Forums - Music techology
Subject: The Making of a Track
Original Message 1/26 13-Aug-98 @ 05:17 AM - The Making of a Track
Do you have a set routine? If so, what is it? Or, do you do it differently each time?
What usually inspires you?
Message 2/26 13-Aug-98 @ 05:57 AM - RE: The Making of a Track
I usually start off with a kick and bassline. I like to have a bassline that swings really nice and my favorite way to do this is to offset one or two of the notes 1/16th ahead or behing the downbeat. Once I have the bassline set, I will drop out the kick and start working on the hi-hats, toms, and other percs in conjuntion with the bassline. Every once in a while I will bring the kick back in to see how it is working with the rest of the percs and bassline. I also reduce all of my percussion (including the hi-hats) to the lowest bit possible. 8 bit is my favorite.
Once that is done, I will decide how I want the bassline to travel. If I’m writing a house track, I will usually have the bassline repeat for 3 bars and then create a variation for the 4th bar.
Pads come next. With house music, I will create a pad sound that involves strings and just about anything else. I keep the chord pregression simple, and I will bury the pad in the mix.
By this time, I’ll have an arrangement going too.
I work on the lead sounds next, and I will either stack them on to the bassline, or I will use a lead sound to compliment what the bassline is doing.
Then I start working harder on the arrangement and I also start using FX to phatten things up.
Message 3/26 13-Aug-98 @ 07:16 AM - RE: The Making of a Track
Message 4/26 13-Aug-98 @ 07:33 AM - RE: The Making of a Track
Whenever I start with the beat, the results are lack-luster, so I try to start with something simple & go back & fix it in the end. Yeah, everybody tells me it's dance music & this should be my focus, but I guess I'm too much of a muso.
You'll laugh, but Lionel Ritchie said "if you can't hum a line that'll stick in your head, then you've got no place making music." Exactly. For me it's the melody or sound that sticks in my head & makes a track special, not the beat.
Message 5/26 13-Aug-98 @ 07:45 AM - RE: The Making of a Track
out...
Message 6/26 13-Aug-98 @ 08:10 AM - RE: The Making of a Track
Derrick May once said writing "Techno (Detroit) music is creating something that no one has ever heard before".
He also said that "it's what would happen if George Clinton and Bootsy Collins got stuck in an elevator for 2 hours"...Ummm...I think I'd personally go for Pammy Anderson over those two sweaty bastards.
I now focus more on melody than ever before. But Mindspawn, as others, are helping me to color outside of the lines. In the past I have gotten too hung up on formula. Now anything goes...
Message 7/26 13-Aug-98 @ 08:25 AM - RE: The Making of a Track
Just finish it, & if it sucks you can blame it on me.
Message 8/26 13-Aug-98 @ 09:38 AM - RE: The Making of a Track
the most prolific period of writing i had was last year in manchester - we hooked up a four track (bass, guitar, synths and drum machines) and just kind of jammed - when we had something going we'd flip the 4track into record.....
then later you have all this ready-made material to sample and fuck with - all in the same key, same tempo, all feeding off each other already. sounded pretty good....
Message 9/26 13-Aug-98 @ 09:48 AM - RE: The Making of a Track
cya
Message 10/26 13-Aug-98 @ 11:19 AM - RE: The Making of a Track
or you could use soundforge acid, which can save a song complete with all the samples in - .acd extension.
there's some examples of .acd tracks here:
Some Acid tracks with embedded samples.
Did that work?
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