Your method when making a song?

[soup2504]

I would like to know some other people's methods or thought processes when making a song. Mine?

I like to make some synths or bass and create random patterns out of them, put them on my timeline, add drumloops(or make my own) and change the tempo to fit, put the synths and bass on top of the drums so that I can see what fits and what doesn't, re-arrange everything, add random breaks in between in case I want to add audio clips or other random things, and slowly make my song from there.

Yes, it's a very sloppy method, but I find it easier to do, and it had me make this in about and hour and a half

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/63501258/DNB%20 ... OGRESS.mp3

Obviously, the song has alot of empty space, awkward transitions, and it's unfinished(and I'm putting this one on hold because I'm making something really fracking kewl with risers, effective rise, electro house bass, etc.) but those will be fixed in the final product.

[Mundius]

Can I do random shit? Do random shit.

[the4thImpulse]

Lately I just start from the begining of a track, create some drums then a synth melody or bassline and just work it up until I have a simple skeleton of a track. Then I slowly move around the track filling it in and mixing parts together.

[Habanc]

I keep a mental picture of how I want my song to sound, unfortunately, getting it to sound like it does in my head is the tricky part. Most of the time, songwriting is touch and go. Either I'm hot and everything seems to just flow out of my head and onto the DAW, or I'm clueless and end up staring at the screen for an hour.

Honestly, I have no set "way". It could be something as simple as a drum loop that starts off my creative process, or even the last verse. I'm not sure if that's okay or not.

I think it's just alot of practice and self-determination. This aligns closely with other arts such as writing or painting. By training your mind/eyes/ears, you begin to pick up on clues for what to do next, when something could be added/removed, and generally working more efficiently.

But, hey, that's just my opinion.

[TheSunAndTheRainfall]

I honestly don't know anymore. Sometimes I'll build a song around a melody that pops up in my head, sometimes I'll have a particular line, or a vocal melody I'd like to build a song around, sometimes I'll come up with a chord progression, sometimes I'll be mucking around on the guitar and stumble upon a nice riff. Then I'll usually try to lay down chords for the entire thing and put that in my DAW. From there on I just cram shit on top of it in no particular order until I'm fed up with it, or until my PC can't handle it or something.

[colortwelve]

I can never start a song unless I have a melody already drifting around through my head, but one is all it takes to get me on my DAW. The issue from there is deciding which synth actually works, and after a good hour or two of messing with Massive, the melody's already changed. But I still have something, so I just go with it. Throwing one basic track together is most of the work I do; once that's done, it feels like the song finishes itself.

Of course, then comes the master effects, the mixing, and the constant listening for problems. Sometimes it feels like I'm just remixing my own stuff... Because I can never believe that I made what I'm working with, but I do know how to make it just a bit better.

[Doofcake]

I'm quite new to making music, and until now I've just opened up the DAW and click around like an idiot, but my latest and best track that I will release at the end of this week, along with the Toast Beard 25 (I will post it as an entry there as well) was made the way I will probably make the rest of my songs from now on:

First, I think of a tune in my head, hum it over and over and think of the best way to have it. Also think about every instrument, not just the lead. Then I sit behind my piano and try to play it and play multiple instruments at once, such as leads and bass together, to see how they fit.
Then I open up my DAW and try to recreate what I made with a mouse and lots of clicking. Make some changes, add effects, leave it for the night and make any other good things or improvements you thought of over the time. (I had the track ready yesterday, but now I feel it needs a tiny bit of more work)

PS. Can't wait to share the track with you all! ;P

[Freewave]

My biggest thing is to have a song revolve around a show character and a scene or plot point. I need a concept when i work on a track and then try to work around that. Some people just make the music and then slap on a pony name and I think that's the wrong way (then you get a PINO track - pony in name only). There's so many opportunities to use the show (and samples from it) to create a song about it and that's part of the reason why toastbeard is a great contest to gain inspiration (build a song around an episode for that week or as part of a theme) as well as a method to make brony music. So i think having a song be MORE pony then less is important if you want the music to fit the audience (bronies).

[North Kozar]

I can never start a song unless I have a melody already drifting around through my head, but one is all it takes to get me on my DAW. The issue from there is deciding which synth actually works, and after a good hour or two of messing with Massive, the melody's already changed.

For me, I always hum/beatbox/whatever melodies all the time when I'm at home doing random stuff. But rarely do any of them actually end up in something I'm working on. Until recently, I would just open up my DAW, start messing around, and end up with something. There wasn't much forethought. But now, I'm actually getting ideas that I want to work on (melodies and just style ideas). Most of my time is spent messing around in Massive or whatever vst I'm using trying to get it to sound right. I have trouble progressing further with the song until the part I had worked on 'sounds' right to me. It doesn't mean I won't change it later, but I can't just say toss in some random 'decent' synth and keep getting my ideas out. Which can be a detriment because I'll lose drive (what little I even have) and then not work on it as much. But once I get over the initial "getting ideas down" and I have a decent backbone from which to work, the rest comes pretty easily... My problem is just getting to that point.

But it is a nice change being able to actually have some sort of plan when starting a new song. I've also been utilizing my phones' "voice memo" thing to record melodies I come up with that I really like, so I can draw from it if I need inspiration or something.

[vladnuke]

I just grab crap at random, decide that that sounds good enough, and smush it together. And that's how Equestria was made.

[LunchBagMusic]

Because I work with melody and harmony (not Synths/VST's/etc.), I can hear fractions of melodies, harmonies, instrument blendings and the like fluttering around inside my head. The hard part for me is bringing it all together into a single, uniform collection.

To help me, I sit at my piano and doodle. It works, sometimes.

Once I have an idea, or even an introduction, I just...go. When I'm on a roll the piece just spills out into my DAW. When I'm not, I look at memes/ponies. And wait for the block to disappear. Sometimes the block can last weeks, particularly after a massive exertion of musical goo. Yummy.

[Big AppleDoom]

Open Cubase
Choose an instrument
Make random chords with virtual keyboard or turn something you remember into MIDI-notes
Try different things, add more tracks
Progress the song forward
Decide where it ends
Refine everything (volume levels, instrument sounds...)
Add something little if you feel so
Refine more...