Creating a new track - how do you begin?

[astralprojection]

(TL;DR at bottom, wall of text incoming)

 

Do you begin with the bassline?

Main melody?

 

I usually begin with the bassline. Just the basic 3/4 note bassline to start with.

I then chose the key in which I want the track in, and then try and build melodies by "randomly" clicking around in a 4 bar loop.

I always add a delay to the melody directly, as a send, sometimes 3-6 (i.e third step in the bar in the left speaker, and 6th step in the second bar in the right speaker).

Some delays like reason have steps 1-16, which for me is the easiest to use, because you dont have to think about it, if you put it at 4, you know the delay is gonna kick in at the final step of the bar.

Some delays use a whole other system, which I havent quite figured out yet.

like 1/4D, 1/2T and such. I knew the "conversion table" before but have completely forgotten.

When working with Cubase my favorite delay is the Waves Supertap.

it works just like in reason and you just know exactly how it works just by looking at it.

 

anyway im going off point.

 

Like I said, basic bassline, a kick, and then I play around trying to create a melody and see if I find one.

If I do, I build a loop based on that melody, with FX, hihats, other melodies, counter melodies and so on, until I basically have the climax of the song ready.

 

Here is my problem.. Creating the rest of the darned track!

I have probably 100 reason and cubase files with just a damned loop

 

 

Sometimes I begin with creating some sort of intro, but that never works out at all.

 

How do you begin a song, and how do you finish it?

 

Since I started creating music in 2002, I literally have finished about 10 tracks. From start til finish.

And I have over 100 songs, that only have a buildup, and a climax.

 

The sad part is, many of these sound really good, and if I just would be able to create the whole song I could start releasing stuff on Ektoplasm!

I mean, how hard can it be right? Just do some intro, some breaks, some drumrolls, a little melody variation and youre done!

(in short terms)

 

But noo, not for me.. I almost always end up with just a buildup, a loop, and a climax. With layers and layers of Goa Psychedelia.

But a track? FAR from it.

 

 

so. How do you begin your track, and how do you finish it? Do you have any pointers for me?

Sometimes I actually try drawing on a piece of paper, like the intro part, the break part, the bridge, the loop, the break, another bridge and so on, and try to do that then in cubase. that has worked a few times, but then the melodies never sound any good. But at least I have a full track.. yay...

 

So you see, even though Ive spent well over 10 years making music (on and off with many years of pause at a time) I only succeeded in making about 10 full tracks..

 

I also do hiphop beats, and those are like, piece of cake compared to psytrance and goatrance. I have TONS of finished hiphop beats and many of them are actually good, and Ive sold 4 beats to upcoming rappers in my country. Not for much of course, but at least they thought they were good enough to want to use them.

 

I love sampling, So a hiphop beat for me, is basically some track I find, I chop up samples, make a track just by using the samples, EQ it proper, then just fill in the rest with matching bassline, kick , snare and hihats. Done. Sometimes i takes me like 20 min to make a 3 min hiphop beat that sound pretty damn good.

 

Oh well, thats a big wall of text and Im sorry so ill make a

 

 

 

 

TL;DR:

 

How do you begin a track on an empty sequencer like for example Reason or Cubase - and how do you finish. Basically, what is your work order.

Like for me its a basic bassline in a key I want the track in, a random kickdrum, and then start playing with a melody. And most often than not, thats where it ends. A climax loop.

 

Thanks in advance for sharing your method ! Amateur or pro - doesnt matter at all! I want input from any, and everyone. Thanks guys bye!

[Cybernetika]

I think you are maybe overanalyzing things. I've been in this situation often enough where I asked myself how to start something and was thinking about the ideal way to start a track.

eventually I realized its all about inspiration - It starts with one idea, and you build your track around that idea. Then you expand that idea, it develops and grows.

For example, I start with a bass sound I like, make a simple bassline and start building some patterns, add more and more layers. I could also start with a lead, and construct a climax loop as you called it and reverse-construct my buildup to this.

The most important thing for me is not to always think three or five steps ahead. Focus on the next small task at hand, the first thing that comes to mind. Sometimes you need to get the dirty work out of the way, such as EQing a bassline, in order to make way for the next creative and more fun task, like sound design or sampling.

[psychasm]

many ways to start and finish off a track,many different formulas. Sometimes i start with Rex loops, percs.

Cybernetika has provided the best answer my friend

You need to be inspired.

Reason factory sound banks have some nice ones in the techno folders.

Then i might grab an old synth loop i made ,see how to create some parts of that. But must be sounds u like hearing, no point in using some random sounds , unless u wanna struggle

for long. Sounds must make sense and have a good relationship to each other. Then I try and make some variations of that loop , also using other instruments,

once there is a decent library of loops , samples , i start sequncing... copy paste patterns, delete sections where there must be breaks. Dont worry too much

just sketch out a rough idea, it should take no more than a few sessions to get all the main sequencing done. then not too long after that , and listening to the track

a few times , you should be ready to fill in the gaps, add fx , some chords to go with your loops ,whatever. I find using rex loops for more than half

of the track helps to get it done quicker. Then u will have all the time in the world to go back and fix whatever you dont like. At least by that time the structure should

have been built. the last track i made , i added in snares right at the end.

 

hope this helps

[Padmapani]

what you start out with is secondary. sometimes it's kick then bass, sometimes it's a melody, sometimes a chord progression with some atmospheric sounds.

