What do YOU do when starting a track?

EverfreeLuna · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 00:11

How do you, personally, start out when writing a piece of music?
Do you have a favourite instrument you like to compose melodies in first?

The reason I'm asking is because I somehow got it into my head that composing something with block chords and a single voice melody would be a good starting point. That lead me into a brick wall and now I don't know where to go ;P

http://soundcloud.com/everfreeluna/beaconwip

I'm interested in what you guys do (from all genres) when starting out or fleshing out an idea.

Kyoga · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 00:19

When i'm writing a track, usually I spend the whole day before improvising on my guitar (usually for a couple of hours) which puts me in the musical mood that I need to be in when writing any type of music
When i'm writing ambient music, I get my influences from nature and life experience. There's always a track running in my head that I make up while concieving different situations and the emotions that fluxuated from within. (If Equestria Burns and Looking to the Stars are good examples of ambient music made purely from emotion)
These tracks take a long time and i spend a lot of time trying to tune them and add appropriate parts to them.

When writing a guitar piece, I make sure that I write down the entire song either on paper or in Guitar Pro so that I can play it when I get on the computer. When I actually start to write the song, though, I always sit down and improv with my guitar until I click a nice riff in that I feel would be good in a track.

I find so much influence in my music from nature. It's what keeps my music individual and my own. There have been many times where I rushed home and slammed a bunch of music together because of the inspiration I got from simply rolling down the car window on a drive home. If you're an emotional person, little things like this can inspire you (dramatic, much?)

Either way, that's what i do to start: Find inspiration. Get in the music mood by practicing instruments. Write my song. Record it. Master it. Export. No profit.

EverfreeLuna · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 00:28

Ha, thats quite a deep look into the matter.

I have often found that I can imagine melodies in my head when I'm not at my computer. The trouble is, i often think that the only reason I can imagine such a melody is because I have subconsciously stolen it from somewhere. Then I get paranoid.

Thanks for the info, I'll try looking to things other that a computer screen for inspiration.

Edened · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 00:34

I'm one of those people that is always tapping on stuff haha. I always end up just creating a beat at random times on the most random things. For example, one time in math class I was tapping on a calculator and got a great beat out of it. (don't ask me how) I'll end up writing it down on paper as if it were on in sequencer because I'm not usually near my computer. Once I get that down I build a bass line and a melody around it. Or something along those lines

As for guitar...

Kyoga wrote:

When i'm writing a track, usually I spend the whole day before improvising on my guitar (usually for a couple of hours) which puts me in the musical mood that I need to be in when writing any type of music

Pretty much that.
And playing outside definitely inspires me when playing guitar.
Although, I still need to get a good mic. so I haven't been able to record anything.

Kyoga · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 00:44

You're definitely going to get so much influence from the environment around you.
When I wrote If Equestria Burns, I got the primary push to make it because of a rather unkind email I got from message I got from a hater (A person who was an incredibly influencial figure to me and one of the reasons I ever started brony music) =/ but because of that I figured that I would benefit from taking a break and going outside and simply walking around. Not only did it help me get my thoughts back in order but I realized that alot of the things that i love are going to end someday (Especially my little pony =/) but I was inspired and while writing this whole song I only imagined walking (trotting?) through ponyville and canterlot as every building and all the land burnt to the ground. (nopony died of course. :3)

Versilaryan · **Joined:** 03 Jul 2011 17:58 **Posts:** 463

I only ever do the melody + block chords thing if I'm doing a really simple acoustic song where I'm just strumming chords and singing something. The problem with thinking in chords is you lose A LOT of the fluidity of the separate voices in your music. Vertical motion is important, but you have to make sure the separate lines playing are interesting, too.

I usually focus on a feel. What do I want the music to feel like? What emotions do I want to evoke? My inspiration usually comes in the form of hooks or even just simple motifs. The most important part of the piece gets written first, whether it's the chorus, the ending, wherever. Chords are just a means to an end, and melody almost always comes last, after I've figured out what the background's going to sound like.

