K-waz said:

Congrats @TWU dope solid beat

Click to expand...

2GooD Productions said:

congrats on the 2nd place

Click to expand...

K-waz said:

Thanks, I was surprised to get that far. I usually get cut early in the brackets to land for gold or silver.

Click to expand...

2GooD Productions said:

I usually make it to the final, so I get all discombobulated when I dont lmao
Suppose I bteer get my ass back to sampling

Click to expand...

BiggChev said:

Better Re-combobulate yourself and get ready for the Rock Theme!

Click to expand...

2GooD Productions said:

Wondering if I ever did wake up from that fucking dream

Click to expand...

BiggChev said:

Could you imagine, playing Doom on your old shitty Compaq computer, turn the corner in a maze expecting some nazi zombie demon, and it's Iron and Bama just power-drilling in front of a health pack.

Click to expand...

2GooD Productions said:

I usually make it to the final, so I get all discombobulated when I dont lmao
Suppose I better get my ass back to sampling

Click to expand...

K-waz said:

Or make your original beat sound like a sample.

Click to expand...

2GooD Productions said:

I have considered doing this, composing a loop, bouncing it, then chopping it up. I think I will stop being lazy and just do it

Click to expand...

BiggChev said:

especially when you want to go back and adjust the level or EQ on something.

Click to expand...

K-waz said:

Or make your original beat sound like a sample.

Click to expand...

2GooD Productions said:

I have considered doing this, composing a loop, bouncing it, then chopping it up. I think I will stop being lazy and just do it

Click to expand...

BiggChev said:

This is the way! I do a lot of that with my own music. Admittedly, it’s a tedious process and a big pain in the ass; especially when you want to go back and adjust the level or EQ on something.

Click to expand...

Iron Keys said:

Each time I do this I end up just keeping what I composed instead.

Click to expand...

2GooD Productions said:

I'd be a bitch ass if I wasn't honest with you bro about my thought process when voting, just the dry snare alone ended up being a factor in my decision, nothing personal as I had no idea who made the beat.
Call me names if it helps you feel better lol, I can take it.

Click to expand...

Armani - "oh"

Armani said:

Armani - "oh"

Click to expand...

attila said:

Do you mind feedbacks?

@M.I.ndless - "Placeholder" The work with the strings is beautiful; the quality is impeccable when listened to through headphones, and the drum pattern is interesting. So, "pro mr" is a gem; I can't find any flaws. Yet, it lasts 2 minutes, and by the time I reached the end, I had already been wanting to hear some new element for a while.

@BiggChev - "UptownStrutters" Excellent, at the top of my personal podium (not alone, I’ll mention that). When the vibe is from blaxploitation, I’m happily immersed. The bass isn’t prominent; it works without drawing attention but is a true gem. Frequency cuts give it movement. There aren’t major variations, but after two minutes, I’d like a bit more.

@JimmieHowellJr - "JHJJuno" The brass melody is beautiful, the interplay with the strings works well, it’s a nice piece. Here, as a production, even though I don’t notice flaws, it sounds a bit lo-fi to me, and this track would work better with a more crystalline and sumptuous production. Great choice to end at 1:13. Aside from that, are there no flaws? No, in my opinion, it’s just that other pieces are so well-crafted that even those without particular faults fall behind (and this has happened to many tracks, as I see it).

@Armani - "Suzuki" - Excellent, a pro track. A truly high-chart production, the strings are really refined. The arpeggios for variation are unexpected and pleasant. In this case, Armani understands when it’s not the time to stretch things out. The sound is well-crafted. Listening with my consumer headphones, I might have kept the snare a bit lower, but that’s not something that affects the track’s evaluation; once again, we’re facing an excellent piece that has been challenged by even more excellent tracks.

@MicroDotCotton - "Detouring" - A lo-fi track, but that’s not a flaw. The bass sounds high, there’s extreme compression, I think on the kick, and hiss. All these imperfections contribute to a feel that I really like. If it sounded flawless, this track might be ugly. Instead, it’s very nice and holds its two minutes effortlessly. Well done, MicroDotCotton.

@Earsblower - "HeartAttack" Here it’s the opposite. A track like this, epic and dramatic, would benefit from a crystalline, opulent production, yet it sounds poor. The effort in production is commendable, with attention to detail. However, it lacks something that makes the work memorable.

@TWU - "Tantum" - A great piece. All in all, it’s a simple work. This is the work of a person who has no uncertainties, no need to overdo it and show off; the producer disappears, and the music triumphs. Everything flows effortlessly, and the work, effort, and tension are not visible; only the pure breath of the pleasure of the flowing notes remains. It sounds impeccable, and the loop is a little gem that, once again, after two minutes, you’d want more.

