I’m going to qualify my votes by saying that for me these three beats felt very complete if that makes sense, all the elements, samples beats and vocals just worked, really nice production values all round, definitely makes me want to up my game…
Big thanks to all the participants, it’s was another fantastic show of the talent that resides on these boards…
folks, you impressed me yet again. it’s trite to say at this point, but the level of skill just keeps getting higher. it’s really cool to see new people participate and hear progression through these challenges. if anyone doesn’t know yet, drop into this thread to share production tips, sources, etc.
after a couple of listens, here’s my feedback:
crisp drums, an industrial feel, short and sweet, this has a nice quick flow and build. good work!
those vibes really work well as the intro and main theme. bass and acapella fit perfectly. nice changeup with the piano, too. that horn breakdown opens up the middle of the song.
classic flow; bass heavy mix, but it’s not too muddy. man, this one really bumps, too. very nice.
nice interplay between the percussion and drums, bells anchor the track, the backwards masked or string stabs are a nice touch. you kept it simple, and it works. kudos!
lazy beats, languid acapella; mix feels okay here. there’s a nice variation without trying to do too much.
drums snap here — simple, direct, punchy. this has such a classic sound. so many people used bells in this challenge. they work really well in this track, too.
another short and sweet one. it faked me out — i totally expected it to lurch into a double time house style remix. those pitched up vocal samples are fun. would like to hear this one developed a bit or with vocals on top.
this one’s all business. i dig the frenetic energy moving this forward into filter sweeps. we don’t often hear faster tempo beats in these challenges. good job!
symphonic boom bap! subterranean bass glues this together, but it feels a little tubby. i dig the percussion. it flows well, vocals are a good fit, nice variation and song structure.
mix makes this feel like you’re listening to someone playing a song on a phone in the next room while someone raps over it, but it kinda works here. mix aside, i like this. it’s an interesting track.
piano bass! i’m a fan. dig the mellow vibes in this one, too. solid track.
track does justice to the acapella, for sure. (more bells!) i wonder if this was done on a DT. another solid track.
PE meets marching band! love the gated drums and stereo effects here. mix is interesting — sounds like some neat compression and such to give each element space.
top 3:
first: 6
second: 2
third: 4
mentions: 9, 12 were strong contenders for my top 3
Agree with you guys, this is impressive!
I listened the playlist a couple of times and all i can say is that there is a lot of talent here.
1 : My first vote goes for track 9 . It sound incredibly good, the beat is perfectly on point with the vocals. I thought that it sound more like an album original version than a remix. The Shostakovich sample give it a warrior and cinematic vibe, this is without doubts the track who talk to me the most.
2 : Track 6 : Nice track, it made me travel to NY in the nineties. If it have been release at this time, it might have become a classic now this track has all the ingredients I need to enjoy a good boombap track!
3 : Track 13 : this one surprised me. It took me where I did not expect, and I enjoyed it.
It work so well with the vocals and it’s a very refreshing beat.
Tracks were so good that it was hard to narrow down to these five, much less a top three. Ask me on a different day, and the order could be entirely different, but:
1st: 3 – I am a sucker for the eerie and grimy. Maybe my favorite use of the bells in the bunch, excellent piano riff, and the playful rising woodwind lick adds the right amount of light without breaking the mood
2nd: 12 – Killer groove, killer snare, in-your-face but not overly so. Got me hyped
3rd: 6 – Similar to what Dr Rumble said, if you told me this was just a long-lost East Coast beat, I would believe you
Honorable Mention:
4 – Classy drums and expert layering and arrangement of sounds
9 – Monstrous final-boss of a beat, and the one that feels closest in mood to Shostakovich for me. I do kinda wish we lived a little longer in the bassy break, just for contrast
1: 8 - Got me from the start, loved the super lofi intro. Slammin bass line, funky drumming, lots of filtering, & glitched out goodness (was an octa involved here?) Nice jaunty sample choice and digging the jazzy end
Notes: bass seemed to pump the compressor pretty hard here causing drums and samples to drop out a little more than I would have liked
2: 13 -I believe the hype. Engergetic beat and great use of the symphonic sounds. The zippery sound gave this a feel like it was being live mixed dj style which was fun. I loved the little drop outs. Nice changes ups; I liked the contrast between the big symphony sound and the wiggly little sound used on the don’t believe the hype parts ( I really liked that part)
Notes: stereo panning was a little intense for me and some of the reverb (cymbal) could have been slightly less for my taste
3: this was so hard to decide between 4, 6, & 9 ( all great tracks) > I was so back and forth on this pick
Since I have to make a decision I will go with
4- I liked the intro getting straight to the meat of the beat. Definitely into the use of sidestick in the groove, the funky hihat and the delayed snare parts. Classic three bar straight with a twist on the fourth, I loved the flute turnaround. I thought this track had a real classic sound to it
Notes: the kick hit a little wierd for me in headphones when critical listening that made it stick out a bit, maybe that was just me because I didn’t really notice this on speakers and it faded away if I wasn’t really paying attention to it
So hm to 6 and 9 and props to everyone for all the hard hitting tracks here
I listened through several times, carefully and just for fun driving around. Headphones and speakers were two very different experiences. I took notes on everything and could say so much more, but tried to keep this reasonably short.
criticism and praise
Hopefully my small critiques are seen as constructive, and welcomed here, and are obviously just my opinions. People are so nice and supportive here which I think is fantastic as it is low pressure and inviting to others. I am pretty new to all of this so hearing anything good can be a nice little boost but i also want to learn and grow so please feel free to be real about anything I submit, even if it’s harsh. I’ve tried to give a bit of that with my votes so it’s not all just praise, i hope that’s received well. Also I love it here, it’s so great to hear everyone’s different styles and takes on the same source material. Had a blast with the last few battles and will hopefully gain some good experience here with a little more time, so just an all around thanks to everyone involved here
this track has all the ingredients I need to enjoy a good boombap track!