Track Release: Debut Track
First Track Ever
--
Without further ado, here is my first ever electronic music track (headphones recommended):
It’s not much, I know. Considering how much time I spent stumbling around Ableton Live, and how much time I spent watching YouTube videos, and even how much time I spent watching some intro Ableton courses on Udemy, this isn’t much of a debut track. At the same time, it still feels like a mini success given that I’ve never even pressed the “export” button before.
Track Breakdown
This track is almost ambient in nature — it layers one sound after another until it eventually ends with a fade-out. With regard to the structure of the track, it was like stumbling around in the dark. I created some sounds, then some other sounds, then deleted the original sounds…things would sound reasonable on their own but then they’d sound like shit when combined. I would be happy with my creation, then turn on some Tiesto and immediately want to chuck my computer through the window.
By the way, if you try to learn something while comparing yourself to the pros, you’re gonna have a bad time.
But self-pity aside. In creating this track, I re-introduced myself to the way that Ableton allows you to define beats and melodies. Ableton actually treats these two things as being the same. Whether you’re placing a drum beat or a piano note, both items are added within the “piano roll.”
I played around with different sounds and melodies. By melodies I mean I drew random notes in the piano roll. Establishing any sense of rhythm or beat was difficult. That’s part of the reason that my first track doesn’t really have a rhythm at all. In the end, the track ended up consisting of just 5 instruments: drumkit, bass, mallets, plucked string, and some strange bell-like synth sound. Each instrument was introduced one after the other. The bell synth was faded in over a 10 or 20 second period.
With the debut track in the books, its on to my first trance track. Expect a lot more content about song structure, instrument types, and making cool effects moving forward.
What do you think?
Please share any thoughts you have in the comments section. Did you think the track was interesting? Boring? Too simple? Do you have any recommendations for improvement? Let me know.
