Song writing processes

[Smag]

Hi Folks,

Just wondering how the solo producers out there write their music. Do you lay the drums down and then build the synths around it or do you leave the drums till last? Is it better to build a track starting with a vocal sample for instance? :roll:

It's a bit different when you are producing on your own because you're not in a band and can't feed off other band members as you "jam", so you have to trust your own judgement a lot more, Know what I mean?

[Juho L]

Edit: Gah! That was an ancient thread I posted.

Well I usually don't start from any certain part. Sometimes it's a nice chord progression, sometimes a new sound gets me going and now and then a certain idea for the song.

[Drammy]

I start with drums and bass - compress the kick together with the bass and then write the track around them.

Then develop a groove, pads, lead in that order and then I redo the drums using the same pattern but select the drums to fit the track.

[Smag]

Like Martyn, i've been building the drums and then going onto other stuff. I might try starting off from vocal samples and then seeing what happens from there (Moby and Fatboy Slim do it that way). I just wanted to see how other people approach it.

[Hollowcell]

it really depends on the track itself. 4 beat dance tracks i usually start with the drums. but broken drum tracks i tend to start with a melody or bassline.

[Tomer=Trance]

i most of the track write a 4 beat tracks and usualy i start up with bass part and melodic parts

[scottyp]

I ususally start with a basic dnb drum pattern and then hit the virus for a bassline. After that I go back to the drums to try and change them up a bit and try some different patterns. Really I'm kinda all over the place.

[udenjoe]

I usually get better results starting with some synth harmony sound. It is easier to start with the drums. If you want to try something different use a different approach.

[3o3]

I usually start with the lead sound and build everything around that - the lead is the thing imho that carries the song.. sometimes i usually just are trying to create new patches and go from there to build the song

[Jade]

As a pianist I start with a nice catchy melody, then I want to get the rythm right... that's where I start to see where I'm heading. Well, after that I put in some bass and strings (yeah, I like strings) *freak*. I finish with the effects. And then I go through it all and change what I don't think is perfect. But this far I've never done something perfect and that's annoying me *wrinkle my nose*. But this is pretty much how I do my songs *hi,hi*

[3o3]

And it usually depends on which type of genre i am working on..

Hip Hop : The beat
Commercial Trance: The melody
Swedish Psy-trance: The effects
Goa : The lead/leads
Ambient : The pads

[Hollowcell]

i didnt realize you made so much varied styles there 303....

how bout uploading some tracks somewhere so we can have a listen! actually that goes for eveyone here that hasnt got anything on-line yet. i like listening to new music!

by the way, hows the hand 303...

oops, gone off topic. maybe answer in PM 303 :)

[3o3]

Not to forget classical music which is first started with the strings.

[Juho L]

From that 3o3's list came to my mind that how many of you guys make some different and/or strange projects just for fun? For example trying to make banjo bluegrass or something like that.

I think everyone should try out thos strange projects. They are very educating because you'll have to use methods you wouldn't probably have to use in your "real" music. Hmm... I just realised that I haven't done anything serious in... err... two years.

[Hollowcell]

when i first came to japan i made a track remixing japanese enka (very weird traditional music)...bloody twisted!

its fun making different styles though....full electronic pureists tend to make the most plain forgetable music IMO!

[Juho L]

its fun making different styles though....full electronic pureists tend to make the most plain forgetable music IMO!

The probelm with puritanism is that you don't bring anything new to the genre. You just use the old tricks and that way don't get personal sound. You're just part of the mass without a chance to stand out in any way.

That's why I advice people to make experiment instead of sticking with old stuff.

Especially in bigger genres (for example hard trance) there's million artists and they all tend to sound identical. None of them has a personal sound. They just have that hard trance sound and that's all. If someone would do something unexpected in that genre, he/she would stand out of the mass and probably get a record contract faster.