reason for lack of good beats in showcases

[andreas]

Shit. It's a great rule. Let's start reinforcing it I think. I can check it out as much as I can as post warnings when it gets out of hand.
And I think tho, that if someone starts doing it the rest will follow. If just the rules are made obviouse even the newbs will soon follow and give warnings when people post links and not reviews.

Just put a big sticker out in the thread that theese are the guidelines officially and I think it'll straightedn out by itself with a little supervision in the biginning.
It's like the "No Smoking" rule in New Yorks pubs. No one thought it would be possible to reinforce but as soon as they started the people themselves made sure it stayed under control because they liked it better that way.

 

[Haze47]

personally i think it is because WE dont post anymore, fuck all that newbie shit, back in the day you had peeps like myself, Stress, merc, hoppa, big D, Guevera, rig (but never form), wings, nomics, clev and all the other sickos posting sick beats all the time....but, peeps here just werent feeling anything that was underground, it had to be club bangers, and in the words of stress, "i dont make club bangers,"so i dunno, this is sposed to be a HIP HOP production site, not a G UNIT production site, which is the direction it is going atm, IMO, but hey that just my 2 (cant believe i said that -) PENCE, not CENTS MUTHEWRFUKKERS!!!!

 

[N.Y.S.O.M.]

personally i think it is because WE dont post anymore, fuck all that newbie shit, back in the day you had peeps like myself, Stress, merc, hoppa, big D, Guevera, rig (but never form), wings, nomics, clev and all the other sickos posting sick beats all the time....but, peeps here just werent feeling anything that was underground, it had to be club bangers, and in the words of stress, "i dont make club bangers,"so i dunno, this is sposed to be a HIP HOP production site, not a G UNIT production site, which is the direction it is going atm, IMO, but hey that just my 2 (cant believe i said that -) PENCE, not CENTS MUTHEWRFUKKERS!!!!

i guess people is tryin to make music for wuteva comes to mind and the want feedback on it but i guess when people listen to it they lookin to hear if itz hip hop some beats people post dont sound like hip hop but still can be good music. everyone has they own sight of music. like traks i make some peeps may not be feelin it but it has a dark feel to it but like i said b4 everyone has a different sight. but back to the showcase all ya'll veteran should just encourage the new cats to keep goin n give good feedback but it wouldnt hurt to post to get back in the showcase game this site is gettin bigger plus yall vets is also moving up in the world back then illmuzik was like ya best friend

 

[andreas]

Yeah I can feel you there. But I personnaly only review a beat after how it's made. Not what it sounds like.
I go after composition, layering, mix and soundscape. Ofcourse I take into affect how it sounds. But those kinda retorts that many give as "Reviews" or "feedback" isn't that at all. It's just. "Man this is hot, it's a banger".
And that's not what the showcase is about I think. It's just about criticuing tracks on their technical and engenering aspects.

But that's jsut the mentality of it I guess. It can be hard for a rookie to give any other replies when he/she doesn't know anything about layering, EQing, Mixing, Composing etc etc.


'The beat's sick son, Knameeeen'
Those replies I can live without

 

[N.Y.S.O.M.]

Yeah I can feel you there. But I personnaly only review a beat after how it's made. Not what it sounds like.
I go after composition, layering, mix and soundscape. Ofcourse I take into affect how it sounds. But those kinda retorts that many give as "Reviews" or "feedback" isn't that at all. It's just. "Man this is hot, it's a banger".
And that's not what the showcase is about I think. It's just about criticuing tracks on their technical and engenering aspects.

But that's jsut the mentality of it I guess. It can be hard for a rookie to give any other replies when he/she doesn't know anything about layering, EQing, Mixing, Composing etc etc.


'The beat's sick son, Knameeeen'
Those replies I can live without

Ur so right i think the structure of the Showcase should be re-formatted lol but im sayin some cats will be like im not feelin this cuz they expect to hear a club bang or something or hip hop beat

 

[andreas]

yeah but if we put up some groundrules for that.

"Review beats on tecnical standpoint and composition, mix and layering... not wheter you like the beat or not"

Something like that but better formulated.

 

[5th Sequence]

yeah but if we put up some groundrules for that.

"Review beats on tecnical standpoint and composition, mix and layering... not wheter you like the beat or not"

Something like that but better formulated.

hell yeah thats what i'm talkin about. THAT is what the showcase needs, things need to be reviewed from the technical standpoint. That will really give people better insight as to what they need to improve on and what things are sounding better.

