Developing The Composition
Lesson 3 from: Fast Songwriting In Ableton LiveIsaac Cotec
Developing The Composition
Lesson 3 from: Fast Songwriting In Ableton LiveIsaac Cotec
Lessons
Clearing the Path
15:41 2Building a Track From The Ground Up
20:36 3Developing The Composition
07:21 4Advanced Toolsets and Tricks
15:25 5Creating a Template in Ableton Live
27:37 6Making Presets in Ableton Live
13:43 7Using a Beat Library For Songwriting
22:47 8Starting a Track: Sketches in Ableton
33:36Writing in Key Tricks for Sketches
17:08 10Parts of a Composition
16:11 11Composition Exercise
15:49 12Melodic Devices in Songwriting
19:21 13Rhythmic Devices in Songwriting
13:41 14Expanding the Sketch
14:07 15File Management in Ableton Live
21:14 16Using Generative Music in Songwriting
28:17 17Breaking Through Writer's Block
10:19 18Production Stages Review and Q & A
13:02Lesson Info
Developing The Composition
Now, with this, I have a thing that I like to call creating a mythos me personally, I'm a much more visual person, and I'm story driven, and a lot of music is story driven, but when you can create a mythos like, ah, fully immersive environment that you're thinking of your music, that you you can recognize what is happening to the music what's this storyline, what is the place in which it was unfolds, and so on? It's going to give your music muchmore creative energy as well as it solidifies it? It makes it a thing, right? If I listen to music, great example is it'll tech. His music just sounds like a big sound system at a festival with stars late at night at like three a m that is exactly what it sounds like. So what does he do? He plays at three end at festivals that's just how it works, so creating the mythos of your music is immensely going to help you, and this is where my production journal comes in a lot, right these ideas out. But this is a world of which your story unfolds right...
away to help you in this, creating a mythos is being immersed in art, looking at art and other music that inspires thiss world that you're trying to create you know that is going to help push your creativity, push your concepts forward and give you some cool ideas and things that play with me personally. As soon as I started recognizing this aspect of my music, I literally doubled my output because I knew what I wanted to create. I felt what I wanted to create, and I made it as compared to before what I forget the exact statement but it's like, if you stand for nothing, you'll fall for everything, something like that, right? Where you know if you're listening to someone who's new album and you're like that's so much better and should I make that music? Should I do that genre? I don't know it's because you weren't solid and what you stand for is a musician and that's our mythos uh something that really helps me is envisioning this space of my music I literally have a story for every track I create I actually have a storybook that have created with my last album so you can see the immersive world in the whole story unfold but envisioning the space of like all right, my music is like in this cave and there's this light coming through and I can see like the water dripping on stalactites or I can see these like iridescent sea creatures, which is my music's of a curious it helps me no, the reverb I'm going to use the sound quality I'm gonna have and it just seems to speed me up a lot more also the one who is there someone is there a character? Is there a person interacting in this space? What are they doing? Are they walking through a desert landscape and as they're seeing the different parts of the desert are they inspired by certain things now move that into your music and so on it's going to really help you come up with ideas and stay in the mode and I'm going to show you this really awesome production trick that I have which actually has not that much to do with producing music as much as visualizing the music itself but I'll do this sometimes where I will have uh in the background I will have video playing or a few videos and then if I'm feeling on creative I switch over to the videos to kind of give me a sense of the space and then I'll also play that when I listen to my track when I step back and go ok, is this any good? I will turn on the video, play it and listen to the track and that helps me be like, oh, this is the mood I'm trying to inspire so here's an example of that this's a song I did with calcaterra tree and it was all my last album and this image really is invoking what we're going for this kind of dark, sultry dance sort of thing and itjust fits and it really helped me in the creation of the music knowing okay, this is this's good here's a bad example totally not what I'm trying to create I don't know what music that would be, but I know I'm not creating it right? Um let's move that into another thing this is, uh, some chill wave kind of four for music that I produced a few years ago you know, I'm trying to invoke the feeling of being at a beach during sunset you're like maybe in l a driving in your car whatever it might be totally different feel from that last track, but these images air helping invoke that for me, right? So I totally suggest going online and just finding videos grabbing, um saving them whatever and building a library of images that really inspire you videos that really push you in different ways and that's going help you a lot in the creation of your music and also when you step back and look at it, you're just like nailed it, I totally got that vibe that I wanted to get it makes sense, right? Have either of you guys done something like that or in your own music? Sometimes I'll find pictures or or do exactly what you did with, like kind of like a landscape video because that's, what I'm trying to do with my music is making very landscape e and pick different landscapes and try to play music over it and see if it fits. I like the office example, too. Yeah, he has a way to not I haven't I haven't actually done that is like a clearing my palate, but is like an interesting idea of having a few like if it fits this video, then you're doing it wrong funny like experience? Yeah, cool one thing with this course there's gonna be tons of stuff for you to be able to download, and one of those things is pdf that I created cult concept music guide and it just ask you some very simple questions around your music and helps you sketch out. The idea is that you're trying to create it, ask you things like what type of setting is this in what? What is happening to the characters or places that are that you're within your music and so on? It's just a great way to sketch out now sometimes print this and have it at my desk so I can kind of sketch out concepts and ideas and fill it out, so download this once you get the course, go ahead and fill it out
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
a Creativelive Student
I started sequencing in the mid-80s using Dr T's Keyboard-controlled sequencer... it had two modes like LIVE, a loop mode and an arrangement mode... you can see the progression of design today.. of course, there were no internal sounds, just MIDI, so you used modules and keyboards for sound generation, synced to tape for recording, added vocals, then took your tape to a bigger studio to mix, then sent off your master to those mysterious magicians to make it sound like a record. Amazing to see such a young kid like Isaac, able to do all the above work out of a little laptop! This young man is such an inspiration. He's not only got the music and technical side down, he's got got a good head on his shoulders. Great job, Isaac! Thanks so much for your willingness to teach and share what you have, and you have a lot! You're a great help.
Victor van Dijk
In awe with this super kind and highly knowledgeable teacher! Wow, he really pours his musician's heart out in this outstanding course on everything that relates to being a musician, sketching, writing songs, composing, and so on. Also it's a course chock a block full of highly helpful Ableton Live project files, PDFs, and many many useful tips and tricks. I highly recommend this course, it should have cost WAY more, and in all honesty, it's a steal! And did I mention, that you learn a lot about and within the Ableton Live environment?! LOVE this course!
baptzot
Isaac is one of the best guy who can teach anything on Ableton! He got so many tips! His courses are so amazing! I really improved my skills thanks to him! And I do rewatch his courses with pleasure!
Student Work
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Electronic Music Production