What's YOUR creative process?

[Mprinsje]

i just noodle around on my guitar, and if something cool pops up i'll record it and work it out more with drums etc.

If is start a song, i do need to finish it in one go. i have some loose stuff lying around but i never get inspired to write anything to complete it.

this way, i have a lot of songs, some really good ones, some "meh" ones that i'll send to the rest of my band to see if they can improve on it, and a lot of bad ones.

 

[JohnIce]

Seems like my method is different to what most of you guys are doing... I practically never start with riffs, I finish with them

As a fan of catchy, singalong types of rock and metal I always start out with a little vocal line that I immediately put some chords to and establish a key. My best songs tend to start out with me writing the first line of the first verse, and then just go from there. When it comes time for the chorus, by then you've made it so obvious what's coming that the chorus becomes the most natural thing in the world to write

After that I record the acoustic and the vocal on separate tracks in Logic, then start adding midi bass and drums, THEN I delete the acoustic and start figuring out what the guitars are gonna do.

 

[Asrial]

I have some methods.

The first method is, while feeling creative, open up for a guitar scale site, find a random scale, then try to ge the best out of it.

Second method is to just stand with my guitar, raff around and see where I go.

Another way is to copy the concept of a songs riff, apply it with own ideas and progressions and just jam.

generally my creative process is "Get inspired -> grab guitar -> jam out -> get idea -> record into cubase -> add drum and bass -> release to soundcloud".

 

[osmosis2259]

My usual approach:

1. Usually start of with a basic idea whether it is a riff, chord or a melody. The funny thing is that this idea never really happens when I'm just jamming on the guitar. It will happen in the most random times either when I'm out, cooking or in the shower so then I try to immediately record or sing to my cell phone so I don't forget it.
2. I'll come back and actually record the idea. It will just eventually grow and I always focus on the flow. I never really just take riffs and place them after another(even though that can work as well).
3. The music is always written first with vocals in mind on where they are going to be.
4. In my opinion, melodies are usually the most memorable part so I try to focus on that as much possible making sure it's something that someone can hum or sing to.


So pretty basic but I will at times hit a plateau like many people so a few things that help me break that are:

1. Trying out different sounds, tones to create atmosphere. In a way, making a guitar sound like a keyboard at times if that makes sense.
2. Trying out different tunings other than just standard or a drop tuning.

 

[Underworld]

My band composing process is quite a headache...

1. Jam riffs with 2-3 guys
2. Find good riffs, tweak them until satisfaction
3. Create basic structures and new riffs
4. Show new riffs to 3rd/4th member
5. 3rd/4th member does not like this/that/riff
6. Argue
7. Democratic vote
8. Argue
9. Keep/remove/mod stuff
10. Lead guitar player add fucking long and useless hypershred solo
11. Argue
12. Repeat from 1 to 11 until song completion
13. 2 months after write lyrics
14. 3 months after again completely change/remove/add riffs
15. Argue
16. Song completed! Yeah!


My personnal way of doing thing for my solo projects :

1. Find inspiration
2. Jam riffs
3. Create basic structures, new riffs, drum tracks and arrangments
3. Tab song all along steps 2 and 3
4. 2 months after write lyrics
5. 3 months after again completely change/remove/add riffs
6. Never manage to complete a song

 

[GSingleton]

24 beers, a fifth of liquor, a call to an ex....

Bam!



OH....writing process.....thought it said living process.

 

[ittoa666]

Listen to random song, get inspired, pick up guitar, run riff into the ground, repeat

 

[80H]

My creative process is becoming fractal. I realize that any melody can be warped or distorted into a new idea, and changing an accidental can tell a different story. In any given song, melody or rhythm that enters my mind, a thousand different ideas come with it.

Because of this, I let music come and go as it pleases. If something is amazing, I will remember it. Most of the time, though, the music I come up with is more ambitious than my hands are trained to play, so I end up in this awesome-but-not-so-productive funk of creating new exercises to learn a new pronunciation of a phrase. A great example of this is a hammer->slide a whole step forward->pull off->slide a whole step back, which is very vocal when played at speed. That ends up creating this new fractal process for me to explore, so if I had to sum it all up in a phrase, I would say fractal growth is my creative process.

