Describe your workflow (How Do you make your tracks?)

[soultensionbenjamin]

If your asking me i usually start with the drums because they are the heart of the song and then everything from that point is just adding melody's, then basslines, then harmony and then mixing... and if i could learn its secrets 1 day mastering I am not so good at the mastering.

[TranquilHooves]

I kind of just sit down late at night and crank out stuff at the piano like basic melodies, then go to bed.
Next morning I do all the nitpicky stuff like EQing and effects, etc.
Pretty basic.

[Artimeus]

Ah, one of my favorite topics.

It depends. Sometimes, I will find a loop I like, or a really cool sample. Sometimes I'll be playing around with a synth and have an 'erhmahgherd' moment and immediately write up some chords. On other occasions, I'll come up with a great drumloop and start from there. That's just how I get started, really. My 'idea bucket' folder is chock full of little gems I have yet to continue working on.

After I've come up with an initial idea, I break up a project. I almost always work on an intro first; something catchy and memorable. Then I work on the body of the song, followed by the outro. Granted, this isn't how I always do things; I try to do something new each time I open up a project.

I usually mix a track during the arrangement, and after adding FX. I try to cut out as much work as possible for the mastering phase, because I am not experienced with mastering (which is really what it comes down to: knowledge and experience).

The problem now is that I have a ridiculous amount of unfinished projects. They all have elements which sound good, but I lack the skillset to put it all together. That, and I'm a perfectionist at heart.

[Fimbulin]

Planning
Chords
Percussion
Melodies and Harmonies
Feedback
Transitions
Mixing and Panning
Feedback
Fix anything else up nicely
Feedback
Mastering (usually via other people that are better at it than I)

[MatthewMosierMusic]

Usually, I sit down and improvise on the guitar for a bit. mess around with chord progressions and variations and keys and whatnot. eventually, when i have something i like, i try and sing along with it. no topic in mind. just letting the ideas come as they please. then i start writing down whatever i sang.

then comes the months of practice.

finally, i record the song all at once, focusing on keeping a steady tempo and beat. then i record the rhythm guitar part while listening to that, then the lead, then the vocals. after that, mute the original take, mix and master. then get some cover art and profit!

for the mastering though, my process is to record very quietly, then compress (wiht out actually messing up the sound) so its all the same volume. do this for each take, then EQ, reverb, clipfix, stereo imager, and compressor again. each track. after that, i mix all the songs so each is volumed right, render into one track, then /actually/ compress the final song. do some tweaking of the EQ, then export. if i need any realtime eq-ing, i pull it out of audacity and switch to OHM. the only problem with that is i can use my headphones. only outputs to my amp. so i avoid it like the plague.


and of course throughout, there is a ton of raging, tableflipping, and laptop punting.

[Counterwise]

Since my songs consist of a heap of sounds, I generally start out trying to make a decent bass or growl or wobble or whatever. Once I start to get a few good sounds, I then start making different variations in those sounds and make even more sounds. Then I finally put the sounds together to make epic wubs. This is an extremely long method of making songs, but I guess it's MY method XD

[Captain Ironhelm]

Get the main big part of the song down in MIDI, then plan the rest around it in MIDI.

Program instruments to replace the MIDI.

Compress.

Fix volume levels and EQ.

Pan.

Last 3 steps in different order or more than once.

[5COPY]

I always start with the tune. Once I have made a tune i start on making tons of synths and sampling tons of sounds. after that i put in a drum loop just so I can have an overview on what I want to do. Then i get started one making a drop/(most effective part of the song) Once I have done that and got all in place as I like it I replace the drum loop with my own drum patterns. then i slowly move away from the drop and start making a build or an intro. It's a lot of the times there I get stuck but I also work amazingly first when going with that method. I also wait with mixing untill I have finished structure and have balanced everything.

[Habanc]

I start with an idea or a feeling that I want to associate with the song. From there, I try to design a pivotal part of the song around that idea, whether it be a melody, bassline or even a pad. I then add more and more parts to it, so as to compliment the main pivotal piece. When I finally have a decent loop, I branch in out both into an intro, and also a breakdown, build, then mix up the loop again the second time around, and finally an outro.

Due to some advice on here, I've been trying to get the basic stuff down ASAP and then perfect sound design, filters, mixing and such later on.

[ChromaticChaosPony]

Usually I start with drums. After that, it becomes a clusterfuck.

[Legion]

For dubstep:

1. Synth design in massive for an hour or two
2. Write drop
3. Spend an hour or two with writers block trying to write an intro and build up
4. Mix
5. Realize I forgot the outro and bullshit something together
6. Spend hours upon hours doing little tweaks to the mix and procrastinating on calling it done
7. Give up, master/whatever I need to do with the track and call it done

[Mundius]

I do whatever. Probably record samples and then place them together.

