Why Does Your Rap Beats Sound Boring?
Using 808s beats isn't enough to make a track. The key is to make your song stand out from the others by adding an element of musicality and cohesion that compliments your beat's style to create a far greater impact on listeners. While there are many ways you can accomplish this, we'll go over some of the most common reasons for failure. If you're experiencing similar issues, you can understand how simple fixes or tweaks will take your production from mediocre to mind-blowing in seconds.
Choice of Samples, Loops and VST Plugins
Choosing good sounds from the start puts you a few steps ahead of other producers. Select crisp and punchy samples for your kick, clap and a deep, powerful sample for your sub-bass. For hi-hats and percussion, use one-shots shot for a more authentic sound to lay the foundation for your beat.
Once you've got your beat together using virtual instruments, which can combine sample libraries and synthesized in-built instruments, it's time to start picking melodies. All major DAWs come with a selection of built-in or downloadable virtual instruments, and many producers use third party virtual synths for creating melodies. Popular choices include Omnisphere, Nexus, Keyscape, Serum and Electra2. Alternatively, you could use royalty-free samples to build up your drum tracks from the ground up, such as Ruby Melody Loops.
Layering of Elements
You can't overlook the importance of instrumentation in your rap beats or any other tracks you might be considering. Just because a beat sounds empty when you are working on it alone doesn't mean it is necessarily supposed to sound that way. As an artist, it is important to understand that while simple arrangements can be nice and reserved, they don't have to be limited! There is plenty of room in current music production techniques for more intricate arrangements allowing for literally any element within a track to stand out at any given moment to produce the desired effect.
Start understanding the different sounds interacting with each other to create that kind of fullness in your tracks without needing to use tons of new layers.
Melody is King
In the music industry, the melody is king! It is no secret that if you want to craft an infectious beat, you need to find the right kind of melodies for your track to have a memorable and catchy vibe. This allows rappers to subconsciously latch on to the melodies in their head as they develop their written lyrics for the verses or hooks, leading to more creative results! Great melodies are one of the pros' secret ingredients and are also the key to getting more beat sales and better placements.
Mixing and Mastering
Amateur beats usually sound like a muddy mess due to the complete absence of any mixing. Amateur producers can often have their kick drums clashing with the song's bass lines and other instruments, causing all kinds of undesirable frequency clashes! It's equally important to process your sounds so that your song stays professional and polished.
Many people might at first consider mixing and mastering to be simple processes. However, both can be crucial points in the music production process. Simple mixing decisions employing good use of EQ's, compression, saturation, reverb and delay, along with some panning of elements, can fix most of these issues, moving your tracks from amateur productions to polished tracks of commercial standard and quality.
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