I guess I do things a little differently

I was talking with a fellow musician last summer when he said something that gave me pause. I'd never really thought about it before, and I guess I'd just assumed I created music in the usual way - nothing really out of the ordinary.

"What's the first thing you do when you get ready to mix-down?" He asked.

My answer? "I don't mix-down." He seemed confused, and went into a description of how he prepares a recording session for his final mix: stripping everything down to the bare bones and building it back up again. This guy went to school for audio engineering, so I know his method is sound. It's mine that's "incorrect."

But anyway, I don't mix-down. I build up.

When I get a song idea - usually a guitar riff - I open my DAW and lay out a click track. Usually it's just a kick and hat beat, 4/4, at whatever tempo feels right to me. I record a couple of rhythm guitar tracks, clean them up, and import them. Immediately, I start working on production ideas. Before I've ever written the chorus, or the vocals, I'm playing with textures and effects. I build the song up until it's as big as I can get it. Then, I add other elements. Maybe I need to pull back on the guitars once I add the vocals. Maybe the drums need some pumping up once I add a proper bass line. But I always build up - never strip down.

And I cannibalize. A lot. I'll slice bits and pieces from my guitar lines and use them in other parts of the song as texture. I'll grab snippets of feedback and noise, flip them around, and use them as transitions. Sometimes, I'll cobble together a whole new riff from previously distant lines. I did that in Girl's Got Altitude: the verse you hear is a combination of the original verse riff and the muted "flicks" from the chorus guitars. Then, on the second pass of the verse, I let the original riff play out as recorded. Sometimes I like to edit parts together in a way I can't really play. I did that in Break, to fill in some empty spaces between riffs. You'll probably never catch it, though - it's subtle.

I guess my point is that I do things differently. Mostly because I was never taught the correct way. I treat audio files the same way I do design (my day job): objects to be sliced, arranged, and cobbled together into a perfect whole.

And sometimes, I don't even know what that will be until I'm hitting "export."