For awhile I tried using online beat makers to make rap and hip hot beats. I could not find anything that would let me make beats that sounded anything like the beats from real songs. At least not for free. There were some critical features that were missing. These had to do with the octave range for instruments, the recording ability of these online tools, and whether or not you really had permission to use the beats in the recorder.
One of the limitations that I found many online beat makers had were that some only had drums, and those that did allow you to add in instrumentals within a limited octave range. What that means is you could only play instruments within a small range of notes which other than a few base lines rarely seems to happen in real music. You really need a range of at least three octaves so you can step up and step down. With a four octave range you should be good.
Another feature that I saw missing was the ability to record in real time, and then be edit the notes after. Usually you'd just be working with some fixed beats that you would mix and match. On some you could use a mouse and place the beats where you wanted them, but then you could not record your beats in real time which really made things difficult and time consuming.
Something else is, what if you want to sell your beats later on? If you are using some online beat maker you have to wonder who really owns these beats? If you want to sell your beats in the future you really need to make sure that you have the rights to mix the music that you are using and then re-sell it. With an online beat maker you just do not. I would not want to risk spreading around beats that include copyrighted sound. That stuff could really ruin your reputation.