 

[MyNameIsMax]

Well, I'll be at school or something. Think of something that would be sick. Later come home, try to remember. Forget. Give up. Go on SS.

 

[Repner]

(Deleted by user)

Pretty much how I write as well.

 

[Fountainhead]

For me, I need to hear a complete piece of music in my head. That can be either in dreams, be inspired by something I heard or just be triggered by experiences. If I have "channeled" (for lack of a better word) the "what" , then the "how" is usually just about finding the right musical tools for the job and having the necessary knowledge of how to get certain sounds and moods.

 

[DespoticOrder]

On weekdays:
- Wake up and snack
- Take pre workout potion
- Sing along to something loud and brutal until the drink kicks in
- Go pick stuff up and put it down
- Afterwards, track some riffs while my hormones and body are raging
- Go to work head bobbing to your own riffs all night

Alternatively (on weekends):
- Get drunk and watch action movies
- Record riffs
- Revise/re-record in the morning

The 2nd way is great for awe-inspiring leads and bitchin' lyrics, but your rhythms might end up soundling like poop.

 

[trent6308]

i just noodle around on my guitar, and if something cool pops up i'll record it and work it out more with drums etc.

If is start a song, i do need to finish it in one go. i have some loose stuff lying around but i never get inspired to write anything to complete it.

this way, i have a lot of songs, some really good ones, some "meh" ones that i'll send to the rest of my band to see if they can improve on it, and a lot of bad ones.

I'm a noodler too. Just play around until you strike some gold!

 

[facepalm66]

I imagine some sort of idea, write the lyrics, see how they 'sound' and only then write music that fits to the lyrics and the mood they make. Probably an odd way to make something.

Or just noodle.

 

[Discoqueen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dayn

It's always when I'm in the shower or about to fall asleep where I can't do anything about it.

Either that, or I just stare at my computer screen and think of what I want something to sound like. Then I write whatever comes into my head. Yeah... it's not really interesting. I've had enough practice that it's something I can just do on a moment's notice.

Mostly it just starts with an idea. Over a year ago, I came up with a tiny four-chord progression. It was pretty much i-v-iv-v, i-v-iv-i. The chord voicings were tiny and the notes from chord to chord moved stepwise. It was incredibly simple. Then I kept adding to it. Now it's nearly 10 minutes long and my best song yet, constantly changing as the song progresses, but keeping a very strong theme throughout, and ends kind of like the way it began. When I listen to it I lose track of time.


So yeah.

Or I just find something I like, analyse it, and write something similar. That really helps my creativity. It adds to my palette.

Sounds like how i write lyrics which is weird because i'm not even a vocalist or in a band sometimes I just feel like writing usually when I'm really tired I'll just get the urge so i'll write stuff it could be a single line or a whole song it just happens I don't even know if i'll ever use them.

I am kinda the same way, I think it has to do with like... the lucid kinda surreal state that comes with being tired. I like writting at that time of night because that's about when my mind starts processing the day and what not.


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[sneakyjeep]

I have a ritual when it comes to songwriting.. can't seem to do it unless I follow these steps

A) prepare mentally, choose a location to write in

B) Roll cigarette while listening to inspiring music

C) Get snacks and a drink prepared for the next few hours

D) Get the right lighting, open guitar pro or cubase

E) Smoke cigarette

F) write

as far as the actual writing process goes, I'll try and think of a situation or location or something (a tragedy, a graveyard, a happy summer day, etc.) and then try to imagine what the music should sound like and write it.. then I tweak. I also usually write linearly, as in I write in order from start to finish. i'm not good at writing a bunch of riffs and putting them together like a puzzle.

 

[GatherTheArsenal]

I steal the living shit out of every successful guitarist's riffs that dares show his chops within my listening distance. Cutting corners bitches

Nah I kid I kid.

1. KNOW WHAT YOU ARE INTENDING TO WRITE FIRST! Sorry for the all caps but I can't stress this enough. Of course, not everyone needs to do this, but in my personal experience the best songs come when you know what the fuck it is you are writing about first! Just throwing together a dozen "cool" riffs doesn't cut it for me. If you sit down and hash out what the song is going to be about and plot it out in your head first it can work wonders. I now sit and figure out what a new song is going to be about. Then I think of my feelings toward said topic.

^That! I can't say how much I agree with this point.

