Tips on Getting Tracks Finished

[slothrop]

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, with the slight modification of saying 'climax' instead of neccessarily 'drop' (because the high point of the tune might be something that drops hard suddenly or something that you build to gradually) I'd say this really helps. It basically stops you writing a bunch of loops, starting to arrange from the beginning of the tune, and then realizing that two minutes in you've played all the cards in your hand and the tune has no sense of direction and then having to start writing some new bits and pieces that end up sounding a bit artificial and don't really work as well as the existing stuff and then you lose interest and go onto something else...

[RandomEyez]

When you feel a track is nearing completion, its a good idea to render the track to audio and listen to it outwith your studio environment e.g on the way to work/in the gym or whatever. When listening a few things should jump out at you that could do with being tweaked which you should make a note of...eg more variation needed in percussion, add reverse cymbal, more delay need on vocal before brakdown, irritating sample needing deleted altogther etc

Go home, make your changes, repeat process, and soon enough you hit the point where you can listen to it and be content that its a finished piece of work which flows nicely from start to finish.

In sayin that I rarely get to that stage but for the few tracks I would say are properly finished thats how i've got there.

[Ldizzy]

do not jerk off.

bounce often.

great info above too.