Have you ever started to make a new instrumental for an artist? You have the drum track outfitted with the best percussion to suit the melody, genre and theme. Just when  you think you have every element added to the track to make it smokin, then it happens, you start adding another sound to the mix and another sound and so on and so on.

       We have seen it happen over and over again.  Hip hop producers are   always under pressure to make the next great track.  We make a hot track and then  we kill it by adding elements, that we think, will impress the listener and add clout to their name or brand.  Overproducing your music, as a hip hop producer, can kill your music and kill your chances of landing a placement with an established artist or company.

When you listen to a top artist on the radio, write their song title down and go toYouTube and listen to the instrumental. Did you notice something? The music sounds naked and empty, that's because the artist is the missing element in the music you are looking for. I'm not saying to make your music empty and boring, just don't try to make the next grand classical symphony.  When you produce an instrumental you must remember to compensate for the missing instrument not seen, the artist.
When a artist takes time to download a MP3 instrumental to use as a element to express his or her feelings in a musical sense, they would like to have music that allows them to use their voice as a main covering over the music already created. During the verse do you use instruments in a way that will not interfere with words that have multiple syllables? Did you choose instruments that do not clash with the natural tone of the artist?  Did you use arpeggios in the chorus which are known to clash with syllables? These are the things that haunt many producers and kill their careers.  When you produce a hip hop instrumental or any instrumental for that matter, you must take the artist in the studio with you,inside your mind and never let them leave.  If you know the artist records with a certain inflection then make sure you production does not clash in any way and only adds to the performance. Don't make the artist fight to get in the song as if they are playing double dutch with the instrumental.

       The music should inspire the artist right away to begin writing and expressing. Making a instrumental is not the time for you to show off your production skills like you are at a hip hop competition show. Do not fight the artist, give them something they want to snuggle up to. Provide a melodic vessel  that sails the seas of musical bliss.  Do not make the doll, make the clothes for the doll. The next time you sit down to produce a instrumental remember to make a instrumental the represents your study of the artist and their respective style.