 

i used to start out sequentially and go from intro to outro, but that for me doesn't work out so well. along the way i have different ideas that don't really fit together with what i've created, resulting in a track that isn't coherent at all.

now i just make loops and different loops to go along with them. like cybernetika said, you build on an idea and sometimes that leads to new ideas that are infinitely better and replace your old ones. along the way you'll have ideas for breaks and builds and the like, so after doing that for long enough you'll have way more material that fits together than you can fit into a track. so it's time to start sequencing the whole thing. at least that's the way i do it.

another plus about working this way is that you can start your track by just copying an element from a track you like and you'll end up somewhere completely different... for the track i'm currently working on i copied the lead of paragliders - oasis, made some atmospheres with a chord progression to go along with it, thought that the progression was going too fast so i streched it over twice the length, made new melodies to go along with that, and in the end nothing sounds like oasis at all

[astralprojection]

thanks for input guys it's really interesting because that is pretty much what I set out to do, and try to do.

but i usually get stuck creating a buildup into a climax, and then I try to make that into a full track but i get writers block almost instantly after the climax loop, so to speak.

so i know what I have to do I just seem to not be able to do it in lieu of a small amount of tracks that just happened..

I think my problem is I lose focus, the sense of professionality,(i mean, im done just playing around making loops I wanna start making tracks and put put music)

I just don't seem to be able to get over that thought of "what to do now" once I have buildup and climax..

so annoying. either I get stuck for like an hour trying to find the right pad sound and get mad and bored and shut the project down, or I can't seem to get the kick and bass line sounding right and get stuck eqing for an hour, get mad and shut the project down

[Cybernetika]

I completely see what you mean, I've been in that situation myself often enough, sometimes its just days, but it can also sometimes be weeks or months until I get something right, and my unfinished projects folder is huge. Sometimes it just takes that little spark of inspiration to actually sit through.

What I was talking about, here's something I posted on a different forum a while ago but it's still what works best for my inspiration in detail:

 

You'll have to make sure you have time and can be as undisturbed as possible. This means, don't start a track when you got a pressing deadline. I know sometimes making music can be a tempting distraction from stress, but you will feel much better and be much more focused if you get the work out of the way first. Then, a bit obvious but still important to mention: You should be sober when producing. I personally am not that experienced with substances, but some people need it to get some ideas they otherwise wouldn't get. I never produce when I had more than one beer, and I'm sure most of these producers don't produce under the influence but rather get sober before they start working on an actual track.

 

I talk to myself a lot when producing! Might look a little embarassing to outsiders but it can help pretending to have someone to discuss about what to do next for each step. Even better, have some friends who can judge and appreciate what you're doing. If you know someone who is interested in your music, ideally a producer himself, feel free to annoy them with small incremental steps of progress, of course only as long as you're offering them the same in return. Getting positive and helpful feedback is always a good motivation boost to keep working and actually finishing something.

 

Then I listen. A lot. To almost everything, of course with preferences, but I like to push myself to think outside the box. I have a large digital music collection, then there's youtube, soundcloud, beatport. I have music playing in every possible situation. I'll just admit it: A large part of the ideas I get is inspired by other music, from a wide variety of genres. This is not about theft, but rather about thinking about creative ways to make use of stuff from other genres. For example, a large part of the Hiphop/Jungle music output is based on sampling from other records. Obviously, there's the omnipresent amen break, and there is so much more. Watch this video, if you didn't see it yet. It captures perfectly what I'm talking about, just see how many external samples and ideas went into the creation of The Prodigy's banger "Smack My Bitch Up":

 

Don't be afraid to listen to your own music, and especially the unfinished stuff. Take your unfinished tracks on the bus or when you go for a walk and listen to that over and over again until it hurts. Over time, I often get a feeling for whats good and whats not so good, and how to continue an unfinished piece, especially when it's about structuring and continuing tracks.

 

Often when I find something I really like (a synth line, a bass sound, whatever), trying to recreate that certain sound or part is often the key to get creativity flowing. I then ask myself how that kind of sound would fit with another totally different sound. It can really help if you are out of ideas yourself, to just look for remix packs or contests and start with a remix when you can make use of certain predefined elements and just put them together your own way. More often than I want I end up with something completely different that has really nothing to do with the original, but who cares, it got me to producing and finishing something.

 

And finally, it's all about realizing you're doing something right. This means not only getting positive responses from the people around you, but also appreciating your own accomplishments! Every track is a step upwards in knowledge, and if you learned how to make a certain bass sound for example, it is an amazing achievement! Listen to your older stuff and realize how your sound quality has improved over time, and you'll see it was worth all the effort.

[Cynos]

Well, I often start with the key note, the tempo and the time signature, then making some drones, pads or leads (mostly if I have a cool melody in mind), and now, sometimes, making beats with drum loops (for example, the amen break).

 

Regarding the "base", I often begin with the bassline, then the kick and the percussion lines, which are pretty elaborated.

 

And, regarding the track's structure, I make the intro, then the "skeleton", I mean, the bass and the percussions with some silences that will be the breakdowns, then the other synths and, if necessary, I add more stuff.

 

Also, listening to your project several times while thinking on the other elements, taking a break, going walking outside and/or listening to some other's music is helpful.

[Alek]

Here are a couple more perspectives on the topic

 

[Psygotran]

"Here is my problem.. Creating the rest of the darned track!"

 

LOL

 

Everyone suffers the 'Stuck in a loop' syndrome, I sit for hours filled with self doubt. You

have to get things in perspective, Psy is a very difficult genre to deal with. I love Psy but also

like Blues, which is really simple in comparison.

 

I find Psyheads are also super critical of their own efforts, this is the path to self destruction.

 

Collabortions are good to get things going, sharing ideas and gear is more fun than lonesome

psychotic sessions.