An alternative method to song writing

[beats me]

Just a thought for those who find themselves getting nowhere quickly or spending 70% of their time flipping through presets or adding layer upon endless layer.

Before you even get started determine what sound elements you want in your song (drum, bass, pad, piano, lead, drone, guitar, etc.) Create a track for each one of those elements. Drums might differ depending on what you like to use. In that case commit to how many drum hit sounds you want to use and keep it reasonable.

Then spend no more than 10 minutes finding a sound that fits each instrument type.

So now you have your track count and sounds locked in. Now commit to that and don't allow yourself to add more tracks or change the instrument patches other than effects processing. You're just going to have to do your best with the choices you made ahead of time.

Now all your time is freed up to spend on writing the actual song instead of on distractions or alternatives that never go anywhere. Maybe just try this method for one track when you feel you're in a rut.

It's worked for centuries before there were synths or DAWs.

[Khazul]

It's worked for centuries before there were synths or DAWs.

Yes lets see now what shall we have..
I know - string section - none ever has one of them..
what else? - oh yeh - horns - lot of horns... and some woodwinds or err... well guess just have to be woodwinds.
Tampani would be good too.
Oh and we'll have a bit of nice piano too, or maybe abuse someone's organ in a church?

So many choices back then

[mescalinebanana]

Indeed, Beethoven's greatest works were for the string quartet.

One of the allures of electronic music is the endless sonic possibilities, but this freedom can be constricting in a way.

For a few months about 4 years ago, I was exclusively using the Reason 3 demo to make my music. I was limited to one drum machine, one synth, one sampler, a reverb and a delay. I ended up making some of my best compositions in that format, because I had to achieve almost everything through sequencing. I later got the full version and now I'm an Ableton nut, but I try to keep that in mind as I'm working on my music.

[Khazul]

To be fair to bm and not taking the piss for once

One thing I like about doing funky house type stuff is you can actually this kind of choice up front to a degree - for me usually piano from M1 or Kontakt, some funky guitar, electric bass out of trillian an EP from Kontakt then spend ages sifting through drum samples to build up a drum kit, perhaps some strings (usually session strings), an extra deep soft bass and a couple of simple synth sounds and thats pretty much it - for the main melody and feel of these tends to come from piano and electric bass work.

Same with fx, tends to be a couple of reverbs for depth, perhaps a dub delay sometimes and some more basic delay.

Once you have written something, got it down to stems, then is a good time to treat it like a remix and that when I find it best to get creative with chopping, fx and processing etc.

[beats me]

To be to bm and not taking the piss for once

One thing I like about doing funky house type stuff is you can actually this kind of choice up front to a degree - for me usually piano from M1 or Kontakt, some funky guitar, electric bass out of trillian an EP from Kontakt then spend ages sifting through drum samples to build up a drum kit, perhaps some strings (usually session strings), an extra deep soft bass and a couple of simple synth sounds and thats pretty much it - for the main melody and feel of these tends to come from piano and electric bass work.

Same with fx, tends to be a couple of reverbs for depth, perhaps a dub delay sometimes and some more basic delay.

Once you have written something, got it down to stems, then is a good time to treat it like a remix and that when I find it best to get creative with chopping, fx and processing etc.

Working within the accepted sound of a genre can help. Shit, you could write an Electro House song in 4 tracks or less.

But my problem is usually not only do I not have a song in mind when I fire up live but I also don't have a genre. So the song could go anywhere. I usually end up with something that's synthy down tempo and that isn't exactly a sound you can pigeon hole into a definitive set of instruments. And what's worse I'll start experimenting with things that may or may not work just because I can or am under some illusion I'll come up with the most original thing ever.

Others with the same dilemma might find above method helpful when they find the banks of creativity overflowing with garbage.

[DangerousDave]

I think this method could be expanded further. I know I have read an article about production where it talks about how one viable method of producing a song is to grab a few sounds you can work with (quickly) and then get all the melodies and drums down that you like, just like beats said, and THEN once you have the arrangement and composition down, you can start designing your sounds around where the track wants it to go.

