5 Quick Tips To Make Your Music and Beats Better

Tip #1: Unplug yourself!

Yes, this may sound weird when you are making beats and music using your computer. However, it is important to unplug from the distracting devices and other things that rob your productivity.

Those emails, tweets and phone calls can wait until you complete your music-making session. You will find that your productivity increases when you get rid of the little "time robbers" like tweets and emails. You will find that get more out of your music or beat-making sessions.

Also, unplug your mind as well by intentionally and physically changing your mental location. Even though I do website design and development in the same room where I make moody instrumental music, I make it a point to get up and walk out of the room and take a break before I re-enter to start making beats or making music. I also make it a point to shut down any web development software applications on my computer when I leave. This just reinforces the fact that I am done with website development work. Physically changing rooms or even leaving the house for a few minutes is good way to "reset" your mind for making beats and music.

Tip #2: Always try out new sounds!

Whether you're making beats or composing music, you can be inspired to create better music and beats simply by hearing new sounds. Everyday sounds, like wind, rain, passing cars and even the chime on my dryer, have all inspired me to create some pretty interesting moody instrumental music.

Since I use Propellerhead Reason software, there are times when I change out my entire song template by replacing existing sounds with new sounds. This includes the use of samples. I move away from using samples completely at times and then come back to chopping and flipping samples after several months. When I return to sampling, I always make it a point to sample music genres and music artists that I haven't sampled before.

If you need new sounds, there are plenty of websites where you can get them for free. Get them downloaded, organized and then try them out!

Tip #3: Be adventurous with the music you listen to.

If all you listen to is Hip-Hop, then you are severely limiting yourself and your ability to create better music and beats. Even if you are not a fan of particular music genres and types, you should get in the habit of listening to several different music types each day.

I was born in the USA and I grew up listening to Hip-Hop, R&B, Soul and Gospel. But even at an early age I started listening to Rock, Heavy Metal, Jazz, Classical, Country, World and "Rock-a-billy" music.  Even now, I search for music from all over the world and really listen and try to feel what the artists are expressing. Doing this has helped to make me better at music arranging. This practice has also helped me to hear different melodies and learn different ways they break down.

You can learn so much by listening to the various types of music available to you from around the world. Remember, this is music that we are talking about. Learn to hear what the music is saying to you, even when the don't understand the language the vocals are in.

Tip #4: Work quickly!

You can increase your productivity by eliminating the "time-robbers" I mentioned above. You can also increase your productivity by working quickly and efficiently.

Start by paying attention to your most productive times of the day. Then, work to make music and beats as quickly and efficiently as possible within your most productive time periods. Pay attention to your music production environment and music-making tools. Is your environment setup to allow you to work quickly? Does your computer, DAW and hardware controller(s) fit you - allowing you to capture music ideas within a few minutes? What about your music-making process? Is your music-making workflow efficient, or do you have too many unnecessary steps?

It is very easy to get wrapped up in your music. Sometimes, when you play a beat back, it is nothing like you thought it would be! Try spending just a few minutes on multiple tracks and then expand them later. This will make sure you spend time on the right tracks!

Tip #5: Always stay on the lookout for people to collaborate with.

I'm always looking for people to work with when it comes to making music and beats. Music is meant to be shared. Music is a universal language that allows me to freely express myself to other people. It feels great when I connect with someone else through my music and then build a working musical relationship.

The saying that "Two heads are better than one" can be very helpful when it comes to making music and beats. If you always work alone when creating music, you will not discover the benefit of collaboration. Working with someone else to make music and beats not only gives you someone to bounce ideas off of, That someone will do things that you usually don't do and this can add a new dimension to your own tracks!

Try these tips and let me know if they helped you make better music and beats.