SCENARIO 1: WRITING MATERIAL TOGETHER
In the event we’ve agreed to write fresh material together from scratch in the studio, your best prep is to compile a playlist (Apple Music, Spotify or YouTube) of 3+ songs that embody the vibe you want to achieve. Even better, note specific elements of each song that are inspiring you - “I like the mood of song A, the lyrical style of song B, the drums on song C” etc. We will use these, if needed, to get our creative juices flowing then set them aside to forge our own path from there. You may also want to prepare your archive of ideas (hopefully you keep one!) in case we want other sources of inspiration to dip into - voice memos, lyric ideas, chord progressions, etc.
SCENARIO 2: PRODUCING MATERIAL YOU’VE ALREADY STARTED WRITING
If our production session is to develop a song you’ve already written or partially written, I request you create a simple demo in one of the 3 specific formats I’m about to detail.
SIMPLE DEMO: VOICE MEMO
To start you’ll need any device that can record and send an audio file - smartphone, laptop, tablet, portable recorder, camera, etc. Don’t overthink the complexity or audio quality of the device, it’s best to keep this simple and low quality. If you’re experienced working in a DAW yourself, you can record a demo there but no need to spend a bunch of time perfecting takes, editing or playing with the mix.
Next you need a metronome/click track. On most smartphones, tablets and laptops it’s possible to play a free metronome app out of the speaker at the same time as recording a voice memo. If you need to play the metronome click on a different device from your recorder, you can use another electronic device or a traditional metronome.
Find the BPM of your song. Just about any metronome app will have a tap tempo button so you can identify the BPM of your song with 4 taps of your finger. If you’re using a more basic metronome without tap, turn the click on and determine if it’s faster or slower than the tempo you’re hearing in your head. Use the arrows up or down to go faster or slower to find the BPM that best represents where you want your song to groove.
Once you have a metronome going at the proper BPM, let it play in the background as you perform your song to it. We want the metronome to be heard in the demo. Guitar/vocal, piano/vocal or even Acappella are all helpful ways to perform your song on a demo. Don’t get caught up in chasing perfection. You do want to get correct the song’s form and perform tightly with the metronome but you don’t need to perform with zero mistakes and perfect intonation (although being able to do that will make you a champ in the studio). If you’re bringing a song that’s not fully complete to the studio, demo as much as you have written as accurately as you can.
Bring your demo files to your session or, even better, send them in advance to drewmantia@gmail.com so I can get familiar with the song before we meet. For each song, I can now easily load up your demo and begin recording foundational layers of production under it. Being able to hear the vocal at tempo as many times as possible and create loops of it will help me hear what can be added to serve the lead vocal of the song. As the production builds, the demo will be referenced and played back less and less as it’s eventually completely replaced with higher quality versions of its parts.
If you’re able, include a chord chart of what you’ve played on the demo recording. Typed out lyrics can also be helpful.
SIMPLE DEMO: REFERENCE BEAT
Some artists like to write to generic beats in the style of production they want to achieve then seek custom production after the vocals are written. I think this method is great, as long as you don’t get too attached to the original beat. You may find these beats to listen to for free on YouTube, Soundcloud, Beatstars, Airbit, Instagram, TikTok, etc.
To start you’ll need any device that can record and send an audio file - smartphone, laptop, tablet, portable recorder, camera, etc. and a second device with headphones or earbuds to play the beat on. Don’t overthink the complexity or audio quality of the device, it’s best to keep this simple and low quality. If you’re experienced working in a DAW yourself, you can record a demo there but no need to spend a bunch of time perfecting takes, editing or playing with the mix.
Play your writing beat in headphones on a second device separate from your recorder or download and import it into your DAW. It’s important that the beat be playing in headphones and not out in the open, so that the resulting recording is just your vocal with no beat. Listening to the beat in headphones from your second device, perform your vocal into your recorder device. Don’t get caught up in chasing perfection. You don’t need to perform with zero mistakes and perfect intonation (although being able to do that will make you a champ in the studio).
If displayed, note what the tempo of the beat is. If you don’t see the tempo, link me to the original beat so I can listen to 4 bars of it to find the tempo to sync your vocals to. I prefer to never hear the original beat to keep my mind completely open to new production possibilities, but if I have to listen briefly to find the tempo I can block that out.
Bring your demo files to your session or, even better, send them in advance to drewmantia@gmail.com so I can get familiar with the song before we meet. For each song, I can now easily load up your demo and begin recording foundational layers of production under it. Being able to hear the vocal at tempo as many times as possible and create loops of it will help me hear what can be added to serve the lead vocal of the song.
BEAT REPLACEMENT PRODUCTION
A more advanced version of the reference beat demo, sometimes an artist has already written, recorded, maybe even mixed a song but needs to replace the instrumental. Reasons might include they’ve changed their vision for the song, they’ve had a falling out with the original producer, or there’s a rights issue with uncleared samples or a producer that initially sent the beat for free but now demands a large fee. Whatever the reason, if this is your situation you’re going to want to get for me a vocals-only 24bit WAV file of the song, 24bit WAV stems of the vocals and the BPM of the song. I recommend wetransfer.com for sending large packs of files for free. Send to drewmantia@gmail.com
ADVANCED DEMO: SELF-PRODUCED DAW DEMO
If you’re an artist that has some proficiency of your own in a DAW like Logic, Ableton, FL, etc. you may want to create your demos in your software of choice. You may even have some production skills you want to put towards creating an outline beat. Cool! I’ve had great results taking production ideas from the artist and expanding on them. If you’ve done a demo like this, I’d like an mp3 or WAV of your rough mix, the BPM, 24bit WAV file stems of your session (so your tracks are high enough quality in case I want to integrate any of them into my production) and MIDI files if you’ve used VST sounds. If you need tutorials on how to create 24bit WAV stems or MIDI files, YouTube search “export WAV stems from (insert your DAW)” and/or “export MIDI from (insert your DAW)” for detailed instructions on how to export from your specific software. If you’re able, include a chord chart of what you’ve played on the demo recording. Typed out lyrics can also be helpful. I recommend wetransfer.com for sending large packs of files for free. Send to drewmantia@gmail.com
WHICHEVER DEMO STYLE FITS YOUR NEEDS. . .
I also request that you compile a playlist (Apple Music, Spotify or YouTube) of 3+ songs that embody the vibe you want to achieve. Even better, note specific elements of each song that are inspiring you - “I like the mood of song A, the lyrical style of song B, the drums on song C” etc. We will use these, if needed, to get our creative juices flowing then set them aside to forge our own path from there.