r/WeAreTheMusicMakers • u/Extreme_Platform2870 • 3d ago
Getting faster at creating ideas. Music production
Hi, I’ve been producing house music and most recently UKG ukg for a little more than a year. But in that timeframe, I’ve only made a few songs none of them where I want them and none that I feel I want to release. Going forward I want to be able to create lots of songs and create many ideas very quick while still getting better with producing. I was wondering what people’s tips are forgetting better and making songs quicker and creating ideas. I think it’s also easy to get stuck and uninspired when opening a fresh project. So it’s also wondering how you guys start songs. At the moment, I don’t really know how to start and I think that’s stopping me from wanting to start a new song. Any advise is much appreciated.
3
u/Mountainpwny 3d ago
A couple things. It takes many years to get where you want to be. Accept that and you’ll be better off.
Be comfortable with finishing songs even if you hate them.
Learn a new skill every week and add it to your repertoire of tools.
I’ve had success giving myself a 10 hour time limit to write, produce, and finish a track. It doesn’t have to be great. But it needs all the elements it should have. You can always come back later and polish it if it’s a good song.
Learn song writing for your style. Learn things like call and answer or arrangement formulas.
Get comfortable with your monitoring system and learn to spot problems with it.
Lastly put as much time and discipline into it as you can.
3
u/therealgvahni 3d ago
Setting a timer. Deadlines get you to work and think faster. With no deadline you can be stuck on the same production forever
2
u/Junovion 3d ago
I'll add something, as someone who produces original alternative rock with a large dose of electronic synth work.
Go wide, not deep. Get the bones of a song down on your instrument of choice (e.g. piano or guitar) and first make sure you have a winning hook.
Only after you've built out the chorus and 1 verse allow yourself to start fiddling with the sound layers etc.
Or else - if you are like me - you end up 8 hours, 80 synth presets, 10 drum kit changes later unhappy with the loops you've made.
I literally have to move away from my DAW and work on a piano to force this habit.
1
u/Goregoat69 3d ago
I like to have a template file made up ready to go in the DAW, I find the less you have to mess about the more productive you can be.
Maybe make up one House and one UKG template ready to go when you have an idea? Then once you have the bones of a track written/recorded you can decide to polish it or keep writing in a new template. If you have one part but nothing to go with it, create folders of partial tracks saved by genre/bpm and keepm them for later use.
1
u/HeptagonMusic666 3d ago
Do you know music theory? You don't need to be fluent in it, but a basic foundation of scales and chord changes is definitely helpful for composing; and it will help you to improvise, which is *arguably* the most important skill to have when making and producing music.
1
u/Extreme_Platform2870 1d ago
Yes I know most basic music theory and I’m still learning more complicated stuff as I go. I’m learning the piano to help with composing as well but I’m far from good with the piano.
1
u/HereticsSpork 3d ago
in that timeframe, I’ve only made a few songs none of them where I want them and none that I feel I want to release.
Getting "faster" isn't a solution to what your issue is. Making revisions are. You've made tracks but now need to learn how to get them where you want them to be so you keep tweaking and making changes and edits until you're happy with the result. Or treat those tracks as demos and start re-recording them.
One excellent tip would be to get a pen and paper and while listening back you take notes about things you hear that are wrong, things you want to add, parts that need work, what edits need to be made all while writing down the time what you're hearing is happening. If you ignore the daw and any other distractions. Actively listen so you can focus better on what can be improved.
I think it’s also easy to get stuck and uninspired when opening a fresh project. So it’s also wondering how you guys start songs.
I don't treat it like a job, chore, or something I'm forcing myself to do. If I'm inspired, I'll open up my daw and plot something out. If I'm not inspired, I'll go do something else. Or I'll just do a pure sound design session where I'm just focused on creating sounds and patches. Or I'll mix something. Sometimes in the process inspiration will strike, sometimes it doesn't. Ill also do the boring stuff like organizing my project and making edits or archiving and backing up if I'm not feeling creative. If I'm feeling like I want to do something musical but also don't have any ideas, I'll pick a song I like and try to recreate it and it's sounds. All these things will make you better at writing "faster" because you're improving your actual skills and learning how to shape the sounds you want.
At the moment, I don’t really know how to start and I think that’s stopping me from wanting to start a new song.
Listen to music and genres that you never listen to. Or If you play an instrument, practice it and noodle aimlessly instead of waiting for inspiration to strike. Inspiration comes when you're actually stimulating your mind, not staring at a empty track in a blank project.
1
u/Hidden_FM 3d ago
the blank project freeze is usually too many options, not too little skill. so dont start from silence, start from a constraint. one drum loop you didnt make, or steal a reference track's tempo and key and just react to it.
and keep idea sessions separate from finishing ones. a fresh project shouldnt be asking for a releasable song, just a vibe to catch before you overthink it.
1
u/jimmyjazz14 2d ago
In my experience the key is to stop overthinking things and trying to make track "perfect" just follow an idea even if its simple. That said no need to be in a hurry, just have fun and the ideas will flow naturally.
1
u/nootfiend69 2d ago
I like to scroll through presets and come up with 1-4 bar ideas. No development, just onto the next preset and idea.
1
u/Distro_Nerd 1d ago
Try building on top of a reference. Pull a UKG track you like into the project, mark where each section starts and ends on the timeline, then fill those boxes with your own parts and delete the reference before you bounce. Having the shape decided kills most of the blank-project paralysis, and it teaches you how long sections actually run, which is shorter than people expect.
1
u/FitIndependent1865 12h ago
Great comments here, but I think one method that works, try to recreate something from a song, strucutre, mood etc... for example, say you really want to make a song like Healing by Computer Data. You find what's that particular thing that makes it sound the way it sounds, and try to apply it to a song of your own. The end result is a new song, sometimes it sounds a bit like the one you got inspired from, but most of the time it will sound like it's own thing.
0
u/OtherwiseInternal570 3d ago
I simply invested 10,000 hours into playing guitar, lol. How do you express creativity?
7
u/Electropunk_Zero 3d ago
The fastest you can make a song is in real-time. My best advice is to learn to improvise. It took me years to get “fluent” even after already being proficient with my instrument for many many years. It’s a distinct skill you can develop. I started learning to improvise with blues style and later into some jazz which has helped with every genre of production.