Ableton Forum

Hey guys,

I started both tracks trying to make HipHop beats,somehow i got sidetracked, I dont think they sound awful but they are far from the finish project, there uis def somthing missing...Also bear in mind I am very new to this. Please have a listen and give me some suggestions.
Peace out!
http://soundcloud.com/mctray/xperience
http://soundcloud.com/mctray/freestyle

Im not sure if either track can be considered "hip-hop", that is not what i would classify it as anyway. The tracks seem to be a bit of a bore, as there is hardly any change throughout. This is especially true on Xperience where the intro imitates the verse. Some kind of change needs to happen somewhere to maintain interest.

seems like you are having a good time throwing things together and learning how to make music.
Keep reading everything you can, the sound on sound website is a good start. Also watch tutorial videos on youtube, there's plenty of them.

For now your beats are loopy and repetitive, so maybe try to learn to do drum fills or a little bit of music theory for basic chords.
Listen to the music you like and count the number of bars before each event happens in a piece, that could help you see the overall structure better.


cheers

Xperience is a little slow... it seems kinda crunkish too. If you live in the South U.S. somebody would probably wet their pants to have that track, but I agree that it needs work and you should focus on your arrangements. I think Freestyle has potential. It needs a bass line, plain and simple. It may need to be re-arranged some, but that bit you use at the beginning is money, it just needs the right elements dropped on it. I know why MacGuffin says what he says above with chords, and usually thats true and good advice, but rules are meant to be broken if you can pull it off

Remember,

1 lots of simple elements can be layered and added together to make a great track. sometimes you're just a sound or two away from dope. there's a fine line between mundane and vibing. Since you're striving for Hip-Hop adding a sick rhyme and hook is going to make it a whole new track. bass lines are powerful, even when they're simple.

2 its like anything else, you have to keep striving.

So follow #2 and don't forget about #1

Tarekith, one of the posters on the forum made these guides that you can find here: http://tarekith.com/misc.html they have some great info that could help you out and he's using ableton live to illustrate.

See you on the flip side.

Thanks H20nly,

Will check ot the site and keep at it, you made some very interesting points about the arrangements as well as the mundane and vibing, will take those tracks and work on them again.

Thanks for your feedback.