well, i do a lot of rough drafts from time to time- basic melodies, drum lines, etc...
but i tend to lock into the ones that i see as having potential, and i change and alter and add and subtract and tweak everything for a while....
i dont get into the whole 'law of averages' deal. it doesnt really work out that way for me. i take what feels hot and play with it till i get the product i want.
i'd like to see some of these "keepers" that everyone makes 3 of every day. not calling anyone out, but i highly doubt that everyone who claims to have "3 or 4 bangers every day" is actually doing it...
i know big d is legit; the man works like a fiend and we get to hear his work on a regular basis.
i'd just like to hear some of these. i hope no one takes offense, gets mad, its nothing like that, no challenges, i just want to hear the overall quality of these tracks that are being made wholesale.
maybe its just me; maybe im not as talented as some of you, or whatever, maybe its because i dont sample at all, maybe thats why, maybe its because of the time i spend searching for the right sounds, the right drums, tweaking patterns to match each other, maybe its because i spend a lot of time mixing, i dont know, but for me its ludacris to even think of having 4 finished (completely composed, at that) beats in a day- especially when i have a full time job and a 45 minute commute each way.
i am assuming these are almost all sampled beats (save for big d) and if they arent, there isnt that much time spent mixing and shaping the overall sound...... because there is a lot more to my process. i dont settle for the first thing that comes up, and my beats go through continual re-shping from start to finish..... different mixes, different melodies, things like that... i got lucky and managed a completed track last weekend in roughly four hours, mixing and all, and thats an exception, not a rule.
all in all i think that whateevr your process is it just has to work for you. i just know my process is pretty time consuming, and getting anything done in mass quantities like that is beyond me.