[CommandSpry]

I make a melody, quit DAW, open DAW, realise it's shit, spend hours trying to make it sound good, I think it sounds nice now, quit DAW, open DAW, realise it's shit, spend hours trying to make it sound good, I think it sounds nice now, quit DAW, open DAW, repeat until I'm extremely sick of the song and export

[Freewave]

I always start with a concept in mind. I have to have a feeling about how it is to tie into MLP and either compliment or add on to the show. I generally have some sort of visual in mind for what the end images or video should look like. Then I get an idea about what type of genre or style it's going to be in and work from there and continually add, change, listen, and groom it into completion for a few weeks. Generally drums first, synths, samples, and then effects and mixing. It takes a lot of listening to your tracks to know where you can improve them. I want tracks that will work with the show, sound a little different from the crowd, not repeat myself, but still sound like they'd appeal to someone who didn't know that style.

Step by step checklist though is in my signature.

[5COPY]

I make a melody, quit DAW, open DAW, realise it's shit, spend hours trying to make it sound good, I think it sounds nice now, quit DAW, open DAW, realise it's shit, spend hours trying to make it sound good, I think it sounds nice now, quit DAW, open DAW, repeat until I'm extremely sick of the song and export

So I'm not the only one

[colortwelve]

Planned:
-Drum samples
-Basslines
-Chord progressions
-Synth patches
-Track structure
-Melodies and arps
-Drumlines
-Automation
-SFX
-Mixing/EQing
-Feedback
-Half-assed mastering

Unplanned:
-OH HEY WHAT IF THIS BUTTON
-OH HEY WHAT IF THIS BUTTON
-OH HEY WHAT IF THIS BUTTON
-OH HEY WHAT IF THIS BUTTON
-OH HEY WHAT IF THIS BUTTON
-OH HEY WHAT IF THIS BUTTON
-OH HEY WHAT IF THIS BUTTON
-OH HEY WHAT IF THIS BUTTON
-OH HEY WHAT IF THIS BUTTON
-OH HEY WHAT IF THIS BUTTON
-OH HEY WHAT IF THIS BUTTON
-Half-assed mastering

[dark_on_5]

I make a melody, quit DAW, open DAW, realise it's shit, spend hours trying to make it sound good, I think it sounds nice now, quit DAW, open DAW, realise it's shit, spend hours trying to make it sound good, I think it sounds nice now, quit DAW, open DAW, repeat until I'm extremely sick of the song and export

So I'm not the only one

One more here!

[Overkillius]

I normally sit down and write the song back to front (but that is probably because I'm weak at form hahahaha). How I actually write varies from there, sometimes I start with a general idea of a bassline, texture, or melody I want and then fill in the rest from there. I also usually try to incorporate concepts of 4-part harmony in some way for whatever reason.

[Anforium]

Usually goes like this:

1. Make cool intro
2. Realize it is shit
3. Try again
4. And again
5. And yet again
6. Get pissed
7. Not make music for a month
8. Repeat cycle

Sometimes I succeed at step 1 and manage to bypass the other steps

[Mundius]

OH HEY WHAT IF I <insert object here>?

[ChromaticChaosPony]

I'm changing my technique slightly.

From now on, I will start with synths. That way I can focus more on composition. I often find that I make drums but never finish the rest of the song, because I could not compose a melody or chords for it. By starting with synths, I can focus more on composition.

When I get a better DAW, I'll be abler to work on all aspects of the song at whichever point I feel necessary.

[CaptainFluffatun]

For my main genre, orchestral, I usually start with an idea already in my head. Then, I pop open cubase and get to writing. Writing it, while an important phase -- obviously -- is not a phase I can really elaborate on. I'm self-taught at music, so I just "let the music come," as it were.

After I'm all sure about composition, I export stems of each track to be mixed in FL Studio, because I'm more comfortable with the mixer in that. I mix the song to my liking.

Then I plop on iZotope Ozone 5 with the orchestral preset.

[vladnuke]

If I get a really nice idea, I start writing frantically, then I rush home and start plugging away. That's how this:



got written


If I have something to work with, I pull out my little toolbox and work with the materials I have to make it crazy awesome. That's how this:



got written

and if I have no paper I scribbled on and nothing to work with, I sit at my daw and push buttons until a leprechaun pops out. That's how this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVXm4qzKdLM&feature=relmfu

got written

Then they all get mastered and finalized and I put them on the internet.

Also I am the plugging god.

[Raddons]

I tend to bang my head against my desk until I get a headache.

Then I get crackin'.

Seriously, I get the best ideas when my head hurts. I can't explain it. I usually start with a melody and build from there with anything. Build a chord prog and then create variations like a madman.

[Sonarch]

So far I haven't actually made anything, so this is a helpful thread. Right now I have a word document full of ideas for things I want to do. I'm working with my friend to make a track though, and to start we picked a key and I went and messed with the chords for a simple progression while he jammed some riffs out on his keyboard, I recorded my chords once I liked the sound, sent them to him, and he put some of his riffs in time with the rhythm. I actually need to go and listen to what he did, but I imagine we'll add percussion and bass next.