I think, the best the way to learn to draw is to watch it done well by another. In a similar sense, a good way to learn to sample is to hear it done well by others. I've learned so much through these battles, more through listening to flips than reading feedback. I do enjoy the occasional critiques though, although I find them somewhat difficult to write, personally. Anyone reading this remember "tfa"? He did great critiques.

About the resample challenge poll, I sent hseiken a reminder about it.. should be up soon.

Agreed

^

The sample def has a lot to do with it. Usually if I don't like the sample I wont battle.

A way around this maybe would be to enlist participants in the battle before the sample is chosen. That way you're kinda forced to make the beat.

yea the samples pretty bad sometimes..Like i understand challenging yourself. But if the sample is weak id rather not touch it. I always make the beats but dont bother submitting cause the samples are boring. Plus not being able to use the 202 and 404 sucks too.

Bump! The arena needs more exposure. It's damn-near the best place on the internet.

I check these boards daily.

thought it would be nice if there was a more exotic battle series where you could choose any hardware sampler you want, where it doesnt have to (but can) be a sp-sampler.
for me it would be interesting to see what people do with their other gear, their roland ms1's, akai s20 zoom sampletraks etc., all these nice little samplers.
of course, the sp-battles are dope and at the end of the day this is the sp-forum. but maybe it would spice the arena a little bit up.
on the other side it wouldnt be 100% fair since some have more advantages than others, but i think the main point of the battles are to challenge yourself, to get creative and not to win something.
what do you guys think

NINJA ARE A DYING BREED. MORE ARENA NINJA NEEDED.

SP Challenge deadline extended. viewtopic.php?f=15&t=18407&p=131841#p131841

I agree man.

Here's my thing. We don't all have the same gear, and we all use different gear differently. Not everyone uses one lone SP. (and if you have more gear, why would you want to?!)

The rules seem pretty inconsistent regarding the use of external gear anyway. For example, it's acceptable to master and EQ in software. That's a pretty open ended rule and could mean pretty much whatever.

I think the rules are too strict regarding the use of other gear. Use what you have. I think people would be more interested in participating if they could use the gear and methods that they are familiar with, while still respecting the spirit of the battle - using the same samples and flipping it in a unique way.

At the end of the day, it's the SP-forums. I feel like as long as you're using the SP to compose your beat, it doesn't matter what else you're using. Afterall, the most successful beatmakers use whatever is at their disposal to make a banger.

Hopefully that doesn't seem like a rant, but I wonder if addressing those type of issues might inspire more beatmakers to participate. Or maybe it's just me.


On a different note, I think it would be fun to do a battle with a particular dollar bin record that anyone can get... that way, those with turntables could sample from the record - Because I personally hate chopping samples off anything but a record.

Also, any unique and weird rules are always welcome.

What do yall think?

I'd like to offer a copy of my 7" record, "Now This" as a prize for the winner of the beat battle. Let me know if you all are interested. Thanks.