Getting Noticed: 6 Ear-Catching Techniques to Make Your Music Stand Out

Takeaways from my 10,000 hours of making music, watching pro producer streams & videos, and reading a bunch of textbooks from Groove3.

How to Stand Out in the Era of Streaming and Social Media

We're living through a revolutionary era for music makers; barriers have crumbled for independent artists and producers, and every kid with a laptop can unleash their beats on the global stage. But here's the kicker—this has led to a staggering 100,000+ songs dropping daily. With so much music readily accessible to listeners, it's crucial to make your productions unique and memorable to stand out from the crowd. This blog series explores six game-changing techniques that can help you elevate your music production game and create lifelong fans. From doubling to live instrumentation, these tips will help you catch more ears and make a lasting first impression.

To prevent muddiness when applying traditional doubling, each take should be practically the same, with only the slightest of variations in timing. Otherwise, the transients will conflict with one another, and the part that's being doubled won't sound coherent. If you don't have a good secondary take that closely matches your chosen take, you can use your DAW's built-in quantization features or tools like Melodyne to make the takes fit together more closely. Or, in some cases, you can use a combination of timing and compression to bury the transients of the secondary take. Add a slight delay to the secondary take in combination with a short attack setting on the compressor. This processing will make your secondary take sound like it's 'behind' your chosen take, and violá, the doubling effect is achieved! As a bonus, the compressor may add unique harmonics that complement the sound of the chosen take.

Artificial Doubling: A Powerful Tool with Caveats

But, in some cases, a tighter doubling effect might be preferred, or there may not be an extra take available to create the desired effect. This is when engineers turn to artificial doubling. Artificial doubling is achieved through a combination of a few simple processing tricks.

Regardless of the exact methods used to achieve the doubled sound, artificial doubling requires 4 distinct moves:

1. Create a duplicate of your original track and throw it on a new channel.
2. Pan the original hard to the right and the duplicate hard to the left, or vice versa.
3. Add a slight delay to the duplicate track.
4. Mix the duplicate track with the original for the desired strength of the doubling, up to around a 50% mix.

Note: Shorter delays create less noticeable doubling effects, while longer delays will make the doubling effect more pronounced.

If you don't want to create the effect manually, you can use a tape delay to achieve a similar sound. Just make sure to pan the output from the delay towards the opposite side of the input sound. Many delay plug-ins have a feature that allows you to modulate the delay time, which can be used to emulate the extra richness of traditional doubling by adding some variation. Using an LFO with a random waveform will provide the most natural, humanized variations. In contrast, periodic LFO shapes, such as Sine or Triangle waves, will create a sound closer to a chorus or phasing effect. Other than using a delay, you can also try iZotope's free Vocal Doubler or Neutron plugins, which are specifically created to help you achieve a doubled sound and introduce other variables, such as AI-generated variations to the 'doubled' track, in the pursuit of that coveted traditional doubling sound.

Artificial doubling can be a tempting tool for thickening up vocals, instruments, or even drums. It adds weight, width, and dimension, often mimicking the richness of traditional double-tracking. However, this digital trick comes with its fair share of drawbacks:

Stacking vs. Doubling: How to Build an Impactful Stack

Stacking vs. Doubling: How to Choose the Right Technique

Both techniques are useful for thickening your sound, but they have a few distinct differences:

• Doubling: Adds raw power and presence, making your part sound bigger and bolder. Think of a unified wall of sound pushing through the mix.
• Stacking: Provides texture, dimension, and character, letting the listener appreciate both the individual voices and the cohesive melody. Think of a vibrant tapestry woven with unique threads.

Ultimately, the choice between doubling and stacking depends on your creative vision. Do you want pure power? Double it up. Craving textural richness and nuanced interplay between tracks? Stack those layers!

At the end of the day, the key to effective doubling or stacking is to use it sparingly and strategically. Doubling every track in a song can quickly lead to an overwhelming and cluttered sound. Instead, consider using doubling or stacking to emphasize certain parts of the song, such as the chorus or bridge, or to create a sense of build-up or tension leading into a key moment. By using doubling carefully, producers can create a unique and dynamic sound that sets their productions apart from the rest.

