GCProductions Posted December 29, 2010 Share Posted December 29, 2010 Hey guys, this is my very first beat in Logic, I just got Logic 4 days ago. It is supposed to be sort of an old-school, orchestral hip hop beat. Reminds me of one that Eminem would rap on. http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10048794 (The slider is messed up or something on the page, but it still plays fine.) Tell me what I should change up. Remember it is just a Work In Progress. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolaGhost Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Hehe, nice opening. I like it. The strings definitely get repetitive for my taste as it goes on. I realize that with rapping over it, they would be less noticeable, but listening to it with just the music, hearing the same string line repeat so many times really sticks out. The subtler stuff underneath works really well for me. I like! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCProductions Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 Thanks for the reply. I definitely agree with the strings getting repetitive (spelling error?). I am trying to find a way to fix that, but overall I am proud of it as a first beat ever made in Logic. Haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astar Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 The drums sound a little weak to me. But other than that its pretty nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCProductions Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 Thanks, I didn't even notice that. I'll fix those up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Drums are way too weak and force the track to lose all hope of validity as hip hop, especially early style 90s hip hop. There is a reason the sp1200, akai mpc 60/3000 were very popular around that time, their drum sounds had punch, power, and that nice 8 bit sound going. People still resample on the emu sp1200 at a high speed and slow it down in the sampler to get that dirty gritty sound. We didn't have much memory back in those days to sample so we improvised; we would sample funk breakbeats at 45 on the turntable then slow it down in the sampler to conserve memory time, heh. The strings get plain out annoying. If someone was to rhyme over it their voice would get washed into the string sound. A lot of 90s hip hop used to solve this by filtering the recurring theme with a bandpass or lowpass filter to allow the vocals room to breathe. Or you can emphasize just the piano stab more with the bassline rather than the strings constantly and leave strings just for chorus. Actually once the strings stopped playing i almost started to like the beat a little. I'm still wondering what an "eminem" style beat is, sigh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmay101 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Yo, you gotta open them instruments up bud in my opinion for this to have any weight in relevance to being a beat. Eq, verb, spread, etc. Everything is way to confined. And a tip, work on your velocity levels heavily, you are lacking 100% of that swing factor that would be present in an "Eminem style" beat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCProductions Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 Thanks for the feedback. I definitely will start working on the drums. The strings are annoying, I agree. I might just save those for the chorus like you suggested. I don't really like the string pattern going on during it anyways. I'll fix it up and post it up within a few days (hopefully). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimon Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I'm gonna agree with pretty much everything that's been said, but I'll list it out anyway: 1. Drums need to gets way punchier and louder, when the beat drops so should my jaw 2. You have Logic 9, so there's no reason not to use the space designer. Those strings are sounding pretty hollow right now, see how they sound in a big hall, start out by finding a preset you like and then play with the knobs 3. Arrangement drags on a bit, and that string melody is super repetitive - I'd keep writing the melody, make some variations other than the staccato notes at the end of every 4 bars. You could try writing a harmonizing track as well, maybe try dropping the strings for a few measures, let the bass and drums carry on, then bring the strings back with an accompaniment. 2c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCProductions Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 Thanks for the reply. The strings are the ones included in Logic 9, they are called "Hip Hop Strings". I think they have Space Designer on them, so if they do I'll experiment with increasing the reverb. By the way, (OFF TOPIC), does anyone know a good sight where you can download new Logic instruments for free? Like drum kits? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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