Anotha one [/DJKhaled]:
Get a notebook or open a notepad app BEFORE you start working on your project. Brainstorm a bunch of different song ideas in your spare time. For each one, start writing down words that help describe the song: "Liquid Drum and Bass, 170 BPM, stormy seas, angry and sad, female vocals, dark drums, etc." Write down the element of the song that you want to be the primary focus (Drums, Vocals, Bass, Chords, Melody, etc.). Try to write out a basic skeleton for the song. "8 bar intro, 12 bar break, 8 bar build, 2 bar pre-drop, 32 bar drop, 4 bar fadeout, 16 bar break, 16 bar build, 2 bar pre-drop, 32 bar drop, 8 bar outro." If you know theory, pick a few key signatures or chord progressions you could try. Try to write down some hook ideas or lyrics if that's what you're going for. Make sure you have at least 2 or 3 before your next production session.
When you finally go sit down in front of your DAW, pick one of those song ideas and start from whatever the primary focus is: If Drums, build a simple drum kit that reminds you of the words you've written down. It doesn't have to be perfect, just good enough to work with. If you already have a generic drum kit in your template, stick with that. If bass, chords, or melody, use a piano sampler or a basic synth patch (pure saws or squares work) just for the basic idea. If vocals, go find some vocal samples that fit or that you can chop, or set up your microphone just so you can get the lines down. Once you've established that primary idea, you can put more generic placeholders in the other elements, and go straight from there to arrangement. You can refine it later, because once you have the song placed into the skeleton you wrote down and can see what sounds should go where, you can really start going in and making everything unique and get your track finished.