Doubling can also help fill out the mix in the absence of other instruments. For example, if a guitar track is the only element in a section of a song, doubling that track can add depth and dimension to the sound. Doubling can also be used to create harmony parts, adding richness and complexity to a song.

2. Layering: Building Depth and Richness in Your Mix

Layering can be used like doubling or stacking to create contrast and interest within your arrangements. You can surprise and engage the listener by layering different sounds and textures in unexpected ways. For example, layering a distorted guitar with a clean piano can create a dynamic and compelling contrast that keeps the listener engaged. Additionally, layering can create tension and release within a song. By gradually layering in additional instruments or sounds throughout a track, you can build up to a climax and then release the tension for a satisfying resolution.

We all know layering is a valuable tool for crafting lush, evocative synth pads and swirling atmospheric textures. But what if I told you layering holds the key to unlocking unique and powerful percussion that perfectly fits into the vibe of your song?

Beyond the Pads: Layering for Percussive Power

While layering often makes you think of ethereal synth washes, its potential extends far beyond. Imagine crafting your own custom kick drum, not by tweaking or processing samples, but by meticulously blending the attack of a sharp woodblock with the low-end rumble of a distant thunderclap. Or creating a sizzling hi-hat pattern by layering shimmering cymbal rolls with the crisp snap of a finger. The possibilities are truly endless!

Creating Your Own Custom Sounds

By layering percussion sounds, you can bypass the limitations of pre-packaged samples and add a personalized fingerprint to your tracks. This custom approach allows you to:

• Match the Vibe: Tailor your percussion fit with to the vibe of your song. Want a gritty, industrial edge? Layer a rusty chain scrape with a distorted snare rim click. Craving a playful, bubbly groove? Combine shaker rolls with the gentle ping of toy chimes.
• Add Depth and Dimension: Layering adds richness and complexity to your percussion.
• Craft Signature Sounds: No more generic, overused samples! Layering lets you sculpt your own unique drums.

Layering in Practice

Ready to unleash your inner percussive alchemist? Here are some tips to get you started:

• Experiment with Samples: Don't limit yourself to traditional drum sounds. Explore field recordings, found sounds, and even vocal textures to create unexpected combinations.
• Mind the Timbre: Ensure your layered sounds complement each other tonally. A bright cymbal might clash with a deep tom, so consider EQing, tuning, or filtering certain elements of each sound.
• Play with Timing and Velocity: Offset the timing of your layers to create rhythmic complexity and vary their velocity to add interesting dynamics.

Envelope Layering

Sometimes, the layered sounds don't stack exactly how you want them to. Maybe the attack of one sound competes with the attack of another, and due to destructive interference, the resulting sound is muddied and lacking power. Or, maybe one sound has a shorter decay phase, and it disappears out of the stereo image before the decay of the other can complete, resulting in unwanted space in your mix. Whatever the case, sometimes simply layering each sound to create the "perfect" drum sample doesn't produce the exact sound you're looking for.

If you ever run into this issue, try combining different parts of the envelope (ADSR) from multiple drum samples to create a more unified, powerful sound. Your average drum sample tells a whole story with its sound—how it starts loud (attack), fades out (decay), stays steady (sustain), and finally dies away (release):

Once you’ve chosen each of your samples, simply chop each of the envelope phases and combine them to create your own custom percussion sound. Remember, the goal is to build a complex, satisfying sound by mixing and matching the best parts of different samples. This way, your drums (and overall mix) come alive with texture, depth, and personality.

Note: Make sure that you tune each sample so that they’re all in the same key (although, combining samples with different keys can have interesting results sometimes). Also, you’ll likely want to add volume fades to the beginning and end of each sample you’re combining to avoid creating any sonic artifacts by quickly turning on or cutting off the sound. You may have to add some compression and EQing, along with some saturation to glue the samples together and make the new sound seem more natural. You can also try adding a reverb, which should help the samples sound like they were all recorded in the same room.

