It all depends what my plans are for the beat. On simple compositions it can take anywhere from an hour to 5 hours to completely finish it. But on the more complicated stuff it can take me days to finish.
NEVER THROW YOUR BEATS OUT!!!
There are times when I'm fuckin with a piano and playing chords for an hour, then my ears get tired of it and it starts to sound corny. So after that long of just coming up with a melody, it would be easy to walk away from it and make something else.
BUT...
When I open it again and hear it with a fresh pair of ears, I'm like "holy shit... this is something I can work with!"
So never throw something out. Don't expect to "make your quota" or anything and think that it SHOULD take you a certain amount of time to complete a composed beat. Because you may write something that you'll finish a year later. I've done that too. I've remade old beats that I look back at now and think lack harmony or structure, and with some new sounds I can make it sound sick.
But when you compose, you're giving birth to something new, so treat it delicately. Treat it like your baby. Put the time in it that's necessary. But don't overdue it, either. If you add too much to it, it can change it too much. Okay I'm going on too long.
pce
Hypno