Rock Out with Ones Nation-DJ SIRCHUCK Joins Beat Making Comp
Beat This! Competition
April 3, 2024 by DJSIRCHUCK aka SIRCHS
For the month of April, I will be participating in a month-long beat making competition for the website IllMuzik.com. The IllMuzik format is an interesting Beatmaker/Producer format that hosts 2 to 4 "Beat making Competitions" a month, were a small group of of producers compete by submitting a track. Once submitted, you get to choose who has the best beat in the group. You cannot choose yourself. There are 23 Producers participating. On April 3rd, we submitted our beats. We judge each others beats on April 4th.
Here are the parameters: No Theme, Time limit 2 minutes, No Vocal Track, Vocal snippets allowed. I listened briefly to the list of all 23 Beats. I knew right away which ones were quality and which one were just loops. I can automatically tell who used mastering and the layering of the production, and how much work went into each beat. I can tell who had intros and outros, something that I learned from DJ Premier that I feel ties a beat together nicely. The beat that I entered was "DJ SIRCHUCK- Blues Street B-Boys Beat." This was my blues focused beat complete with vocal snippets, and intro and outros. But, I had to edit my beat down to 2 minutes for the competition, which was not difficult to fix. I just shortened the "Blues Horn verse."
This competition, called BEAT THIS! Competition, is the first competition of the month, for April 3-4th. I will post the results for DJ SIRCHUCK's first Beat Making Competition!
The Results are In!
The winner is 2GooD Productions- A Lil Ditty I Wrote
The runner up is Armani- "pt. 4"
This was my first competition and I learned some lessons from the results. Armani- "pt. 4" was the song I voted for for best song, which I thought had a wicked bass intro and a middle eastern/Indian vibe.
But when I observe how many competitions they have participated in:
2GooD Productions - 125 Battles entered
Armani- 255 Battles entered
I started to see that with only 1 Battle ranking entered, I may have a way to go if I am going to be noticed by the group. Also, beat mastering seems to be a prevalent issue of discussion in the Forum Page, so I will focus on mastering before I submit the final copy of future beats.
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Ones News Spotlight- "Blues Street B-Boys Beat"
For the beat "Blues Street B-Boys Beat," I combine a few different elements to make the blues-inspired beat. It started when I was watching Reels on Instagram and I ran into a short of an old BB King concert when he was young. (BB King- The Thrill is Gone 1971) When I watched the clip, I knew he was "killing it" and I went to YouTube to see if I can find the whole performance. Low and behold, there it was. So I used my recently acquired "STEMS" software to split the track to it's individual parts. Using this technology, I cut and isolated the vocal pieces and then isolated the piano pieces and started to play with the sounds like a jigsaw puzzle. That is how I got a majority of the "Blues portion" of the beat. The drum was ripped from an old Jay Z Track. The synths in the beginning (and ending) of the track were taken using STEMS from Pet Shop Boys- West End Girls. I isolated the synth piano sound and light chanting voices from the bridge of the song and looped it to create the intro/outro for the Blues Street beat.
Rock Out with Ones Nation-DJ SIRCHUCK Joins Beat Making Comp
Beat This! Competition
April 17, 2024 by DJSIRCHUCK aka SIRCHS
For the month of April, I will be participating in a month-long beat making competition for the website IllMuzik.com. The IllMuzik format is an interesting Beatmaker/Producer format that hosts 2 to 4 "Beat making Competitions" a month, were a small group of of producers compete by submitting a track. Once submitted, you get to choose who has the best beat in the group. You cannot choose yourself. There are 23 Producers participating. On April 17th, we submitted our beats. We judge each others beats on April 18th.
Here are the parameters: Theme: Full Song Singing, Time Limit: 4 minutes, Vocal snippets allowed, Designated Sample: "John Klemmer- Touch."
I actually really like the sample, there is no drums in the Intro and it reminds me of "Smooth Jazz" or the music from a station that would have Kenny G on it.
It actually reminds me a lot of "Who Got The Jazz" by A Tribe Called Quest. Or at least, that's the way I flipped it when I created my first R&B Beat.
Since we have to put an acapella singing track to it, I went to Hip Hop/R&B because that is were most of my knowledge in "singing" comes from. This is new territory for me, because the only singing I ever deal with on a beat is usually in the "vocal snippets" used to make the beat.
Check out a sample of my entry for the "Beat This! Competition for 4/17," which I called
DJ SIRCHUCK- TOUCH (Competition Beat) in Ones Audio section.
Check out a video snippet of the entry below called "Competition Beat" with colorful poster art. The actual entry beat is 3:55, just shy of 4 minutes.
This competition, called BEAT THIS! Competition, is the second competition of the month, for April 17-18. I will post the results for DJ SIRCHUCK's Second Beat Making Competition, my first R&B Track and also my first "Full Vocal Track" entered into a Beat Contest!
The Results are In!
