T-Minus One – A Glimpse Into My Music Production Process

T-Minus One
T-Minus One

A short glimpse into my music production process, regarding my latest release.

3am. It’s dark, and my wife is sleeping soundly. I crawl out of bed and sneak quietly downstairs to the part of the living room that serves as my music production studio these days. Headphones on, monitors disabled! The glare of the computer screen seems like full sunlight against the darkness of the rest of the room as I open up Ableton Live, scrambling to record some ideas before the muse is gone.

“Okay, now, what was that rhythm again? Right, that was it.” I select an appropriate kit in Addictive Drums and sketch out a beat on my Push. Doesn’t have to be perfect for now. I can fix it later. I need to get all the parts down before they’re forgotten, lost to my conscious mind.

“Now, the bass melody and accompaniment I was dreaming went like… yeah that.” I’m hearing an uptempo string bass pattern, with a funk style guitar riff on top, and a strong steady beat anchoring it together. I fiddle with my new creation, tinkering with the tempo, adding a few small parts to overlay the basic rhythm.

The next thing I notice is that I’m hearing movement upstairs. Glancing at the clock, I am a little (but not a lot) surprised to realize it’s 6:30. Time flies. Somewhat reluctantly, I stand up and go to the kitchen to make some coffee.

This happened several weeks ago, and it has now become an actual song. This sort of thing recurs from time to time around here.

However, this particular song has evolved considerably since those original tracks were laid down in the middle of the night. By now, every single one of those tracks have been replaced or removed, in favor of something more fitting with the new “song concept” that morphed into its final form over several more sessions, inspirations, and weeks of subconscious percolation.

T-Minus One is my latest production. It’s more ambient and less dance than my usual productions. I’d love to hear what you think of it.

Your comments are appreciated!