This allows you to work without the pressure of making unique sounds in the writing phase, and again, just work on writing, and then instead of just fiddling with a sound until you like it, you will be designing your sounds around your track as a whole, which ideally would be more effective.

This is the direction I seem to be moving anyways, hope it helps.

[kanuck]

I think this method could be expanded further. I know I have read an article about production where it talks about how one viable method of producing a song is to grab a few sounds you can work with (quickly) and then get all the melodies and drums down that you like, just like beats said, and THEN once you have the arrangement and composition down, you can start designing your sounds around where the track wants it to go.

This allows you to work without the pressure of making unique sounds in the writing phase, and again, just work on writing, and then instead of just fiddling with a sound until you like it, you will be designing your sounds around your track as a whole, which ideally would be more effective.

This is the direction I seem to be moving anyways, hope it helps.

then again some songs are written around the type of the sound. Of course methods and such are helpful if you`re stuck but it`s always a situation by situation basis.

[DangerousDave]

I think this method could be expanded further. I know I have read an article about production where it talks about how one viable method of producing a song is to grab a few sounds you can work with (quickly) and then get all the melodies and drums down that you like, just like beats said, and THEN once you have the arrangement and composition down, you can start designing your sounds around where the track wants it to go.

This allows you to work without the pressure of making unique sounds in the writing phase, and again, just work on writing, and then instead of just fiddling with a sound until you like it, you will be designing your sounds around your track as a whole, which ideally would be more effective.

This is the direction I seem to be moving anyways, hope it helps.

then again some songs are written around the type of the sound. Of course methods and such are helpful if you`re stuck but it`s always a situation by situation basis.

Most definitely. Adaptation is very helpful indeed.

[Lo-Key Fu]

Different situations do call for different approaches - and IMHO it's wise to be flexible - but as a general rule, I write similarly to the method you've outlined; more specifically in four "stages" that seem to work for me:

1. Concept (ideally 2-4 hrs)
Get down all key sounds that make the tune individual. This could be the 'drop' of a club tune where the track is 'all in' and would include drums/groove, the bassline(s) and lead sounds that give the track it's own flavour. The important thing I find here is getting something down that you're happy with for all the key parts as then all your ideas are on the same wavelength when you come back to it later. If I can hit that aim, I've found finishing the tune seems to come a whole lot easier.

2. Structure (ideally 1-2 hrs)
Take the one or two short (4-16 bar) sections from the previous section and stretch them out over the full intended structure (ie. club track? radio edit?). Don't worry about 'filling in the blanks' as such, just get the rough arrangement out. You can fiddle with the finer points later.

3. Continuity
Start the track from the top and work through it fleshing out the sections you feel are lacking as you go. Getting the transitions working smoothly from one section to another happens here for me too. By now, you already have the 'core' idea in place, but extra atmosphere, build ups, end breaks, additional percussion, sweeps or alternate harmonies/melodies are all on the agenda for this stage.

4. Production
From here, I'd go back through each channel and fine tune any sounds that need a little sonic attention, double check the most important elements (for the style I often write, that would usually include groove elements such as bass and kit drums) and add any 'finishing' effects not integral to the sounds I made in the first stage (eg. possibly a reverb, or some automated filters for certain parts, etc.)

Obviously these 'stages' are ideals I try to work within, but it's not necessarily cut and dry either. I do spend a bit of time 'producing' (as opposed to 'sound designing') in the first stage, but only to the extent that the production choices I'm making are integral to the finished sound.

Hope that helps, or at least adds something useful into the mix!

[Khazul]

But my problem is usually not only do I not have a song in mind when I fire up live but I also don't have a genre.

Im fine with that so long as the tempo I'm messing about with ends up in the 120-140 region (as is, or double/half time etc) as then can allways take it in the direction I actually want once the musical part of it is down.

The headache starts if when Im just playing stuff (no backing beat, tick etc, so totally free) ends up outside that range as then dont really know WTF to do with it

In the end I tend to find I am way way more musically creative and far less distracted with just a straight accoustic piano or electric bass than with synth sounds - perhaps becuase half the time with synths end up unconsciously slipping into something Ive heard, then you go put a bass line on it and the same happens then you think oh shit - I know this track - Urrrggh...