About

How's my music created?

1. 1 Get some creativity flowing Certainly varies from time to time!

   1. I pick an entry point
   2. Add some variations
   3. Feel comfortable
   4. Where to? (Introduce the atmosphere buildup)
   5. Arrange it — or play the whole thing! That's my way to get creative. If you like, adjust depth, rhythm, and pluck vs long evolves (can also be done later). Map your synths, be ready for automation (or know your stuff by heart — though sometimes that feels hard without a single hardware synth).
   6. What one feels might be somewhere between the drop or the intro — actually depends on what you'll do later on.
2. 2 Get into the mood Scales. Harmony. Feelings.

   1. Give me some chords! I want to feel it. What would you like to feel? What are you feeling already with the existing buildup? Tease the bass at the end, if you can — a piano can do that 100%.
   2. Since I'm not much of a super piano player, I do the chords along the melody part by part. (Took me a while, but all as it "felt" right.)
   3. Feel the vocal entry point. Might be early, or somewhere after the chord progression faded out. Place a marker if you've guessed it at a certain point. I feel it is @ 0:36, one bar before the F unison comes into play. Fade them in — not too harsh an entry. Work with vocal samples, or use your own voice (not for now — I'd need some more courage).
   4. Add some rhythm and texture, building atmosphere over the whole buildup.
3. 3 Let's introduce the beat

   1. Create a custom kit matching the ambience and overall feel.
   2. Keep it simple for now. Default patterns — you'll know and feel it. Use the velocity! Play it [I did that for the kick and the snare], or sequence it [I did that for the hats] (with Ableton, use Velocity Shaper if sequenced — pay attention to loop and rotate).
   3. Add some variations after sequencing (only if you sequenced — otherwise, play them on the fly :)
   4. Isolate different aspects (kick, hat, snare, shakers) into individual lanes for later and add a specific equalizer for kick(s), snare(s), and hat(s).
4. 4 Introduce some badass bass

   1. Stick to the bass teaser of part 2 a) — maybe with a sub, or a regular one. Depends on your taste.
   2. Again, automate the buildup. Or feel it live. But feel your synth!
   3. Add sidechained compression (if you like, I DO!). Use only the kick. [Or even create a sidechain send-only lane.]
   4. Tease some more bass using a riser (tag your library for such synths — actually tag a lot of stuff).
   5. Group the bass teaser section and use an autofilter with a very tiny amount of negative envelope to groove with the kick.
   6. Adjust the snares before the drop. Standard — you know, I know, we know.
   7. Add some space between the buildup and the drop. It's gonna add some "space". Float into the drop. :) Or don't — whatever you like.
5. 5 Repicks and reworks

   1. The default piano I had lacked the overall feeling. Repick and adjust to the feeling you are looking for. For this one, introduce it soft — have some edges where introducing the bass teaser.
   2. Hats were coming in too strong, too sudden. Either go for a filter, or use volume automation on the lane to introduce them properly.
   3. Feel the changes. Be happy about simple but neat changes.
   4. The same for the snare, but actually just a hint more smooth.
   5. Fill the free "pre-drop" space with some ad-lib. Maybe give more time before the drop depending on your taste. Tease the listener.
6. 6 The lead vocals

   1. Add something catchy before the drop. Maybe build up using faders, volume, or autofilter.
   2. Repeat for the first soft drop.
7. 7 The partial sauce drop

   1. Sometimes, the first one of mine is just the intro with a lot more energy!
   2. A soft lead — not too much energy.
   3. Add different vocals — it adds some depth (for me).
8. 8 The real sauce drop

   1. Well — I like to go crazy with my tracks at the end. Add more crazy bass, rework the bassline if it's too soft. (I had to redo the bassline like 3 times, over 3 days for this one.)
   2. At first I was hesitant using explicit vocals, but once the energy is there, I don't see why this would fuck up the track.
   3. Keep it going. Mix in all the sauce you've built. Careful, but continuous.
   4. Play with your synths! The params you mapped are your best friends!
   5. Enjoy it.
   6. A LOT!
9. 9 Catchy lead melody

   1. Sorry guys — I did music; the documentation quality along the way is degrading.
   2. Build something simple. I was doing very nervous melodies at first (probably still am from time to time).
   3. Careful what you add to your sauce. It has to match. Take your time.
   4. Extend it, if you like. I'm in favor of sound for DJs, rather than radio sound. If you go for radio, keep in mind there's a certain play length. If you have your arranged track already, one neat trick is to loop the real sauce part and *go real fucking crazy* with a clip recording part of your new lead you play over it. Perform the looped section with "additional" sauce for your audience at ease.
10. 10 Mix it

    1. Not a mixing engineer myself, but pay attention to your sweet spot (-3 dB to -6 dB for me). RED IS BAD if it's way too noisy. RED can be "good" if it's not too noisy.
    2. I DO NOT compress on my master lane before compressing individual lanes to my liking.
    3. Place either a) a limiter or b) a master (which contains a limiter). Play around. Don't lose all the punch — you still want to feel everything as before, but without overshooting your sweet spot.
    4. First, listen to the loudest part.
    5. Then, adjust the master chain, tweak and adjust overshooting elements. Be gentle — you do not want to lose the elements! Do it part by part. Remember, your loudness and energy level was "planned" from the beginning.
    6. Afterwards, listen to the quiet parts of the song.
    7. LISTEN TO YOUR SONG, over and over again.
    8. Do you like it? (Would you listen to it while running, or @ the gym? [I hate running, but I like the gym]) :) Yes, you like it? => RELEASE IT!