Beat This! Beat This! Competition - March 19-20, 2025

Shout out to everyone who entered, quality beats in there...

I voted for @K-waz the drums/rhythm was interesting to me, close up was @TWU - I'm curious TWU, what compression did you use on your master or drum bus?

Everyone in the top 5 was also a genuine consideration of mine.

@Earsblower great compositional work
@Leopard Cohen truly fucking interesting work, truly sophisticated artistic stuff, i think you only ever miss out on Ws due to the highbrow nature of your stuff
@oninkaf as always with a dope vibe and character

Shout out to @CalvinCoolidge and @Phynal for jumping in on their first battle, and @Barium too for his third. Great entries too.

@loneone good work, brother


If anyone wants any feedback, just @ me
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Congrats to @Iron Keys Thanks for the vote but I wasn't satisfied with my beat at all. I only liked my drums. This my first patty beat and I fail horribly
 

Phynal

MPC Misfit | Music Maker
Battle Points: 1
If anyone wants any feedback, just @ me
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Thanks so much for the shout out! I wanted to get my feet wet right away with the battles and stuff.
I am still green (pun on the battle theme...) with mixing and tracking out to even do so.
This mix I was really not happy with. I had alot of issues trying to get it out of my MPC so I really didnt do much to it.
I am gonna be rebuilding my system here soon to try and fix some of the issues.

I decided to still submit the beat anyway cause it was fun to make and it really sounded great in my headphones...
It's a funny beat clipped from a show I love.

If you have any feedback to share I am always open to constructive criticism, I just wanna get better.

Thanks to everyone @ IllMuzik for welcoming me and providing us all with this community.
Great job to everyone that competed!
See you in the next one!!
 

Iron Keys

ILLIEN MBAPPÉ
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 745
@Iron Keys I'll take you up on that feedback
The vibe and rhythm is really locked, great vibe/feel.
Love the choice of 'lucky charm' sample
Other samples/sounds good too.

Mix-wise, the balance sounds good, I think though, you're missing a lot of bass, feels a little on the light/thin end; if the Kick, Bass and Snare had more heft and thump in them, would be pure quality, could definitely see it winning battles.

G'work!
 

Iron Keys

ILLIEN MBAPPÉ
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 745
Thanks so much for the shout out! I wanted to get my feet wet right away with the battles and stuff.
I am still green (pun on the battle theme...) with mixing and tracking out to even do so.
This mix I was really not happy with. I had alot of issues trying to get it out of my MPC so I really didnt do much to it.
I am gonna be rebuilding my system here soon to try and fix some of the issues.

I decided to still submit the beat anyway cause it was fun to make and it really sounded great in my headphones...
It's a funny beat clipped from a show I love.

If you have any feedback to share I am always open to constructive criticism, I just wanna get better.

Thanks to everyone @ IllMuzik for welcoming me and providing us all with this community.
Great job to everyone that competed!
See you in the next one!!
That's the right attitude! Great to see it

Feedback;
Love the energy, got that bouncy excited feel.
The drum patterns are really cool,
Strangely I could imagine DPGC, E40 along with Atlanta rappers on this

I think a better mix could definitely help present this one a little better, but like you mentioned you already got some awareness and focus around that.

Another thing, and this might just be me (as I see quite a few people do this), but I always question a 30 second intro on a 2minute time limit beat, takes up 25% of your beat. But, I get it sometimes it really sets a compelling scene, but for me that has to be orchestrated perfectly --- honestly I skip 95% of intros. So you can take this part of the advice with a pinch of salt.

Good work, and again, big respect for jumping straight on in - that's what we love to see.
 

Phynal

MPC Misfit | Music Maker
Battle Points: 1
That's the right attitude! Great to see it
Feedback;
Love the energy, got that bouncy excited feel.
The drum patterns are really cool,
Strangely I could imagine DPGC, E40 along with Atlanta rappers on this

I think a better mix could definitely help present this one a little better, but like you mentioned you already got some awareness and focus around that.

Another thing, and this might just be me (as I see quite a few people do this), but I always question a 30 second intro on a 2minute time limit beat, takes up 25% of your beat. But, I get it sometimes it really sets a compelling scene, but for me that has to be orchestrated perfectly --- honestly I skip 95% of intros. So you can take this part of the advice with a pinch of salt.

Good work, and again, big respect for jumping straight on in - that's what we love to see.
For sure, I'm just trying to be positive & have fun!
I want to have a good attitude & put that forth into the music & the community.
I'm glad you enjoyed some of the beat, lol.
I did a longer intro on this one cause of the clip I grabbed & the theme aspect of this challenge.
I felt it played perfectly into this project & the beat itself.
Hoping the feeling comes through & I aim to improve significantly on track outs & mixing asap.
I have always struggled with getting a great sound out of my systems.
For some reason it sounds great in the headphones on studio monitors, but exported & played elsewhere is always an unknown...
Thank you again for your responses & feedback, I truly appreciate your ear & time!
 