I hate taking the time to give someone a good review, techinically, only to be returned by "your beat is hot DAWG G" or some other lame ass term. tellin us it's hot is one thing, but explaining why it's hot is another. Or explaining why it isnt, what were the weakpoints, what were the strong points etc.

 

[Formant024]

aw haze...but never form hehe

honestly, im not waiting for feedback cuz i know/hear weak stuff on my own productions, if i want i get a second opinion in the studio but im mostly correct about my own criticism hehe ( those genelecs would really give to me in the face lol plus I use raw mixed stuff from the studio as a reference ).

And yeah, I will give out advice to noobs but not to noobs bringing the hotness who obviously need to give themselves some more time ( like a year or 3 and besides lack of taste -imo- ) for which is no remedy, just read, play and practice...Ubung macht die meister hehe

 

[StressWon]

word. Good points. It really isn't that hard to understand. In the showcase, you post links to your HIP HOP BEATS. As this is a HIP HOP production site, you would expect HIP HOP tracks. Some cats post R&B tracks, but save that for a R&B production forum. Simple. The reason of lack of good beats is easy, it's the lack of skill. But cats can't learn if you like:

"Naw son, I was into it."

You should explain why. I've listened to some God awful beats in there but stil explained why I didn't like it,,,(Snare too low, too distorted, levels off, mix is ass,,,etc) That's where we learn, from our mistakes. Honestly, I thought my beats were bangin when I first joined here, then found out I was sadly mistaken. But I SEARCH the site,,,I say again, I SEARCH the site for past threads or articles that can help me.

What I'm sayin is real simple. For those who post continously in the "Showcase", explain why or why not the beat is of your liking. But also take into consideration how it was mixed, some of the effects, etc.

 

[N.Y.S.O.M.]

word. Good points. It really isn't that hard to understand. In the showcase, you post links to your HIP HOP BEATS. As this is a HIP HOP production site, you would expect HIP HOP tracks. Some cats post R&B tracks, but save that for a R&B production forum. Simple. The reason of lack of good beats is easy, it's the lack of skill. But cats can't learn if you like:

"Naw son, I was into it."

You should explain why. I've listened to some God awful beats in there but stil explained why I didn't like it,,,(Snare too low, too distorted, levels off, mix is ass,,,etc) That's where we learn, from our mistakes. Honestly, I thought my beats were bangin when I first joined here, then found out I was sadly mistaken. But I SEARCH the site,,,I say again, I SEARCH the site for past threads or articles that can help me.

What I'm sayin is real simple. For those who post continously in the "Showcase", explain why or why not the beat is of your liking. But also take into consideration how it was mixed, some of the effects, etc.

so stress u sayin we post 1 beat per showcase cuz I kno itz a hassle to give feedback on a lot of trakz that one person posts

 

[StressWon]

so stress u sayin we post 1 beat per showcase cuz I kno itz a hassle to give feedback on a lot of trakz that one person posts

word. Just post one track and see how it does. Let it give everybody time to judge it and what not.


,,,yeah, that postin multiple beats is stupid. Do we really have that much time?

 

[Craig Gantt]

hell yeah thats what i'm talkin about. THAT is what the showcase needs, things need to be reviewed from the technical standpoint. That will really give people better insight as to what they need to improve on and what things are sounding better.

I hate taking the time to give someone a good review, techinically, only to be returned by "your beat is hot DAWG G" or some other lame ass term. tellin us it's hot is one thing, but explaining why it's hot is another. Or explaining why it isnt, what were the weakpoints, what were the strong points etc.

But what if I cant help from a technicle standpoint and the best I can do for now is tell you what I like/dislike about the beat.....shouldnt that be enough I thought tech help was what we had those subforums for I mean yall ARE making music to be sold or listened to by the public right? How many of the people in your audience are going to have tech advice for you? Either they like it or they dont its up to you to figure out how to make your milk butta dig.

 

[Relic]

Sounds good Stress...
& we review from a tech standpoint.... 1 song post only..

 

[N.Y.S.O.M.]