EverfreeLuna · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 01:32

Hmm, i did attempt a slow ambientish track(2 chords

):

If emotion is the key then ambient seems like the perfect genre to practice

Kyoga · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 01:39

aww definitely. All of my ambient tracks are written purely from emotion.
If your heart isn't in it, it's just not gonna come out right.
I have alot of emotion in my songs, and while i'm usually not that emotional in person, I have alot of feeling that I like to pour into my music. I'm not that good at it, but i'm learning. And that's what's important.

Kopachris · **Joined:** 24 Jun 2012 22:18 **Posts:** 169

I actually think of texture and instrumentation first, usually. Getting music from a "feel" is a very cerebral process for me. I know how different intervals and scale degrees feel, so I try a few different combinations and then decide which one works best. Research, hypothesis, experimentation, observation, and conclusion.

EverfreeLuna · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 01:49

Kyoga wrote:

but i'm learning. And that's what's important.

As someone who knew next to nothing about music theory and music production before attempting this. I completely agree with you there.

Kyoga · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 01:55

EverfreeLuna wrote:

Kyoga wrote:

but i'm learning. And that's what's important.

As someone who knew next to nothing about music theory and music production before attempting this. I completely agree with you there.

There's nothing more important than improving.

that's why I try never to reuse anything in my songs (except for my guitar, I suppose)

Definitely try to challenge yourself in your songs, though.
if you're looking to write ambient music, just go in realizing that you can write WHATEVER you want.
It's about what you're trying to make with your music, but it's also about letting your subscribers see into your emotions and your thoughts.

Ambient music should always reflect your emotions while telling a little story that changes everytime the listener hears it. If you want to hint at the point of the song with a title, that's up to you, but what makes ambient music so special is that it's all about bringing the listener on a journey that they will enjoy and are willing to come back to.

LunchBagMusic · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 04:56

Kyoga wrote:

that's why I try never to reuse anything in my songs

lol Beethoven wrote a couple of different songs using this one melody he wrote.

Anyway, On threadtopic:

I'll get an idea or something and then I'll just sit at my piano and play. Then I'll write it down.

It's that simple. Although ideas are difficult...

PrincessAddictia · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 09:59

Usually I start with drums and bass. no pun intended.

Legion · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 12:24

Apparently I'm alone in this regard, but I start a track by just designing patch after patch in Massive. Occasionally, it'll lead me to build a halfway decent drop (I do dubstep), which I then use as inspiration for the rest of the track. If you listen to this track, Stroll Through Everfree, the very first part of the song I came up with was the first two wubs you hear in the drop. Listening to those, they sounded almost like growls. I thought to myself, 'how can I put that in context in song form?' and realized it'd be perfect for a song about the Everfree Forest. And the rest of the song was born.

Artimeus · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 18:42

WHELP!

Since I mostly do EDM of many sub-genres, I either start with a)finding an awesome kick sample then building a drumloop around it, b) search through my bajillions of sample packs and find a nice, ready to use percussion or drumloop that fits what I'm trying to do, or c) spontaneously click through synths and patches until I find something I like!

c) is what happens most often for me. I start building a track through spontaneous discovery; that is, I find a sound or loop I really like, and build off of that.

Stratum · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 19:07

First, I listen to a lot of music. Generally listening to music inspires me. I'll get an idea in my head, and then I'll open up Ableton and then I'll actually create the sound I had in my head, generally using NI Massive. Next, I'll open the piano roll, and drop in my tune. I'll create a drum loop based off of the style I'm going for. Repeat the synth creation step until I get a nice collection of sounds. Generally, I'll get the entire song down in a matter of one day to a week! Next, I listen to my track. A lot, listening for writing flaws or mixing issues.

Yeah... It's kind of bland, but it works

Kagetori · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 20:29

I usually spend only a few hours making any of my music.
For original music mostly, first I lay out some chords I like,
then I put in a melody I think sounds good with it, which is the most fun part,
then I add another track of melody which sounds good with the chords so there can be two melodies,
sometimes I'll make a third melody track, but usually it'll be slower if the first two are fast-ish,
then I lay a really simple pattern over the chords and make it the treble,
then I lay another different pattern over the chords and make it the bass,
then I make the chords play in more complex-ish patterns.
After doing all that, I'll add in some extra sounds and do editing around to make it sound better, and that's about it. Here's a good example of an original thing I made, where you can hear all of the things mentioned above pretty (except the treble part) well which I plan to use in a game;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mWVrKXOUj0

But I suck at making good drum patterns or whatever.
As for my music under the circle title "E9P3", I usually do things a bit different, but not too different.

