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I usually start with some itch in my brain that wont go away unless i do something...heh just kidding. No, i start by creating a nice kick and snare... usually i ll just make some 4/4 boring pattern just so i have some hits. i also usually at least have some basic idea of what i want the track to sound like so i can shape the drums accordingly. Then i ll go to my bassline and start doing that one either in one patch if its more melody driven or lately i try to go for more sound design approach so i ll just put multiple basslines and start wrkin them step by step. Now i can start offseting my kick and snar a bit but stil nothing fancy unless i know i want it, cause like ppl be4 said drums will just limit u. After its up to lead pads and arps and whatnot, probably somwhere in between i ll slap some basic hats in there, but i finish drums last usually. Then other times i ll start with chords, cause if u have a nice chord progression u basicaly have ur song.

I finish my whole drum track first, then lay the atmosphere and fx on top of it. Intro synths come next, then bassline, then mix it down. i think of the drum track as the skeleton that dictates the movement of the bassline. by doing that the bassline interacts nicely with the drum track making it more interesting.

I will also start with drums and get them so my head starts bobbin. then ill lay them on my track(4 bars) then copy to make them an 8 bar loop and change a few notes in the last 8 bars for variety. Then bass, lead, maybe one or two more melodic elements such as stabs or some melodic pads. Then maybe just maybe ill through some wobble in there if i think it deserves it haha

I will also start with drums and get them so my head starts bobbin. then ill lay them on my track(4 bars) then copy to make them an 8 bar loop and change a few notes in the last 8 bars for variety. Then bass, lead, maybe one or two more melodic elements such as stabs or some melodic pads. Then maybe just maybe ill through some wobble in there if i think it deserves it haha

usually loop 8 bars of drums so i can then go forward and work on the melody/ basses etc. and have all the drum samples i want. Then later ill go back and move the drums to fit it better.

Every time I start making a track, it's because I want to implement a certain technique to practice it. Like, just now I started making a track just because I wanted to practice doing different time signatures, and so now I have a good track that's in 3/8 time.

The way I usually start making the track is I load up an instrument I feel like using, and then I'll load up a drum kit. I'll fiddle around with both interchangeably and then eventually I'll find a melody and a cool drum beat to go along with it. I then do the drums and have them all EQ'd and compressed and gain staged, and then I'll lay down either the chord progression I came up with or a lead I came up with or w/e melodic thing I came up with when I was fooling around with the drums and that instrument. After that it's just layering leads, pads, different percussion, panning stuff, EQ'ing stuff, gain staging stuff, testing in mono, reverbing, etc.

ya'll fuck with your drums way too much in the beginning

to the guys who think starting your track with drums is boring- Well.....maybe its not that starting your taracks with drums is boring, maybe its your drum beats are boring...jus sayin

atmosphere > percs > bassline / low drums
is my ideal method. most of the time its pretty random what I start with, depends on what I feel like making. I don't really sit down and go "I'm going to make a tune!" I just make something that I want to

I like to start out by finding one of my favorite songs, find the key to it, then add drums and sample a piece of it

try to emulate something from my fav artist > fail miserably > in failure find something desirable

Zkeeto wrote:to the guys who think starting your track with drums is boring- Well.....maybe its not that starting your taracks with drums is boring, maybe its your drum beats are boring...jus sayin

Nope, it's starting the track with the drums that I find boring, not the drum beats themselves.

wub wrote:

Zkeeto wrote:to the guys who think starting your track with drums is boring- Well.....maybe its not that starting your taracks with drums is boring, maybe its your drum beats are boring...jus sayin

Nope, it's starting the track with the drums that I find boring, not the drum beats themselves.

You know Wub you have got me thinking about starting with drums since you made the comment about trying to shoehorn the tune around them and IMO you are on to something. I have had three diff studio setups since I started in 99. It was an MPC 2000 and sampling records for a long while and Starting with drums is pretty typical for that set up I would think. But that was a long time ago and now I have computers and synths and options never before imagined lol the technology is almost too much these days. Starting with drums isnt a bad idea ( no right or wrong as far as im concerned) but its a scratch drum track now a days with super basic ugly drum sounds( like a rhythmic place holder of sorts ) then when I feel like the song is shaped up i go in on the drums, Boom bap da boom boom bap.

wub wrote:

Zkeeto wrote:to the guys who think starting your track with drums is boring- Well.....maybe its not that starting your taracks with drums is boring, maybe its your drum beats are boring...jus sayin

Nope, it's starting the track with the drums that I find boring, not the drum beats themselves.

Maybe its cuz I've been a drummer for so long that I my ears are always listening to the drum patterns in songs. I've been ear/brainwashed ha!

honestly, i never get anywhere from starting the track with drums, kinda like what Wub said. It's way easier to build melodies off chords/