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-- Thought Process On Creating A Track.
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There's some good advice in here for you mate. As others have said get the basics down donw worry about tweaking everything to start with. Then later move through the track and make changes.

I guess everyone works different. Ive had that problem in the past I still do from time to time, I need to change my work flow. Ive been working on a bassline for a track for to long now on a my current track. I guess you have to make yourself work differently and if you sway towards this keep forcing yourself not too.

I think that many of the ones who have problems finnishing a song (Including myself) have to high demands on theire productions. I have been near a nervous breakdown many times because I cant get my songs to sound "proffessional", and I think that it have ruined my creativity and probably several songs that would have turned out really nice.

I think its far better to start making perfect songs then lay all concentration on making a perfect mix if you know what I mean.

quote:

Originally posted by Dreamtea I think that many of the ones who have problems finnishing a song (Including myself) have to high demands on theire productions. I have been near a nervous breakdown many times because I cant get my songs to sound "proffessional", and I think that it have ruined my creativity and probably several songs that would have turned out really nice. I think its far better to start making perfect songs then lay all concentration on making a perfect mix if you know what I mean.

Totally the same thing over here!
And I am also trying to get my vocals to the track...
So trying to get professional vocals by home "studio" is..well...difficult

But now I am starting to give me a break and thinking "hell, just do a track, worry about the perfect sounds and levels later...". Or I will end up having HUGE mount of great loops, short melodies... but not one finished song...

Indeed, get tracks done regardless. As time goes on your standard will improve anyway.

I used to do that: centering myself in the secondary things before centering in the song/theme/track itself. Then, I realized that wasn't the way.

Sometimes we tend to forget which are the central things (not only in music, but in life as well ).

I think this is a very interesting thread, I really enjoyed reading this one.

- I start with kick and bass like most do, then add some percussion, next I add some sounds, synthlines, melodies, pads etc. I dont care about the arrangement at that point.
- I build up the climax of the track first with the maximum amount of drive and many different elements playing at once. If I didnt save yet, I save that first stage of the track.
- Also I bounce any synth to wav. Most of the time a 16 bar thing.
- I start arranging stuff, build up and build down the track from that climax.
- Now I work on any section in detail, use my synthline wavs and maybe create some new ones.
- process a sound, and save it. repeat as often as you like. Its been probably the most useful hint I've ever gotten (for example the famous DnB producers Noisia use this technique).
- My idea when making sounds, since I come from the psy department so I am looking for really weird Sci-Fi sounds, is to fuck them up with as many FX as possible. This means I process a synthline I rendered before through a shitload of FX, slice and cut it up, and render again. Bouncing to wav is an important part of my working process, not only to save cpu load, but also to give me new inspiration. I have a lot of samples from previous tracks I load in my new tracks so I can mess around with them until they sound like something totally different.
- So I arrange the sounds for every part from intro to outro in detail. Having a lot of versions originating from the same sound, but all processed in a different way ensures I have variation in my sounds. Probably enough to ensure its enough to keep a track of at least 7 minute length interesting.
- In the end I add some FX, try to make some good transitions etc.
- During the whole process I try to save as often as possible, so if I made a kickass sound I deleted later on, I can just go back to the stage where that piece was included. So I guess a good general advice would be to save as often as possible, either a wav or the whole project file.

quote:

Originally posted by cybernetica

Sweet thanks for your advice, i really liked the idea of rendering to wavs i am going to start that probably. I think it will let me focus on all the sounds instead of endlessly tweaking one. And then when the song is done maybe do some minor tweaks. Once again thank you.

I make many saves also but, with the date next to the filename every time, so you can go back to a certain time period in that track.

i would assume most people keep a library of their sounds, something i'm not really that great at. i always just start making new sounds from scratch. but its something that i think i really should start making a conscious effort towards.

how does everyone organize their stuff?

Is there a way to save into wav a sound in FL Studio? Or I just have to do it "manually"?

lol formulas

Some have already said, but I will also agree, if you work on something and its just not happening, try something new and come back to it. Ive always had this problem as I like to finish my track especially if I like it. The down fall is I end up spending way too much time on it and sometimes dont even finish it.

I've take my own advice on my latest track. I love the main melody but things arent working out on other parts of the track so ive ditched it for now and gonna start something new. Ill go back it, although I really wanna get it done I know it wont happen. I'm bored of wasting time and bored of hearing it lol. Anyone else find this? I'm sure some of you do.

It is critical to get the main sounds in place and working together. Before you even touch any eq, effects or other audio processors, make sure the sounds all work well together - not just the kick in relation to the bass, but the kick in relation to the pad, the kick in relation to the lead, the bass in relation to the lead, the bass in relation to the percussion, and so on. If any element is off, it'll throw off the mix.

Choosing sounds that work well together gets a lot easier with experience, with familiarity with one's sound sources.