Layering Without Muddying Your Mix

Sometimes, layering can lead to unwanted muddiness. But don’t worry—a few processing tricks can make your part shine through clearly. If your layers feel disconnected, you can route them to a shared bus and apply gentle compression to all of them. This "glues" them together and makes them breathe as one. Alternatively, if your layered sound becomes too squashed or overcompressed, add a bit of saturation or distortion instead of compression. This adds grit and character while subtly gluing the sounds together. For a warmer, more vintage vibe, try a tape emulator instead, which combines subtle saturation with tape compression. Finally, adding a touch of reverb can make your layers sound like they were recorded in the same space, further enhancing their cohesion. Remember, even minor EQ cuts on individual layers can go a long way in preventing frequency clashes and creating space for each sound. In some cases, creative effects like chorus, phaser, or delay can also add space and texture, sometimes solving muddiness in unexpected ways. Don't be afraid to experiment and find what works best for your layered part!

When layering tracks, it's important to keep in mind the overall vibe and tone of the song. Each layer should fit naturally into the overall composition (for example, adding a digital synth noise might sound out of place in a live-recorded track, even if it's just an underlying layer of a piano or organ sound). And while layering can add depth and complexity, it's important not to overdo it and end up with a cluttered or chaotic mix. You need to maintain a balance between the different layers and ensure that each layer contributes to the overall feeling of the song. By mastering the art of layering, you can create unique productions that stand out and capture the listener's attention.

3. Sample Flipping: Advanced Techniques for Modern Producers

One of the most effective ways for music producers and artists to set themselves apart is by developing a unique musical identity. This identity should shine through in every production choice you make. The samples you use are a prime example. Curating a custom arsenal of samples based on your personal tastes and preferences is a great way to inspire music that's completely you.

Unfortunately, if you think a sample is cool and you found it on a popular marketplace, chances are that a bunch of other creators in your genre think it's cool, too. But, if everyone uses the same samples, won't this make everyone sound alike? This is where sample flipping comes in. Instead of simply slapping the sample on your track and calling it a day, sample flipping allows you to add your own creative spin and make something truly unrecognizable from the source material. And unlike the former, not everyone has the skills or know-how to flip a sample effectively.

Whether you're just getting started or you've grown tired of your current sampling methods, it can never hurt to beef up your music production repertoire. The sampling rabbit hole goes deep—outlining all the possible techniques for sample flipping would turn this blog into a book. So instead, I'll walk you through a few methods that have given me solid musical results.

Slicing + Rearrangement

When you think of sampling, slicing + rearrangement is most likely what you're envisioning. This was the form of sampling used by legendary early hip-hop producers RZA and Nujabes on classics like "C.R.E.A.M." and "Luv(sic) pt3" It's also frequently used in EDM music during the production of remixes.

Slicing + rearrangement, also known as "chop sampling" or "chopping", is a creative technique that involves taking small pieces of existing recordings and rearranging them to create new beats and melodies. Here's how it works:

• Sample Selection: To find source material, producers typically either scour online sample libraries like Splice, or they look through existing recordings—vinyl records, old movies, even obscure sound effects—for snippets with interesting sounds. Once they find a sound they like, they record it and bring it into their DAW.
• Slicing: Using a sampler plugin, these snippets are chopped into tiny pieces—often just a single drum hit, a short melody phrase, or a vocal fragment—to create samples.
• Rearrangement: These samples are then 'flipped' and combined with other samples in the DAW to make a beat or song. When flipping samples, among an enormous number of other possibile production techniques, producers can:
  • Layer different samples to build complex melodies, rich textures, and unexpected sonic combinations.
  • Pitch-shift samples up or down to change the vibe or to blend samples from different keys.
  • Time-warp samples to fit the BPM of the song or to apply double/half-time to certain samples for interesting results.
  • Reverse playback for sections within a sample to create unexpected rhythmic variations and switch up the groove.
  • Apply FX like filters, delays, and reverbs to further color and shape the samples.
  • Trigger individual drum samples in new rhythmic patterns, creating entirely new beats.

With sample flipping, no one method will always get the best results. Sometimes, combining a few key snippets from a sample can create an awesome melody, and at other times, all you need to do is reverse the playback and add a half-time effect. It all depends on the situation. You just have to follow your ear, make confident choices, and never look back.

