**You may not like hearing this statement I'm going to make........** Making music isn't as difficult as people make it out to be and I'm here to show you **why!** Yes, you read that right! Making music isn't *that* difficult if you have the patients to learn a few things! I'm going to be breaking down my latest project (at least my version of it..... @vibekilla *wink wink*) **HIDE**: **TEARING IT APART** ![howtodissect_e609891d-a724-4502-9aa7-9c4a9699e781_large.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQD4t23G14g2zGWidK7L9t3GJ7iYSnrZE6jLapXNjZ8ve/howtodissect_e609891d-a724-4502-9aa7-9c4a9699e781_large.jpg) ![steemit1.PNG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmW4KwSo4jzvWcSgSwRtpDGF83FdfkbyV3egZduMwHhmsX/steemit1.PNG) This image may cause some confusion to new users. "Why is there only one midi pattern? Why isn't there a bass/808? What are those thingys at the bottom? What am I even staring at?" Are some of the questions that run through *my* head at least.
I'm here to hopefully resolve some of those questions. Maybe listen along to the beat while reading??
That photo is the entire playlist in my **DAW**. A **DAW** is a fancy-butt term for music making program. It can be used for other things like recording, editing audio, etc. Most people just use 'em to make music! Not all **DAW**s look like this, it depends on the program think GIMP vs Photoshop... Or in this case FL studio vs Ableton Live! A lot of the whole **DAW** debate boils down to preference so there's no point in typing in CAPS LOCK all over the internet "*I'M BETTER BCUZ I USE DIS 1!!!* ". Now that we've covered anything that has to do with the "great" DAW debate we can move on to actually making music! **Samples vs Original melodies** - ARE YOU TOO TIRED TO ACTUALLY WRITE ANYTHING BESIDES SOME NEAT-O DRUMS? - DO YOU WANT TO KEEP PROCRASTINATING LEARNING MUSIC THEORY?? - ARE YOU JUST WANTING TO GET THIS F****ING BEAT DONE SO YOU CAN SHOW EVERYBODY THAT YOU'RE COOL??? I HAVE THE PERFECT SOLUTION FOR YOU! FIND A PIECE OF MUSIC THAT YOU ALREADY ENJOY AND LAYER GENERIC HIP-HOP/TRAP DRUMS ON TOP OF IT! I'm kidding. But there are some pros and cons between sampling something and creating a melody from scratch: sampling Pros | Cons ------------ | ------------- You don't have to write your own melody | You didn't write your own melody Possibility for more creativity | Possibility for copyright infringement More intricate drum grooves | If you don't know when to stop you might over do it Easier workflow | Less fulfillment writing melodies Pros | Cons ------------ | ------------- You have to write your own melody. | You wrote your own melody and it can take hours Original content. | *You wrote your own melody and it can take **hours!*** You pretty much hear everything coming together in yo head. (*I swear I'm not crazy*) | If you don't know when to stop you might over do it You spend even *more* time in your DAW than you expected, even possibly staying up all night! | Overall more satisfied with the final product, but you stayed up all night making it. I ended up going with a sample because I was experiencing beat block (writers block for musicians/producers/beat makers) at the time. **THE VERSE** ![steemit2.PNG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmf6ssMGPqC98EsFhB8pQVcsd16h3daG88Ty7btLaNGwLQ/steemit2.PNG) Like I said. I was experiencing beat block at the time so things were pretty straight forward. - get a loop - write some drums - ~~take a break to think of anything else~~ - mix it - export it - show it off to people (@vibekilla @midnightshade15 **YEET**) - post it - make a break down post on steemit (which is what I'm doing now :D) Simply put I made a drum pattern. **TADA!** Making music isn't all about creating something from scratch, although you will appreciate it more. If it sounds good to you and a few friends and you're having a good time doing it all the perks will come along with it . Music is more so about pushing boundaries whether they be personal or not is a whole other topic that would make this post ten times longer. Let's not do *that*. I also equalized the melody like this: ![steemit6.PNG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYWDwMWkrGm6ocRfRSPk8D4vweshNvWhd74wQpCVTkJqe/steemit6.PNG) to give more emphases on the horns and some of the strings. I cut out some of the highs and lows to give it that nice old-timey feel to it (it kinda need it in my opinion). I took out the kicks in the hook portion because I roll like that: ![steemit3.PNG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWCnSVaSCeDuZDfXKrZQhsGSd4EbPtPCSgcmtHeLsEDCA/steemit3.PNG) I have some automation clips that control a delay for the money counter sound effect at the end (the money counter is also used as a percussive sound with the beep cut off of it to set more of a tone) and to control the volume of the melody: ![steemit4.PNG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdNZPX3rzwvHbLpqgL9vZjMYub4tgy4USWzRhjdKGkUYp/steemit4.PNG) I forgot to take a picture of the mixer before I leveled everything out for the stems (stemming out a track is rendering each element to its own audio file for mastering) so here's the mixer after I leveled everything: ![steemit5.PNG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmRzF6r64f9f4qZ7v1aN5BJacNfNJGQnCeChuEJwsPECf7/steemit5.PNG) **THE STEEMIT COLLECTION VOL. I** I'm putting together a compilation of everything I'm posting on steemit, I'm aiming for 10-15 tracks whether they have vocals on them so you might see some "doubles" One will have vocals and the other will be the original concept! I'll slowly build this up so that way I'm not stressing out about it and it gives me some time to grow. *networking is important, kiddos* I don't have an ETA on that yet, but when time comes closer I will give an update! If you have anything to contribute to the conversation feel free to make a comment, I love hearing what you guys have to say! THANK YOU GUYS FOR READING THIS ARTICLE! THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT, STEEMIANS! DON'T FORGET TO ![DQmdmYpNCJinq4kjteACvUUxA9kxjXheY94q6KTeXnTQpxD.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdE7EL6TNy913XUqDMZG9eRWWPhUcjSKUjRCpScDbjLSZ/DQmdmYpNCJinq4kjteACvUUxA9kxjXheY94q6KTeXnTQpxD.jpg) <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 ....*I'm not gay, shut up!*....