There isn’t a right way or wrong way when it comes to writing music. However, over the years I’ve seen people make mistakes (myself included) that deeply affected the song being produced.
Writing Music in a DAW is the art of electronic music production via playing or writing notes in computer software for music composition (often in MIDI format).
Hygiene for writing music
Session/project organisation is something that is so easy and simple and yet almost all of us succumb to disorganised sessions. The number 1 mistake! Naming channels/tracks, colouring them if needed, organising channels in order and labelling sections of the song are just some of the simple things we miss out on. Good organisation skills help to mix down tracks enormously when writing music.
DAW is the acronym for Digital Audio Workstation, which in other words is software for music production.
Less is More
Invariably when we get stuck at some point in the arrangement of a song, we tend to think to add something to the song. In most situations such as these, simply remove something from the song, and things will sound different. Getting rid of the hats and snare makes the song feel so different. Automation is also one’s best friend in such situations.
Think about it, three-piece bands like Nirvana use just three instruments to write all their music. They were able to full up the sonic spectrum with just drums, bass, guitar and vocals.
Pressure
Writing Music is a process. Often we put ourselves in situations where we put too much pressure on ourselves to finish a song. This mistake often ends up as substandard compositions and “copy-paste” arrangements. Taking time to flesh out each section of a song goes a long way to make the song sound interesting in all sections.
Commitment
On numerous occasions we start a song, it sounds amazing and then suddenly we move to other projects. Always give an unfinished track a second to third chance. You never know what can come out of it. Of course, sometimes the idea never really takes off, so build the ability to do some serious self-criticism.
Over Production
Having effects at our beck and call in DAWs really doesn’t mean that we need to use all of them on one channel. Use effects only when needed.
Remember, garbage in = garbage out.
Counter Production
Listen to music. Tons of music. In situations where we get stuck listening to more music, experimenting, or just doing something else altogether helps. Just sitting in front of a DAW and aimlessly turning knobs will usually not do the trick.
Will Fix In The Mix?
Personally, I try fixing all sounds the way I want even before I get to the mix stage. This way not only does the mixing process become easy, but also I am able to get a complete sense of the track during the arrangement phase itself.
Music
We often forget that the term “Music Production” has two parts to it. Music and Production. We concentrate too much on the production part and forget about the writing music bit.
Knowledge of music is the key. Changing one chord or note often makes the track sound so different. Emotions and moods can be built with the right chords and notes.
Understand what you need to know and need to have before you get into writing music for music production.
