As I mentioned in earlier posts, I was struggling with finding inspiration due to some stressful events. Being creative has not been easy lately and forcing myself to be creative by opening up my music creation software and starting from scratch certainly does not make it better either. Two days ago, however, I finally was in a creative mood. I did exactly what did not work for many days: I opened up my music creation software and started creating chords.

In this post I want to focus on my usual work flow, from ideas I have to the final result. Many ideas and concepts that occur during a project may actually not end up in the final song. Whereas that could be seen as a loss of time I spent on those ideas and not using them at all, I see it as a learning opportunity.

When I am making music, I like to be in the zone. I like to let my thoughts go and solely focus and the music. Not only does that help me to be highly creative, it also is a form of relaxation for me. I try not to be biased or fixated on a single idea or a specific concept but rather be open to whatever I come up with. 

Session #1

I started with the chords. Again, I work in trial and error most of the times. See what touches me and which chords have an emotional impact on me. Furthermore, I like build more and more elements around the chords. 

What I have learned so far and one of my biggest lesson remains however:

Simplicity is key and it is ok to be repetitive.

I often thought songs have to be highly complex in order to fascinate a listener. I would say it is the combination of simplicity that creates something we like listening to rather than being bombarded with too many patterns and rhythms. Of course there can be build ups in which more and more elements are added. Moreover, many genres use a huge amount of bits and pieces. Complextro, as the name already hints, is one of it and of course dubstep is one big genre that profits from this technique as well. Nevertheless, all of them still use repetitive patterns that help the listener to kind of predict the song subconsciously.

Enough said. My main point was, I often find myself wanting to add too many elements and then cut it down, delete some, or just use bits and pieces.

Session #2

I had basic drums already in my first version, but I decided to do more with it.

Session #3

I changed some things up, removed elements which I found distracting, and made minor changes in the melody. Moreover, I added a new arpeggiated Synthesizer.

Also I did not mention it earlier, but bass plays a big role in a song too, so I paid close attention to that as well.

Session #4

I changed up the melody again, blended it in a little better. The drums stuck out too much so I made them sound softer, and I added some string-like elements at the end (starting at 2:19).

What I really like about this project is how organic it sounds. All the sounds I created electronically from scratch. Most of them initially sounded really raw and aggressive. However, after I put multiple effects and modulations on those waveforms, it started to sound almost like realistic orchestral instruments.