looms, yours starts big right out of the gate, with the brass and organ, and the drums follow suit one they come in. I like how you really weaved the samples from the 3 tracks into a cohesive picture. The sample switch at the end was really well done, and tbh I preferred it over the first sample groove. Killer job mate.
LyingDalai, I know the sound of a pocket operator when I hear one, and the background percussion is . Great job using sample layering to progress the track. Very ominous end too.
sezare56, your track has got to be the most fun one out of the bunch. A wonky beat, pitch-shifted vocals, and numerous FX make it quite an entertaining ride.
Winner: @Sleepyhead. I always dig your beats. I think that this one is the best one you’ve done for these so far.
Runner up: @looms. This was just great. I like how it comes in just kind of grooving, then it starts evolving a bit, and then transforms completely at the end. Love the bass and drum work. @Yabba. I really liked everything about this, especially how you flipped the guitar and flute parts.
Honorable mention: @Daevlor I really dug your flip
First: @Doug - Love the neck snapping wonky bounce to this (and the bonus beat). This kind of shit I could listen to on repeat for hours.
Runner ups: @Yabba and @Sleepyhead. Very hard to choose between these and Doug’s for the top spot. My short list was about 9 entries deep so hard to choose full stop
Yabba’s got that nod factor and really liked the way they’ve used the samples. Chill but not in a generic ‘lo-fi’ way and stays interesting.
Sleepyhead’s got that classic sound and feel I wish I could do. Everything is defined in the mix and again I just really like the sample choices and feel to it. I also now want to try an Analog Rythm
honourable mentions of course to Doug and drrumble as they have the style of hip hop I love pretty much on point.
Everyone else deserves props too, although I may not mention everyone I do enjoy listening to everything submitted.
All the best
I agree with all the above saying it was a hard choice this time… and I feel honoured by the positive feedback ya’ll gave me so far. I loved the concept of this battle @drrumble, I think it really forced us to be creative.
I just listened to everything one last time on my studio monitors, so here’s my top 3 and feedback on everyone’s track:
Winner: @Yabba: Great track in every way. Love the swing on the drums, the combination of samples and the overall vibe. Everything fits together really well, and you got the samples to vibe very differently from the way they did. Impressed as always. Runners up: @Doug this one reminded me of Petestrumentals but with your usual swinging drums making it your own style. Great job at making the samples completely your own. @looms: I’m jealous of these drums. Awesome sound, and great mix. Love the overall menacing and energetic feel.
drrumble: Dope track, certainly something that would fit on any good rap album out there. You took the sample for the strong melody it was, and I like the details you added.
LyingDalai: You used the same part of the sample but gave it a more banging/epic feel… reminds me of kind of a more modern MF Doom beat. Love the buildup also.
tinara Really original combination of styles and sounds. I like the space and use of silence in your track.
rockpapergoat: considering your earlier beats I was sure you were mainly going to use the Russian sample, but this is something different then I expected, though it still sounds like you. I like the sound and the breakdown in the middle and the overall rawness.
PineappleDaveL Love the dirty po33 sound again. This would be a great beat to rap on I think. The buildup is very well done. Props, lots of skills needed to make this!
new_drugs: This one was very unexpected in it’s lightness. Felt like a breath of fresh air between all these “dark-ish” tracks. Great use of the different samples.
PeteSasqwax: Really menacing beat, would fit perfectly on an early mobb deep album. The drums are nice and dirty and I love the swing.
Daevlor: Dope sounding drums, and nice overall vibe. You were close to the top 3.
sezare56: Really original sound on this one, this reminds of literally nothing I’ve ever heard which is great. I like the use of the Russian vocals.
CCMP: Best intro out of the bunch by far. Really full and complete sounding track, and nice mix. Your skills are clearly visible on this one. You were also very close to my top3.
infovore: Great track! Good mix, good use of samples, very skillfull production overall.
FNKSTRNG: This one also has a more dreamy vibe which I love, it sounds kind of cinematic. I think this would work well in a soundtrack.
