The day today was composed in various stages for production work.

The first stage was a continuation of the organization work I did yesterday. I transferred all the loops I had previously downloaded from Logic, and put them onto the new hard drive. This helped with making sure I had enough storage space on my regular computer. I also decided to invest in Microsoft 365, which provided me with access to software such as Word and Excel, as well as cloud space.

The next phase of production work for me today was with Brandon. As I was going through some loops, I came across a cool riff idea that I played for him. After he listened to it, he adapted it and played it on the piano. I asked if he could do a few variations on it, and we ended up recording it as a rough voice memo, which we could eventually use as a future song.

I recommend that everyone track their song ideas through voice memos or another recording method, that way you don’t forget about them!

I also found this cool tropical drum pattern that I imported to Logic. Brandon started playing his tune “Capoeira” over top of this beat, and then I started finding some other synth patterns and pan flute loops that also fit overtop. This was cool because we had previously worked on the production of this tune in a more live setting, but hearing it in a more electronic setting was a cool twist, which Brandon enjoyed!

After adding a few of these other loops into Logic, I decided to ask Brandon to play the song, and I played around with muting and adding certain loops. This helped craft a bit of a rough idea for an arrangement. We also recorded this through voice memo so we could have as future reference! It was nice being able to spontaneously revisit this tune after not hearing it for a while.

I think allowing some spontaneity in your workflow is also important, because it allows you some time to creatively come up with some cool new ideas!

The final stage of production work for me today was doing some pre-production with Kennedy for my final project for the Advanced Production course at Humber College taught by Justin Gray. For this project, I decided to do an arrangement of “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers. For this arrangement, I wanted to add more of a modern production approach to the tune, and add an R&B feel on it in the style of Daniel Caesar or Frank Ocean. I think when doing an arrangement of a cover, it is helpful to first decide what genre or style you want your new cover to sound like. You should choose a reference track that fits this chosen genre, and then try to envision the cover fitting this genre. I try to listen to specific production elements I like in this new genre, for example, the drums, and potential electronic elements such as synth.