The Plug-Ins I Use to Create a Production Music Track
In this issue, I want to give you an insight into what plugins and samples I use to create a winning production music track.
When it comes to creating a valuable library track, there are a couple of things that I want to mention before we dive into it.
Production music is a numbers game.
The more tracks you have, the more placements you'll get.
That's why starting with a simple framework for creating tracks fast is very important.
We are not creating a masterpiece.
I recommend that every music creator that gets their hand dirty with production music, in the beginning, make simple music (aka boring music). The massive trailer track, soaring orchestra track, or pop song can and will come later. Chops, as Christian Henson calls it, are most important at this stage (or ever)
We want to be quick in creating.
You can be fast and still create valuable tracks. That is the art of production music.
Churning out tracks that help the editor & producer are valuable and support the storytelling at high speed is genuinely an art form.
Large templates only make so much sense.
We see that in these informational videos. The composers that have them swear by it. That's overkill for the type of music we are creating here. My most used compositions have ten instrument tracks that makeup 4-6 stems—minimal arrangements.
The production process is complex enough that we can make it easier on ourselves with less technical difficulty. Some composers deal with it by having massive templates where they never even have to look for a sound because they are all at their fingertips. But tbh, only a few of us have the luxury of buying or building a machine that can do that. And that is also total overkill, especially for production music and commercials. That doesn't make sense in tracks where you only might need 10-15 tracks from a 350-track template.
I will show you what I use to create my most successful production music tracks.
When I start with a new track, I no longer have to start from scratch. I have a plethora of pre-made templates from different projects & albums so that, in most cases, I have all the instruments incl. the patch, plugins, and mastering chain, already loaded.
The beauty of this approach is:
I don't have to start from scratch looking for the right sound. That takes the bulk of the time in the production music
Have proven sounds that already worked and can be used again, and again, and again
That's why I'd recommend not getting sidelined into building a template from scratch and instead letting it grow organically.
As soon as you have a banger on your hand, a track that does well, you know, you can re-use that template again.
You might switch out some sounds here and there and have a second template with a different and exciting sonic palette.
To start, here are some instruments you can start with.
They have great pre-made patches that you can use right out of the gate. Or you can go wild with these and make your sounds. But, be aware once again, we are playing a numbers game here, and we need to use the time wisely for the right things to get to higher numbers. The examples I included here are from some of my latest tracks.
Just sayin’ 😇.
Sonic Ingredients
Bass/Arps/Pads
Omnisphere
Zebra
FREE alternative: Alchemy
Drums/Perc
Damage
Stylus
Action Strikes
FREE alternative: Apple Loops
Extras (I like to give it a bit of depth with textures)
Omnisphere
Auras
FREE alternative: freesound.org
FREE alternative: Alchemy
Production/Mixing
EQ (Logic EQ) (FREE)
Delay
Echo Boy
Stereo Delay (FREE)
Reverb
Shimmer,
Cinematic Rooms,
Chroma (FREE)
Panning
Pan Man
Panning Automation (FREE)
Mastering
Ozone
Logic Channel Strip Setting (FREE)
The examples I included here are from some of my latest tracks.
See you again next week!
Whenever you're ready I can help you grow your creative business.
Book a time with me here!⬇️⬇️⬇️
