KORG Collection: Producing a Track

Ready to produce your first track but not sure where to start? You're in the right place! Production guru Thomas Cochran takes you through the process from start to finish with these KORG Collection video tutorials. You'll see and hear how to build the rhythmic foundation of the drums, create a synth bass for the low end, add some pitch bend chords, stabs, arpeggios, and much more. After viewing this course, you'll be ready to start recording your own track right away! These videos are for those familiar with their DAW and how to record and edit MIDI and audio.

Building the Song

• Song Playthrough (02:24) - In the first video, Thomas introduces the course and plays through the song that we will be creating in the following videos.

• Drums Pt. 1 (07:46) - We start building out the track by making a kick and clap pattern. This will be used to give the song a strong rhythmic foundation so that the whole track has a nice groove.

• Drums Pt. 2 (09:25) - Next, we take a look at adding some hi hats with the Korg M1 plugin to fill out the rhythm section.

• Percussion Layers & Bus Effects (15:49) - Thomas continues building out the song and adds various percussion layers to the drum section. This video also covers bus processing to glues the drums together.

• Bass (14:55) - Next, we create a groovy synth bass from scratch to fill out the verse sections. A second bass is used to fill out the main low end of the song and to create more variation.

• Synth Chords (12:50) - Thomas then makes a pitch bend synth chords patch with the Korg mono/poly that will be used as the melodic basis for the song. This video also covers the chord progression that we will be using in the track.

Adding Layers

• Keys & Stabs (15:41) - See how to layer in additional synth parts to fill up the sections of our song and keep the track moving.

• Synths Leads & Arps (15:50) - Learn how to create ambient arpeggio synths from scratch. These synths will be used like reverb pads to fill out the background of the production and will provide melodic fills for the song.

• Making Custom FX Pt. 1 (11:02) - Thomas shows how to make an FX impact sound with the MS-20 synth to help transition between different sections of the track.

• Making Custom FX Pt. 2 (09:00) - Next, we take a look at adding vocal stabs to the song and see how they can provide a melodic hook for the chorus.

• Arrangement & Final Adjustments (14:04) - To wrap up the course, Thomas arranges out the song. This video also demonstrates some final mix changes and adds a master limiter to round out the production.