Getting over production.

[Kodachrome]

I feel like the more I focus on production the less I can just crank out a good tune. Do you guys usually get everything going in Midi or basic sounds before really playing with your sound design and production? What are some ways you get over the daunting task of getting all your sounds to sound "right" so that you can get the basics down and make a good tune?

I have no problem picking a guitar up and writing a killer song, but it just doesn't seem to translate when I'm sitting in front of my DAW holding a midi controller.

Just post some of your thoughts on it in this thread.

[ChadDub]

I have this problem too, but I've only been producing for like 4 months.

To get over this problem, I've been strictly sound designing for the past few weeks, and learning a lot along the way, so that when the inspiration comes to make a tune, I can just crank it out.

[lowlif3]

Try to make the tune in your head and then maybe beatbox it.

[TecBloc]

Yea thats a tricky one.... i guess it depends what your sound is... If your making really intricate complex bass like a noisia tune, then your gunna have to spend a while on the sound design... I guess if your more of a brostep style you can just make the patch then play around with melodies (which is usually what i do).... I sometimes like to have sessions where i just sit down and write patches, then when you come back to them in a different session they sound fresh and then you can play around with composition..... I guess you'll just have to find a system that works for you!

[lyons238]

yeah this happens to me too. especially while writing a bass line. i get an idea for a bassline but then i have to tweak it/modulate it/automate it to make it sound the way i want. by the time i end up doing all that i sort of lose my creativity and direction that i had in the first place.

but idk try to write down your ideas for your song in whatever way you will remember best. i sometimes have an idea for like an intro drop and ill write down stuff like "building white noise, kick repeats, pause, big bass drop, etc etc". thats just an example off of the top of my head. i write in more detail but i find sometimes that it helps keep the direction i originally had and was inspired to do.

[zonetrooper5]

Atm I just try and get most of the song laid out into the DAW, if I'm really into the song I'm making then usually I get most of it done in under an hour or two. Maybe taking breaks from making music, listening to other pieces of music from different genres might help. Hell it could help just to get the track laid out then once your got the rough workings of the track out, then start to tweak and mix so you make the song you really want.

[makerowner]

I usually do sound design and composition at the same time. I know some people can't start on the composition until the sound design is perfect, but I do sort of a rough sound design, do some composition, play with the sound, change the composition, play with the sound some more, etc.
Also probably 3/4 of the tunes I start never get past the first 8 bars, so I end up with lots of spare patches sitting around for when inspiration strikes. Then I can tweak those patches for the new tunes, throw out 3/4 of those, repeat, ????, tune!
You might want to try writing out your tunes on guitar first then putting them into your DAW. Obviously things like automating LFO's aren't gonna translate very well to guitar but you can get some of the basics down.

[CBK81]

Sound design can distract your direction of the tune. One thing I do that helps is to make an 8 bar loop first. Get that going as good as I want it. Then I will draw out a simple 32 bar intro, and copy/paste my 8 bars the full length of the first drop. Then Ill put the break down, then copy/paste my second drop. I'll then do the outro. From there I'll just go in and edit everything until it sounds interesting.

[jaydot]

I start off with a melody or a bassline invariably. It helps me set the tone for the rest of the track. I'll then get a basic 4 bar drum beat comprised of my kick, snare and hats and see how it all sounds together. I'll duplicate that 4 bar beat and then edit variotions in as I go. I'll do my intro which is either 16 or 32 usually... Then I'll add a break, which is sometimes just a repeat of my intro but still :/ and then the second drop/outro, adding FXs as I go.

[Siderealdb]

I start with an easy drum pattern, hit the keys to get my melody and bass line using just a gm piano. Go in and get the drums tight. Copy the bass portion of my piano track, and import it into a synth of my choosing and begin doing sound design on it. Then I'll do the same for the melody. Most of the time I'll leave the piano in it too cause i'm a piano slut.

[nowaysj]

Sound design can distract your direction of the tune. One thing I do that helps is to make an 8 bar loop first. Get that going as good as I want it. Then I will draw out a simple 32 bar intro, and copy/paste my 8 bars the full length of the first drop. Then Ill put the break down, then copy/paste my second drop. I'll then do the outro. From there I'll just go in and edit everything until it sounds interesting.

