My creative process/workflow from MPC2500 to DAW (Logic Pro)

i recently documented my entire process of beatmaking & song construction for a track i just completed. it starts from creative conception and goes all the way through tracking out and final mix in Logic Pro. if you're curious about how others do things, it may interest you. i tried keeping it pretty general (may have failed) to accommodate various skill levels so if you have any technical questions, just ask. it's broken up into 3 parts:

birth of a beat - hiro's beat:
part 1 - creative conception, chopping the main sample, laying down drums
part 2 - diggin' for complementary sounds, bassline, hook, creating sequences
part 3 - song structure, tracking out, fine tuning, mutes & fx, mixing and export

i thought i'd give back and share what knowledge i do have. this is my first attempt at documenting something so tedious but i hope it's useful in one way or another and that it doesn't fly too far over anyone's head. in the future i may try this on video, i thought i'd take a stab in written form first. please leave any constructive feedback you may have, as i'm always trying to improve.

peace

Good info.
You should have posted this here... http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=93193

Will check these out later.

Like Juke said, but maybe you can place a link to this thread in that one...

will do, thanks for the heads up fam

Really great article complimented with pictures, proper english, and actual samples. props

thanks ruslanio, i was debating whether to add even more detail. i decided on keepin it pretty high level and just filling in the blanks through q&a. glad you could follow it.

I thought it was going to be a set of videos...

But still a good read, I always like to hear the 'anatomy of a track' by the actual producer.

A good example of an efficient workflow using the MPC with Logic.

Good info! Though my style of composing mainly consists of actually playing out my ideas, the concept here is still the same.

I'm seeing that my style of writing greatly differs from the majority around here (which isn't a bad thing).

I'll admit that I'm still stuck in an era that had learned the art of music by means of technically having to play an instrument. So planting your feet like this is something that's hard to let go. And furthermore, it makes the writing process that much easier to cope with IMO.

So what I'm trying to do is let go of the norm and try something different. I might like putting together an all sample composition (except for the drums, gotta lay them down myself).

This was a good read. I liked the way you really dissected your whole process of making that beat.

That was a good read. I thought it was a great touch adding the samples and final beat through the creative process. Respect. ~PEACE~

thanks everyone, i'm intrigued myself to read everyone's creative process on this board. seems like there are some common things all of us do to get to the end but a ton of different ideas behind the decisions made. goes to show how open ended beatmaking is.

peace

dabmeister wrote:Good info! Though my style of composing mainly consists of actually playing out my ideas, the concept here is still the same.

I'm seeing that my style of writing greatly differs from the majority around here (which isn't a bad thing).

I'll admit that I'm still stuck in an era that had learned the art of music by means of technically having to play an instrument. So planting your feet like this is something that's hard to let go. And furthermore, it makes the writing process that much easier to cope with IMO.

So what I'm trying to do is let go of the norm and try something different. I might like putting together an all sample composition (except for the drums, gotta lay them down myself).

thats fresh, i wish i had a stronger musical background. so a lot of my time is spent listening for sounds that go together. i envy your ability though. thanks for providing some insight on how you do it.

hyp wrote:

dabmeister wrote:Good info! Though my style of composing mainly consists of actually playing out my ideas, the concept here is still the same.

I'm seeing that my style of writing greatly differs from the majority around here (which isn't a bad thing).

I'll admit that I'm still stuck in an era that had learned the art of music by means of technically having to play an instrument. So planting your feet like this is something that's hard to let go. And furthermore, it makes the writing process that much easier to cope with IMO.

So what I'm trying to do is let go of the norm and try something different. I might like putting together an all sample composition (except for the drums, gotta lay them down myself).

thats fresh, i wish i had a stronger musical background. so a lot of my time is spent listening for sounds that go together. i envy your ability though. thanks for providing some insight on how you do it.

It's all good man. I had no other choice but to play something. All my boys were being tutored on the guitar while I was learning the sax.

Then came the band thing and I had to teach myself the keyboards. And this was like thirty something years ago (the time before sampling was even thought about). So if there's something you want and you want it bad enough, you'll find a way to get it.

Dab