Recently I’ve started with producing (deep)house and started figuring out how Logic Pro X works. But there are so many options and don’t have a good starting point. So I have a few questions about how to start etc.
How do you guys start producing a song?
How do you tune the drum samples in key of the song? If the song is in G Minor then the kick, clap etc needs to be tuned at G (50hz)?
I have a lot of samples and sampler instruments like Battery, Spark, Massive, Sylenth, Trilian, Kick by Nicky Romero. Which one do you prefer? Using samples out of packages for the kicks etc. or using sampler instruments? When I use samples for making a good drum intro then there are for instance 50 kinds of claps but do they need to be tuned to the key of the song? Or if its sounds good it is good?
Thank you for your help and sorry for my bad english. If there are some beginners tutorials or if someone want to help me through skype then please let me know
Most producers from my experience start with drums. Not that it has to be this way. I almost always start with drums but if I have a melody or bass line in my head then I will lay that down and form drums around it. It mostly depends on your background. I’m a tappity tap tap kinda dude always tappin on stuff, so I usually have a beat in my head, therefore the beat comes first. A guitarist or piano player getting into production will almost always start with melody. As far as tuning drums go, just experiment and go with what sounds good. Doing this will help you recognize keys more and you’ll just know when it’s right after awile. I have seen drums online (Loopmasters) that do have the key labeled, so that might help as well.
There’s really a few ways to start, usually driven by the inspiration for the work at that particular moment.
If a sound hits you, or you stumble across a sample, or a tune just makes itself in your head, you start with that.
If you are sitting down after a long day of work and saying “I need to get something down today”, you often build it up starting form the drums, they will give you the heartbeat and the energy for the creative juices to handle the rest.
I start by mucking around and finding a chord progression I like, usually on my push. From there, I explore different chord inversions, octaves, etc. From there, I can make a simple melody that goes along with those chord inversions. Once I’ve got a few of these, I’ll get into the drum patterns.
Drums can be tuned to any note in the scale of the song’s key, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the root note of the scale. I’ve seen some recommending the kick be tuned to the root, snare, hats, etc. tuned to 5ths, 7ths, etc. I haven’t gotten that anal yet about tuning drums.
Start with drums, doesn’t have to be the completed pattern but just a basic one, you can build it up as you go along.
I’ll then start mucking about getting a synth sound I like and build from there. The main focus for me is to have a solid groove in the drums, if you have that, the drums will carry the tune.
As for tuning drums, I don’t bother, If it sounds good, it’s good enough for me.
Sample wise, I use samples for my drums, synths etc I’ll use either abletons built in analog etc or Massive, as I prefer to create my own patches rather than use samples.
As a rule of thumb, the more tonal the drum sound is the more important it is to tune. If the drum is mostly composed of noise (like a white noise snare hit), it doesnt really have a key in the first place so you would mostly tune it to get it to sit right in the mix if at all. If the sound is tonal, like a kick with a long booom, you would want to tune it to the tonic of the track or at least a note that compliments the tonic (e.g. 5th). At the end of the day there are no strict rules to production other than - does it sound good so using your ears is the most important bit.
I like the advice you gave, ive also just started getting into producing music and ive been doin pretty much what youve said. So i guess im heading in the right direction! Hahahaha
Sounds like you flooded yourself with instruments that you have no idea how to use… Mess around with sample kicks, layer them, etc. I usually start by building my basic drums like kicks, hats and claps first then go to where the “drop” area would be and get that out of the way. Once I have those two elements down, all I really have to do is build the rest.
