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Essential mind-set and technique discussion
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| Ankhsunamun |
I have always wondered what other producers out there consider to be their most essential technique/strategy/routine when starting and or completing a new project.
What sort of things would you HAVE to do before you allowed your track to be called "complete".
- What would you consider to be an "absolute must" when you open your software, even before you start to write anything.
ie: setting levels/opening a template/creating and naming all of the channels you plan to use before starting your sound design.
- When you're halfway through a project and the momentum begins to slow down, do you have a technique to fall back into your previous groove, or do you take a break and wait for the flow to return?
- Do you write a quick rough draft of your idea, and then add quality to it once it's all down, or would you rather take the time to make every element as perfect as possible as you go?
- What are some effects that you consider to be absolutely essential to your mix? Something you would never let your track go without?
- When you consider your project finished or close to finished, do you send it out for feedback, or do you wrap it up and call it done?
Also, I wonder about the mind-set that one takes into their new or existing projects.
- Do you do your best work at night or in the morning?
- Do you like to drink 6 cups of coffee and work for 2 days straight, or do you find you like to drop an hour here and an hour there over a period of time?
- Do you wait for a moment of inspiration to tackle your work, or do you jump in and play around until you shift into productive mode.
- Do you like to work alone, or do you prefer to collaborate and bounce ideas around friends/internet? |
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| Looney4Clooney |
have an action list. Generally 5 minutes to read notes, see where you are and just make sure everything is loaded.
then work on parts you were either working on before or have added to your action list. |
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| Ankhsunamun |
| quote: | Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
have an action list. Generally 5 minutes to read notes, see where you are and just make sure everything is loaded.
then work on parts you were either working on before or have added to your action list. |
Would your action list look something like this?:
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1-Write patches
2-Load instruments and their patches
3-reduce levels
4-write midi
5-Add effects
6-Mixdown
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A general to-do and order list sounds like a great way to keep your progress organized and give yourself a sort of linear direction. |
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| Looney4Clooney |
well for me in a given project it will be a bunch of parallel sub projects and some that require others to finish.
but just things like
create bass sound.
create drum palette.
just specific things you need to do.
the list you have is very vague to me. You dno't want to be too specific because you will have too many actions but for example, if i clock out for the day, i will perhaps add an action , or prioritize one.
The list, i make before even starting. Then it gets changed as things progress.
The point is to work on things that need work instead of just having something on loop and doing nothing. |
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| Ankhsunamun |
I could definitely benefit from an actual written list sitting beside me.
What I tend to do is write out an element that has me feeling inspired as best as I can and let the rest of the elements evolve from that. Before long, I have the foundation of a track that sort of inspired itself from a single source of inspiration. The bassline inspired the drum pattern, and those two together inspired the lead, etc.
And like you said, working on what needs work. improving the weakest link first and moving up the chain, repeating as necessary. |
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| Looney4Clooney |
| ipad - omnifocus |
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| Ankhsunamun |
| That's an interesting piece of kit. I can see how that might help things for some people. I'm not sure how much more useful that would be to me than the Ableton arrangement view though. |
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| Looney4Clooney |
| is a ing organizer dude |
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| wayfinder |
| i tend to not write a list like that, except when i feel like there's too much specific stuff that i'm in danger of forgetting, because when I have a list, making music becomes a chore somehow. turns play into work. |
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| Ankhsunamun |
Yea, I can see how a list might take the excitement out of putting things together. Working in a linear fashion is boring most of the time.
However, some general guidelines, as far as order of production can be handy when it's too easy to lose focus.
L4C: The usefulness of an organizer like that doesn't right away seem to be as useful (to me!) as say, the timeline of a given DAW. Granted, I know nothing of ipads and their apps as I have never owned one.
I find that the timeline is a great way to organize and experiment, because of the ease in which you can add/subtract, layout any element in any order, and place the midi of one track into another track's instrument for interesting variations. I also find that the latter technique helps me "hear more" of that sound on the fly.
Super quick, super easy, and can sometimes inspire a new idea all on it's own. |
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| Ankhsunamun |
Also, Perhaps the words "Must" and "Essential" are a bit too strong. Placing a "rule" or limit on your projects could indeed stiffen your creative flow and overall production.
Instead of having something that MUST make it into your mix, what would be something that you feel almost always makes your work better or feel more complete. Sort of like a useful habit that you learned from somewhere or developed for yourself.
Some examples could be:
-Duplicating your basslines to give them more of a punch and timbre
-Adding multiple compressors to a track
-Routing midi tracks to an audio track
-Creating a separate track for each drum sound
-Grouping tracks
Another thing that I have found really helps when I'm looking for motivation, is to make a playlist of genre specific tunes, listen to all of them, and see if I can hear something that catches my attention, in relation to what I'm trying to work on.
Some of the projects I had the most fun working on were completely accidental. I would start a track with the intent to remix something, and halfway through, it transformed into some else entirely. |
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| Ankhsunamun |
Bump Post XD
Another thing that I do (even though it may be difficult at times) is to delete an entire element if I find myself second guessing it for too long.
I'll delete all of the effects, automation, and even the instrument itself in an effort to start over fresh.
Doing this has ALWAYS produced better results for that element. I can't think of a single time where it was a wasted effort.
I welcome anyone to chime in with any detail they might find interesting, however small or insignificant.
Cheers |
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