would you mind explaining what steps you take to create a song, I'm interested in everyone's styles and how they differ from each other.
Printable View
would you mind explaining what steps you take to create a song, I'm interested in everyone's styles and how they differ from each other.
OK.
Now, I don't ALWAYS right the same way...but ALMOST ALWAYS. :wink:
Being a '70s funk kinda guy I will usually start with a bass line...either something that popped in my head or was influenced by something I heard. Every now and then (usually when I'm doing Hip-Hop) I'll start with a drumbeat...either out of my head or borrowed from some record or track...or a loop of a beat or some other sort of sample that jumps right out at me. If I'm working on Jazz or something slow I just might start from a chordal progression that puts an emotion in my head that absolutely screams to be interpreted.
My next step will always be to build a simple rhythm section, usually bass, drumbeat and keyboard chords...if it's Hip Hop then drumbeat and whatever the accompanyment is (bass, sample, keys etc.). The key for me at this point is the drums are there for the heartbeat, and whatever else is nescessary for the emotion. I think I have written maybe 3 songs in my life without any drums.
At that point the emotion of the track will be speaking to me, and I'll usually come up with a working title that describes that emotion, and a hook that rides with the main track that fits the emotion and may or may not contain the working title. The title serves only to identify the track at this point, while the hook at this point really is most essential in how it flows with the track. Throughout the songwriting process the emotion is paramount!
Now...either the track will be screaming at me to come up with a change or modulation...or it will be screaming to have lyrics written. I would say its almost 50/50 where the track draws me. Also, it comes down to how loud it is screaming at me...many trax at this point get shelved...sometimes for years (or forever :rofl: ). If it's not demanding that it gets done I will NOT pursue it...it takes too much energy to fake a track. However, many thimes much later I will see the title and wonder "what the hell is that", load it up, and it's screaming at me louder than ever, and thus gets done.
Now, once the lyrics have been written I will look at the track itself again. If it needs changes or modulations I'll work those out, though usually that will have happened either before or during the lyric writing process. If I'm satisfied with the basic track structure up to this point I will record ref vocals, or maybe (If the track is REALLY exciting me) even final vocals. Then, and only then, I will finish up the music, adding extra tweaks, filler and fluff as needed. If it's not Hip Hop or sample based I will add drum fills and variances to the rhythm trax as needed as well.
Tweak, mix, master, DONE! :wink:
Then...either archive or industry bullshit!!! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
alot of serendipity and having the right equipment and knowing it in and out. i mostly use 3 machines and a small selection of software programs and read manuals cover to cover. i take alot from what i listen to too, i'm not really into melody and chord structure too much. i'll usually start either with drums or by making an interesting sound on my synth then decide what it's going to play later. timbre and rhythm are more important than tonality in alot of electronic music. i did take lessons so scales and things unfortunately stick in my head but i have certain tools that take me out of the music a little more and bring in things i would have never thought of just by twisting knobs until something funky comes out. drums (especially in electronica) hold everything together. sometimes i start a track with a drum loop or just a regular 4 on the floor beat just to get things going and replace it later. sometimes just a cliche techno beat works if it's mixed just right with a lot of punch and the rides and hats sitting together nicely, if it's working why screw with it. alot of times i'll just sit down with my drum machine and some headphones for an hour and not even turn the computer on, it's probably my favorite toy at the moment it's got a nice flexible sequencer. i don't get into mixing a whole lot, it's probably the most boring part especially with heavily looped based music. i barely use eqs except as a low cut on everything to leave a lot of space for bass and a small amount of compression and limiting. i mean the most popular format for music is mp3 now, a huge step backwards. so why be so picky about things?
it depends on what kind of music i'm working on. if its hip hop, then it generally starts with finding some kind of musical phrase on on an old record that really appeals to me, something that's catchy enough for me to want to loop over and over. so with a main loop of some kind, i'll then try to find some drums to put over it, and work something out so it all flows together, then i'll hunt for other bits and pieces that work with the main melodic phrase i picked out, a lot of times i'll just experiment and try different things and sometimes something will work (and a lot of times it wont). this also entails a lot of audio processing to get things to work together, changing the pitch, tempo, timing of little snippets of audio, eq'ing them so they sound decent to me, maybe filtering them, adding touches of reverb or delay, or whatever... just getting things to gel together. then i'll usually find some bass tones i can twist around into a new bassline for whatever i'm doing, and that's basically it. then once all the main parts are there, its a matter of sequencing things so they flow as a piece however i see fit, basically more trial and error until parts are arranged to where they sound right to me. then basically its a matter of going back and spending time on production details like eq, compression, reverbs, adding analog warmth, limiting, etc.. small details of the sound so everything is as perfect and tight as possible in every way.
with electronic stuff its a fairly similar process, but the programming will be a lot more detailed and complex, a lot of time spent synthesizing all the sounds, creating drum sounds, layering them together, processing things in different ways, sometimes even building custom software samplers or fx or synthesizers from modular programs to suit whatever i'm trying to do. then as far as the music, its just a matter of synthesizing something i like and then fucking around a lot until i find some kind of melodic or chord progression thats catchy to me (or sometimes just a beat), and then building everything around it.
with singing / songwriting stuff, i'll usually sit down with the guitar and experiment until i find something again that's catchy to me, and then keep building off of that. if there's a good base track, then i can sort of emotionally respond to it and start to develop vocal melodies and try to weave them around the guitar (or whatever) melodies. then its a matter of coming up with lyrics that work within that context, which can take a lot of time (more trial and error until things sound 'right' to me).
a really good way to develop musically is to learn to play other people's songs, this gives a good amount of practical experience and you sort of leech part of that musicians skills into yourself when you really master playing their songs.
alternately you can actually study music and learn the theories, which will give you a solid foundation and a lot of technical tools to help you express yourself.
i think really one of the most important things i could say would be to develop a sense of objectiveness about your art. in other words, learn how to view your own art with the same critique and opinions/viewpoints you'd apply to any other art you appreciate (or don't appreciate).
in that way, you can learn to tell when you're on the right track with something--you'll be able to better judge when something is really tight or not, and i think that's a key to developing good production or even songwriting over time, is developing a really good sense of aesthetic perfection and then striving for it.
then again, i'm not a great artist, so maybe you shouldn't listen to me! :thumup:
I was gonna post on this for the hell of it, but Atma and Coz pretty much summed up what I do. Right on, yall.