But at this point, it doesn’t matter as the idea of this method is to create a rough song structure ‘framework’ (or template) for you to work with. Yes, your song probably sounds ultra repetitive and boring right now. Only you’re working with audio and sketching a song instead of painting (and yeah, it’s mostly copy & paste job at this point):

The idea in this method is that you’re like a painter who sketches his/her paintings. You can fill the other sections too with your current material if you think they’ll fit there. Basically, add a new sound after every 8 or 16 bars (yes, this is very basic knowledge in EDM production). Then, after 8 bars, maybe add hihats and/or claps followed by percussion and bass line after another 8 bars. For example, you could start the intro with drums (really common in EDM) or maybe just with a kick. Next, break your mix into individual sounds and start filling the song sections with the elements you now have. Now, if your idea is a drop, move it to the drop section: So your song structure could look like this: Of course, the length of the sections varies, but majority of EDM songs follows pretty much the same formula. Intro is usually 32 bars long, breakdown may be 32 bars as well (including build-up which is usually 8 or 16 bars) and drop could be something like 16-32 bars. If your musical style is mainstream EDM, the song structure can be divided into four main sections: intro, breakdown, build-up and drop (the breakdown, build-up and drop are usually repeated two times in a full song). The following markers can be set by right clicking somewhere in the Playlist position marker -area and choosing “Add marker…”. In FL Studio, the first time marker needs to be set either by choosing “Time markers -> Add one…” from the Playlist options -menu or pressing ALT+T. For example, if you’re using FL Studio, go to the Playlist and add time markers to indicate what song section starts and where. Then, inside your DAW, SKETCH a song structure first. Now: how to proceed from here? how to create a full song out of something like this?įirstly, now might be a good time to start being systematic and organized (if not already). It could be a 4, 8 or 16 bar loop and it could contain a melody, bass line and perhaps drums. Maybe something that you could use as a ‘drop’ in your song. So: lets assume you have created a short mix in your DAW. This may be a nothing new for some of you, but some may find this useful. Or at least move one step forward if you feel like you’re stuck in a loop. In this tutorial I will show you an arranging and song structure related method that might help you to make a full song out of your musical ideas.

Fl studio add marker