what comes first?

[cascade]

ok your about to make your first successful track,.
what do you compose first?
the structure?
the riff?
the beats?
the bassline?

i know theres loads of producers on here so someone must have an idea.

[acidhead]

riff n kick to me - seen many a top riff spoiled with a week kick :(

[Barely Human]

It deppends on what mood im in really, as most of my tracks just start with a mess around. But usually i end up making the middle section of my track first, then i go back and add an intro, and add an outro aswell.

[Louk]

Most of the time a riff

then i add more to make it a full break

but sometimes i begin with this full on percussion workout..

Louk

[wenna]

i think everyone has thier own ways of beginning a tune, i;ve never known ne1 ever lay the hi-hats first though.....

[Dave Elyzium]

kickdrum
>
percussion
>
bass
>
riff
>
breakdown
>
SFX
>
crahes and builds
>
err
>

usually thats what i do but depends on the track, sometimes you have so many ideas no matter how hard you try they all just burst out and stain the sheets...but usualy i naturaly progress in that order

[DJ Corbzy]

i make a few basic perc loops, with a kick and ocassionally bassline then go on to make a riff and synthlines then add from there.

[djTequila]

I normally start with the beat, then a bassline, then some riffs, then work backward and forward in time from there...

A friend of mine starts with the beginning, and adds what he thinks the track needs at each stage. Kinda like listening + producing at the same time... It works really well for him - his arrangement is spot-on, as are his sounds - but he's a progressive type, and I feel as a technique it will bend you towards writing progressive tunes.

Not a completely bad thing! Gonna give it a go myself...

Tequila

[Col]

ive been thinking about the way in which i work recently, because i can never finish a track, i have about 10 on the go at the moment, but i always feel that there is something missing, i usually start with the kick, then bassline, followed by snare, hats, cymbals, i then try conjure up the melody & pads, and then i do the lead. but, im not so sure about working like this i think that you should concentrate on the melody as that sets the mood for the track, then everything else should fall into place, this is how im going to work in the future....fingers crossed!!!

[alpha_unit]

rite now this is a very interesting question

i went for a shitty college course and i had a engeneer showin me cubase and reason, basically they thort how i made tracks was amazingly weird as i apply fx as im goin though, what she said was apply teh fx after the tune was made, which i thort was strange. i couldnt make a tune iwthout a perc and bass first

this bein the foundatyion set sthe groove and gives teh feel to the tune, from that i get the inspiration for the other sounds i will use in my tune

so for me has to be perc + bass