How I Did It
Uses samples from:
Tools I Used
FL Studio 8 Producer Edition
Virtual Instruments:
Dimension Pro (for bassline)
Nexus (for the piano)
Battery3 (drums)
Hardware:
Novation Remote 61SL for all my MIDI input needs.
Samples I Used
No samples (apart from the vocal a capellas from Queenie) was used.
Process
I had a pretty clear idea about the drums and the tempo when starting this, but I was unsure how to tackle the rest of the instrumentation.
After lots of tinkering and experimenting with everything from strings to full-out brass sections, I ended up with a base consisting of the piano chords, the drums and the bass.
There are two additional layered piano parts, the first one (at about 2:00) was a "logical" progression of the background chords (i.e. it's what I heard while listening to it;))
The piano "solo" at 2:50 was a happy accident, and the result of some "in the moment" improvisation.
So the process was pretty straight forward. I started out with the drums, added the bass-line based on the chord progression in the vocals, then I just played around with different things until I ended up where it's at now.
The whole thing took about 15 hours, spread across 4-5 days.
Other Notes
This was my first time working with vocals, something which also shows in the result. It was quite hard to get the vocals where I wanted them to be in the sound scape, and I must've gone trough 20 different masters before I called it quits.
Originally, I had some string sections in it, but I thought it became too busy as I wanted to keep the vocals in the center.
It was a very good learning experience, and I'm pleased with the result, even though the mastering is slightly off.
Definitely a great experience, and I'm much more equipped now for playing around more with vocals. It was also fun to play around in another genre than I normally do.
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