Tips on Getting Tracks Finished

[kaiori breathe]

Most people write chronologically.

I.e., they write a song as they usually hear one.

So they'll write their intro then their drop then a mid section then a 2nd drop then an outro.

This is a really bad way to write music I think. It's highly ineffective and makes you work twice as hard as you have to.

A better way to write a track is to START with the drop. Then just simplify it and re-arrange it and voice it in different ways to make the other sections. The first way of writing a track, the way most people work with, forces you to expand on every section to make the next, writing my way you have one idea then you reduce it, it takes less thought, it's more efficient and it's far more practical and logical.

I've done this with every single track I've ever put together.

I guarantee if you start with your drop you'll get more tracks finished.

[ylem]

have a good idea of what you want out of a tune....

-is it multi-layered, busy
-minimal
-is it about the beat or bass or vocal
-is it about the melody
-whatevs

once you have a clear picture of what you want to be the main "actor" in your tune then you can focus on "directing" it to the best of your ability...

-try not to incorporate too many ideas into a track, save them for other tracks

-vibe out to your tracks, get an mpd, or map all your sounds to midi, do some finger drumming, get out of your chair and stand up, MOVE... its dance music ffs, no point being a stone cold statue in the 'director's chair' the whole time...

-get ruthless with your sounds/music... if its buggin you a little, fuck it off...otherwise you'll be tweaking it until the vibe is completely lost... you'll never move on with the rest of your track until you do...

-get inspiration from your favourite tunes, how were they finished?

-as for arrangement... you need some kind of formula or else your stumbling around in the dark...

i advise this....

Most people write chronologically.

I.e., they write a song as they usually hear one.

So they'll write their intro then their drop then a mid section then a 2nd drop then an outro.

This is a really bad way to write music I think. It's highly ineffective and makes you work twice as hard as you have to.

A better way to write a track is to START with the drop. Then just simplify it and re-arrange it and voice it in different ways to make the other sections. The first way of writing a track, the way most people work with, forces you to expand on every section to make the next, writing my way you have one idea then you reduce it, it takes less thought, it's more efficient and it's far more practical and logical.

I've done this with every single track I've ever put together.

I guarantee if you start with your drop you'll get more tracks finished.

[Ayatollah]

this thread has some great advice. Big up everybody!

[AL4228]

Basically what i do is loop the track millions of times and keep makeing additions to the song in my head every loop untill one sparks my trigger, then i jump on it like a jack rabbit and create dubstep

[An Expresso]

Most people write chronologically.

I.e., they write a song as they usually hear one.

So they'll write their intro then their drop then a mid section then a 2nd drop then an outro.

This is a really bad way to write music I think. It's highly ineffective and makes you work twice as hard as you have to.

A better way to write a track is to START with the drop. Then just simplify it and re-arrange it and voice it in different ways to make the other sections. The first way of writing a track, the way most people work with, forces you to expand on every section to make the next, writing my way you have one idea then you reduce it, it takes less thought, it's more efficient and it's far more practical and logical.

I've done this with every single track I've ever put together.

I guarantee if you start with your drop you'll get more tracks finished.

yeah that's a good way, i do it too. i couldnt imagine doing it chronologically, that has to be a bitch.

but anyways my tip would be try creating music on different drugs if you're open to that, I've came up with some insane stuff but you know don't be a retard with it.

[Basic A]

Really?

I used to work from th drop out and and do my intros n stuff later, nver got anything quality done...

I write from the first bar to the last now, get alot more done, keeps it interesting more often too...

[SunkLo]

A lot of really good advice in these posts guys, big up!
Also shows how different producers go about things in different ways.

On the structure writing order, I find drop first tends to involve progressively less work once you've got your main idea down, but sometimes leads to a fairly formulaic structure. Writing intro first emphasizes the progression through the track's sections and the journey of the song.
Going drop first you just need to pay attention to what the song needs and not just tear away but build up the other sections. Going intro first you need to be able to see where you're heading and try to maintain movement towards your goals.

The next track I come up with, I might try a hybrid: writing a drop first, then going back to the intro and progressing up to it.

Keep sharing the quality info homebros!

[kejk]

This is where I fail as a producer.

I'm so confident of my homemade samples and patches. I can come up with catchy riffs and melodies. I understand pretty much everything about the software I use. It's been about 5 years since I started producing music. I've played drums for over 12 years.

I can not fucking arrange.

[Mad_EP]

There is another step that I didn't mention last time... basically because I have two different categories of "finished" tracks:

1) where a track is finished enough that I hand it out to some of my peeps, I drop it in live or dj sets, etc. Whether or not it is lazy is a point of debate, but this level of finished is usually only 85-95% of being *actually* finished. My previous comments pertain to this first level.

2) is a different beast. it is when I know it is going to be released, and I start doing all SORTS of new tweaking on it. not just on the mixing, but even in the composition as well. part of the reason I keep a bit "left to be finished" till I know when and how it will be released, is that to me, it depends what tracks will be released with it in order to decide how to finish the polishing.