Think this works great sometimes, for some people.

I don't write a lot of full songs, but when I do, I get a totally opposite perspective. It goes like this - when I start out just fooling around, and actually get something going, it seems like how could I ever take this little nugget and make a song out of it, there is so much space/time how could this nugget stretch and fill it.

But then when I'm actually finishing up a song, I'm like damn, there is no space in here, I have to cut this and that and this.

The moral of what I'm trying and failing to say is that getting your basic song structure down, and laid out, and your mixer all wired up the way it needs to be, then going back and getting properly into sound design and proper variation, and sculpting, without the kind of blank canvas paranoia of how can I make this into a song.

And a little foot note, when you have a basic song structure laid out, it kind of shows you what you need to do with your sound design, it directs you. It necessitates an energy build here, and a tension release there. If you're just aimlessly sound designing, you can go for years (trust me on that one) without ever doing anything.

Let the song dictate the sound design and the technical production requirements.

[BeastModeForDummies]

Let the song dictate the sound design and the technical production requirements.

intuitive

[hutyluty]

set yourself a time limit of say 2 hours to get the basic tune down without getting everything to sound exactly how you like, then you can go back and tweak it all to perfection afterwards, often changing the entire track. Well thats what i do anyway.

[kaiori breathe]

Tend to write everything on piano or guitar first, anything I make production wise is more of an interpretation of an instrumental piano or guitar piece i wrote before

[TainDubstep]

I think its just best to put all the advanced music knowledge aside when writing a new tune (for me anyway)... I think if you focus too much on trying to get the sound perfect and adding all your FX and inserts etc... you end up spending to much time looping stuff up until the point your not interested in it anymore.
Try not to get too tangled up with the advanced stuff.... it doesn't make it a good tune. Some of the best artists are the ones who arn't brainy and just get the melody/beat perfect rather than trying to EQ the shit out it...
Also I tend to find alot of people who can talk for hours about the technical side make some really crap stuff, so I wouldn't get too fussed about it mate.
Hope that helps anyway!

[eshscramble]

I see where you are coming from, and I agree.

I try to change my process a lot to keep the ideas fresh and not get stuck into the same sound and methods.
For example, I wrote five tracks on only a guitar, korg drum machine, and ran all signals thru a peavey guitar head with spring verb,
just to eliminate the computer process in all other ways than for the mixdown.

I think doing that - even just as an exercise - made it a lot easier for me to focus on which sounds i WANTED to hear in my tunes,
rather than which ones i KNEW how to make.

No one wants to be regurgitating tutorials or new techniques they just learned all the time...

I believe Dimebag said something like he knew all the music theory shit, but then forced himself to forget it
and just sat down with his guitar and some whiskey and played what he wanted to hear.

So just sit down, get a solid groove going, and who gives a shit if it sounds like contemporary dubstep or whatever the hell.
If it's a nice groove, it's a nice groove.

Thanks for the thread - makes me want to make a tune!

[eshscramble]

I think its just best to put all the advanced music knowledge aside when writing a new tune (for me anyway)... I think if you focus too much on trying to get the sound perfect and adding all your FX and inserts etc... you end up spending to much time looping stuff up until the point your not interested in it anymore.
Try not to get too tangled up with the advanced stuff.... it doesn't make it a good tune. Some of the best artists are the ones who arn't brainy and just get the melody/beat perfect rather than trying to EQ the shit out it...
Also I tend to find alot of people who can talk for hours about the technical side make some really crap stuff, so I wouldn't get too fussed about it mate.
Hope that helps anyway!

this is so on point

[Filthzilla]

Yeah if you set the vibe right the tune will build itself.

My advice would be just to keep producing, every so often a banger will surface. You'll make a few average tunes and then one dopeee tune. That's how I see it anyway.

[nowaysj]

And listen, as your ears get better, and you can really start to hear what is there, you'll also know what you need to do, and be able to do it more quickly. So the technical side of production kind of goes away a bit, and you can more easily focus on sound design and songwriting.

[Dreadfunk]

Design a whole bunch of patches / FX chains / little bits before you even start writing a tune. Then when you get a creative idea, you'll have a lot of pre-made stuff to work with.