Ableton Forum

So I'm fairly familiar with ableton live, I have about 20 years of classical music theory yada yada basically i'm not hard noob only mediocre noob haha.


Soo anyways, just wanted to hear some different methods and discuss approaches we use to overcome roadblocks in our music writing, or ways people get creative juices flowing.


So I spent about 10 hours over the last couple days just making an absolutely deadly bass that sits just right with the kick drums, the song structure is there to make a 5 minute or so track. The roadblock I'm at right now though is that the bass sounds so gnarly and badass with the kicks, I'm stuck lol... With just kicks and a bass, and i'm scared / stuck when it comes to adding more layers to it so that it actually gets a full rich sound. I guess I just have to start experimenting and seeing what does and doesn't work. I guess any feedback or strategies to get over this hump would be appreciated! <3

So you guys know what I'm saying about how tracks start taking on a life of their own as you write them?
What do you guys usually start with when laying down a new track, I'm not talking about specific things like breakdowns filters drops etc. More just general approaches to writing your songs.

Can I have a sneak peak at this song so far? Private Soundcloud link or something?

my advice to you would be to pick your favorite house song, and copy the "format". start with filtered synth pulses over sub bass and kick? copy it. drop into a no drums with the synth pulse unfiltered and soaring? copy it. synth pulse suddenly fade into the first note being delayed and repeating with a filter sweep then dropping into a "related" dirty buzzy bass line (fits the scale/chord proggression)? copy it. you get the idea. no one is going to produce a smash hit their first time, might as well see how you can compare to that original song with your own writing, copying the format making the comparison a lot easier.

oh and listen to a shitload of music to see whats popular. candy flippers don't really want you to reinvent the wheel, they just want to hear a build up thats kind of familiar drop into something they can convulse to.

haha jimmyslizz I like the cut of your jib Solid advice bro.

And alekst1923 shoot me a PM and i'll send you the riff, just keep in mind its uncompressed unmixed unmastered and all that other good stuff haha. Just the basic synth / riff / beat.