But what if I cant help from a technicle standpoint and the best I can do for now is tell you what I like/dislike about the beat.....shouldnt that be enough I thought tech help was what we had those subforums for I mean yall ARE making music to be sold or listened to by the public right? How many of the people in your audience are going to have tech advice for you? Either they like it or they dont its up to you to figure out how to make your milk butta dig.

just give a brief feedback that's all as a mc u should give tech help cuz u the one that wants the beat or wuteva I'm sure u don't want a beat that has too much compression on the kick or the volume to high on a high hat no EQ come on now u gotta give a good tech advice

 

[5th Sequence]

But what if I cant help from a technicle standpoint and the best I can do for now is tell you what I like/dislike about the beat.....shouldnt that be enough I thought tech help was what we had those subforums for I mean yall ARE making music to be sold or listened to by the public right? How many of the people in your audience are going to have tech advice for you? Either they like it or they dont its up to you to figure out how to make your milk butta dig.

understanding what makes your beat sick is something you would want to know. what exactly it is. as an mc, do you not get inspired by beats that your hear? I'm sure you've listened to your share of bad beats as well, beats that "have good intentions" but something about them is missing or not up to a pro sounding level. That is what the showcase can help people discover.

You said it yourself though, the best you can do is tell me what you like/dislike about the beat. that IS enough. saying it's "hot" is not an informative description about what you like about it though. If you say you were feeling the bassline melody, or the thickness/thump in the drums, the smoothness of the overall sound or the vibes that you got from the chorus or whatever, now that'd be much more helpful.

a general description is no excuse for the "general public" or anything. we arent the general public on here, we are all here to make music. we all know what we like and dont like and what makes up a dope beat (specific to everyones own taste of course). if a beat is dope nobody is going to miss that by also analyzing it technically, and breaking it down to what works in the beat and what doesnt.

But you know what you could also do is give feedback as far as what you do know. from your mc perspective, what beats moved you to freestyling or writing the most? which ones had your head nodding, which ones didnt? an if you can jus attempt to describe why.

 

[andreas]

Yeah. well said.

There are lots of things you could say about a beat without knowing much about the tech.
I mean if you hear a beat you like then say for example:

"man, I liked this beat alot cause of the nice momentum in it. It was a really driven and headnodding beat. I also liked how the melodies and harmonies where panned so that the Organ was to the left and the guitar to the right while the cello was in the middle. It made the beat much more easy to get a grip on when the different layers didn't collide."

THat was just an example. But there's alot of things to say about a track that isn't just "Hot my brotha. I like it"

*WHY do you like/dislike it
That's one easy thing to discribe and if you feel confident about yourself technically then go into the other

*Mix
*Composition
*layering
*soundscape
and so on.

 

[Fade]

You have to all remember too that we can't bee TOO strict. That will quickly turn people away. Newbies of course want quick feedback and don't want to give any, it's always been like that. I think it's also because they're not used to how we do things around here, so once they get a hang of things it will okay.

As for what rules to lay down, I say we continue the Showcases as usual but everyone give detailed reviews. If someone doesn't give feedback, either everyone ignores them and doesn't give them feedback, or if their post is caught quick enough it would be deleted.

Another option would be that everyone that gives feedback HAS to answer a template of sorts. For example, everytime you give feedback you have to answer the same 5 questions for each beat you review.
1. like/dislike
2. why?
3. what can they do to improve it?
4. etc
5. etc

Is anyone up for being in charge of this?

 

[DJ Excellence]

I suggest that all reviewers give grades (out of 10) , that would give beat posters a better idea of what others think of their beats.

 

[andreas]

I like the idea of a 5 point template.

Let's just say that we all pinch in to see to it that it is reinforced. And as you said, not too strictly. But still. All the fellas that are here in the basement can help out. I'll try as often as I can.

How will we react? Just by replying that they have to go about it a different way or shall we tell you and you delete it everytime?

 

[Ash Holmz]

these are great ideas .. but i was thinking more along the lines of .. why arent the beats as good as they used to be? ... it was more of a question than a motion to change the way the showcase was done... back then we had the same reviewing/feedback issues as we do now .. but the beats were better on a weekly basis .. and people seemed to be more "into it" .. now i know certain members myself included have projects and other things they are working on where i cant be postin beats left and right but i was thinking why there arent more newbies stepping up and making quality tracks ... (and i dont mean quality as in "the style that i like" i just mean quality as in a good sounding track, whatever style be it crunk,grimy,94 shit or whatever) dont get me wrong there def is some hot shit around but it seems like the overall level has dropped .. thats what i was sayin... nothin to do with reviews although that may be part of it