Process Journal 3

Nov 4, 2024

5 min read

This go-round, I’m ahead of the game. When I predicted that production on my second song, “Going Down” was going to be faster than that of my first song, I figured that would’ve triggered a karmic setback that would have humbled me before the cosmos, but surprising even myself, I finished “Going Down” in a matter of days. Going into this song, I knew I wanted to make something that sounded like elevator music, which sent me in the direction of many Youtube tutorials and 20 hour long “POV: You are in a hotel lobby” videos.

Determining the exact sound profile of this track is something you think would be easy, but what exactly elevator music is was hard to pin down. What genre is elevator music exactly? Jazz? Lounge? Bossa nova? I watched an interesting video by Ordinary Things that explained the history of elevator music as muzak, the kind of bland, yet productivity-increasing music that plays at the grocery store or DMV.

In the beginning, I was tripping over myself to determine my exact influence. “Star Treatment” by Arctic Monkeys was my initial inspiration, then “Dancing in the Moonlight” by King Harvest. As always, I was good at making individual parts but much worse at putting them together. My bassline wasn’t up to tempo, my piano was too jazzy, or my drums sounded like pots and pans. It was rough for a while. I was just bouncing from one sound to another, hoping that the next one would help me put everything together.

Unlike last time, holding fast to my inspirations didn’t actually help me. And neither did the guides. While informative, they weren’t practical. I did my best to keep up with them, but I didn’t take very much from the one’s I viewed except to gather more data in constructing a sound profile for this track. I realized that the song I wanted was in my head, not necessarily one I could find and pull from. Once again, I struggled with drums, so I settled for a tambourine loop to get me started and heavily relied on the piano and bass melodies.

On top of “Going Down” being the elevator music for a demon hotel, I wanted the name to have more meaning than just a pun. The song has two halves, the first begins as a typical muzak track but around the midpoint, it transitions into the second, shorter half that uses harsher instrumentation. A descent in floors as well as madness. I was sure to procure an elevator ding and opening sound to begin the track. It's a little half-baked as a gimmick, but it's good enough for now. My goal of constructing most of the song’s part was accomplished, and upon completing it, I felt that it was my best work yet. I didn’t expect things to go this fast, but that afforded me plenty of time to get to work on my next song, “The Resonance Hotel.”

I kind of went crazy. I was able to complete “The Resonance Hotel” in one day. Despite the quick production, I actually think it's the most complete song I’ve made so far. I’ve found it much easier to track down the right sounds and instruments, recreate samples by ear, and put all my parts together. Using some old scraps from other songs, I was able to hit the ground running. I had been saving the stuff I hadn’t been using, like synths that were too heavy or basslines too rumbling, that fit perfectly for what I wanted “The Resonance Hotel” to sound like: a little bit of rock and a little bit of gothic grandeur.

This time, I used no guides, only my ears. After getting my feet wet and settling on a sound profile, I returned to the “Club Luna” workflow of finding songs for direct inspiration. A recent favorite, “Anchor” by Soccer Mommy, was where I stole the drums from. Drums have been a thorn in my side for this entire project, and I didn’t want to use another loop, so I did my best to recreate the percussion in “Anchor,” which fit the dark rock vibe I was going for. I’m far too incompetent at replicating sounds by ear for this to be considered stealing, I think. My other inspiration was one of my favorite Daft Punk songs, “Robot Rock.” Heavy and groovy, I knew I needed that kind of heft for this track in particular.

Since GarageBand lacks a decent midi electric guitar, I settled for a fuzzy synth that made my heart stop the first time I heard it. I had the bones of the song made early on, but shaking things up and adding distinct parts has always been a challenge for me. Once I settle into a riff, it's hard to let go. When I was at a loss, I went back to “Anchor” or “Robot Rock” to try something out based on what stuck out to me there. Before I nailed the synth lead, I nearly made this another techno song. I’m glad I stuck with it, though. I’m not sure how rock it really is, but it sounds good enough for me.

Of the three tracks, “Resonance Hotel” and “Going Down” are the most finished. “Club Luna,” if I have the time, is the first one I’d like to go back and change. I feel like I’ve improved a lot since I made that track, so I want to see what I can do with it.

I hastened production to make time for other projects, affording myself about a week of downtime away for my mental and academic health. It's been fun spending the last few days with my head firmly buried in GarageBand, but my hands are getting cramped and I'm getting my own songs stuck in my head. When I circle back around, I aim to polish “Club Luna” and even mock up some album art for the Resonance Hotel EP. (And maybe work on a bonus track? If it doesn’t kill me.)

Links to Tutorials: Updated