When I start a mix, I use the first two hours or so finding a set of sounds that works really well together without any additional processing being done to them. Then I usually take a small break, recalibrate my ears by listening to some quality productions and make a decision as to whether or not to proceed with the mix. I'd much rather scrap it after investing two hours than spend the full ten or so hours to turn it into a finished song.

(Of course, it's annoying losing even those two hours - I'm always learning about the way I put sounds together, so my vision of what I'm after and how to go about getting it is becoming clearer, before I even enter the studio...though sometimes the choice of lead sound will come from playing with an inspiring synth sound... meh, it's an interesting journey, I have so much to learn...)

quote:

Originally posted by derail It is critical to get the main sounds in place and working together. Before you even touch any eq, effects or other audio processors, make sure the sounds all work well together - not just the kick in relation to the bass, but the kick in relation to the pad, the kick in relation to the lead, the bass in relation to the lead, the bass in relation to the percussion, and so on. If any element is off, it'll throw off the mix. Choosing sounds that work well together gets a lot easier with experience, with familiarity with one's sound sources. When I start a mix, I use the first two hours or so finding a set of sounds that works really well together without any additional processing being done to them. Then I usually take a small break, recalibrate my ears by listening to some quality productions and make a decision as to whether or not to proceed with the mix. I'd much rather scrap it after investing two hours than spend the full ten or so hours to turn it into a finished song. (Of course, it's annoying losing even those two hours - I'm always learning about the way I put sounds together, so my vision of what I'm after and how to go about getting it is becoming clearer, before I even enter the studio...though sometimes the choice of lead sound will come from playing with an inspiring synth sound... meh, it's an interesting journey, I have so much to learn...)

Great advice mate, in my post I was actually relating to your tips with reagrds to scrapping a project after so much time.

How long do you take to recalibrate your ears? Also when you say main sounds do you include percs in this? I assume yes. With my track i got bass main melody another lead and perc's, I got stuck on effects, which is odd, but it threw me off and just went round in cirlces changing other parts of the track.

I usually decide on the arrangement first. It gives you a fair idea about the number of melodies and progressions needed.

quote:

Originally posted by music2dance2 How long do you take to recalibrate your ears? Also when you say main sounds do you include percs in this?

It doesn't take long, I have heaps of excellent tracks by other producers in a referencing folder - just snippets, half a minute to a minute, of the "main loops" of these excellent tracks, where everything's happening. I jump from one to the next to gain some perspective of a well put-together set of sounds, then when I go to my track it's usually pretty clear if it's worth continuing with or not.

The main sounds are kick, bass, pad (if used), lead(s), percussions - usually a hihat and snare/clap, often I'll get a percussive pattern happening at this stage as well. I get the main set of sounds together, then take it through a quick "referencing/ analysis/ mastering" process, so the loop has a "finished/ mastered" sound, ready for the comparison with my favourite tracks by other people.

Ok i got it. I often listen to other tracks when im doing my own to get some idea of direction if I get stuck. You have some good structure here though, compared to me as I dont think like that. I'll take this on board with my next production. Cheers Derail you've been a great help.

I think the main problem ive had with my last track is that its a trance track, I havent made a trance tarck in over a year, been mainly concentrating on house. Although it wasnt any bother creating a nice lead or two, getting my effects in order held me back. Making house has been slightly different. I'll get my groove back, just gonna keep at it, with help from your tips also.

I get the beginnings of a track done, then lose interest after listening to whatever I had the next day. It just seems to sound crappy, and I decide to leave it and start something new.

As for my creative process:
I get an idea, usually for a melody or bassline or even just a percussion rhythm. Usually this happens in bed before going to sleep . So I have a tape recorder by my bed that I use to record myself humming the part
The next day I listen to the recording and start recreating it.
I usually spend about 2-3hrs or so adding as much as I can to the track (variations of melodies, bassline parts, percussion rhythms).This is usually where I leave a track for a day and come back sometime in the next few days and decide that its crap.

There are times that I really feel the track is decent and begin to arrange it. So far Im only able to create short 3-4minute demos, with usually a intro, buildup and short outro. By this time I do a mix down to mp3 and play a set that will include this short demo. And as of now it never sounds anything close to what a professional track sounds like

So thinking ahead: My next step would be to take one of my demos and work on creating a full version, then attempt to compare it to pro tracks and see what improvements I can make to make it sound like it fits with those tracks. Im guessing this has a lot to do with me barely eqing anything and not mastering so the levels arent correctly adjusted like a professional track would be.

I have been producing for about 1.5-2years, and ive learnt a lot in that time. I have probably 50+ project folders that contain rough ideas that I could definitely go back to someday and maybe work out a full track. Thats what im hoping will be a great motivator to me once I can create good souding tracks. Is to go back in time and see what kind of ideas I had and how I can improve on them and make them fully realized.

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