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phatbastard

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What is everyone's favourite method for coming up with a song?
i.e. Do you start with keys?or bass?drums?samples,or some guitar licks?

My method that usually works the best is as follows;
Keys....I get a basic vibe,usually using the same piano sound
Bass....I fill in the spots(i tend to like a short choppy one)
Snares& Hats...I like to do these at the same time,they always seem more live that way,then i just copy the hats to a different track after
Samples...If I can get a sample to sit now,I'm doing allright
Kicks...I like to do these later,don't ask me why,I just do

Now I've got the basic groove,At this point I'll either erase everything and start over(too often),or go through and erase the original keys,and throw in something that fits.Alternatively I'll start with a sample,and work everything around that,but we all know it's alot more time consuming to tune your keyboard to your samples,then the other way around.
 
I always start from the beat. I find a cool kick, and wrap the percussions around it. Then I move on to the bass and get it to sit tight in the mix. The kick and the bass is where the drive in dance music comes from so they're important (I also make hard house).

When the foundation is layed, I start searching for cool sound effects to add depth to the mix. After that I start thinking about the melodies. I usually play with my synth with some sound until I come up with a line / chords. Then it's the hardest part, finding the cool lead samples to play the melodies. After I've found and polished the perfect lead sample I mix it all together, finalize and master. I've made a track. :)



CZ
 
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Good thread....this is something ive always wondered about.

I always start with keys. Then a bassline, then I add kicks. I then sort out the rest of the drums and percussion....sound effects etc comes after.
 
i almost universally start with a core set of beat patterns...sometimes i'll have a sample that i really dig that i'm adding beats to....other times i've got a simple drum beat that i'm enhancing.....but once i've got the first beat programmed in i make a couple of variations of it (they usually come to me as i'm building it) then i'll add a synth line as a temp holder....nine times out of ten the synth line gets heavily altered by the end, whereas the beat almost always stays with most of the initial foundation elements.
 
can a slightly inexperienced producer join in?

Although I'm willing to bet my tracks aren't put together at quite the same level as any of yours are, I feel like hearing myself talk anyhow (or type?) :D .

I'm doing mostly hip hop, abstract hip hop, trip hop... etc.
I find that i mostly start with drums, which i guess makes sense because this type of music is pretty drum oriented... that is if the track isn't just drums (but thats just low):p

I try to get down a super wicked beat, funky / jazzy mostly, and then add an equally funky, or sometimes chilled out bassline.
Basically, I get all the rhythm down first (again, this type of music is often only drums, as you all know).

I'm not to fond of minimal beats, cause they are boring as hell, so i tend to add lots of layers, and lots of subtle layers. I find that these are normally what make a track go from 'plain beat' to 'song', but maybe thats just me.

I tend to add melodies last, and they get written 'around' the bassline in terms of key and rhythm. It sounds sort of like a compromise, but it normally works out quite nicely...

Well thats my two cents...
 
by the way, if you guys are in the US, my two cents are actually only worth about one cent...

:)
operator
 
operator said:
by the way, if you guys are in the US, my two cents are actually only worth about one cent...

:)
operator
Click to expand...

And my post made no cents at all.....
 
wow... looking back, you are SOOO right. what was i thinking? oh well.

operator
 
operator said:
by the way, if you guys are in the US, my two cents are actually only worth about one cent...
Click to expand...

you wouldn't happen to be canadian would you?
;)
 
i usually start arounda drum line, then bassline. then the melody last. seems like i work backwords compared to most. hehe:confused:
 
i tend to start with a secondary melody, then add in bass...and then the drum parts. then i follow with a lead melody an underlying melody.

then i repeat the process 2 to 3 times for each part of the song im workin on...
 
Recently (last 3 tracks), this is what's happened:
I start thinking, "okay, this time I'm gonna do a drum and bass track".
So I make a drum loop at about 160 bpm.
Then a catchy lead line enters my head, but it's a bit too fast, so I slow it down to, say, 155 bpm.
Then I throw in a bassline.
Then it sounds a bit rushed for my lead line, and plus I'm already off the d&b idea, so I slow it down to 145 and turn it into breakbeat or tech-trance.
Then I think, "this part'll go good here" and so I add a counter-melody.
Then my drums are too quiet so I turn them up and everything else down.
Then I over-reverb and put too much delay and chorus on everything.
Then I get confused and go back and erase all the crap I've put in there.
Then I'm discouraged and quit the track.
Repeat the above steps.
Voila! I'm finished and I have a blank screen and a slight hiss in the background.
J


ps... this is NOT going to happen with the track I'm working on now.... please?!?
:cheers:
 
ah hahahahahaha

that happens to me all the time....except i've learned. these days even if a track doesn't end up where i want it, and i decide to throw the towel in on it, i save the project....once i have enough of them to justify a cd, i burn a backup and delete them from my harddrive....a good friend of mine years ago said that he didnt' like doing such things as if it was a "good track" it would come back to him....i'm of the mind set of "well i put time into it, maybe later i'll find a use for some of it"

i hate it when i ruin good tracks. :(
 
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