Composers and producers of /mu/, what is the creative process

>>74818188
I start with an idea, maybe something of a riff, and an idea of dynamics. It doesn't take long until I'm playing it and trying to feel the rhythm. It's not really difficult, but it's just been practice and learning how to "sing" the notes. Once you manage to pull off songs by ear it gets easier. Still arduous, but easier since you know what you're doing.

Once I have the basics laid out, I generally try to achieve a certain tone, which isn't as easy. My compositions tend to be minimalistic in nature - percussion, bassline, some sort of harmony, something for the lead and maybe counterpoint - so to achieve different sounds I have to go after a certain tone. That's definitely an issue. I don't tend to sample a lot, as well, and my samples are more ambient than after sounds.

I think the main thing is that I generally listen to an album to give me inspiration. Sometimes it strikes up halfway through, at the beginning, at the end. It's just an useful way of coming up with ideas.

>>74818354
Thanks for sharing. Seems way more organic than I imagined it would be.
>pull off songs by ear
How long did it take you to be able to do this? How did you achieve it?

>>74818454
Fuck, that's a tough question... I'm classically trained as a pianist, though my main instrument is the bass (jazz/rock base on that one). Really, it was a matter of listening to a song over and over until I could figure out the notes, the rhythm, that sort of stuff. Took about a year to two tears, I think, to properly pull that off, and it's still sort of a long-winded process. That said, I can safely say I can now turn what I hum into an actual line of music, and that's been really useful since I write down everything I come up with. I end up scrapping like 99% of what I do.

a few methods

if i get deep in my thoughts i can construct a song from start to finish easy , and a fresh idea then bring it to the daw and lay it out, sometimes its even kool to jot down some notes

when im bored want to play around with sounds ill load up my daw and just tap on random keys or just build a bounce on the spot

i dont always get the sounds that play in my head that much , for me thats part of the excitement when you finally lay a song down, my basslines and strings seem to play out right tho

i think with time your skills grow, just like anything in the world, you have naturaltalent or alot of skills when it comes to hobbies and passions , better at crafting then i was 3 years ago.

i think it gets easier when you start breaking down all types of genres sound by sound , i think thats my training , and drinking water.

>>74818515
Awesome dude. That's pretty much where I wanna end up. Kudos.
>>74818591
How much would you two say a formal knowledge of music theory helped you guys in successfully translating mere thoughts into actual music?

>>74818659
It wasn't necessary per se, but fuck me if it didn't help. It's great in terms of knowing why certain things sound like that, how does something relate to something else.

Also, I think one of the key things is to hear a lot of music, and different music, and to be ready for certain things to be duds and certain things to really resonate. Go deep into genres, find tonalities, sensations you like. You really need to draw inspiration from anywhere if you want to be more than just a guy copying what was done in a genre.