Wack Producers I hear all the time got shitty melodies or sounds but damn!!! They always rock the same Snare!! All the beats you make should atleast have a different snare to them. Every beat I make I find a snare I never used. As we all know as vets layer your snares. Pan them but layer. They smack harder. U should try to use new sounds regardless whether it be piano, synth, kick, etc. These stuck in the sauce So called local Producers are not winning cus they r lazy. Routine is mundane and will force u to become stagnant at your craft. To each his own no doubt but without that spark shit gets boring. Gotta find inspiration and that comes from innovation
You don't really need to use different sounds in every beat you make... Tons of great music was made with a single drum kit (acoustic drums), guitar, bass, and keys. I'm not referring to hip-hop, but classic rock, r&b, etc... Alot of the stuff people are using to sample.
Sometimes less can be more in terms of creativity. I watched a lecture one time on experimental music where a composer of classical music was talking about exercises that would help him be more creative/think outside the box. He talked about writing melodies but limiting himself to only a few notes... It helped him be more creative by looking at the notes and the relation between them in different ways, also he would combine the notes to play chords that henormally wouldn't play. He also referred to the notes and chords as "sounds" not notes or chords... This is also something that has helped me learn guitar... By limiting what strings I play I am forced to be more creative and look at things in a different way.
But I know what youre saying about using different sounds though, with technology advancing and all the vsts, loops, drum kits there are available... Using different sounds that you don't normally use can force you to be creative too. Just don't think, "My beats aren't good... I bet if I had a ton of drum hits or vsts my beats would be better." b/c this is probably not true. There is an infinite amount of music to be created with a single drum kit and a few instruments...