Sample Mapping + Keyboard Playback

If you prefer working with a physical interface over drag-and-dropping in your DAW, you can use your MIDI keyboard to play your samples like an instrument. This can help you come up with some interesting sound combinations and rhythmic variations on the fly. Here's how:

• Slice up your chosen sample. Use your ears and your best judgement to pick out any interesting snippets.
• Map each of your slices across your keyboard. You can either map similar slices near each other or map them randomly, depending on your preference.
• Trigger your slices by playing each note.

Once your slices are mapped, try noodling around on your MIDI keyboard like you would with any other new virtual instrument. You can also play along with the rest of your beat and improvise until you've found something that sounds good. Then, you can record and tweak your MIDI track further. Unless you use 100% quantization on your recorded MIDI, this method will often result in a more humanized sound than manually placing samples on the grid. It will also save you time over slicing + rearrangement since you won't have to manually add each slice to the track one-by-one.

Put it into practice: One of the most common uses for sample mapping + keyboard playback is flipping vocals. Try mapping vocal chops to your MIDI keyboard to create a cool lead line, add trippy stutter edits to accompany your main vocals, or work some ear candy into your mix. Online sample libraries are a great source for vocal samples, but if you've already recorded vocals (main vox, backing vox, or even adlibs) for your track, sampling from them is even better. Not only will your preexisting vocals fit perfectly into your mix, adding layers of texture and supporting your main vocals, but they also will infuse the track with a distinct character—the unmistakable essence of the vocalist's artistic style. Once you've chosen your vocal sample, pick some key lyrics or vocal runs, slice them up in your sampler, map them to your MIDI keyboard, and get to work.

Gross Beat and Other Time-Based Effects

If you've ever used FL Studio to produce music, you may have tried Gross Beat. Gross Beat is a plugin that comes included within FL Studio that allows you to manipulate audio in real-time. It can be used to create rhythmic pitch-shifting and gating patterns that can be applied to your samples. While Gross Beat is fairly simple to use and doesn't require much menu diving—all you need to do is select a preset or draw curves on a graph—it can create a huge variety of effects:

You can also try plugins like Effectrix and ShaperBox for more time-based effect fun. Listen through the presets within each plugin, or create your own mix of effects to fit within any arrangement.

It's worth mentioning that most, if not all of the possible effects and sounds that you can create with time-based plugins can be replicated in any DAW. These plugins just make the production process more quick and convenient by providing interfaces that favor speed over depth of functionality. They bring all the controls you could possibly need to create the time-based effects listed above into one convenient place. If you prefer, you can also use a mix of your DAW's volume/time automation and audio editing (slicing, reversing, and rearrangement) functionalities to achieve similar results.

HalfTime

HalfTime is a more simplified version of Shaperbox's (a Gross Beat alternative) TimeShaper that actually uses the same time-warping algorithm, but with fewer customization settings and more minimal user interface. While initially this may sound like a drawback, fewer settings can lead to quicker decision-making, a more intuitive workflow, and a more focused creative process. HalfTime's interface restricts you to the loop lengths and playback speeds that are most likely to generate useful musical results. This means it can quickly get you to a sound that's already almost where you need it to be.

Developing Your Own Sample Flipping Techniques

These are just a few of the many methods you can experiment with while flipping samples. As you try each method while making music, you'll start to generate your own unique tricks and techniques. There are probably about 100 ways to add a reverse effect to your audio, whether with a plugin or your DAW's built in functionalities. You just have to pick your favorite way to achieve each type of effect. These production techniques will combine to help define your personal sample flipping style—part of your unique musical identity.

Creating Custom Samples

In the spirit of standing out, why not try creating a 100% original track? Instead of using the same played-out, overused samples from common sample libraries, try creating your own. Write your own parts and link up with musicians to record, or simply record yourself. Then, you can still flip the sample using the techniques discussed above, or you can just use the part you recorded with some processing.

4. Focus Tracks: Elevating Your Music with Key Instruments

A well-balanced mix ensures every instrument gets its moment to shine. However, some instruments deserve the spotlight more than others, taking center stage and driving the song's energy. These key instruments are known as focus tracks (or star tracks).

