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Author Topic: How do you come up with ideas for drops?  (Read 7747 times)

Audious

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How do you come up with ideas for drops?
« on: January 09, 2016, 03:57:18 pm »
Looking to get an idea of how others put together their drop arrangements. Do you start off with bass samples and edit/shify them around? Do you always bounce your audio, or do you keep your VST & midi notes in place? One method I've tried a few times is slicing up bits of a bass line and throwing them into slicex or maschine, and jamming out until I get something interesting. It's fun, and I thing I get different results than I would by hand editing the stuff happening in a drop. Anyone else use this method? What do you guys do?
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Steven Gold

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Re: How do you come up with ideas for drops?
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2016, 04:34:53 pm »
I always start a chord progression for every track, but that's just me. That way I have a definite key I'm working in, and a root note to start the drop with
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deño

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Re: How do you come up with ideas for drops?
« Reply #2 on: January 09, 2016, 05:21:37 pm »
Either play around with presets or do some sound design. I usually like to keep things minimal so I'll usually start with the root note. Just depends on the song really. Sometimes I'll go the progressive route and just play my main melody but use trance plucks.
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Knappster

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Re: How do you come up with ideas for drops?
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2016, 12:59:01 pm »
I either start with the drop or the chords for the breakdown. Usually I'm inspired when I'm listening to music or I'm out for a walk. I will hum the melody into my phone and then do it when I get home. Most the time I find the humming is the main drop melody of the track, then I start to work backwards once I have the main idea down. Another thing I will do is construct my drums so they sound like I want them to for my final product. Usually by this time I am ready to start arrangement.

I've been told if you're having trouble, download some midi files from other people's tracks, take their main drop and reconstruct it to something different. It helps you make something quicker and also gives you the practice needed to start doing your own.
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Tiongcy

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Re: How do you come up with ideas for drops?
« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2016, 01:47:01 pm »
It really depends! sometimes i think i want to make a certain style like for example big room then i end up making trance in the end hahaha. But i usually start with a bassline then make sure it sits well with the kick then i add whatever i want to add to my drop, for me its the kick and bass thats essential first
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Joseph

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Re: How do you come up with ideas for drops?
« Reply #5 on: January 10, 2016, 03:41:15 pm »
I start with 1 bar and create a beat, and then add percs to spice it up a bit. I'll double that, add some variety and continue until I have 8 bars. Once I have 8 bars, I duplicate it and then either start on a chord progression or the melody. Depending on the type of song, I'll either start with 2 or 4 bars for those things. Then I'll duplicate until 16 bars and start tweaking everything until I have a good drop.
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guillotine

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Re: How do you come up with ideas for drops?
« Reply #6 on: January 10, 2016, 04:08:32 pm »
I might listen to another track and kind of use it as a base. Then I'll adapt on that idea to make it more original.
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Mussar

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Re: How do you come up with ideas for drops?
« Reply #7 on: January 10, 2016, 06:35:42 pm »
Depends on what I'm starting from.

If I'm starting with drums or a bassline, I'll start building up a 2-4 bar loop, duplicate it and make some changes, then repeat until I have a nice 16 bar loop that you could listen to for like an hour without really getting bored. Then I'll build the other elements around it so that they accent the focal point.

If I'm starting with chords or a melody, I'll start with a piano VST and just noodle around with chord progressions until I have a 4, 8, or 16 bar idea, then I build the melody on top of it (and just double the root down to the bass of the piano). I get a simple drum loop going, and arrange my track like normal. Then I'll split up the various notes to be different instruments and start looking for a sound that fits the lead line or the chords, and when something fits the idea I had for the song I'll just start refining from there.
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