Production Techniques & Strategies: Getting Unstuck
Adam Pollard aka Multiplier, presents a helpful video tutorial series about ways to get unstuck when feeling stagnated or lost when producing your music. Get a ton of helpful ideas that will get you back on track in no time!
Videos
• Introduction (00:47) - Adam welcomes you to the course and discusses what he will be covering.
• How to Extend a Melody (01:40) - This is explores the fundamental concept/technique behind extending a melody - taking a 2/4/8 bar loop, and making it 4/8/16 bars long.
• How to Extend a Chord Progression (03:38) - Learn how to extend a chord progression by re-voicing the chords. A super powerful concept/technique.
• Treat the Arrangement as a Workspace (02:38) - A big trick to starting tracks is to treat the arrangement as a workspace, NOT as a place to perfectly sequence a single track.
• Subtract Only (02:20) - Explore this simple, but powerful idea. I also show why the rhythm in an idea might not be flowing correctly.
• Do the Opposite (04:12) - Another simple, yet super powerful concept. I give lots of examples to illustrate the idea. I also explain why this is so creatively useful as each workflow tends towards certain types of ideas/patterns.
• Change Colors (02:17) - It may sound trivial, but this is super effective in getting you unstuck. I explain how to do this, why it works, as well as a bonus idea to take this one step further.
• Bounce to Audio (04:18) - In this video, Adam shows various ways to do it, as well as WHY this works as one of the most tried and tested ways to get unstuck.
• How to Focus on Songwriting (04:32) - Learn how to stop yourself getting distracted by sound design/mixing details. I explain the theory, and also show some practical applications using plug-ins.
• Reduce Choice (05:05) - Don't be victim to choice paralysis, remove the choice of either sound design, melody, or rhythm. I demonstrate two ways to outsource the rhythm.
• Creating Drop Synth Variations (03:56) - Adam demonstrates the standard way to create variations of drop leads, including workflow and organization tips like color coding and shortcuts.
• Trick to Reset Your Ears (03:38) - Discover this interesting trick to help reset your ears if you've worked on your track so long you can't hear it objectively anymore, and also some considerations for what types of tracks this works well on, and not-so-well with.
• The "Search" Trick (02:59) - This is one of my favorite ways to choose the next sample to use, moving you forward with your project.
• What to Do If You Aren't Feeling Creative (02:34) - This will save you time for when you ARE feeling more creative.