Make a ‘shopping list’

> Based on the exercises on the previous page, we should now have a few things: reference tracks for each of the three songs we’re going to create, a list of the qualities we’d like to capture for each track, and a rough arrangement template. From these, we can now create a ‘shopping list’ of the elements we’ll need for our track. List everything you think each track will need, from drum elements to melodic parts – eg 8-bar chord progression, bassline 1, bassline 2 – to one-off stabs, hooks or FX. You don’t have to match the parts in your reference track like-forlike, but if you decide to ditch something, consider what role it was filling and whether you need something else to replace it. You may not want a lush synth pad in your track, for example, but is losing it going to make the mid-range feel too empty? Try replacing it with some reverbdrenched piano chords.