What techniques/styles do you use while making your song.

[Motivfs]

I was just curious today on my way to work thinking, "Is how I structure my song and progress along similar to others?" So I felt no better place to ask other than MLR.

So how do you structure a song, or start it up?
When do you add the basses/subbasses in the song?
Do you change melodies as you go?
Do you add samples/FX in at the beginning, middle, or end?
Do you mix and master along the way as you progress the song?
Is there bad tendencies you know you have with your structure/production as you progress, but it's become apart of you, so you stick to it?

These are just some of the questions I was wondering,, and personally, I'd like to see where everyone stands on this, because I do feel as well that structure is my main lacking skill in production.

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So what I do when I make a song first off, is I find the lead melody I'll be using, and then the backing melodies to go with it, I then cut these down a little and start from the beginning of the song. I then add basic percussion into the song and continue onwards from there. I build up the song by adding in more melodies, or backing synths (Arpeggios, Stabs, Etc..)

From there I begin to finalize my sounds, and rework my percussion, I add effects, but I do not master until the very end, I feel with mastering you need to focus on it solely rather then doing it as you go along, I like a cleaner, new sound at the end of my production. I also add any FX and Subbass in at the end.

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Now where I feel I make mistakes is the very fact I start at the beginning of the song. It has sadly become apart of me, something I can't get out of me. One thing I was told as I was learning was always create the lead melody, the middle of the song, first. The reason being is because you want the song to follow that, as it's your strongest point in the song. I however, never do that, and that why I feel my music lacks. I also feel adding in FX later rather than sooner takes away from the song, I don't know why or how, but I do, and yet I'm not too fond of adding in FX at all (by FX I mean whitenoise, sweeps, etc..)

Anyways enough of me, what about your techniques MLR?

[Nine Volt]

So how do you structure a song, or start it up?
Well, I start off by making the drums, then the full chorus, then the intro. I structure songs with a good length intro, generally starting with either drums or something simple (air raid siren ftw). Then I put the full chorus where I want it to drop, then if I feel like the drop should build up I progressively add elements from the full chorus to the basic chorus. For the outro I generally just either have a small build up into a complete drop off (with a downlifter obviously) or I just basically reverse the intro.

When do you add the basses/subbasses in the song?
Bass I generally have a bit of before the drop, sub bass I usually add just in the drop.

Do you change melodies as you go?
If I feel like it's getting stale I'll change the melody or switch between two.

Do you add samples/FX in at the beginning, middle, or end?
All throughout. Crashes, reverses, downlifters, uplifters, etc, I usually just add them where I feel buildups or breakdowns need more intensity. Other effects I don't usually find myself using much though, cept the good old white noise, sidechained or not.

Do you mix and master along the way as you progress the song?
I mix during the song making. I never master the whole track, ever, except to take the db level down. I EQ and compress and stuff as I progress through the track though.

Is there bad tendencies you know you have with your structure/production as you progress, but it's become apart of you, so you stick to it?
Not that I know of. Apparently structure is one of my strong points (at least I've been told that I'm good at it).

[colortwelve]

So how do you structure a song, or start it up?
When do you add the basses/subbasses in the song?
Do you change melodies as you go?
Do you add samples/FX in at the beginning, middle, or end?
Do you mix and master along the way as you progress the song?
Is there bad tendencies you know you have with your structure/production as you progress, but it's become a part of you, so you stick to it?

1. I can start a song with anything but a drum pattern, really. It may be a melody that I thought up, it may be something I've taken from a .midi and messed with until it's entirely different, it may be some chords, but a good song starts when I'm inspired by what I've just put in front of myself. In terms of song structure, I tend to use a hip-hop structure but with drawn-out progressive house buildups.

2. I'll usually make a bassline by messing around with the chord progression, and just sprinkle it in at points where I think the track should be full. Sometimes I'll use a subtler bass for buildups as well.

3. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I really wish I did this more often, but I'm still getting a hang of melodies in general, so getting a single goodish one tends to feel like a big accomplishment for me But in cases where I really only stick to one melody or progression, I'll bounce it between instruments, arpeggiate it, and mess with it in that way in an attempt to keep the track from getting too boring.

4. I add my white noise FX as I go, but synth patches that I stumble onto that work well as FX can come at any point - in my most recent WIP, though, they came at the beginning.

5. I'll EQ a little as I go, but I do set aside time to try and do a proper mixdown before I start my mastering (which, by definition, has to come after mixing).

6. I suck at melodies. I use a very limited palette of synth patches and drum samples. I abuse arpeggios. I'm so bad at claps that I never use them seriously. I slice percussion loops instead of making my own hat lines. I make most of my tracks with spaces especially for vocals, even though I have only a very small pool of people I can go to, and they tend to keep busy. I use house plucks in all of my buildups (except for my most recent one). I add obscene amounts of sub-bass to my songs, even when I'm not making something that could easily be identified as bass music.

[the4thImpulse]

1. So how do you structure a song, or start it up?
2. When do you add the basses/subbasses in the song?
3. Do you change melodies as you go?
4. Do you add samples/FX in at the beginning, middle, or end?
5. Do you mix and master along the way as you progress the song?
6. Is there bad tendencies you know you have with your structure/production as you progress, but it's become apart of you, so you stick to it?

1. I don't follow any thought out or 'planned' structure before making the track (example - Intro, buildup, A, B, Chorus, A, B and so on), I let the pieces fall together and it usually becomes something typical but I don't ever force it that way.

2. I add bass shortly after making a lead riff, sub bass is part of the bass so it all happens around the same time, some tracks don't use a sub bass and I instead use a heavy kick (layered sine wave at ~40-60 Hz depending on key).

3. I always change/modify melodies, the melody that I start with has never been the one I finish with, not once.

4. Noise/cymbal washes are usually added after I make a drum rack and start sequencing stuff, other effects are meant to accent the leads/melodies so they get added ~mid process.

5. Well I can't master a track until its finished but I always work on the mixdown when I get stuck creatively and by the time I like it the creative spark comes back and I add or remove elements (often add).

6. I see other people make tracks a lot; through my friends or online I have seen many methods and some of them seem really smart/easy but I have always preferred my way of doing things. Sometimes I wish my workflow was similar to the people I have seen but when I try I just can't get into a good groove and always default back to what I know.


I jam out with quick melodies and drum patterns on my APC40 and once I like something either melodically or sound design wise I start to branch it out and arrange it in some progressive order. After that the track can really go anywhere and like I said the final product is nothing like what I started with.

[ChocolateChicken]

First of all, the manner in which I create a song depends on whatever initial idea I have or which genre I am making, so the entire process can vary greatly from song to song.

So how do you structure a song, or start it up?
-The way I start is usually with an initial idea, which can be anything from a melody to a chord progression, or even a type of cool-sounding synth. I then take that idea and build on it from there. In the case of progressive rock, the melody and chord progression accompaniment is the first thing I begin with. With electronic dance music such as electro, the beat is the first thing I compose.

When do you add the basses/subbasses in the song?
-It's not so much a matter of when, but where. I'll add the bass wherever I feel like the song needs some good bass. I usually do this after I've gotten a basic chord sequence/melody down. With electronic dance music songs, I try to put in a good bass right after I've laid down the drums.

Do you change melodies as you go?
-If I start to dislike a certain melody, I may change it, sure. I always put variety in my songs, so a healthy amount of different melodies is what you'd hear in my songs. I like to keep the listener interested.

Do you add samples/FX in at the beginning, middle, or end?
-This heavily depends on the song you're making, but I don't think this is generally as important as the music itself. I never felt the need to add sound effects samples to any of my songs.

Do you mix and master along the way as you progress the song?
-I have a really bad habit of mixing as I compose songs, so I don't get discouraged with how terrible the mix is as I compose it, but I also have a proper mixing stage after the composition is done. As for mastering, that's the very last step in any song.