The winner is PhazeLark- "Goodbye ft. Devmo"
The runner up is InsideOutBeats- "So Much For That"
This was my second competition and I learned some lessons from the results.
"Oninkaf-There for You"" was the song I voted for for best song. I thought the beat is tight, it just needed more vocals to fill the empty space but I was impressed with the sample flip. Very Dilla-esc.
But when I observe how many competitions they have participated in:
PhazeLark- 23 Battles entered
InsideOutBeats- 265 Battles entered
This time, it seems that the voting was more democratic and based less on prior experience. I admit, I didn't hear much of the original sample on the winning beat, and I noticed many entries use snippets "so small" that you can't even hear the connection to the original sample.
I judged based on how well they took the original sounding sample. and "flipped it" while retaining a semblance of the original sound.
But, overall, all the beats were high quality and showed much talent.
I'm looking forward to what kind of theme we will explore next, this type
of competition makes me diversify my skill set and work towards incorporating different sounds into my style.
Stay tuned for more Ones Nations News and
Stay Classy Ones Nation Followers!
Ones News Spotlight- "TOUCH-(Competition Beat)"
For the beat "TOUCH- Competition Beat," I combine a few different elements to make the jazz-inspired beat.
The parameters for the beat contest assigned the sample, "John Klemmer- Touch." I love these types of contests because it gives me an opportunity to show off my style of beat making within a set parameter, whilst comparing how other producers flipped the same exact sample. (Assuming that they all used STEMS technology, which I assume is less than 50% due to its current availability. (Its still costs money to purchase.)
I started by using my recently acquired "STEMS" software to split the track to it's individual parts. Using this technology, I cut and isolated the melodic synth piano pieces and then isolated the pieces and started to play with the sounds, once again, like a jigsaw puzzle.
That is how I got a majority of the body for "TOUCH- Competition Beat."
The drum was ripped from an old Faith Evans/Carl Thomas R&B Track. The vocal track and the drums were taken from the song "Faith Evans Feat. Carl Thomas- I Can't Believe" using STEMS software. I isolated the vocal R&B acapella and used mods to correct for the sound. Using Waves Mercury Bundle, I first used XNoise to clean the sound for a smooth loop removing pink noise. I also used RBass to pump up the sound of the added Bass segment in the bridge.
The vocal snippets "Hard Working" "The Star of the Show" and "Mister Dynamite" come from the song "Nobody Beats The Biz" by Biz Markie.
Rock Out with Ones Nation-DJ SIRCHUCK Joins Beat Making Comp
Warzone Beat Battle
April 27, 2024 by DJSIRCHUCK aka SIRCHS
For the month of April, I will be participating in a month-long beat making competition for the website IllMuzik.com. The IllMuzik format is an interesting Beatmaker/Producer format that hosts 2-4 "Beat making Competitions" a month, were a small group of of producers compete by submitting a track. Once submitted, you get to choose who has the best beat in the group. You cannot choose yourself. There are 16 Contestants participating. On April 26th, we submitted our beats. We judge each others beats on April 27th.
Here are the parameters: Theme: None, Time Limit: 2 minutes, Vocal snippets allowed,
No vocal track.
This competition was set up in an elimination fashion with 4 Rounds. One April 27th,
we judged each battle between contestants for most of the day.
Round 1: 12pm-1:30 pm 16 Teams, 8 Matches:
1. Delta_Nine vs SJAMBOK BEATS 5. Earsblower vs Fyyn3stSymphoni
2. Armani vs them 6. Leopard Cohen vs Wesbeats
3. SwayeeBoogie vs Bandia Gotach 7. DJSirchuck vs SmashLab
4. InsideOutBeats vs Jimulacrum 8. 2GooD Productions vs PhazeLark
Round 2: 1:45pm- 2:45pm 16 Teams, 8 Matches:
1. Delta_Nine vs Armani 5. Earsblower vs Leopard Cohen
2. SJAMBOK BEATS vs them 6. Fyyn3stSymphoni vs Wesbeats
3. SwayeeBoogie vs InsideOutBeats 7. DJSirchuck vs 2GooD Productions
4. Bandia Gotach vs Jimulacrum 8. SmashLab vs PhazeLark
Round 3: 3:00pm- 3:45pm 8 Teams, 4 Matches:
1. Delta_Nine vs SwayeeBoogie
2. SJAMBOK BEATS vs Bandia Gotach
3. Earsblower vs 2GooD Productions
4. Fyyn3stSymphoni vs PhazeLark
Finals: 4:00-4:45pm 6 Teams, 3 Matches: Winner:
1. SwayeeBoogie vs 2GooD Productions SwayeeBoogie- Diamond (W)
2GooD Productions- Platinum
2. Delta_Nine vs Earsblower Delta_Nine- Gold
Earsblower- Silver
3. Bandia Gotach vs Fyyn3stSymphoni Fyyn3stSymphoni- Bronze
The Results are In!
