Someone emailed us a few days ago and asked…
i’m interested in this ‘sketch’ idea…how do you put together the sketches in terms of instrumentation? do you have a stock of samples/patches to draw on which you then refine? how far you take it during the sketching phase. how do you exact quality control to make sure nothing gets missed and none of the weaker ideas get picked? i’d love to hear one of the original sketches so i could get an idea of how much you work it up before you shelve it.
…So I thought I’d pick a recent track and show a few snapshots of the stages it goes through before ending up as releasable.
NB – All audio in this post is 64k mp3, aside from the Soundcloud player at the end
If I Could Tell You – Released April 2009
We started working on this in November 2006 and, as you can hear, the sketch consists of a load of musical elements with placeholder drums and bass.
2nd Nov 2006
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The next step was to try and figure out more interesting drums and bass, so we started playing with much more chopped up arrangements. You’ll hear that the ideas for the bass were more or less carried through into the final version.
7th Aug 2008
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Over the next couple of months we started to look at the instrumentation again and see what could be added, what could be thrown out, and what needed to be rearranged.
18th Aug 2008
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14th Sep 2008
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We then spent the next month arranging the track into a full piece while still rejigging the instrumentation and writing new bass progressions.
20 Nov 2008
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29th Nov 2008
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29th Dec 2008
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We thought we’d got to a point where the track was more or less ready to go, but there was something nagging us about the drums. They were holding the tune back so at the very last minute we threw them all out and replaced them with the drums that give the whole tune a lot more space and that worked in sympathy with the instrumentation much more effectively, and that’s what you hear in the final version that was released a couple of years after it first began.
4th April 2009
Blu Mar Ten – If I Could Tell You by Blu Mar Ten
phlx
January 29, 2010
Thank you very much for this. It was very insightful. It will definitely change the way I work. Splitting the process over days seems to allow you to add so much more depth to something.
btw: The tune is great, as well.
cheers
Blu Mar Ten
January 29, 2010
or over years…in fact
Tom
January 29, 2010
So interesting!
ahZ
January 29, 2010
very interesting!
Cosmology
January 29, 2010
I love these sort of things, I’m always wondering how people build their tunes. Many thanks guys.
Chris
January 29, 2010
years indeed. Amazing.
sunchase
January 29, 2010
big up mate! so old sketch and you finished it in 3 years! nice one
sammy_lang
January 29, 2010
wow
worth every second, minute, hour, day….
Bluey
January 29, 2010
Thanks for this insight. There’s me worrying that I take too long making a track when infact you prove that time is irrelevant, it’s quality that matters.
Cheers!
onion
January 29, 2010
Fantastic
I’m going to share this on piratebay
Xela
January 29, 2010
This has shown me why it’s worth taking my time over my tracks. I tend to criticise myself for being a perfectionist but this is a good example of deserved credit when it’s due. Shows that hard work and intricacy pays off. Respect.
Kev
January 29, 2010
Great post Chris.
What’s really interesting is that the track is enhanced so much by what you take away from it, rather than putting more stuff in – like when a good chilli reduces over the hours it spends bubbling on the hob …
The early sketch is so dense, there’s very little room to move around. Then as the track evolves each element gets room to breath … More of this please!
Greenpeace
January 29, 2010
Is this the girl version?
BLOODY-L
January 30, 2010
WOW! Thanks guys! Very enlightening to see your process broken down like that. Seems like a great example of how much a musical idea can change over time and still be true. How about doing this every time there’s a good example of methodology or serendippity at play?
Joel
January 31, 2010
Thanks for doing this, you guys are legends… absolutely love this track
EWOK
February 2, 2010
What a wicked tune.
Thanks for showing the work flow.
Nice one guys! :slayer:
zaungast
February 15, 2010
I’d like to underline the words of Kev:
The early sketch is so dense, there’s very little room to move around. Then as the track evolves each element gets room to breath …
This is one of the reasons I like your tunes
dauntless
July 10, 2010
Man… wicked post. Found the thread on DOA. Can’t believe I missed it!
Great insight into how you work. Also your production methodology really changed the way I work… for the better!
Cheers
Dauntless
Carmen
November 3, 2010
this is exactly why i admire your music so much.
you guys really take the time to “see”(hear) what is coming through and what the tune is waiting to become.living with it while re examining ideas. i can hear that in the music.
painting,drawing,music creation have similar processes but are using different media.
Cheers for letting us in on the process!