Elektronauts Beat Battle #21 Library Music - Voting and Feedback

The Lounge Mission Briefs
#42

1s 5
2n 6
3r 10

5 > a litte more melodic, had a progression too it and loved that hipnotic percussion groove. Vocal toward the end freaked me out though.
(Background vocal melody loop when the drums kicked in reminded me of something from air :slightly_smiling_face:
Stanger track but such a jam here

6> this track was so smooth!
Structure wise it reminded me of some of the electronic music I like but with acoustic sounds.
Could have used a little variation towards the end, but I thought it was a strong groove to ride out for a while. Hypnotic lower bassline was great, and you managed to fit in two basses, something I was toying around with when I started on this. Solid track

10> great sound! Could picture someone rhyming on top fitting it perfectly. Samples fit together like a glove, had enough chops to keep interest, but felt very well connected. I think this might be a previous winner if I had to guess

I quite liked these 3, all for different reasons so wasn’t really sure how to put them in any order,
but between these three it caught my ear with some combination of interest/ taste/ refinement and whoever you are I feel like you really put your own personalities in the mix so thank you for that

Mentions:

1> laid back, I thought the bass was particularly nice here, and it sat just right. This is one that is great to zone out to, wish it kept goinga little longer as it faded away just as really getting into it

7> foreboding sound, piano lick was a killer choice and I liked the little perc bits. I felt like the horn line (weirdly specific but the just the first part of the horn) did not sit quite as well with the rest of the sound and vibe the rest of the track. Maybe that’s just me being crazy, and a small detail but thinking of feedback that is the only thing that stuck out to me as this is a really great track all around

9> creative mix of samples here. Drums had a nice funky feel. Bass stood out a bit much in tone and volume, I think mellowing & lowering it some and maybe boost the drums a bit would fit everything a little better imo. This track stood out for its unique style, props

7 Likes
#43

1 -]=Track 3=- This track is just nice from start to finish, and if it were a lady I’d buy her flowers! :sunflower:

2 .:Track 10:. This intro would be great for a freestyle loop! Transitions into such beautiful, chilled grooves and the vinyl stop outro is a lovely exit. Almost therapeutic!

#3 .:Track 5:. The dark humor layered within this track being about smiling and the nature of the beat sounding evil is really well executed! I imagine this tune playing in Larry David’s head in this Curb Your Enthusiasm clip.

Honorable mentions: Going with all of them because everyone outdid each other on this challenge! So many well made tracks to choose from, and I think a lot should be tied for top spots. There’s a lot of emotion emitting through several of these beats, which is interesting (and I hope everyone is in good health)! :older_man:

Track 1 - This song is lovely, and in many ways romantic. Awesome mixing :beers:
Track 2 - Dope intro transition, and a fresh journey to follow :beers:
Track 6 - Naturally liked this song for hearing a familiar sample :wink: Smooth track :beers:
Track 7 - Hard beat and it gave off heavy nostalgia of a Children of the Corn song! :beers:
Track 8 - The beat at 23seconds is butter! I could see myself enjoying that on an endless loop, and I’m surprised whoever made it didn’t get stuck there and was able to continue :beers:
Track 9 - Nice build/switch up into the funk and blending the chants. Neat concept :beers:
Track 11 - Classy classical samples and the layout reminded me of the intro beat that Rodney Mullen skated over in his vs. against Daewon Song :beers:
Track 12 - HEAVY beat and the build up to the vocals and the whole track in general feels fresh/organic. :beers:

It was plenty of fun battling with you guys, again, and next time I’m going to have to get more serious in the lab, so it seems! :man_scientist: Dope mixtape from start to finish and many props to @everyone, and @flippantminister for taking the time to set up this inspirational event!

7 Likes
#44

Sorry, seems I missed the deadline :see_no_evil:
I will vote today. hope that’s still fine

5 Likes
#45
  1. 10
  2. 5
  3. 7

I‘m at work, I‘ll write down some feedback later hopefully.

Thanks for this battle, the playlist is awesome

7 Likes
#46

Pretty excited for the reveal i must say. Having a really hard time mapping who made what🤔

4 Likes
#47

I think we still need two votes from our host and one other

@wumpushunter
@flippantminister

3 Likes
#48

1st: #6 – I made a beat with this same sample (that I didn’t submit) so: great ear!
2nd: #5. – To me this is not really a “beat” as in: it’s way less “rappable” to my ear than some of the others, but it’s dope anyway.
3rd: #11 – DOOMish. One bit of advice: if you are able to, master your beat before submitting since it is quieter than the other beats and so it doesn’t hit as hard in the playlist.

7 Likes
#49

Not sure what happened to @flippantminister. But it looks to me like the winners are:

1st Place: Beat 10
2nd Place: Beat 5
3rd Place: Beat 1

I don’t know who all did what, but my beat was Beat 3.

So congrats to…I’m guessing @Yabba

8 Likes
#50

Yeah, hope you’re all right @flippantminister! Agree with Doug it’s time for auto-reveal… Mine was nr 9.

