Eclipse

Episode Three

The song was chosen for none of the genre reasons mentioned in the previous episode directly, it was chosen because I simply enjoyed the song.  My ears perked up. Do not choose a song because you think others will like it. Choose a song because YOU like it. This song's sound and vibe made me go into that sonic happy space and it had tons of items from a music creation perspective that perked my creative juices. Bottomline; it inspired me to create; to take action. Without this I find it is next to impossible to start on a project.

Final Note: My goal in choosing a reference track is not to copy the music but to listen to that song's style, feel, emotion, sound design and arrangement to inform my music project. I always choose different chords and rhythms and by the end of a project my song may or may not even resemble the initial reference at all. I also often use the reference to calibrate my balance, mix levels and mastering decisions during the final stages of my song creation process.

Reference track lyrics? Usually secondary to me (perhaps to a fault) but I find the music vibe, instruments, sonic vocal "expressions", rhythms and space is usually what pulls me towards the reference as I am thinking ahead to my song development process. 

Does every song creator need to choose a reference? Absolutely not. I often do not use one at all when creating music. It is 50/50 for me but I recommend using one if you have not created your own music from scratch before, at a minimum from a balance and mixing perspective

See you in the Next Episode.

Dave

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