July 07 Beat Battle (Sounds & Rules Inside)

[360joynt]

..so what happend?

[Desertease]

no clue i'm not a judge so i couldn't tell ya but i can tell ya that i'm starting the next battle on monday the 23rd

[pootle]

Who are/were the judges?

[pootle]

Howdy y’all.
Okay, I forgot I was a judge (and as it turns out, the only judge) for the July 2007 SFS beat battle so apologies for my tardiness. Here, better late than never, are my wholly unqualified gut reactions to everybody’s entries. Please take these comments in the lighthearted (and hopefully constructive) spirit in which they are intended. For the record, I’m a shit beat-maker with very bad taste in music – HOWEVER,I did supply the contest kit and nobody else volunteered to be a judge so until somebody better qualified steps to the plate, I’m the best/only man for the job… Anyways, here goes.

Truthmusik
I don't think there are any prizes for being the first to post.
nice swing on the beat but you don't do enough with the breaks I've provided. It's not enough to simply loop them (you've got to slice and blend a bit more than that). Whilst you do chop up the piano a bit, you do absolutely nothing with the string break and you make no effort to join/blend the two breaks. This is the eleventh SFS battle and by now, simply looping up ready-made breaks wont cut it (NB: that’s not a digspecifically aimed at you but to any/all entries which simply loop up what’s been provided).

Desertease
1st entry: I'll be honest, this sounds more like some evil techno or menacing electronica than hip hop (although Crunk and Hyphy are, to my ears at least, more like techno than raw funk). Nice use of the lolloping bassline. It's nicely mixed and i can imagine Jeezy or one of those sorts of rappers yelling like a lunatic all over it but it just lacks funk for me.
(2nd entry): nice groove with the closed hats and bassline. Also good granulation/tremolo on the string loop and vocal sample. It gets a bit repetitive and even with the switch up to the violin and vocals, it feels a bit flat. I feel it would benefit from an extra layer (melody/rhythm) at some points during the track. I would like to hear the same track but with a looser, less regimented rhythm 'cus this sounds like a great trip-hop/broken beats piece in the making.

bc
props on this relaxing piece of electronica. Superb use of the kit and creative blending/melodic intertwining of samplesThe snare patterns and effects sound more like drum & bass than hip hop to me but fair play.

The Boy Wonda
I get what you were trying to do(namely juxtapose one of the kit's most delicate and subtle breaks with a heavy rhythm). However, even with the switch-ups, the groove/vibe doesn't really change or build. The drums could be stronger (both sample selection and beat) and applying some effects on the violin could have breathed some variety into the track.

bc (2nd entry)
Very amped!
Need to be better mixed/EQ'd as the low end is very muddy - also, where's the bassline? I provided lots of decent bass amples so there’s no excuse for anybody not having a proper bassline in their piece (NB: simply EQ’ing the samples to make them bassy is not the same as having a proper bassline – that’s another general criticism of entries).
Makes me want to smash something.

physicalill
As I've previously remarked, I like the transformer-style muting on the brass break. I also commend you for using the organ sample (not many did). Once again, where's the bassline? I supplied lots of easy-to-use bass samples and yet few people bother to have a bassline?

dibbs
1: "cookout": Nice and mellow laidback hip hop joint. The snare is too high in the mix and too tinny/snappy for my liking. The track is too short - perhaps these comps should have a minimum duration criterium?
2 "The Club:" brave use of the Ahmad Jamal break (you're one of very few). Good laidback vibe and nice lead melody but again, the piece is very short.
3 "The shoot out:" if you'd dirtied up the strings and drums, I'd say this was something worthy of Premo - and then the song ends before I can get into it - once again, tight as heck (probably the tightest of the three) but ridiculously short and most other people have had to work at developing their idea beyond four bars. Dibbs, we all know you’re probably one of the best SFS battlers but you’re coasting and that makes me angry – and trust me, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.

johnnylynch/Trauma Unit.
Nice use of the clarinet sample. Strings are too high in the mix. needs a bassline and for better mixdown.

