If you think a melody, a chord progression, or an entire section of your song don't sound good enough, or like they fit anywhere, don't be afraid to scrap it; it can sometimes be liberating.
Try something different. Sometimes you may not be able to incorporate it in the song you are currently working on, but you might be able to use it in another.
Plagued with the common issue of getting sick of your song before you finish?
Well, if you're writing with VSTs and MIDI tracks, transpose the song to a different key (make sure you don't do it to the drums). In a new key the song has a refreshing sound to it.
Halfway through song, sick of it? Transpose MIDI to another key. Finish song. Bring back to original key. Not sick of song anymore
Bumping this, we can't let a good thread like this drop
Oh, and here's (an obvious?) tip for vocal samples; slightly equalizing the higher frequencies down from the sample (+3,5k hz) will soften the annoying "s" sounds. This ofc won't be needed if you have a good sample, but i often find this helpful.
EQ every drum sound you use... -Hi Hats I high pass at atleast 1kHz -Snare I high pass around 450Hz this gives you much more room for your bassline, lead, and kick drums to punch through the mix.
If you can't make something new, change the view. --Iron Will
(If you're stuck writing, just changing your location might do the trick. I work on a laptop, so I can do this, but I've found it's a lot easier to write and work on music in new places, like the coffeeshop.)
if you are stressing out cause your song doesn't sound as good as you want, instead of trying to make the best song ever, take a break and try to make the cheeziest and corniest song you can. dont make it sound bad, just make it sound funny.
Write away from your computer with a pen and paper.
(Focus purely on desired sound and form, and don't tweak or experiment until you finish the song in pencil). It's much easier to read off you notes then to recall memories or to find creative flow when you're searching for that 'one VST' or worrying about trivial things (idunno what you people with your Albetons and FL's consider trivial). You could use pictures, words, even lines and arrows to show change in pan, volume, etc.)
Your platform (DAW - Computer and Software combination) for creating your music in is not as important as the basic skills needed to manipulate your musical choices. There are other sites that carry on the DAW evangelical debate - I do not care for it at all: if it works for you use it, if it doesn’t, then don’t use it. The rest is religion.