I'll get straight to the point. I can't read or write music on a staff/stave. When an idea for a track pops in my head I am terrible at jotting it down or arranging it in a decent format for me to read later.

I am pretty happy with my sound design and like to think I have mastered my Virus Ti making any sound that comes to my head. I think my mixing techniques are way above average as well.

I always give up on writing my ideas down and just go with the flow bashing out melodies and basslines and just seeing where it takes me. But it usually takes me no where and I can never finish a track!! I even got that angry about a year ago and deleted everything I ever created and obviously regretted it a week later. Of course a couple of my friends have since said "Hey, remember insane riff or bassline you made? Let's work on it and bash out a tune"

I seriously had about 30 - 40 segments of songs which had all drums, melodies, basslines, fx, pads, automation and were EVEN mixed fully as I always like to mix as I go. I have a few friends that are big local DJs that honestly say that my music is no worse than some of the stuff out there but that I really need to finish the tune.

Can I ask, what preparation do you do before you start the actual production process? How do you get your ideas out of your head and on to paper? Or do you just naturally progress through the song without having any form of written material to go by. I really don't want to have to do any courses on how to read/write music properly there must be an easier way!

This is really stressing me out!!! PLEASE HELP!!!

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We are the music makers. We are the dreamers of dreams....

No preparations at all for me.

I just start with a kick, some drums, and a bassline, or just some pads and with those sounds i get a vision on what to proceed with next, then i start adding a some more stuff and just gradually start building something out of what i have.

If i dont come up with anything new or good within 10 minutes i close the project and open a different one.

Luckily though, most of the time i get something before those 10 minutes has passed.

A tactic that has worked very nice for me, is to not look for a certain sound, but rather skip through sounds and see if u can use it for something.

Because absolutely anything in the whole world that is audible can be used for something in music production.

Alot of people start tracks with the thought of sounding like Artist X with the track Y, which isnt always a good idea, because then ur limiting urself to that sound.

And you should NEVER EVER delete ANYTHING u have made, you WILL regret it as long as there is a sample of it somewhere you can listen to later.

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http://soundcloud.com/subtara

i'm the same man, apart from the recognition of friends etc

in the last 4 months i've been working on stuff i've got over 50 ideas (on all levels of completion)

for me the only times i've come close to finishing a track is when i've been doing remix comps, and have a deadline.

maybe a good idea for you would be to try and set a deadline for yourself/your track and work on it till then and then that's it.

for me, i will play with a tune forever, and it'll never be finished (mostly cause of mastering, tweaking fx, and synths etc, which can always 'sound better'), but when you KNOW you have to have it done by X it really adds a sense of urgency and also a sense of "good enough = FINISHED!!"

i don't plan at all: i get all my good ideas from randomness, or messing with sounds then stumbling upon a nice riff or melody (which is why i have so many open projects at all times, and it's hard to focus on one!)
PLUS i know no music theory

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-Everything I Say is a Lie-

Here's a way you can finish a track:

Copy the arrangement of one of your favorite tracks. Obviously don't copy the music itself or the exact sounds, but copy the order that new elements are introduced and taken out. When your example track puts in a hi-hat or a kick or a new synth sound, put one of those things in your track. When your example track has a breakdown, put one at the same point in your own track. By copying the arrangement, you'll have the general "shape" of the track, the timing of new elements, new melodies, and climactic moments, already done before you even start writing anything. Then you just have to "fill in the blanks" with the sounds and melodic material you invent.

I'm starting to think that the way to create music I love is to look closely at my favorite tracks and figure out what makes them "work," then use that knowledge for my own productions, rather than just kind of fooling around semi-randomly until I "magically" find something that inspires me, which is pretty much what I've done since I started producing five years ago. I think the way to be original is to actually be conscious of what other people are doing and have done, and then find some interesting way to depart from that -- not to avoid the close study of other people's music because I fear being influenced too much by it.

i actually do stuff both ways, sometimes i sit down with a pen and write down melody ideas or arrangement ideas, or writing chords and such, only after i have the idea figured out i go to the DAW and programming it...

and the second way i use is to get just one idea of a main thing i want in my track (like a build up or a special drum pattern, fxs... whatever...) and then i go around it and create all the rest...

but i really tend to think about it a lot when i produce... i always do the next step (unless its purely technical) with some sort of thought of it,

i used to produce on pure impulse but i grew tired of that after a while, because everything i did had some small nice parts and nothing more, so i figured if ill work on that just one/two ideas and develop them ill be out with a more satisfying result...

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quote:

Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles Here's a way you can finish a track: Copy the arrangement of one of your favorite tracks. Obviously don't copy the music itself or the exact sounds, but copy the order that new elements are introduced and taken out. When your example track puts in a hi-hat or a kick or a new synth sound, put one of those things in your track. When your example track has a breakdown, put one at the same point in your own track. By copying the arrangement, you'll have the general "shape" of the track, the timing of new elements, new melodies, and climactic moments, already done before you even start writing anything. Then you just have to "fill in the blanks" with the sounds and melodic material you invent.

Hey do you produce with Cubase? Is that the best software if you want to compare your work with another track (as you produce)?

quote:

Originally posted by XvN Hey do you produce with Cubase? Is that the best software if you want to compare your work with another track (as you produce)?

I use Ableton. But you can use any sequencer for this. The easiest way would just be to import the track into your DAW as an audio file, then sync it up with your sequencer's tempo so that you can see how the bars in your arrangement correspond to what's happening in the song. Then you can go from there and copy the arrangement, or just use it as a point of departure...

im afraid thier is no easy answer. when i make a track i take a element that i like and put a part off me into it.

sounds like to me your biggest problem is using the time you have wisely. what im saying is if you have all the key components made(riffs and basslines) then find the other things you need for the track.
otherwise it wont consist of anything and as result,be dismissed and left along with the rest.

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quote:

Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles By copying the arrangement, you'll have the general "shape" of the track

That's basically what I need. Cheers for all your replies!! Once I complete a track I'll be sure that TA will be the 1st to hear...

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We are the music makers. We are the dreamers of dreams....

just listen carefully to released tracks and pay attention to how the sound are progressing . i wouldn't copy the exact structure because i don't think that the same structure works for different sounds.

and again: there are no rules, if it sounds good it is good.

Its good advice from JiveBoJingles. I used to always try to do everything myself. Every new track was started from a new project, each one had a new drum kit with newly chosen samples. FX were made from scratch. Arrangements had to be unique. etc. Its purism, its very very hard work, and ultimately inhibiting.

Now I start my tracks using old tracks as a template. So they come complete with drum kits, fx banks, instrument tracks - and they're all mixed already. Once all the music is deleted, you're basically starting from scratch, but with an awful lot of foundation already complete. And you can dive right into the creative and fun part.

I start with a single night, focussing entirely on composition. Here's where you want to put down more ideas rather than less. The idea is the first time you make a musical idea, while its as fresh as possible, that's the best time to add other musical ideas that complement them.

Once i've listened to a phrase many, many times, for example while arranging a tune and working on the details, it is very hard to come back and add a new musical idea that goes with it, as it will already sound stale and uninspiring.

After the composition night, there should be enough material to make an entire song, it just needs arrangement, tweaking, more tweaking and perseverance.

I guess my main point is, to get something sounding great, you need time to work on the details. But you'll never have time to do that if you get bogged down starting everything from scratch. So as JiveBoJingles says, steal an arrangement. Use presets. Use anything you can to lessen the load on yourself and allow yourself as much time as possible to put the details in and focus on what makes your track unique and polished and most importantly, finished.

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Monsoon - Astrosurf