Battle Points: 1
For sure, I'm just trying to be positive & have fun!
I want to have a good attitude & put that forth into the music & the community.
I'm glad you enjoyed some of the beat, lol.
I did a longer intro on this one cause of the clip I grabbed & the theme aspect of this challenge.
I felt it played perfectly into this project & the beat itself.
Hoping the feeling comes through & I aim to improve significantly on track outs & mixing asap.
I have always struggled with getting a great sound out of my systems.
For some reason it sounds great in the headphones on studio monitors, but exported & played elsewhere is always an unknown...
Thank you again for your responses & feedback, I truly appreciate your ear & time!
Same, same. Im going through this now where the mix sounds great but then I hear it later on a TV or a phone or something and I'm like wtf
 

Phynal

MPC Misfit | Music Maker
Battle Points: 1
Same, same. Im going through this now where the mix sounds great but then I hear it later on a TV or a phone or something and I'm like wtf
Exactly!! So frustrating...
I have spent SO many hours over the years researching, reading, watching, listening, testing, trying, failing, finally getting it to work once just to have to figure it all out again the next day.
I just wanna make music...
 
Battle Points: 1
Feedback please! I never place
I can give you feedback, maybe not from the perspective of some great producer, but rather as a listener and tell you why I voted for your originally, then switched -

I liked your beat, I thought the flute(?) or whatever it was very St. Patrick's day. As I listened on though I would ask myself, could this beat be easily switched out for something not St. Patrick's day, or if I didn't know it was supposed to be St. Patrick's day would I pick up on the theme? As I listened to yours that very Irish/St. Patrick's Day flute felt like it got lost in the mix once the guitars and stuff came in. I wondered if that flute could have been replaced by some strings or something and if the beat would largely remain/feel the same. I felt the answer to that was probably yes, so based on that, the beat to me lost the edge that it had of being super "in theme".

There were some other things that played a part too. There is a chant that comes in, like a "hey! hey!" that is great, but you try to switch it up (which you should do), but you do it by pitching it up. I'm not sure if you're doing it on a keyboard or what, but whatever note that chant transitioned to made the sample feel warped and funny sounding, unnatural.

I am also admittedly, a HUGE sample person. When it comes to synth-esq stuff, it is definitely NOT my favorite and I am super critical of it. Synth beats, or beats that use some kind of synth that sounds very "cheesy" send me running. Your guitar, which I liked the use of, there was something about it that felt very overly synthetic/cheesy. Not sure if it was a plugin, or a sample that was spread across a keyboard or what but there was something about it that didn't feel "real" to me.

And lastly, I first listened to your beat on my phone, when I went to listen again in some headphones there was something about the hi-hat you used - I didn't catch it on the phone, but in the headphones that hi-hat cut through in a very dissonant way.
 

Joe Sunglasses

magicfunguy
Battle Points: 9
I can give you feedback, maybe not from the perspective of some great producer, but rather as a listener and tell you why I voted for your originally, then switched -

I liked your beat, I thought the flute(?) or whatever it was very St. Patrick's day. As I listened on though I would ask myself, could this beat be easily switched out for something not St. Patrick's day, or if I didn't know it was supposed to be St. Patrick's day would I pick up on the theme? As I listened to yours that very Irish/St. Patrick's Day flute felt like it got lost in the mix once the guitars and stuff came in. I wondered if that flute could have been replaced by some strings or something and if the beat would largely remain/feel the same. I felt the answer to that was probably yes, so based on that, the beat to me lost the edge that it had of being super "in theme".

There were some other things that played a part too. There is a chant that comes in, like a "hey! hey!" that is great, but you try to switch it up (which you should do), but you do it by pitching it up. I'm not sure if you're doing it on a keyboard or what, but whatever note that chant transitioned to made the sample feel warped and funny sounding, unnatural.

I am also admittedly, a HUGE sample person. When it comes to synth-esq stuff, it is definitely NOT my favorite and I am super critical of it. Synth beats, or beats that use some kind of synth that sounds very "cheesy" send me running. Your guitar, which I liked the use of, there was something about it that felt very overly synthetic/cheesy. Not sure if it was a plugin, or a sample that was spread across a keyboard or what but there was something about it that didn't feel "real" to me.

And lastly, I first listened to your beat on my phone, when I went to listen again in some headphones there was something about the hi-hat you used - I didn't catch it on the phone, but in the headphones that hi-hat cut through in a very dissonant way.
Thank you!!! This is helpful
 

Iron Keys

ILLIEN MBAPPÉ
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 745
Same, same. Im going through this now where the mix sounds great but then I hear it later on a TV or a phone or something and I'm like wtf
Exactly!! So frustrating...
I have spent SO many hours over the years researching, reading, watching, listening, testing, trying, failing, finally getting it to work once just to have to figure it all out again the next day.
I just wanna make music...

Happens to the best of us... even the pros.

A key thing to help with this is - perspective

You really need to get perspective on your mix. Some ways to do this are;
- break between production and mixing
- when it comes time to mix, pull all your faders down
- take breaks when mixing and come back to it (at least take a significant break or two at some point to come back with fresh ears)
- references; you don't need to try match them but you'll notice maybe how off or not certain aspects of your mix are
- translation; try listen on different devices - your main speakers/headphones, earbuds, phone, car. Helps you understand how it may be lacking on certain devices

The above should help with the mentioned issue
 
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