# What steps do you follow from Scratch to Song



## TheoKrueger (Oct 13, 2004)

With so many sequencers and samplers and wave editors , i find it interesting to know how other people get from 0 to a full composition . 

Please list your process if you like 

Mine is this : 

1 ) Load my custom Soundfont GM bank and any required extra sounds into the Soundblaster Audigy

2 ) Open Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 and open a pre-made template file of 32 Soundfont Channels + some usually un-used for the external Roland Jv-1080 . Total 46 chans if needed .

3 ) Push up the general reverb ( Soundcard ) so it applies to all channels . I usually after set the drums and Bass channels reverb send to zero or very little if i use them . 

4 ) Start composing and mocking up with expression and other controllers in Piano Roll ( and keyboard sometimes ) . 

5 ) Render each channel from .Mid to .Wav with Audio Compositor .

6 ) In Cool Edit Pro 2 multitrack, apply individual reverb and eq to each track and mix the whole thing down . 

That's about it


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## John Perkins (Oct 13, 2004)

For me there are several ways a composition might start:

- Idea just comes to me while walking in the park or whatever.

- Start noodling around on one of several instruments (but usually piano) and come up with something that strikes me.

- I need to free my mind, so I listen to some music. Ideas completely unrelated to what I am listening to then sometimes come to mind afterward.

- Sometimes I use some arbitrary technique to generate ideas, such as come up with a cluster chord on paper and start generating permutations and melodic material from it. Or possibly, drawing a shape on a piece of paper and using that for the melodic curve of a melody line that I then write.

All of the above is the hard part. Once I have an idea I like (and I reject dozens usually before I find one I like), the process is always the same:

Write a little, revise a little, write a little, revise a little.... repeat ad infinitum.

"Writing" and "revising" is done by notating ideas straight from my head to paper, playing on the piano or other instrument and notating ideas, playing ideas straight into the sequencer without notating... and various combinations of the above. For example:

Come up with an idea for a string section... play it into the sequencer.... get stuck... notate what I've been doing and revise... play results back into sequencer... improvise more parts... notation is now out of date so throw scratch paper away.... notate new section I need to analyze... come up with new idea based on analysis and play that straight into sequencer.... etc, etc.

John


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## Frederick Russ (Oct 13, 2004)

I think having a few really handy saved templates help. By this I mean all the work of getting the best sounding brass, strings, woodwinds, percussion has been painstakingly chosen and is now in a template in your sequencer and in your other machines.

Regarding templates, for starters I have:
a large VSL template
 a large EWQLSO template
 a combination template of VSL, SAM, QLSO, StormDrum, Spectrasonics Atmosphere
 a pop template of StormDrum, Drumkit from Hell, Trilogy, Atmosphere, and unique plugin settings for Guitar
I get an idea and just pull up a basic template that closely matches that idea, then save it as another song. Whatever additions/deletions I make as I'm writing.

There's more but you get the idea.


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## Scott Cairns (Oct 13, 2004)

Definetely templates help. Sometimes you just need to create a "palette" before you start.

At the moment I'm doing the music for a WWII game. Its requires Russian, American, Japanese, German and Chinese music.

Before I start on a particular country, I load up every sound I think I might need. That way, Im not scrambling for sounds in the creative phase.

I also think it helps to realise a piece in your mind as much as possible, before you go to your DAW. Technology can be very helpful but is can also be very distracting in terms of seeing the "big picture".


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## Buckles (Oct 13, 2004)

Im pretty keen on the template idea too...especially of late, thanks to my recent purchase of Gold. It totally overwhelmed me coming to a library that had so much...I had no idea what patches were suitable for what...

Templates are great. 

Processes...well, I really need to loosen up before I write, otherwise nothing happens. If Im writing at night, usually a glass of Red does the job. Infact, I write my best music after a glass of wine...not to get superstitious or nuthin...

Im a very visual person as well, so if Im scoring a film, thats half the battle...I can feed of what Im seeing, and can usually come up with something. If im writing a stand-alone piece, I usually have to think of at least an emotion I want to capture. I recently wrote a chamber piece called 'Delusion' (which is gonna be played by a famous Aussie chamber group this Friday night!), based on the chaotic mood I was in thanks to having too much to do in a little amount of time.

I cant usually write music without a computer involved...but there are time when I have a great idea for something, and I have nothing to input it on. I dont usually carry manuscript with me, so I usually scribble ideas down in a weird sorta graphic score format, which usually gives a rough description of what my idea is, what notes are involved with motives, and how it unfolds over time, usually described in words rather than notes, or really musical terms. So when I get home, I can decipher what Ive written, and hopefully turn it into something crazy.

I love music.

-s


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## DPK (Oct 16, 2004)

Great topic. Most of the time, if it?s not a production piece, I just wake up with an idea and have an "urge to write?. Sometimes it?s a full melody and sometimes it?s just an undeveloped concept. I need to know I have absolutely nothing planned for that day so if it doesn?t get doodled out quickly with a scratch piano or string part, I loose it. Kind of like waking up from a great dream and you still have all the details but then after a few minutes, you forget about the dream completely. Then I load a few nice samples, usually piano, a nice solo instrument and a full string section that I can later break down and split up properly. After that, anything can happen. Sometimes I write in reverse. Meaning, I have a cool idea for an ending and work my way to the start. Or a nice middle section and build outwards. I also tent to write in phrases that are only a few bars long. This is were I start adding other voice thru experimentation to see what colors fit the best.

One funny experience I had was one day, I had a bad midi connection on my controller. I had to wiggle the cable while slamming down random notes to get it to work. Turned out, I hit an interesting random succession of 7 notes that became the basis for an entire piece!

Sometimes, being on the crapper first thing in the morning can be very inspirational as well. 

dk


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## Edgen (Oct 28, 2004)

templates are def good. I do the same thing Scott Cairns does when he starts. I'll just load up an assload of sounds that I think will work well as a base, and load up smaller perc and various solo instruments later in the work. The bad part is when you've got 50+ instruments to load and your computer is too darn slow. So, you grab some tea or catch your favorite 30 minute sitcom and hopefully its done loading by the time your show is up. Either that or stare at the loading bars.

As far as writing.. I can't do anything without a computer either.  I'm definitely a loser in those regards, but that's why I have my cell phone. If I'm walking along, or drunk off red wine (s.buckley) I'll open up my phone and record myself humm a tune on my voicememo. its only good for 15 seconds, but it gets the job done most the time.

Driving in my car is where I get most my inspirations, so having the phone handy when you are beating on the steering wheel and dashboard makes me want to go get a DAT recorder and start collecting some kickass drum like sounds of plastic and change jingling in the cup holders 

yup.

/j


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