Focus tracks are the instrumental elements that carry the melody, harmony, or rhythmic foundation of your song. They're the workhorses, the vocal line, the driving bassline, or the soaring guitar riff—the elements that define the song's core sound. Focus tracks are an effective way to draw listeners' attention to a specific element in your production. This can be achieved with a catchy melody, a unique sound, or a memorable hook. While focus tracks play the lead, other instruments serve as supporting roles, enriching the soundscape and adding depth. These could be rhythm guitars, background vocals, or subtle atmospheric elements.

Remember: It's important to balance your focus track with other elements of the mix to ensure that it doesn't overpower the rest of the song.

Don’t Split Your Listeners’ Focus

As music producers, we've trained our ears through countless hours of focused listening, so we're often blind to the fact the average listener can only focus on one or two tracks at a time. Your musical phrasing should account for this, bar-to-bar. For instance, while the focus track is playing, there shouldn't also be a strong synth chord line up front unless it enhances the focus track or serves as a counter melody. In essence, you need to ensure that the musical phrasing isn't too cluttered.

Another consideration when creating a focus track is how it will fit into the arrangement of the entire track. For example, the focus track may be featured prominently during the chorus or bridge of the song but take a back seat during the verses. The focus track should be arranged so that it supports the melody and rhythm without detracting from the rest of the song.

Hooks That Stick: The Psychology Behind Focus Tracks

Have you ever listened to a song and found yourself humming the same tune days after? This is what we call an 'earworm'—a tune that burrows deep into your mind, making you want to listen to it over and over. And what’s one of the most effective ways to achieve this in your productions? You guessed it: focus tracks.

Let's dissect the magic behind "Get Lucky," Daft Punk's infectious dance floor anthem. The hypnotic guitar riff acts as the song's star track, a glittering beacon amidst the swirling synths and groovy bass. Why does it stick with us like superglue?

The Power of a Well-Crafted Focus Track

Beyond "Get Lucky," focus tracks come in all shapes and forms. The anthemic chorus of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," the haunting piano motif of Adele's "Someone Like You," the pulsating synth line of Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf"—these are just a few examples of how artists and their producers leverage focus tracks to create the unforgettable hooks that keep us hitting the replay button.

A well-crafted, well-recorded focus track can be the difference between a good song and a hit song. It can create a sense of anticipation and excitement in the listener and keep them coming back for more.

5. Originality: Crafting Your Signature Sound

Thanks to distribution platforms like CD Baby and DistroKid, virtually anyone can upload their music to the most popular streaming services. This increased accessibility means new opportunities for once virtually unheard independent creators, but it comes at a price—an extremely competitive landscape for artists and producers. With millions of voices vying for attention, originality is essential in today's music industry. Consistently finding inspiration for original ideas can be challenging, but experimenting with new sounds, collaborating with other artists, and staying true to your voice can help you stand out.

Experimenting with New Sounds

Your sample and instrument choices set the tone and feel of your songs and have a major impact on your overall sound. If your usual sample packs and instruments have you feeling uninspired, it's probably time to go shopping around for some new sounds. There are a ton of different places you could potentially look, so, where to start?

Curating Your Sample Library

For samples, you can use sites like Splice and Tracklib to easily locate pretty much any sound you could want. They let you search by sample type, genre, key/bpm, and even vibe or emotion. Conventionally, you would look for sample packs that fit your genre and mood, and this often works in a pinch. But, after a while, every snare sound labeled 'Trap' can start to sound the same. Once the sounds within your genre start to get stale, you can also search for samples from more unconventional genres. Maybe a snare from an Industrial EDM pack will set the tone for your Trap beat?

Pro tip: Try creating an entire drumkit or even an entire beat solely from the samples in a single sample pack. If the sounds from the sample pack are cohesive and follow a general theme, you'll end up with an instantly vibey kit or beat that mixes together effortlessly.

Vocal chops and manipulation techniques can also be a goldmine for creating unique textures, melodies, or even percussive elements. There are a few different ways you could go about getting your vocal source material. The most unique, personalized way to so is to create your own. Just like with any other instrument, you can record yourself either humming or vocalizing different melodies. You could also search through sample libraries or work with a vocalist locally or remotely to create your own samples.