Claid: You managed to make this sound like a 50’s distopian film, very mysterious in a way. I love the synth bassline.
Some much choices. Could we not only had 3 participants like the samples, would have been easier
Winner:@LyingDalai : Liked the vibes ; the chopping. I found the tracks always on the edge of being messy(?) but never failing into it. There was like a full emotional load to it, like walking on a rope.
Runners up:@rockpapergoat loved the russian sample and also the messy feel to it, raw and sounds. @sezare56 loved the completly different vibes coming from there, the vocals and the ambiance coming from it almost wanted to dance to it for some part.
Honorable mentions to drrumble for the atemporal classic vibes to the beat ; new_drugs for showing me a way better technique to incorporate different ideas together; Yabba for being able the extract this groove from the disco track (I struggled a lot with that track to sample and was so jealous when I heard yours ); infovore if that’s you rusty, I know want to here at the top or your game! ; looms for the crazy swing and drums.
My hat to all the participants, first time for me and it was so funny and amazing to see how we all approached the samples. For a beginner as me, it was also easy to only have 3 sources to focus one, thanks drrumble for the idea and setting this up. Well done everybody!
Unfortunately, I’m heading out of town and don’t have time this go round to shout out everyone but I found something I liked/loved about everyone’s submissions.
First, the winners:
1st place @CCMP
I knew where my vote was going the moment I heard your bass line come in! I love that type of relentless, wobbly-pitched sort of thing. The rest of the track is well assembled - I love the cracking drums, the sample implementation, and the intro and breakdowns. Sometimes one awesome element is the thing that really makes something stand out in a field crowded with great beats and I am a sucker for a gnarly bass line.
Runner ups:
@claid – Another cool ass bass line. I’m intrigued by the combination of the very dramatic strings and the slinky synth bass. This one is cinematic but also has a groove.
Sezare56- This is a lot of fun. I love when the vocal sample comes in at 1:29. The arrangement is well laid out and you really twisted the sample sources into some inventive shapes. Incredibly original and it has so much bounce to it.
Honorable Mentions:
@drrumble – Your consistency is so impressive. Everything always sounds extremely on point. This is no exception.
@rockpapergoat – I dig how you switched your style up this go round. The guitar samples are fantastic and everything sits really nicely in this one.
@LyingDalai – You are fantastic at using auxiliary percussion elements. Your drums never sound too busy but there is always a ton of interesting things going on. The ending of this one was awesome as well.
@Sleepyhead – This has a nice contrast between the hazy elements and tight drums. And this has another spot on bass line. Love the pan effect on the horn.
@Yabba – Such a nice vibe. I don’t know how you got the chops to sound so clean. Like others have mentioned, this is so “chill” but not in an obvious washed out sort of way that seems typical when something is going for “chill”. Your beat feels so precise but easy going at the same time.
Special thanks to @drrumble for running the show. This was a nice concept for a battle. It was a cool way to showcase how many different ways people can twist the same source material.
Nice to have you join in. I look forward to hearing what you come up with in future battles. I learn something every time I do one of these. Thanks for the kind words.
@rockpapergoat FTW for me. Love how dense it all is and how many twists and turns it takes us on, but ultimately it just sounds perfectly attuned to my sensibilities
Runners up:
@CCMP calling a track “Stand There” when it compels people to stomp about the place chef’s kiss
@Sleepyhead I got such a feeling of “Above The Clouds” off this one (in all the best ways) - kept waiting for that Rebel INS verse to drop!
Overall the quality of these battles is insane. HUGE props to everyone who gets down - especially those who didn’t enter previously. It’s great to have so many tracks to bump in this selection
EDIT:
As a suggestion, since some people don’t use SC, would it be worth setting up a Bandcamp page for these so that we can listen to them all in the sample place? Might be a ballache, which I totally get, but could be a great way to keep track of past battles without having to wade through the forum
Getting it down to 3 is harddddd
. Great job using sample layering to progress the track. Very ominous end too.