Jcityslim
1st: Decent beat and bassline but by now, that string break is getting boring - but hold on! Yeah! Tight use of the clavi and brass! Well done! Beat stops dead and would love to have heard how this developed.
2nd entry: Bass is a bit low in the mix (could only hear it if I turned my PC's sub-woofer up full). fun use of the piano sample and organ licks. Would have liked to have heard more of this.

rhomboid
spacey track. Drums sound a bit lagging every now and then. Brave attempt to try and cram something from every sample into the same song

j122002
trippy, broken beat MF Doom remix. Weird but intriguing. Creative use of the jade sample.
2nd entry: Not feeling this merky Gza remix. I like the muddy samples but the beat is too rigid IMO and the drum sounds don't suit the track.

proform
Very retro sounding. It's a bit all-or-nothing and there's no gradient or sense of shape of the track. Try building up and breaking down your future entries.

dasees
Good use of phasing on the string break (even if I'm beginning to regret supplying that particular sample in the kit now.
I like the shuffling swing of your beat.
It ends waaaaay too soon.
2nd entry: zzzzz. Very boring use of the piano break. Try chopping up the piano loop over the beat to entry #1.

Joshua Giraffe
I enjoyed your entry until the trumpet came in.

croomhead
That's a heavy Fugees remix. How do you get the drums to sound like that? A few of the elements don't fit but most of them do and the overall effect is dope. I would however suggest a better mixdown as it's too messy at the low-end. Good use of the ahmad piano sample. The clarinet licks don't fit (IMO).

Jpautomatic
Drums are far too low in the mix.
nice blend of samples but you don't develope the idea beyond the original riff.
This beat grows on me....

paladio
tight drums. The trumpet bits sound OK but nothing else about the track works for me.

proform
2nd entry: Beat doesn't fit with the chopped-up jade samples (slightly different tempo). Good and creative fuse of the rimsky violin loop. The different movements of your piece don't jell together and need some transition sections for them to dove-tail. I admire the ambition of this track's scale.

wavez
final entry: one of very few people to use the ride cymbal sample. It's a real slow burner which should not be underestimated. AT first I didn't think much of the track but as it builds and grows, it grows on me.

Fthe MechanIK "Fixed:" Nice interpolation of the “tramp” break. The switch-up with the organ doesn't work for me. Also, the mixdown needs work (it's massively overloaded and mirky). The section with the organ and ride cymbals doesn't work for me at all.

Azriel
1st entry (jay-Z remix): decent drum programming but I doubt I'd bother listening to your beat without the acapella. It gets the job done but a few of the samples sound badly EQ'd.
2nd entry: very similar to 1st entry (same sounds at least). Your choice of close hat annoys me with that squeeky noise.
3rd entry: Good to hear somebody make use of the hand clap and bell tree as well as the ahmad sample (expected that break to be more popular than it was). The 2nd track overall is a bit too rigid for my liking and could do with some swing or suttin.

360joynt
nice scratching of the frank sinatra samples.
also nice transformer muting on the string sample.
good use of as many samples from the kit as you could cram into one song.
That said, the overall track doesn't move me.

rapkalibur609
1st entry: interesting blend of the jade and ahmad samples with a big tribal beat. However, it soon gets repetitive.
2nd entry: fun chopping up and layering of the piano break. retro big beat. simple but effective - could have done with some drum fills/switch-ups.

jimmiejames11
good use of the clarinet to puntuate the stuttering shrill string loop. It however soon gets repetitive.

djbluevelvet
remix of ATCQ's "Stressed out:" I would like this jazzy beat a whole lot more without the ill-fitting/ill-suited acapella. nice use of the vibes, jazz drums and ahmad break – but the Aaliyah chorus is out of key with the samples.

MrStyles
Good basis for a dope track (all the right sounds and a foundation groove) but the breaks need slicing up and to be arranged in a set of different phrases. Likewise, some drum fills wouldn't go amiss.


OVERALL COMMENTS
-Really impressive variety of grooves and moods built from the same samples.
-Where’s the basslines folks?
-Future comps should stipulate that beats must be at least one minute and no more than say…three minutes long – it’s very difficult to compare full on tracks with what are ostensibly interludes/skits.

WINNERS?

3: croomhead
2: BC (1st entry)
1: Dibbs “Shootout”/entry #3.

Catch y’all next month!