8 Likes
#51

Cheers @Doug good call I was gonna suggest a reveal myself as we’re a bit in limbo here, so if everyone can let us know which beat they did that would be good.

yeah I was number 10 and thanks to anyone who liked it.

In fact as you stepped up to call it first…
when everyone has revealed which beat they did do you want to host the next one?
Your idea concept etc and I’ll delete a playlist on Soundcloud to make room for your submissions.
If not then no worries.

6 Likes
#52

Here’s notes I previously made on the ones that weren’t in my top three on the day I voted

2
menacing sounding start.
Nice track, love the vibes sound weaving in & out once it gets started.

3
Love the mood to this one and could listen to it all day long, couldnt make up my mind if this is in my top three.

4
Nice old school feel, great little brass bits happening throughout

6
A steady head nodder a great beat on its own but would also sound great with a vocal

7
I really like this, that main chord running through it reminds me of the sustained chord in — Bedazzled by Drimble Wedge
(Peter Cook & Dudley Moore)

9
Clever idea and use of the vocal and a really well made track,

11
Nice change of pace from the others with the classical samples, and a great beat

12
Fantastic work, great vocal selection.
one of those beats that made me wish we were voting for a top five.

7 Likes
#53

Congrats @Yabba! You’re killing it.
Congrats to whoever did Beat 5

Mine was Beat 1

7 Likes
#54

Damnnn you guys made some amazing tracks again! I played through the playlist while biking around the city, it was a great soundtrack for a summers day. I’m feeling a lot of fomo for missing this battle and I’ll be joining next one again for sure.

So did @Yabba win again haha? Should we just give him some kind of elektronauts lifetime achievement award at this point? Congrats man!

Also on a sidenote: @flipinfantile for some reason I never noticed before, but is that Flipje van Tiel in your profile picture? :joy: Are you from that area?

7 Likes
#55

Yes congratulations are due @Yabba! Not surprising that you won, but I hadn’t pinned you on track nr 10, nice going switching up your M.O again, incredible. Also well done @Unifono and #5, my top pick, hope you reveal your identity soon!

@Sleepyhead, nah i just wanted a pseudonym that started with ‘flip’ this being a beat battle and all, reppin’ the 020 just like yourself. but that is the guy in the picture, well spotted!

7 Likes
#56

Yo, congrats @Yabba! Killing it again and again! And congrats everybody, the level was insane and inspiring.

I was number 7! I’ve yet to drop my comments, I’m too lazy dammit.

@Yabba would you mind sharing a little explanation of how you made your track? I remember being quite puzzled by the way your samples were assembled…

6 Likes
#57

I was #5

Stoked to have come second on such a quality list!

Well deserved congrats to @Yabba that was a :fire: beat.

Also @Kuro for number 7 which was my top pick and whoever did number one the production on that was just stellar!

A few people asked me questions about my track in the comments so I’ll do a breakdown at some point.

7 Likes
#58

that was me, thanks for the positive feedback.
Loved your beat, very creative

5 Likes
#59

Congrats @Yabba, @monquixote, and @Unifono! And a strong tracklist from everyone. Thank you @flippantminister for the great theme and for running it.

–
Mine was #2. For this beat, I pulled:
–Chords and synth lead from “Frontiers of Science”
–Main drum break from “Good Folks” by Bodacious DF
–Extra cymbals from “We’re So Happy” by Medeski Martin & Wood
–Extra bass written with FM on my M8

This is the most “play the chops” beat I’ve done, locking slices to a scale and stumbling into phrases I liked via transposition. I’m glad the fuzzed-out sound and the switchups worked for some of you!

The mud you all pointed out comes from the synth leads I think, where I didn’t chop off the ends of the sample. I wanted those ends for the big buildup, but the main loop didn’t need them. So it goes.

5 Likes
#60

Thanks guys, appreciated :slightly_smiling_face:

@Kuro Yeah sure, it’s actually way simpler than it sounds as a track I guess.
It’s all made on Digitakt on two patterns.

First pattern is the intro which was originally going to be my main beat, and the last note purely by chance fit with the start of my 2nd pattern main beat.
Once I noticed that, I set the last note of the first pattern to loop the tail at the end so it blended in from one pattern to the other quite nicely when switched.

The main beat is this, if you slow it down a lot to minus 8 semitones it should sound familiar.

I chopped and repeated part of it, filtered it, then looked for stuff to layer over.
The horn sounds were from different records, one was from one of the brass albums and the stabs were from the fanfare album I think, I was just randomly skipping through stuff to sample to put over my main beat and tuned em up to fit.

The bass was a part I can’t remember.
I filtered a part that had a clean heavy bass sound and played it in chromatic mode on Digitakt to make a bassline.

Be good to hear what yourself and everyone else used too. :slightly_smiling_face:

7 Likes
#61

Wtf… it sounds so much more expressive slowed down and with the extra accentuation. Thanks for sharing Yabba👍

3 Likes