Starting Sounds | Random Music Production Table No. 3
Roll the die and let fate decide!
Sometimes a blank recording session feels like reaching into a bag of holding on a dare, not knowing if you are going to pull out the song you wanted, or if you’re going to waste time looking for the perfect instruments, or if you just put you hand in a mimic’s maw (that would be very bad!).
That is when setting limits on your choices can help out in a meaningful way.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found a pocket of evening time where I can settle into a fantasy or folk horror movie and spent the 90 minutes I would have been watching a movie just endlessly scrolling through my options. Or looking through all the presets on a synth when I could be writing music.
Rolling on random tables is like chaos magic. You never know what’s going to come out of it. It’ll probably be pretty great though.
Getting stuck in a non-productive loop happens to everyone sooner or later. Getting comfortable with self-imposed limitations, gear limitations, and setting restraints during production will really help keep things on track. Sometimes it can speed up your workflow in nice ways (we’re not talking business guru hyper-productivity mass production bullshit here so don’t worry.) For me, it helps me get to that flow-state where writing is fun much more quickly because I have a plan and limits on what I can use in the track.
You don’t have to stick to any of these choices like permanent rules. Remember that you should serve your music and let it sound how it wants to. These choices are meant to get things started, and once you get going you don’t have to be precious about keeping the starting point in the song. If it stops working, mute it or get rid of it!
In order to keep things simple and get you started on making music, I’ve collected six choices for you to start a new song with. There are more options lying around the dungeon, but those are for another time. For now, you should roll a six-sided die and let fate take the wheel. (You can also use the d6 roller below.)
Random Music Production Table No. 3 | Starting Sounds:
Start with a low brass sound drenched in reverb.
Record a bass line first and reverse the sample.
Map out your percussion for the whole song first, then bring in other instruments.
Start with a string preset and set the filter to slightly, slowly change over time.
Start with a muffled, lightly distorted organ sound.
Start with the melody and use plucks with a hint of delay.
Result: -
If you enjoyed that post please check out some of the other blog posts. You know, stay a while, and listen. Or something like that.