My first recording was literally a bunch of riffs that I came up with over a short period of time, slammed them together, and forced them to fit with mediocre transitionary riffs all so that i would make them seem somewhat relevant to each other. I only knew once I got halfway through recording that I didn't have a well written song. A bunch of awesome riffs? Fuck yeah. I love em. But an awesome "song?" Nah. Back to the drawing board she goes.

My approach changes but here's what usually stays constant:

1) First, read above.
2) Listen to music of all types to keep my sub conscious in a creative state, thinking outside the confines of metal and such. Works pretty well.
3) I keep a small notepad on me at all times and I jot down lyrics, themes, song titles, ideas for song structures. Been doing this for a year, it definitely pays off!
4) Listen to music.
5) Pick a theme, or at least a pace for the song, then i figure out at least one riff that's gonna be the one reason that would make me wanna hit the rewind button, this is what I call the "fuck yeaahhhh" riff. I write around it. This can take awhile...
6) Yup... Listen to music.
7) Rewrite if applicable, usually always is. Dial in the right tone for the song.
8) Music. Work on tone some more. This part has no end really, I don't know if I'll ever be pleased.
9) Fully write the drum track from 0:00 to the end of the song in my head. Visualizing everything including fills, transitions, the whole nine, all day errr day.
10) Write drums in Logic, record a scratch guitar track just so I can finish writing drums.
11) Record guitars for real. Usually at this point I invite someone I know in my circle of friends to record something on the song, like a solo, or vocals, or even just bass. I'm a huge fan of "features", I love when someone who kicks ass at something is featured in a song. I mean how epic is Eddie Van Halen's solo in Michael Jackson's Beat It ??? it's like the cherry on top for me when I heard it.
12) Music.
13) Change, add, remove to the song as I see fit.
14) Listen. Repeat #13. Listen. Repeat.

That's pretty much it. I always keep in mind dynamics dynamics dynamics dynamics along the entire process. No dynamics = short listen in my eyes. It's one of the hugest focuses and the hardest. Also I try (key word - TRY) to stay away from gimmicks that IMO are overused like open note djenty stuff thrown in as a verse, open note palm mute breakdowns, pinch harmonics thrown in just for filler at the end of a riff, abundance of straight palm muted triplets, commonly heard chord progressions (staying in a standard tuning helps big time here I find), etc.

And for whatever reason, the best songs/riffs/ideas that I've ever written are when I'm dead tired, usually from 1am to 4am. It,s like fucking gold compared to any other time that i write music.... anyone else get this too???

 

[fps]

And for whatever reason, the best songs/riffs/ideas that I've ever written are when I'm dead tired, usually from 1am to 4am. It,s like fucking gold compared to any other time that i write music.... anyone else get this too???

Yeah! I also find exhaustion breeds creativity, as does hunger.

 

[chickenxnuggetz91]

1. Buys new expensive 7 and/or 8 string. Post pics on facebook bragging about how awesome it is. But, not before I post and unboxing video claiming how awesome it is before I even play it. This first step is crucial because then I feel obligated to put my money where my mouth is.

2. Listens to Meshuggah and Periphery, then denies ever listening to those bands but claiming to be a Bulb fan 4 years ago.

3. Go to Line6pod and create a dreamy, sterile clean tone over washed with delays and reverbs. Distortion with mids cranked to max because every one knows mids are better than treb and bass.

4. Creates riffs I stole from Periphery, but only using 0 and 1 on lowest string. "SHUT UP FAG, NO I DIDN'T!!!"

5. Mix these riffs and glue them together.

6. For lyrics I try to get anti-religious. Then I watch a short documentary narrated by Carl Sagan.

7. Post to Youtube and gets subscriptions from people who have never seen music played on 7 string before.

8. Get butthurt when someone calls me a ripp off.

9. Gas over every piece of gear over $2,000 that I don't have.


Sorry, about my lame djent poser joke. I'm bored.

 

[Belleal]

Practice, practice, practice...let the world wash over me...practice, practice, practice...find reason world left me clean...practice, practice, practice...decide about being cleaned...practice, & incorporate that feeling. Once the feeling is roughly done--leave it alone. Later I can recall the rough draft & revise it, or I can reclaim the gist of the rough draft & just how much the world has played an effect.

Emotions play a huge part in a musician.