Trying New Instruments

If you're looking to try out some new instruments, you have a variety of options:

For virtual instruments, you can check out sites like Plugin Boutique, Splice's rent-to-own program, or various software instrument manufacturers like Arturia and Native Instruments. But, before you go and buy a bunch of shiny new virtual instruments, you should at least try out the instruments that came included with your DAW. Play around with each instrument's presets and settings. Add a reverb, a delay, or maybe a few guitar pedal emulations and see what sounds you can make on your own. Once you've got a sound you like, save the signal chain and instrument settings in your DAW (most DAWs have a fairly easy way to do this). This way, you can create your own entirely unique, custom (not to mention, free) virtual instrument preset and start building up your musical toolkit (for more about this, read on to the next section).

If you're set on buying a new virtual instrument, it's best to download the trial version first. Test how musical the instrument feels—how easily do new ideas flow the first time you hear each preset? How well will it fit with the other elements in your typical mix? While each instrument has its own unique character and uses, if you don't like the presets and you aren't an avid knob-tweaker or sound designer, you likely won't reach for the instrument very often, regardless of how great it sounds in the demos.

All caution aside, there are a ton of fantastic options available for purchase, and fiddling around with your brand new virtual instrument is a surefire way to get inspired. The first few experiences with a new virtual instrument can take you to unfamiliar sonic territories and dredge up long-forgotten memories and emotions. Much like the Beatles' groundbreaking use of the sitar on tracks like "Norwegian Wood" and "Love You To," your new instrument could even help define a fresh artistic direction for one of your songs or albums. So, if you like how it sounds, think it would fit well into your music, and the price is right, don't be afraid to pull the trigger on that virtual instrument you've been lusting after.

For live instruments, you have more options than you would initially think. Beyond the obvious methods of trying a new guitar or synth at Guitar Center or collaborating with a local musician, you can also try commissioning a recording online. This way you can work with instruments that you don't know how to play yourself, and you can get connected to talent outside of your personal network. Sites like Performidi make it easy to work with musicians without ever having to book studio time.

Don't be afraid to experiment with unusual instrument choices, either—a distorted cello could add a haunting texture to your pop ballad, or a vintage synth patch might bring a retro vibe to your EDM production.

Crate Digging for Sound Design Inspiration

You can also try 'crate-digging' through Spotify or Apple Music for sound design inspiration. Each era and genre has its own musical fingerprint—the booming kick drums and pulsating synths of 80s new wave, the gritty guitars and raw energy of punk rock. Pick an era and genre you think could potentially inspire your sound and listen with an ear for details—a particular drum fill, a unique vocal effect, an unexpected chord progression, an intriguing instrument choice. These elements can become the building blocks for something entirely new.

While you're listening, you might find an interesting sound to sample for use in your music: maybe a new drum sound for a kit, a synth sound to use with a sample player, or even a vocal snippet to chop up and mangle beyond recognition. As long as you don't grab a sample with a distinct melody, chord progression, or lyric, you're most likely in the clear to use the sound. Just make sure that it isn't a long recording or easily recognizable snippet. And to be extra safe, make sure to fully flip the sample: add your own FX, adjust the playback direction, playback speed, or pitch.

Building Your Musical Toolkit

From your custom channel strip, FX, and virtual instrument presets to your custom-built drumkits and personally curated sample library down to your mic and instrument choices, your musical toolkit is wholly unique to you. Your musical toolkit plays a major part in setting you apart from other creators and developing your own distinctive, recognizable sound across your work. Maybe your music style is more digital, so you choose a wavetable synth like Serum, a clean EQ like the FabFilter Pro-Q 3, and a digital overdrive or bitcrusher for distortion. Or, maybe your style lends itself to more of an analog vibe. Mic, amp, and rack effects emulations are your go-tos. Maybe you invest in a few key pieces of analog gear like vintage reverbs, tape delays, saturation boxes, preamps, EQs or compressors. Whatever your style, each of your instrument, signal chain and FX choices will accumulate throughout your production and mixing processes to subtly color your music.

Customizing Your DAW: Preset Instruments, FX, Routing, and More!

