Things you should not do as a beatmaker
Yes, that’s right, just like there have always been enlightened ones set on telling you how you HAVE to do things, who you should respect, how you have to sound and basically even who you have to get along with because it’s 100% necessary. Still, there’s also a series of things you should NOT do in your career, hobby, job or whatever it is you consider producing, and that enlightened one is me, well, me and SuperStar No, the meme producer.
I know there’ll be people who like what I’ve written here, people who couldn’t care less and people who won’t like it so much, so before you keep reading I’d like to make it clear that if you don’t like what I say you’re still in time to go get some fresh air in the yard, take the dog for a walk, introduce yourself to SuperStar No or jerk off four times under a tree (I put that in bold so you read it properly).
If you feel hit, that’s your problem, don’t come later with “hey but you’ve done that too”, “everyone does it”, “I’m an idiot and they feed me stones”. I came here to talk about my book and the experience I’VE had doing things, and if you don’t like it then get an endoscopy just in case you’ve got something stuck up there.
Obviously I don’t have a book (yet), though I’m sure I could write a few and, what’s worse, I’d get some good laughs at the expense of many. But hey, I’m not here to laugh (much at least), so let’s get to it. If not, you can always open the Disneyland page and buy some tickets.
Look mama I’m a broducer
I know it, you know it and we all know you’re a beatmaker. So first of all don’t be an attention whore, meaning don’t cry if nobody pays attention to you. If nobody pays attention it doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong or that you’re bad, it just means your moment hasn’t come, keep working and wait, but don’t go to any website or magazine to cry to them or to trash them because they don’t publish you there, because you end up looking like an idiot. Usually the crying phase goes like this: send material > rejection of material > hating. Don’t hate on whoever doesn’t support you today because they might tomorrow, be smart and be patient, nobody likes an idiot.
Secondly DO NOT LIE, although well, you’re a beatmaker and there’s no “faking” here for what you say or don’t say, because in the end you don’t say anything, you produce. MCs usually get exposed and shown up fast, because just as it’s easy for them to spread any nonsense, it’s also easy for someone to catch them, and on top of that here in Spain they have the language joke (and I say joke because that’s what it is, a joke, it’s a much smaller audience than a beatmaker’s).
Credits: PlayStation, CocaCola, Durex, Marlboro, etc…
Usually whoever lies does it because they’re looking for promotion or publicity, and if they’re looking for it there’s a reason. They’re kind of the light version of attention whores, though they damage the producer’s image less (damaging only their own). If you’ve ever seen a producer saying he produced for Lil Wayne or stuff like that, I advise you to look up the song or check the credits on Wikipedia, DiscoGS or AllMusic, you’ll have a laugh. Watch out, because there are completely legit people who really have those credits, learn to tell them apart.
Never send material to people only out of self interest, we’ve all done it at some point but I stand by it, you can’t give a beat to a guy you don’t know at all only because he’s known or famous and you think he could be a good boost for you and what you do, those people usually have their producers already established and very well selected, the ones they built their own sound with, and besides it’s going to be hard to pull them out of there, it’s going to be really tough for them to take you seriously… Just ask yourself this, when an MC comes to ask you for beats and you don’t know him at all, how do you take it? Good, right? How long does it take you to send him your PayPal address or your bank account? Well, there you go, so don’t be an idiot and use common sense, it can work out well… Sure, but the ideal thing is to build personal relationships with the artists, nobody likes being produced by an idiot, no matter how good he is.
We there for the SEO: Santiago Abascal Type Beat
Another thing that’s also important, and the opposite of what a lot of people say… Copying isn’t bad, quite the opposite, it’s very good, and it will also teach you a lot. Let me explain, every producer has his tricks, from basslines that hit really hard, a good mix and mastering in particular, drum kits nobody knows where they come from, a very clean sharpness that gives a specific color, sounds and tricks nobody has… In short, every producer has his own techniques, which are usually really hard to work out and to figure out, but it’s almost your duty to learn to do the things others know how to do, because otherwise you’re not going to get anywhere.
The more you learn and the wider your repertoire of techniques and options when it comes to approaching a beat THE BETTER, and just like to learn to speak you have to listen first, to learn to produce as well. Watch out, I’m not saying you copy anyone’s beats exactly as they are, that’s a really dirty move, but you should break your skull trying to pull out what you like most from each one so you can use it later yourself and build or evolve your own sound. Otherwise it’s going to be really hard (if not impossible) for anyone to recognize one of your beats without seeing the name (oops, I had to say it)… I mean, if you offer the same as everyone else you close doors on yourself and you’ll have to resort to lying, crying or sending material to people who don’t know you and don’t want to know you.
Anyway, here’s a video I really like. The comment section is open in case you want to curse my dead relatives, big hug.
