You're all working too hard, just use a construction kit.

 

I'm joking!!!

 

I was just about to ask this but, I'll answer here anyway,

So I used to produce Trance, and I would nearly always start an original with a kick and bass. Now I produce Drum & Bass so I usually start with either a melody/vocal or something with a key or chord progression I can work from, as I am pedantic about keeping every element of my track in chord now, never used to really think about tuning the drums and fx etc.

I can't actually hear the key of a kick drum or hi hat usually so I rely on software to tell me what overall key my drums are in, (I defy anyone even with perfect pitch to tell me what key their hi hats are in by ear!) and find a sample that fits rather than tune one manually.

I hardly ever start my music with percussion anymore, even though D&B music is mostly about the drums and bass, I tend to hit a wall if I can't work with a chord progression

 

I was looking at the sketch attached to this 2 years old project I am re-mixing. The start was quite underwhelming imho but somehow I made it work. I think the most important thing is to just start doing something and the inspiration will come. (Attached video below expires in 2 days)

 

Melody then harmony or harmony then melody, usually on a piano or acoustic guitar.

 

Last edited: Sep 1, 2023

I wrote my last two songs starting by writing the lyrics. Then it was much easier to write the music.

PS. Then I started looking for a melody for vocal and bass line. I sang random melodies and tried to find a captivating bass line. The chorus was written first. Then the verses. Later I decided to put in a pre chorus and the bridge.

 

Last edited: Sep 1, 2023

If, literally, I have no ideas but have passion,
give Cthulhu(Xfer) or Phrasebox(Venomode) a random chord and randomize the patterns and pitch.
And roll a dice again and again until I get good phrases for bassline or backing arp, then good melodies come naturally.

If I have a concept in my mind, or I'm inspired by something,
and I have a certain groove or atmosphere that I want, I can compose without any hesitation.

If it's a hobby, that is.

 

Depends on the genre, but mostly start with chords, if I can hear them in loop endlessly, than I start a song, if not, I have nothing, if I have something, track starts making itself. For melodic techno start with basic bassline chord progression, than make chords on top of it so I have foundation for making every other melodic element.

9/10 times great pad sound with good chord progression inspire every other sound I use, so pretty much I would start either with piano or string patch while trying to come up with chord progression, than would write top line and it's show time.

 

Last edited: Sep 1, 2023

I thought everyone just uses someone else's song/sample/idea to start with.

 

saw this thread and thought "holy shit! i made a video ab this!"

this is where they usually start for me at least

 

Last edited: Sep 2, 2023

I was a guitar player from jam bands when i was a instrumentist, so the best way to we start a 12 min jam with synths and everything else was to find a chord progression and bpm. Because with that fundament the musicians could give their own perspective of that chord progression on that bpm, for exemple lead guitars, horns and synths would start to jam on notes and scales and the drummer and the bass player could find the most suitable groove for the feel that progression gave us. I apply the same concept when producing my songs: start with chords, then i jam with melodies and tones that have to be with that progression played on a X instrument (for example, a rhodes playing funky chords), then i go for ear candy stuff, fx, transitions and after that, the drum and bass. I define the start and the end of the song only with chords and melodies. after that, i start crafting rhythms and grooves for all those moments with the drum and bass

 

Every time I walk out of a movie theatre I feel like writing a song. And then I realise that the song in stuck in my head was based on the theme of the movie I just watched. Sometimes movie themes can be kinda inspiring.

 

i always start with the basic drum beats. for 4/4 kick drum stuff like house or techno, i start with a decent kick drum. add a snare and some basic hats. then a chord progression. If it is breakbeat oriented, i pick the main break i'm going to use and then chop it. add a kick, snare, basic hats, and then chord progression. But it's all subject to change anyway. When I am sketching stuff out to start, i do not delete anything decent. I just mute and disable it, and keep going.

 

As @Havana said, movies are very inspiring for me to create new themes. Started doing a lot of things based on salsa and cuban music because of some doc that i was watching. Also, a great rig with gear that i love from all the music eras can make a HUGE difference on creating the sonority that's on my mind.

 

always with the main melody

 

When I'm intentionally "starting a song" it usually begins with a chord progression (or two) through a piano, that way I can focus on the musicality and not get distracted by fancy sound design. Other times will be the opposite where I'll be browsing new sounds/synths, and get inspired by a sound. If I hear something I like I'll use Reaper's retrospective record to bring it to the timeline and adjust the project tempo to fit.

Less often I'll start with drums.
Then it's a process of layering synths and samples, duplicating the regions to create an arrangement by bringing in different elements and making variations with inversions etc.

After than it's just a matter of tweaking to death, saving a hundred project versions over a number of years, making sure I thoroughly hate the song and never want to hear it again.