to who, it doesnt matter. and there arent any hard feelings left at all either, otherwise i wouldnt be here.

 

[2GooD Productions]

Hey thats cool, I needed to get that off my chest with the way the showcase situation has been anyway.
Im sure some people might get put out by my honesty about their hard work.
Im not acting like a know it all, because I myself have a lot to learn, I just say exactly what my ears are saying to me.

 

[Relic]

Its funny cuz I was gonna post this topic , but stress beat me to it..

You guys should go through the archive sections and look at the ill of the past.

Seems more grown now, to me.

What I want to know is what happened to some of the heads that used to be here, but I never knew..
Like Vitamin man.

 

[skidflow]

You guys should go through the archive sections and look at the ill of the past.
Seems more grown now, to me.

Hopefully cats have matured over the years. There is still some cats around here that still "dont get it"...as far as being respectful and tactful when giving constructive criticism.

 

[Lazy Eyes]

Wow, that's what i'm talking bout, this was actually what i was aiming for in the showcase, i'm glad all the members picked it up and gave an explanation to get on it... Props to all the guys that's been on for this long..

Ash, i feel you on your posts dog.. Real talk, i start seeing that shift in persistance in my own environment.

 

[woohff]

My negative thoughts about the newbies come from starting the same topics about million times. I know they want to contribute and get 'into' the community fast, but i'd really try to somehow (i really don't know how) to point them to use more search-function and go through the site more. This is what i told to 2nd man when i told him about the site.

I've been member here for ages and THIS SITE is the only site I love really. I haven't been posting that much, but thru my 'career' i've learned so much from here eventho i'm not really in the 'cricles'. So what i'm trying to stress is that there is so many people with so much knowledge that NEWBIES just try to be humble and absorbe the knowledge they share.

I dunno if this would be a Hitler-move, but IMO newbies should be able to introduce theirselves and only post in The Basement for the first week or two when they join. This would give them some time to go through the sections and learn some of the 'rules' here and this would also keep the sections with more serious knowledge more clean.

Just my thoughts...

By the way, is anyone else here a little paranoid to tell people about illmuzik? I am haha...

 

[mono]

I dunno if this would be a Hitler-move, but IMO newbies should be able to introduce theirselves and only post in The Basement for the first week or two when they join.

would be one of hitlers nicer moves, no bad idea. just the first few days.

but im also a little concerned this could backfire.