@attila - "CoffeePot" - Let’s try with some self-criticism. First of all, I put an exciter on the piano that makes it sound horrible. Oh well. Unlike my other participation in Beat This!, this time I’m happy with the track I presented, even though it doesn’t have the value to contend for titles. I lost a bronze, and I think that’s its rightful position, actually, with a bit of luck. It certainly doesn’t just have the piano problem. The variation is weak; at that point, the piece should increase in energy (the notes suggest so), but instead, it becomes very limp. For the rest, it doesn’t sound evil to me, even though we’re in the consciously lo-fi zone. Creatively, let’s say that perhaps for a competition like this, it would have been more strategic to present a track that was hip hop, and I could say that it also belongs to another genre, and no one would have anything to say about it.

@PhxAzTracmaster - "Can" Nice, the sci-fi synth, the big drums, the staccato strings, a bit of retro-futurism, all very current, and it holds up the whole time. I was surprised because I didn’t guess it was @PhxAzTracmaster (I thought it was the author of @Armani ’s track). In a comment, I wrote that every track on the podium deserved it; I meant that you couldn’t remove any of those present to add another without being unfair. Listening again to the tracks, I have to reconsider this thought; there are other tracks, like this one, that if they were on the podium, I’d say the same thing, that they aren’t worse, but since there’s no room for everyone, even among equally valued pieces, someone inevitably has to be left out.

@2GooD Productions - "ToeToToe" If there’s a bombastic imprint, it’s a sort of epic drama from a soundtrack, probably with the touch of @2GooD Productions. It asks for something a bit unconvincing. Aside from the enthusiasm for the Bruce Lee sample that made me happy, I have to say it doesn’t sound as good as some levels I’ve heard from @2GooD Productions. Is that why it didn’t win? Certainly not; it’s not that bad. So what? Each of us has a weakness for music that moves us more than another, and maybe @2GooD Productions is very happy with this work and can’t explain why it didn’t make an impact. I don’t know; in my opinion, @2GooD Productions produces things that are generally at this level, which, although high, is within their average, but with the work that some of the competitors have produced, something more was required.

@Leopard Cohen - "TheForgottenBeat" - @Leopard Cohen has a taste for ideas that are anything but obvious, and I really appreciate this. I like the melody, with an oriental touch, and especially that long atmospheric pad note or whatever it is, along with what seems to be a harmonica. Beautiful atmosphere. Everything is great; I wouldn’t have stretched it to two minutes. The problem of knowing when to cut is that if the loop is phenomenal but doesn’t lend itself to several repetitions without new elements, the last memory it will leave us with will be one of fatigue, and that’s fatal, especially when you want to listen to 16 pieces. If you reach a point where you ask yourself, “Okay, do I have to listen to it more, or will it all be like this?” You’ve made it last too long. If, when you reach the end, you still leave a bit of desire to listen more, you’ve hit the perfect length.

@Bandia Gotach - "JennysaLoyal" I’ve already said that in my personal ranking, the platinum goes to @TWU, @BiggChev and @Bandia Gotach. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Crisp, minimal, emotional. No bass, no, it’s not needed; it could even cause damage. Fills, variations? For God’s sake, please don’t do that. And indeed, it doesn’t. The guitar is beautiful enough to make you cry. Beautiful sounds, the drums in my headphones are amazing, but everything sounds incredible, every event distinct, spatially distributed in a transparent and cohesive way. The strings, the piano chord lasting two measures. Chapeau. Applause.

@BLUESPEED - "LASTMANSTANDING" - Since we’re in rave territory, a bit of lo-fi would fit in, but everything sounds rather muddled. I’m always lenient about sound quality because I can listen to a nice track recorded poorly, but a bad track recorded well is just a waste of resources. But there’s a limit, and this limit is much stricter in a competition where people are also trying to improve technically. I saw that someone asked who the author of this track was, so much they liked it, so my advice is to pay attention to the sound.

@Stan1 - "RoyalIndiaRide" I love this piece. I immediately recognized it was Stan. Lo-fi sound. It fits with a piece like this. However, it’s a consciously crafted lo-fi, not something that happens unintentionally, and on this, Stan could perhaps improve. The creative part. The loops, eternal, without variations, sparse layering and repetition, no nonsense, no frills, fills, arpeggiated flourishes, and nonsense. This is psychedelic ardor, and it has to flow like this because it’s not beautiful if it’s not disorienting, and if the loop is dissonant, even better. Now, in other contexts, these things could be limitations. It’s all the same; they’re just loops that turn on and off, etc. But not in this context; to achieve this type of effect, these are not defects to avoid but goals to reach. I would be happy if @Stan1 decided to continue making this stuff, which I find wonderful (in fact, I’m down for a collaboration), but on the technical side, there’s room for improvement. The risk is that when you learn to do new things, you might want to do them at all costs, even when it would be better not to. I really hope @Stan1 never falls into this trap.

@K-waz - "Playa" With the first vocal sample, you’re already laid out and well-disposed for whatever comes next. And what comes next is an MPC beat that would be good for explaining to an alien what instrumental hip hop is. That bit of lo-fi is just right, the perfect intuition on when to hit stop. It sounds authentic, and even if I can’t pinpoint a specific element of exceptional quality, the result is that there’s a soul that touches you, and the rest is just chatter.

Click to expand...