Building your musical toolkit and saving your settings in your DAW comes with benefits that extend far beyond conveying your unique artistry. While it may take a bit of extra effort to set up, saving your custom FX and virtual instrument presets and creating channel strip presets for production, recording, and mixing sessions will save you a ton of time and energy in the long run. You can take your DAW customization a step further by making different templates for each type of session. You can create your routing, add compressors, EQs and other effects on your instrument and vocal busses, create preset channel strips for each instrument with likely effects for auditioning—and this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are virtually limitless combinations of presets and settings you can select to help set yourself up for success, no matter the use-case. For instance, you can prepare for group recording sessions with full bands or orchestras by creating your microphone and instrument channels, setting up each channel strip, adding routing, and creating headphone outputs for monitoring during recording.

This prep work will reduce the amount of non-musical decisions you're required to make during each type of session, and as a result, your sessions will run more smoothly. In recording sessions, musicians and artists will hear themselves post-FX from the get-go, sounding their best and inspiring confidence while recording. Getting them tuned in and set up will feel like a breeze. When you're producing, solid musical results will seem like they come much more instantly and easily. You'll be able to switch between tracks and try out each of your favorite virtual instruments or synths. Then, you can cue up a custom-built drum kit with preset routing and effects and make a quick beat. Once you go to dial in your mix, each of your instruments and drums will already be much closer to where they need to be.

Creating Templates for Each of Your Production Workflows and Genres

You can even set up templates for different genre types or production workflows. For example, if you're creating EDM, you'll most likely want a template that includes a drum machine with sends to a drum bus with compression, EQ and distortion for later fine-tuning. Maybe you also want your template to include a few virtual synths, as well as an automatable filter plugin with custom presets for testing different LFO speeds. If you're making Drill, your template will likely include a sample player with a comprehensive hi-hat folder, as well as a plugin like Sublab for creating sub bass and 808s, and a sample mangler like Stutter Edit 2 for creating vocal chops. In practice, your production templates will likely be built-out and customized much more extensively, but you get the gist.

That's it—the template for your new production workflow is now complete! Once you've created a few different templates, you can test them out and see which gets you the best results or saves you the most time. Then, you can refine your templates further from there.

Make sure to stay flexible and keep an open mind when considering new production workflows. There are practically infinite viable methods for producing music, and creating with different restrictions and tools will inspire you in unusual ways, often generating surprising results. Pretty much any type of template will do, no matter how unconventional, as long as the workflow works for you and helps you increase the productivity of your sessions.

Drawing Inspiration from Your Peers

As music-makers, we spend a LOT of time interacting with our own music. Whether we're creating, practicing with our instruments, songwriting, or daydreaming about musical motifs, we've always got our music on the mind. For many creators, immersing ourselves in our art is crucial for maintaining a consistently productive creative flow. But lately, how much time have you spent listening to other successful artists or producers within your own genre? Or spent exploring complementary genres that could potentially influence your music?

Listening Within Your Own Genre

Listening to music from your own genre is a great way to get inspired. You can check out the top charts or look for someone more up-and-coming. Look for songs you actually like—that you would add to your own playlists—and analyze them carefully. Try to identify what makes each song great:

• Why does it get your repeat listens?
• What makes it so catchy?
• What elements caught your attention in the first place?

Then, open up your DAW and put what you learned into action. Start creating your own melody while you keep a catchy hook from a song that inspired you in mind. Add a similar transition or build, or try reproducing a cool vocal effect.

Remember, the goal is not a direct, one-to-one replication of the sound or effect—your distinct creative choices, production techniques, and FX selections should result in your own unique sound that blends into your music. Essentially, you're integrating the musical idea to be a part of your music; not changing your music to fit around the new idea. Let the idea inspire your music, rather than simply copy-and-pasting it into your song.

Borrowing from Complementary Genres

Every once in a while, try exploring music outside your usual domain. Can you incorporate subtle elements of rock into your electronic music? Perhaps a dash of classical influence can elevate your pop ballad? Cross-pollination between complementary genres can lead to truly innovative and captivating results. And you don't necessarily need to make drastic changes to your music to blend in a new genre. Whether the music from the new genre inspires a subtle transition, an effect on a snare drum, or an entirely new instrument choice, it will add something different and unexpected to your music, helping you carve out a unique space within your own genre.

