What Goes On Inside Your Head ??

T

The Vizion

New member
Ok this may be a bit of a long post but thanks for reading if you do :)

I'm hoping that you are able to understand what I am trying to say:

Basically, I'm wondering, what goes on inside the head of a producer when he is making a beat/instrumental? There are super producers like Scott Storch and Lex Luger who can make so many beats in a certain amount of time. But how can someone develop so many ideas for songs in a short amount of time? Where do these ideas come from? Do you hear the sounds and melodies etc in your head? Do they just suddenly pop out in your head out of nowhere? Are you able to make a particular sort of song whenever you want to, for example, if you wanted to make a club banger like Bottoms Up, or a dark beat like Hit Em Up by 2Pac, would you be able to whenever you wanted to?

I wonder what makes you choose the sound you want to use? For example, what made Polow Da Don want to use that sound that he did for that intro for Hero? What made Timbaland want to use that synth for Ayo Technology? Do you hear that specific instrument or synth in your head before you lay down the beat or do you search your whole library of sounds until you find something? What made them want to place the notes where they did to produce those melodies?

I hope you understand what I mean when I ask what goes on inside the of a music producer. So can anyone explain what you think during the process of making a beat in as much detail possible please? What do you see and hear in your mind? What do you feel?

Many Thanks
 
well those are vocal tracks, so its totally different (in my opinion) to write the backup beat/instruments to suit the vocals as opposed to a real instrumental track like electronic music

with vocals you have a cadence and key the song is in, from there writing instruments and drums isnt very difficult. its not like super complex sound design like you have with electro/dubstep stuff

but anyway, everyone has their process its not the same... me personally

-Pick a key for the track
-do some sound design on your lead (bass or whatever)
-get a melody going
-write a drum track based on the melody
-start writing variations of the drums and melody
 
Star power my man. These big named producers have star power. Don't you see that whatever they put out after they are popular gets called a hit before it even touches the charts?

To answer your question, there is chaos going on in my mind. I might start out saying I'm going to make something like what laidback luke put out and end up producing something similar to a deadmau5 track. During the creative process you just go through all kinds of changes man. I get tested all the time to. If this sample doesn't work i try another. PROS DO THIS TO. I have heard and seen them put out something and change it later on. Or reedit what they already have out. So with that said you just have to experiment until you end up with something you feel is good.

Hint: recycle your percussion sessions. What i mean is this. I have a beat session that i will be now using for all my upcoming tracks. Within it is my bass sine wave, bass drum, white noise sample, a limiter, etc. More to this then I wish to say but yeah man just keep things simple for yourself.
 
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Well, it depends on the producer, I guess, huh?

For me, since I'm also a songwriter, I have melodies in my head all the time. But, what goes in my head when I make a beat is really exactly what you said; what sound do I want and how do I want it to be incorporated in the sound?

I like to dance, as well, so when I think of the music I make, I also want to know I can dance to it. Even when it's slow, I want to know that I can slow dance to it. Sometimes I think "there was this sound/beat/pattern running through my head yesterday. it went something like..." then I try to emulate what I heard. One thing that always runs through my head, though, is the musicality and if it follows the rules of music theory.

If I want to incorporate piano in my music, I think of different chord progressions, mostly for the bridge and chorus (the strongest parts of any song). And then melodies rush my head through the chords I play.

And this isn't as big, but I also am thinking of what could sound well on the radio. Only reason I say it isn't big is because I want my music to be good music, not just radio-friendly. I feel like what goes in the head of any producer is that they want their music to be heard, and wonder who will want to hear it? That's what makes studying, experimentation, and a love for your work all more worth it in the end.
 
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