Well, to be honest I’ve struggled in the studio in the last few weeks. Some times its been good but most of the stuff I’ve been firing out just has been an utter ball ache. So what to do when things aren’t going well for in the LAB?
Well, I needed some inspiration and I turned to the Q&A on “The Grid” for some much needed advice and boy was I glad I did! One of my all time favorite producers in Optiv from the Cause4Concern and his Q&A was a blinder.
Here are a few notes from the Q&A:
1. We start off with a relatively simple drum kit or loop,
2. Find a sample that evokes some kind of vibe,
3. Work on some bass and from there just add elements that reinforce the idea.
4. Usually the first half of any session is about sound design and preparing samples. Then we arrange the sounds and start on the arrangement.
This is how I kind of work right now but notice point 4? First half sound design and the second half arrangement. Optiv mentions that he never starts to arrange until he has all the sounds just right. This is a BIG BIG BIG tip. If you’re trying to do some major tweaks to your samples in the arrangement phase things are NOT going to go well for you. DON’T jump the gun with the arrangement. Get the sounds right before moving on. Keep adding and adding parts to your track until you can’t add anymore. Then arrange. This should help you keep your flow when arranging and, ultimately help you finish tunes as well.
Let’s face it. Drum and Bass Production is tough. So getting your work flow right is CRUCIAL if you want to write good quality tunes in a small space of time.
Best of luck.
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Indeed mate, the last thing you want to do when arranging the track is to tweak samples. Having said that, I’m guilty as charged here. What I’ve found though is that the flipside of that argument is that you might end up coming up with nothing but a 1 bar loop, especially after hearing it 50 million times in the session view. The whole thing gets etched into your brain in such a way that it’s hard to imagine something outside of it, so I think it’s important not to get stuck into the tweaking stage for too long! When using the session view, it might be helpful to come up with 3 or 4 different session lines/variations instead of just the one, that way it helps give you SOME kind of idea what the arrangement will sound like when you eventually get around to doing it.
Yep, exactly. Work a few different variations if you can. Optiv mentions this in the Q&A. Tweaking samples whilst in the middle of getting the track done is soul killing.
Thanks for the comment.
d
read through some of your tips, you see i’m good at coming up with basslines and sounds and beats, its the intros i struggle with, any tips you can give me on intros
Hey Ashley,
its a double edged sword. I was chatting to Jeremy from the Upbeats about this the other day and mentioned to me that you should gather together a whole bunch of sounds to start with before building your tune. Misanthrop also mentions this in the DOA Q&A as well.
I’ve been using Ableton Live for this because I believe its soo damn fast at it.
1. Get an atmos
2. Grab a few stabs
3. Get some Tech- Sounds (if you are writing a tech track)
4. Impacts, crashes and a few reverse sounds as well.
Then work on your beats and then your bass.
Hope that helps.
dauntless
Interesting tip homeboy… I’m torn between worlds on that one myself. I agree it’s best to get the sounds kinda right to start with, but it’s easy to get lost and spend hours fucking around trying to get your sounds on point, and by then you’ve lost the original idea that was bouncing around your mind. Sometimes it’s better to nail out your idea and THEN fine tune the sounds. But hey, at the end of the day, whatever works!
I know what you mean, however the idea is you have the IDEA of the tune already. However, before you start to arrange the track get your sounds right. Low cut, high cut, compress, limit etc.
Get everything sounding great first. Then BANG… arrange that shit out.
d