A good example is a project I am working on right now... The ShadowHuntaz and I have been working together off and on for several years - we've released a few tracks together, but we have always wanted to do a full album. We recently got the go-ahead from a hiphop label we like... so now I am putting together a sketch of the album for the label, so they can have a better idea in their head when they start to announce it soon. Some of the tracks are brand new, some are a few years old, but now that I know we are gonna release most of them together (rather than a single here & there)... I want to make them gel together a bit more. Some of them just needed some relative volume adjustment, others needed serious overhauling to work together. Basically, the past couple weeks have almost solely been spent on 'finishing' tracks that were already 'done'... and this is only for a sketch of the album. A couple tracks are still being written, so there will no doubt be more changes for the future...

The basic underlying message is that even when a track is "done", you should still be self-critical enough to be able to improve it once you got the label interested. Always push yourself to make it better. Hell - to be completely honest, I have "fixed" tracks that were already released and did well... but just cos in hindsight, I knew I could do better... so I fixed them, even though I am the only one who will ever hear the result.


Not everyone is cut out for that level of OCD... but then again.. the result is something you can be proud of. I read all the time about artists who are embarassed by their early work, etc... why be that way? Even though I strive to continually improve on what I did yesterday, I stand by anything I ever released publicly.

[morpheous]

Big Up This Thread some good comments here. I like the reference to getting exercise and fresh air , It is all About the Mind State that your in when your at the buttons ,

I also find making a mental note of Songs you want to do helps , Like queing up a idea in your head and pondering over it for a few days .Then When it comes to making it you can just let the idea flood out .

I find i am in a cycle where for a week or so i will constantly produce but then i run out of steam , What I then do is "absorb" influences from all around me and listen to good production techniques .... When you come back round to making tunes after this period you realize you will be full of a lot more enthusiasm and the creative process is more enjoyable

[Sharmaji]

i'm literally in day 3 of 8-hour days finishing the mix on a song. Sometimes it just takes a lot of work. it ain't fun, but remember-- Quincy Jones & Michael Jackson sent Bruce Swedien-- who's a god amongst mix engineers-- back to the drawing board on Billy Jean nearly 90 times. And this was in the days of all-hardware mixing, no "save session as," no instant recall-- you got out your sheets, re-set your settings, and started from scratch.

Then they took the 2nd mix.

Sometimes you get something that you're pretty aware is good, but it like your B grade material, and you know it needs something to make it worthy of your A game. Sit on it, gather inspiration, and then BOOM, it comes. and it might require you to completely re-arrange your idea, take out the thing that you were really precious about keeping in there-- forget it. do it.

If you get in the fight to finish a particular idea, STAY IN THE FIGHT. It can take a while, but staying aware and open to ideas to round something out (and then hunkering down and doing it) is really the only way to getter done.

[fhsueh]

...and it might require you to completely re-arrange your idea, take out the thing that you were really precious about keeping in there-- forget it. do it.

So true man. Thanks for the reminder. Gotta know when to be be ruthless with yourself.

[paradigm_x]

There is another step that I didn't mention last time... basically because I have two different categories of "finished" tracks:

1) where a track is finished enough that I hand it out to some of my peeps, I drop it in live or dj sets, etc. Whether or not it is lazy is a point of debate, but this level of finished is usually only 85-95% of being *actually* finished. My previous comments pertain to this first level.

2) is a different beast. it is when I know it is going to be released, and I start doing all SORTS of new tweaking on it. not just on the mixing, but even in the composition as well. part of the reason I keep a bit "left to be finished" till I know when and how it will be released, is that to me, it depends what tracks will be released with it in order to decide how to finish the polishing.

A good example is a project I am working on right now... The ShadowHuntaz and I have been working together off and on for several years - we've released a few tracks together, but we have always wanted to do a full album. We recently got the go-ahead from a hiphop label we like... so now I am putting together a sketch of the album for the label, so they can have a better idea in their head when they start to announce it soon. Some of the tracks are brand new, some are a few years old, but now that I know we are gonna release most of them together (rather than a single here & there)... I want to make them gel together a bit more. Some of them just needed some relative volume adjustment, others needed serious overhauling to work together. Basically, the past couple weeks have almost solely been spent on 'finishing' tracks that were already 'done'... and this is only for a sketch of the album. A couple tracks are still being written, so there will no doubt be more changes for the future...

The basic underlying message is that even when a track is "done", you should still be self-critical enough to be able to improve it once you got the label interested. Always push yourself to make it better. Hell - to be completely honest, I have "fixed" tracks that were already released and did well... but just cos in hindsight, I knew I could do better... so I fixed them, even though I am the only one who will ever hear the result.


Not everyone is cut out for that level of OCD... but then again.. the result is something you can be proud of. I read all the time about artists who are embarassed by their early work, etc... why be that way? Even though I strive to continually improve on what I did yesterday, I stand by anything I ever released publicly.

Amen.