Listening to the Spotify Top 50 or Billboard Hot 100 is another effective method for getting inspired. You can get a sense of current trends in popular music and generate some interesting ideas, since the lists are made up of a mix of genres.

Collaborating with Other Artists and Producers

While listening to your peers' music is a great way to generate ideas, there's an even more effective way to learn and grow: collaborating with them. Working with other artists or producers can be a powerful way to push your boundaries and create something truly unique. Their varied experiences and perspectives will bring new ideas and approaches you might not have considered on your own. Think of it like brainstorming—bouncing ideas off each other can lead to unexpected creative directions and one-of-a-kind musical results.

Playing to Your Strengths

Creative collaboration allows you to play to your strengths and focus on what you do best. You just need to find a decent creative partner who complements your skill set. Maybe composing melodies is your strong suit, but you aren't the best at crafting intricate drum beats. A producer who excels in drum programming can help fill that gap. Preferably, you should seek out collaborators who are more talented or experienced than you. As the saying goes, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Working with talented artists and producers gives you an intimate look into their creative processes. If you collaborate with them enough, you'll eventually start to pick up on some of their tricks.

Identifying Your Creative Blind Spots

Sometimes, we get stuck in our own creative bubbles. Our personal style and ingrained habits can limit the possibilities we explore. Working with someone who has a completely different style and workflow can act as a mirror, reflecting back blind spots you might not have noticed on your own. Imagine a collaborator who challenges your assumptions about song structure, or questions your reliance on certain effects. This "creative friction" can be incredibly productive. By forcing you to defend your choices and consider alternative approaches, collaboration can help you grow as an artist and lead to a more nuanced and well-rounded final product.

Staying True to Your Voice

Originality isn't just about doing something new; it's about expressing your own unique voice. Don't chase trends or try to be someone you're not. The most compelling music comes from a place of authenticity. When you infuse your music with your own genuine experiences and emotions, it tends to resonate with listeners on a much deeper level.

6. Human Elements (Live Instrumentation)

Live instruments can add warmth and authenticity that virtual instruments simply can't match. They give your music a human touch that resonates with listeners, especially with digitally produced music's ever-increasing prevalence.

On top of this, the improvisational nature of live-recorded performances often creates 'happy accidents'—moments of unexpected magic that can elevate a production to new heights. The recording process also gives musicians and producers an opportunity to bounce ideas off each other, sparking more creative, musically-unique productions than a producer could envision solely on their own.

Unfortunately, not all music producers have access to session musicians or the resources to record live instruments. In these cases, using high-quality virtual instruments with MIDI can be a viable alternative. With the advancement of music production software, virtual instruments now have the potential to sound 'good enough' when compared to their live counterparts.

But what about when 'good enough' doesn't cut it? Sure, virtual instruments have their uses, especially when they're used for a supporting part that's mostly buried in the mix. But for your focus track? Or for a solo or featured run? More often than not, a solo'd virtual instrument will sound glaringly digital, despite the best efforts or talent of the producer.

Performidi is a collaborative recording platform that streamlines the work process for session musicians so that they can afford to charge less per gig and still provide the same quality they would if you were recording with them in the studio. You get to set the price you're willing to pay for each project and pick between up to 3 auditions from talented musicians. Then, if needed, you can collaborate with your chosen musicians on revisions to get the perfect take. This opens up a world of possibilities for creators looking to make their music stand out. Easily commission recordings from multiple musicians for doubling, stacking, and layering, get a solo recording for a focus track, or work with musicians to create your own live-recorded source material for entirely unique samples. Replace any dull, uninspired, overused virtual instrument with a live performance and add human authenticity to your music. With the PerforMIDI Plugin, you can do this all from your DAW—without ever interrupting your creative process.

Access to talent shouldn't be a limiting factor for any music producer or artist, regardless of their financial resources or industry connections. For many skilled producers, the difference between their song becoming a break-out hit or getting lost in the shuffle is fairly minimal. With the proper application of these techniques, you can give your song the boost it needs to get added to countless playlists and get replayed over and over.