Facade · **Joined:** 22 Aug 2011 18:26 **Posts:** 1399

it depends on the genre
but right now im working on a hardstyle album and my kick needs to be the best so im working on that for a good couple months before i use it and in between working on the kick i work on hardstyle melodies

for dubstep though (which i don't do anymore)
i work on the wobble first then the melody

K3WRO · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 21:35

I usually start by banging my head on the keyboard trying to make a nice melody, works every time.
Or
I open up a blank project file, and insert 3xosc into the pattern editor, I usually start with a simple sine or saw and just randomly drop notes in the piano roll.

At times, I only start on a bass-line, then build the melody on top of it.

Artimeus · **Posted:** 01 Jul 2012 23:30

K3WRO wrote:

I usually start by banging my head on the keyboard trying to make a nice melody, works every time.

You should totally buy yourself an M-Audio Oxygen49. I can tell you, from personal experience, it's much easier to make sweet, sweet head-banging melodies with knobs and sliders in addition to keys!

3xOSC is such a great little synth. Once you learn the basics, you can make all sorts of leads with that thing. Just pop it into a mixer track, add a flanger and reverb (and maybe even a SOUNDGOODIZER *gasp*) and presto.

Pickslide1992 · **Posted:** 02 Jul 2012 16:13

Artimeus wrote:

K3WRO wrote:

I usually start by banging my head on the keyboard trying to make a nice melody, works every time.

You should totally buy yourself an M-Audio Oxygen49. I can tell you, from personal experience, it's much easier to make sweet, sweet head-banging melodies with knobs and sliders in addition to keys!

3xOSC is such a great little synth. Once you learn the basics, you can make all sorts of leads with that thing. Just pop it into a mixer track, add a flanger and reverb (and maybe even a SOUNDGOODIZER *gasp*) and presto.

I personally use a lot of VSTs like Synth1 or Mini Mogue, but I'm veering off topic.

What I usually do is make a simple drum beat or listen to some music for inspiration. After that I just begin jamming on my guitar, thinking of some good riffs, usually set to said beat.

MorteMcAdaver · **Posted:** 02 Jul 2012 16:27

I almost always just start by jamming on the piano or guitar and start stringing melodies together, often with some sort of vision in mind for a character, scene, or setting. Once I lay down the basic skeleton structure, I add more and more onto it, eventually adding lyrics (if needed) and frills like lead guitar and whatnot.

Senjan · **Posted:** 02 Jul 2012 17:52

Basicly what I do is just abusing the synth for x amount of minutes. Sometimes only a few, sometimes up to half an hour before I get an idea.
(It's connected as a MIDI controller to my FL Studio). Then I start building the lead melody. The rest of the process is random every time.

NewWorldMare · **Joined:** 03 Jun 2012 16:50 **Posts:** 68

Sometimes I build a song up from a drum loop or sample, sometimes from a small melody that I made while fooling around in the FL piano roll, sometimes from just a patch or a sound that I like.

That's for electronic music though. Inspiration can come from anywhere. Melodies can pop into my head at any time... but most of them get lost =/ At the hotel I was in for Bronycon, there were two different muzak systems playing a song into each of my ears in the lobby. The songs went together strangely well most of the time...

I think it's important to remember not to push it. If you don't like where an idea is going, go back and change something, or just abandon the idea for a while (in some cases, a looooong while). Just like all music, don't feel forced to work on it =D

For my piano songs, I usually have a melody in mind that I'd like to play over. Then I sit down on the piano and fiddle around a bit until I get something I like. I also enjoy just sitting down and improvising to come up with ideas.

EnnervateIndustries · **Joined:** 18 Jul 2012 16:02 **Posts:** 93

How I start composing? Let's see, I get a random melody stuck in my head, then spend days humming it as well as variations, then I get to my computer then promptly forget it. Otherwise, I listen to music in the same genre, then forget the melody all together. Hence why none of my music sounds like I actually planned it.

What do YOU do when starting a track?

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