How I Did It
Uses samples from:
Tools I Used
Almost everything is produced and mixed in FL Studio 20.
Vocal samples are all from Kara Square's (mindmapthat's) super versatile vocals in "Calling All Sirens." They were chopped into vowel stretches using Audacity, then manipulated in FL Studio. The bend function in FL's piano roll surprised me with its flexibility and how natural-sounding the stretches and bends came out. There are plenty of effects on the vocals, including a stereo enhancer, phaser and the "Flangus" plugin in FL Studio. I'm not sure what it really does (sounds like a portmanteau of flanger and chorus), but I do know that I like how it sounds.
The rhythm tracks (apart from the Rhodes) are all played on a guitar plugged straight into the DAW via a Focusrite Scarlett Solo. I use an NRR-1 amp emulator VST with a parametric filter (the Fruity Love Philter) to add a rhythmic component. Lead parts are picked out with palm mute and then put through a classic filter with a programmed on-the-beat sweep.
Drums are all programmed using integral plugins - Fruity Kick (doubled up, with a clickier and a thumpier pair which are, of course, compressed) and the Fruity Drumsynth Live, which does a solid job of emulating the Roland TR808 and TR909 drumsynths.
The bassline is entirely unnatural - it uses the integral Boobass plugin and is writen on the piano roll.
I'm going to add a guitar solo at some point, because I can. I will probably label that as a different mix, however.
Samples I Used
Vocal samples are all from Kara Square's "Calling All Sirens" and are used under an Attribution Noncommercial license.
Original Samples
If it sounds even vaguely like a guitar, it is.
Process
Everything starts for me with a 4/4 rhythm - usually an extremely simple one - and a short phrase on the guitar.
This tune uses an Em7/Am7/Bm7 progression exclusively with the classic boom-tsss disco rhythm. I then worked out the bassline and iterated on it, with flourishes at the end of the phrase to bring variety to the sound. I used a dynamic, programmable filter to add percussive elements to the staccato rhythm of the guitar progression. No wah-wah pedal was harmed in the making of this tune.
After setting up the bones of the tune, I worked on the vocal samples and the keyboard chords, messing with them as much as I could while still keeping them within the confines of the (super-simple) progression. The glissando chords are a product of this. I'm not sure how FL Studio decides which root note to go to with the use of the slide function (I experimented until it sounded right), but as an affordance of the software, it works for me. I *really* like the visual interface of FL Studio for this reason.
Other Notes
I had an absolute blast making this.
Highlights include listening to it on my earbuds in the supermarket (I needed to listen without the temptation to tweak) while balancing the mids and bass. I looked a bit weird bouncing up and down in the milk aisle.
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