The winner is SwayeeBoogie- "TheArena" (Diamond)
The runner up are:
2GooD Productions- SoLong (Platinum)
Delta_Nine- Nodelayin (Gold)
Earsblower- HopesPureness (Silver)
Fyyn3stSymphoni- Vigorous (Bronze)
This was my third competition and my first "War Zone Beat Battle." I learned some lessons from the results.
I guess I should start by describing what I though of the competitor's beats.
SwayeeBoogie's beat "TheArena" was very epic and had a really cool intense string effect, almost sounds like Triumph or Renegade. It has intro, outros and build up. Pretty cool.
2Good Production's beat "SoLong" was the beat I chose to win, very Ghostface/Wu-Tang sounding with a cool female chant for the body of the beat.
Delta_Nine's beat "Nodelaying" is a very chill, Neo Soul sounding beat reminiscent of ATCQ during the Dilla era. Cool vocal snippets of Slick Rick also. Pretty cool.
Earsblower's "HopesPureness" sounds like the beat that comes with your DAW program. It does have an interesting change-up, but not my favorite.
Fyyn3stSymphoni's "Vigorous" sounds like your typical Korg Synth sound in a loop. I could see how the beat has "Pop" appeal, but also not a favorite.
But when I observe how many competitions the winners have participated in:
SwayeeBoogie- 461 Battles entered
2Good Production- 126 Battles entered
Delta_Nine- 644 Battles entered
Earsblower- 17 Battles entered
Fyyn3stSymphoni- 18 Battles entered
I noticed that this time, there seems to be a connection with voting was based more on prior experience, probably because more experience equals doper production.
Still, it leaves a person like me with a Battle Score of 3 a ways before I will start raising
eyebrows. It inspires me to create bangers so that I can reach these seasoned producers.
They are really into "mastering" and "compressor/limiter" applications for a crisp sound.
In my experience, I have found that the crispier and cleaner your original sample and original drums, the doper the final product. If you grab "dirty samples," sure I can clean them up using Waves Diamond Bundle, but you are better off just having a crispy HD sound. Your beat will sound "leagues" better just because you will be able to hear the quality of sound. This especially holds true for the drums and bass line. Your beat sounds more professional if your drums sound like they have been processed or "sonic maximized" and ready for the radio. These beat even sounds better on a cell phone, it really makes a huge difference.
I'm looking forward to what kind of theme we will explore next, this type
of competition makes me diversify my skill set and work towards incorporating different sounds into my style.
Stay tuned for more Ones Nations News and
Stay Classy Ones Nation Followers!
Ones News Spotlight- "TBowl Beatnut Flip Beat"
For the beat "TBowl Beatnut Flip Beat," I combine a few different elements to make the blues-inspired beat.
It started again when I was watching Reels on Instagram and I ran into a short of an old Soul Train episode where Stevie Wonder was hosting and he was young.
When I watched the clip, he was asked by Don Cornelius to make a "theme song" for Soul Train, half-serious and almost jokingly. Stevie was surrounded by young children and you could tell they were all having fun.
Stevie "off the head" came up with the theme song to "Soul Train" that they never used, a dark chord ballad that sounds absolutely incredible. You can hear it on YouTube under "Improvisation of Stevie Wonder on TV Program- Soul Train."
I immediately knew he was "killing it." I went to YouTube and used a YT to MP3 program to get a copy of the Stevie Intro.
Then, I used my recently acquired "STEMS" software to split the track to it's individual parts. Using this technology, I cut and isolated the piano pieces and started to play with the sounds like a jigsaw puzzle. When I found that "sweet spot," a chord progression That is dark and digs deep. I had to use it! Not to mention, no one is sampling this. I like to use samples that are obscure as possible. I am not trying to accidentally sample another producers beat, which is why the more vague your sample, the more original and less chance for duplicates.
The bridge also contains a vocal sample of "ambient ethereal singing." This was taken cleverly from the song The Beatles- Helter Skelter. Using STEMs, I separated the individual parts. During the bridge, for 2 seconds, the team says "ahhhhh" and Paul croons "Tell me, Tell me, Tell me..." I took those 2 seconds and extended it through the whole bridge using RVerb from Waves Mercury Bundle. This allowed me to extend and push the sample further while giving an ambient echo chamber chant that I was looking for.
The drum was ripped from an old Beatnuts Track. The vocal snippet in the bridge of the track was taken using STEMS from "Barrington Levy- Murderer." I isolated the "ayee" chant sound from the bridge of the song and used it to create the bridge outro for the TBowl Beatnut Flip beat.
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This is a remixed album of Jay Z- American gangster, using all J Dilla beats. This album was made by the Ones Nation team back in 2008.
DJ SIRCHUCK- Touch Beat vs Can't Believe
This is a sample snippet of the R&B Track submitted for the IllMusik.com "Beat This!" Competition for 04/17. The original is 4 minutes long.