Reply To: Mixing Hi-Hats
SGAGIt really depends on your workflow. I spend a lot of time bouncing samples before I even go into a track, and then a lot of my progressions are based on chopping/distorting/stretching/rearranging those samples, so for me progression is usually a matter of finding the sounds that sound like they fit both logically and aesthetically. If you’re more melody based, I’d say the progression should be a bit easier, in the sense that you have music theory as a general guideline. I definitely recommend taking tracks you like and loading them into your DAW, then outlining how the progression works, and spend some time making practice tracks like that, and eventually you’ll pick up some tricks and nuance. It’s difficult to prescribe advice without an idea of your workflow, but if you ever hit a wall with creativity I recommend taking some time off away from making that tune and come back to it a bit later; often times (I find that) creativity can be pretty spontaneous and things seem to unravel themselves. Also, try to give the track what it needs (rather than imposing your will on a track, if that is what your posture is with regards to producing)–sometimes things sound much better when I try to do what would be best for the tune even if it’s not the direction I intended to go; at least for me, it’s easy to fall into the frame of trying to impose my will on a track where what I intended to do really just isn’t a good fit for the tune in particular.
