SHOWCASE: December 29 - January 5, 2025

[Iron Keys]

My first single was released on Spotify two days ago. It's a 2 minute,instrumental beat with hip hop/jazz/lofi(probably?) influence. I'd love if you give it a listen and provide feedback and criticism(hopefully constructive). Peace!

S.o.T.A. - "S.o.T.A. - Hooks and Loops"

S

(spotify link: )

Brilliant. Quality beat, music rocks. Mix is fucking nice.

If there's anything I'd do differently, I found the master a little crunchy - would it stop me listening to it, no; in fact I actually ran it back. Great work

 

[Iron Keys]

My recent remix of The Godfathers (Kool G Rap + Necro) 'Once Upon a Crime'.

Vibes. Nothing really to add.
Maybe i'd raise the voc a touch, but doesn't need it, clear and audible. Enjoy listening to this Excellent work

 

[Iron Keys]

Hey! thanks very much for the feedback, appreciate it! maybe this distortion comes from the keys? because it's a wurlitzer type which has some saturation/distortion. I've listened to the song from different sources (studio monitors,headphones,mobile phone,TV etc). and didn't notice any distortion on the bass, but i'll look into it again. Thanks, happy new year!

Pianos/strings similar, distort like a mfer.

It's the one thing I still really struggle with in mixing. Slightlest bit of a saturation and those bishes be crying. Annoying

 

[Carlvan]

Probably the last beat of the year...a chill jazzy beat for you all!

A mix of sampled breakbeats, analog drums for beef, live guitars and programed bass and horns. Decided to throw a cheeky key modulation in for the breakdown as it seemed to work with the main guitar line.

The "solo" at the end probably took me 1,000 takes lol. Would love to hear some feedback.

That's the kind of things I am trying to achieve: brilliant, man, really top! I like the change of melody by the middle of the song.

 

[Carlvan]

Here's the first beat that I'll show you guys, hope you enjoy!

Ian Hint - "Your Lips"

I love this - well done, keep on, keep "twisting again" !

 

[Iron Keys]

Hungover AF from NYE and tried to whip up something chill for the first day of Jamuary

nah the way you pulled out that bass was naughty. Sounds delicious

Yesss the synth lead. This is my kinda jam.

Brother, why are you not out here killing the battles.?!


I kept meaning to do these makey videos

 

[Iron Keys]

Check out Trapped Turkey!

Bandia Gotach - "Trapped Turkey"

1 Large Donner, please

Sounds like you're trying to summon Arvin.

But yeah, I fuck with this type of beat. Dope sample, dope drums, drums arethe perfect drums for this. balance is good, i think the low end needs a bit more juicyness tho

Great stuff Bandia

 

[Iron Keys]

Here's the first beat that I'll show you guys, hope you enjoy!

Ian Hint - "Your Lips"

great sample, nice work at putting something to it. Definitely a cool record if get a vocal on it.

Mix wise, those hats need to come down in level, also feel a bit too bright comparitively to the rest of the sounds, lowring volume may help some way with that. But feels a little disconnected.

Actually, when you had your filter, bring it back in, there's a certain point the hats sounds real nice, so def try rolling off some high end.

Alternatively, you could keep them bright for contrast and to brighten up the record, but they'd still need to blend a little better.

Great stuff

 

[Iron Keys]

Posted this one to the flippage zone, but putting a link here too

Lightbackdrew - "Yasu Flip"

Drope drums, I fuck with this. Could hear anyone from an east coast rapper, all the way to snoop or someone on this. cool beat.

On the chopped bits of sample, i think something could be adjusted maybe, in their tail, to land slightly more rhythmically. Just think they could slightly work a bit better with the rhythm

But seriously cool.

 

[Iron Keys]

You guys have almost put me off producing - don't think I could make anything better than the stuff in this thread

 

[Lightbackdrew]

Thanks @JM.

I mostly use Maschine and Logic. I really enjoy the MPC for drums and samples short licks and notes from Kontakt.

This beat was written entirely in Masching then arranged and mixed in Logic.

@BiggChev - Nice tune - dig it!

I have a similar workflow. Beats made mostly in Maschine and then mastered and converted to mp3 in Reaper. I used to do more mixing in Reaper but I'm trying to push most of the mixing back to Maschine to keep it as real as I can.

 

[Lightbackdrew]

Drope drums, I fuck with this. Could hear anyone from an east coast rapper, all the way to snoop or someone on this. cool beat.

On the chopped bits of sample, i think something could be adjusted maybe, in their tail, to land slightly more rhythmically. Just think they could slightly work a bit better with the rhythm

But seriously cool.

Thanks @Iron Keys - I'll need to look into the chopped samples / tails and see what I can do. Thanks for the feedback - appreciate it!

 

[Lightbackdrew]

My first single was released on Spotify two days ago. It's a 2 minute,instrumental beat with hip hop/jazz/lofi(probably?) influence. I'd love if you give it a listen and provide feedback and criticism(hopefully constructive). Peace!

@S.o.T.A. - Dig the chill vibe and I agree with others - the mix is clean and punchy! I like the warmth/saturation on the W-Keys - that's the way I like them too for this kind of jam.

 

[BiggChev]

@Lightbackdrew

Thank you! Once you get a hang of the routing and maybe create a mix template in Maschine mixing can be a bit easier. Hell, back in Uni I used to do EVERYTHING in Maschine (write, arrange, mix, automation). I didn't have Logic Pro yet so I'd just export WAV to GarageBand then bounce down to MP3.

@Iron Keys

Really appreciate the kind words man! Please keep me in mind if you come across a sync opportunity. It's something a couple of my friends have been pushing me to get into. As for the battles...I really should be getting in more often. The themes are hard for me and I write very slowly. Maybe a resolution for 2025!

 

[BiggChev]

@Bandia Gotach

I was really wondering where this was going from the intro. Then that sub bass swelled up and I knew I was in for a ride! The drums on this go EXTRA hard and the sample is really dope. I really like the arrangement of this beat. Very nice!

@Lightbackdrew

Great sample choice! Anything with horns grabs my attention. The change-ups are nice and gives the beat a nice flow. Not sure if it's my Ear Pods, but that sub bass/808 seems to be pushing a bit too hard - or maybe it was a creative decision.