Ive redone tunes that have come out on vinyl. 'We Both Are Lost' has been redone on and off over the last 4 years. The End of the Earth tune was on project file 46 by the time it was 'finished' and god only knows how many different bounces came out of those files. Heh.

"We both" started out exactly at stage 1) above, and then got some interest and finally came out 4 years later, with all the tweaks as stage 2). Some are much quicker than that tho. Sometimes i get totally stuck at 1) and cant get it to 2) so get shelved.

[GRAYSKALE]

The best advice I could give (though I may not be the best to give advice on this as I can take anywhere between two days and 3 months to finish a track!) is to succumb to the knowledge that however bad-ass or cool the song in your head sounds the end result is going to be much different (at least if you lack the knowledge and skills like me), though I often find this isnt a bad thing - sometimes Ill be wanting to jam on something heavy and then end up coming up with a really cool mellow track and vice versa - and as everyone else has said just push through the desire to stop and always keeping adding, or taking away, so that the song is in constant motion and change!

[Sharmaji]

This is where I fail as a producer.

I'm so confident of my homemade samples and patches. I can come up with catchy riffs and melodies. I understand pretty much everything about the software I use. It's been about 5 years since I started producing music. I've played drums for over 12 years.

I can not fucking arrange.

as a drummer, you already know how to arrange. even the simplest things like hihat in the verse, ride in the chorus, floor tom in the bridge, etc is arrangment.

Screw theese EDM sissies and get to drummin!

also, get a controlpad or something you can use to enter ideas w/ sticks. again, play to your strengths.

[xaviergray]

This is where I fail as a producer.

I'm so confident of my homemade samples and patches. I can come up with catchy riffs and melodies. I understand pretty much everything about the software I use. It's been about 5 years since I started producing music. I've played drums for over 12 years.

I can not fucking arrange.

These ones really helped for me:

1. Look up subtractive arrangement, and practice it - this probably explains it best: http://tarekith.com/assets/arranging.html

2. Make a basic outline of your track - for example: Intro - Drop - Plateau - Breakdown - Drop - Outtro. Go from there and decide which section needs what, in terms of parts and flow. If you're making dance music (which I assume you are, we're on dubstep forum after all ) you'll probably want to break it down into groups of 4.

3. and really listen closely to the type of music you're making and what makes the song flow in terms of levels of excitement, transitions, risers, fills, etc.

I definitely hear you, arrangement is pretty much the hardest part of it all for me. If you ever get a chance to go to ill.gates' production workshop, do it, because of the emphasis on arrangement and workflow. Getting past the initial loop is probably the hardest thing for any producer, and there's really a science to it.

[SunkLo]

I've got another technique I've been trying on a track I started. It's got double bass, guitar, and dual saxophone harmonies and that's it so far. I'm saving the drums for last.
For several reasons: One, because I spend so long programming drums, adjusting velocities and timing,etc. that it puts me off track a bit.
Two, I started off by concentrating on the rhythm of the melodic instruments. I really wanted a lot of the rhythm to come from them, obviously from the bass but also from the guitar. I started with the guitar and was playing with phrasing and groupings of 3 so I wanted to continue trying to lead a bit of the groove with that.
Finally, the main point was that I find that once the drums are there the track feels finished. Even though it's just an 8 bar loop, it feels like it already has all the aspects present, and you just sit there and groove out to it without knowing what else you can do.

I thought if I arranged the whole song first and then went back and did the drums it would keep me working forward. I tend to think vertically when composing; that is, in terms of harmony and elements stacked on top of each other. I'm more likely to add something to a section instead of putting something new after it. A more horizontal approach would result in more of the track being laid out which I would then find very easy to add on top of.

Give it a try, if you normally find yourself adding new parts on top of others, try working only on new variations for the existing instruments and limit yourself to a few instruments. Vice versa if you're more of a horizontal thinker, try thinking of new things that will gel on top of your existing instrumentation.

The next track I start I'm going to try to write the whole thing on one instrument, then introduce a second and write all the parts for that, etc.

What's odd is, for some reason I have no problem with horizontal thinking in a different scenario, say playing guitar. I think a bit of my block seems to come from the technology issue, I don't have a midi keyboard so everything is drawn by hand which makes it harder to just play and come up with new things. Everything is very premeditated which could affect things negatively or positively. Guess I should just drop the cash on a midi board...

[AL4228]

edit: i just realised i already posted in here
HOW CAN I HAZ MAKE WOBBULZ? *swift topic change attack* = Leaves opponents thinking on different matters

[deadly_habit]

it's simple. not a paragraph. either your feelin it or your not.

my best tunes (least the ones most special to me) always get done in a matter of a day or 2 not months later (much to the dismay of people asking about when is xXxXx wip gonna be done)

[DJ Crackle]

That idea of just changing one thing on your most neglected track is pretty cool. Might start that.
Also, I'm living in an apartment with my girl. My production computer (only computer) is in the living room, and we don't use the bedroom for much, other than at night.

with that said,

Make sure your girl's not around.

I find that's the main one, really.