Dec 23, 2009
The Creative Process
Anyone that spends a decent amount of time creating their own music develops their own work flow to get to the end product. The same is of course true of any art really. I can’t say every time its exactly the same (sometimes sticking to a process limits the end result too much), but for the most part its close. I’m going to stick to high level and use later posts to discuss the nitty gritty details of template files, tips and tricks, etc. The process comes down to four stages:
- Conceptualize:
On any given day I’ll get at least one or two sonic ideas. My head is like a giant sampler chopping up the noise around me into a million bite size chunks. Its likely a result of spending years with the damn devices, but I’m just as likely to develop a drum beat from a horrific car crash as I am tapping against the steering wheel as I drive to/from work. Either way, I almost exclusively start rhythmically and build from there. The challenge for me is being in a place to get those ideas down quickly. Doing 80mph on the highway usually isn’t the right time to start scribbling in a notebook. Maybe you can, but I’ve found texting while driving hard enough. I usually wait until the next time I’m stopped and jot down a reminder of what spawned the idea and then as soon as i can sit down and put more detail behind it i will. If I’m in the studio (and by this i mean home studio), I typically try to make sure that I started a hand held recorder. It serves two purposes: first as an audio reminder and secondly as a sample and playback source. If you don’t have a hand held recorder, get one. You’ll thank me.
- Create and Refine:
There are times that this step feels like throwing 10 pounds of shit at the wall and seeing what sticks. Its very iterative as I’ll spend a couple hours in the studio working on ideas, and then listen to them for about the same amount of time to decide what on repeat gets annoying. After a couple (dozen) cycles I end up getting close to the equivalent of micromanagement. Once you get to this point: STOP. and…
- Walk Away:
Go work on something else for a bit. You need to change your frame of reference for a bit. There have been times that I wish I’d actually done this as i overworked something right back into nothing. Sometimes this is the hardest point in the process for me. I want to call it done so I’ll just keep pushing instead of stepping away.
- Calling It Done:
How long after stepping away seems to vary. At times I end up coming back after I have to walk away from something else to avoid destroying it. I usually start by listening to the track a couple times on repeat to see if there is anything that stands out too much, gets to repetitive, or otherwise feels off. If I’m happy with it, great, otherwise I limit myself to one evening and at most three final mix downs from which I pick the best. Normally its just one pass, but there have been times where I’ve played the mixer like an instrument and need more than one take to get what I want. Regardless, after this point, I call it done. I’ll remix it later if I get an idea of a completely different direction, but usually I’ve put a fork in it.
So that’s the process I go through. Anyone else have any good advice or pitfalls to avoid?
