Creativity starts with a good template

Music Lesson: Creative Sound Design

As I mentioned in previous videos, you need to make use of this creative time you have.

Initial Ideas

So, what I did with this track was really come up with sound ideas first. I started with a lot of sound design elements. Here's the breakdown of my approach:

• Template Structure:
  • I group my sections into folder tracks, as shown in previous videos.
  • This template is greatly tweaked, and I generally utilize two or three templates, especially for this type of music, tweaking them quite a lot.

Horror Template

• This specific template is my horror template.
• In it, I have grouped various sound elements:
  • Hits and Impact Sounds
  • Sound Effects
  • Hits and Risers
  • Low Drums
  • Strings and Woodwinds
  • Vocal Samples: These are more sound designer-type samples that I've processed and manipulated.

Additionally, I include:

• Orchestral Effects
• Pads
• Soundscapes
• Synths
• Arpeggios (Arps)

We'll look at these elements in depth, especially my use of various virtual and outboard synthesizers as sound design tools, rather than in a pop or rock context.

Exploring the Hits and Impacts Folder

Now, I'm going to quickly open my hits and impacts folder.

Recap of the Template

To recap my template:

• I've grouped all these elements into folder tracks.
• They are summing folder tracks.

For example, the hits and impacts track is grouped into Bus 3 in my mixer.

Dynamic Control

I've applied a compressor over the entire bit because there are quite a lot of dynamics, as you'll hear.

Listening to the Track

Now, I'm going to solo this out and play the track from start to finish, so you can hear how it sounds. Here it goes.

Important Note

Just to clarify, the levels were not mastered. This is not the mastered version; I sent them an unmastered version to the production house.

• It has been mixed by someone else because I didn't have the time to get it to them beforehand.

However, you will get the feel of it. There's a lot of sound design intertwined with orchestral and vocal elements.