Is there bad tendencies you know you have with your structure/production as you progress, but it's become apart of you, so you stick to it?
-Like I said, I will always start mixing things after I've begun composing them for any number of reasons. Usually it's simply because I can quickly lose interest in a song if it immediately sounds like garbage, which is what almost anything sounds like before it's been mixed properly. I try not to stick with this though, because it can really drag on the time it takes to finish composing the song.

[Vivix]

So how do you structure a song, or start it up?
I try to write lyrics first, just to get a construction to base it on. Otherwise, I jam.
No structure to it. I only sit down and plan things if I am stuck, or if it doesn't sound right to me.
Sometimes I base entire songs around a sound, a noise, or a concept.
I want to add something here with my edit: While writing, whatever focus I want is what I write, be it bass, guitar, drums or voice, but most of the time everything is sort of written at once.

When do you add the basses/subbasses in the song?
Different genre than I do, so never.
I do usually record bass guitar right after the drums are done.

Do you change melodies as you go?
Yes, sometimes. If something don't seem to work, I try to delete it and start over.

Do you add samples/FX in at the beginning, middle, or end?
End, but usually plan them all while writing. Usually most come to mind while playing through the song and testing things.

Do you mix and master along the way as you progress the song?
Mix at the end, never master. I'm not competent enough to do a good master, so then a good mix is better than a bad master.

Is there bad tendencies you know you have with your structure/production as you progress, but it's become apart of you, so you stick to it?
I'm never strict enough, and sometimes will therefore have to delete a song after I'm done recording it, while I should have just fixed it while writing.
Have a lot of other small bad/lazy habits too, but I'm working on it.

[0neTr1ckP0ny]

I make rock music, so some of this may not be applicable to other genres.

So how do you structure a song, or start it up?

I try to have as much as possible written before recording, or at least have enough lyrics, guitar riffs etc. to build the entire song structure (I might write lyrics for additional verses later, depends on how inspired I am). I use Power Tab to take down ideas for riffs and melodies.

Once on my DAW I start with the drums, then I record the bass. After that I record the rhythm guitars (double tracked panned hard left and right, with slightly different sounds) and finally vocals and backing vocals. Once I have this basic song I start building the arrangement with additional tracks.

When do you add the basses/subbasses in the song?

N/A

Do you change melodies as you go?

I try to have the all the melodies set by the time I record, but if I have a better idea while working I will re-record the parts.

Do you add samples/FX in at the beginning, middle, or end?

If I need them, in the arrangement stage.

Do you mix and master along the way as you progress the song?

I mix as I go along. I try to have an instrument all "done" before moving on to the next, so that at the end I only have to work on the levels. Mastering I do after the song is done and mixed down.

Is there bad tendencies you know you have with your structure/production as you progress, but it's become apart of you, so you stick to it?

I'm not much of a tweaker, so once I find a sound that I like I tend to stick with it. I don't think I've touched my drum sound in years (except maybe the levels) and I also barely touch the vocal sound (unless I need something specific, like distorted vocals). The only thing I tweak more often are the guitar sounds and sometimes the bass.

[Captain Ironhelm]

All I do is play with synthesizers and effects.

[Arkane]

So how do you structure a song, or start it up?

Bash the keyboard until a combination of four chords that sounds good comes out. :I

When do you add the basses/subbasses in the song?

Right when I'm about to finish.

Do you change melodies as you go?

Eeyup. There's always room for changes.

Do you add samples/FX in at the beginning, middle, or end?

Hmm.. Usually, when the song is telling a story, I tend to use sound effects on parts that would sound good.

Do you mix and master along the way as you progress the song?

I only mix when all the tracks are done

Is there bad tendencies you know you have with your structure/production as you progress, but it's become apart of you, so you stick to it?

YES! I want to change it SO bad.. but whenever I try to compose, I end up using that structure over and over again. But I think I was able to break that with my latest song, IMO.