Ok, kicking off 60 DAYS. For anyone new this is my challenge to write a new idea every day for 60 days—no excuses, no overthinking, just creating. Each week, I’ll recap what worked, what didn’t, and the biggest takeaways from the process. Ultimate goal is to close gaps that I find in my process and get better at making what I want to make. Anything is fair game.

It’s a bit over a week since I started but I’m going to do these write-ups every Sunday.

I have uploaded all the ideas to my YouTube: HERE

Week 1 Recaps

DAY 1 - RUNTHATSHI
Very Sable Valley inspired idea. No mixing going on so idea is very rough. Overall decent idea. Like the execution of phrasing in builds/pre-drops, even the drop phrasing is decent. Improvement in sound design, details in all sections and filling out space/energy needed.

Pros:

• use of vocals in the build

• Operator to creating really fat lowend in build

• use of negative space in pre-drop > very on point for this style.

• use of vocal hits to fill space and provide energy

Gaps:

• sound design. leads, bass layers in drop. pretty much everything.

• better drum selection. hi hats do not feel good.

• builds feel incomplete.

• house section needs stronger sound design for sub/lows. replace synth stab with a different sound that serves the same purpose but is harder/grittier/more energetic. want this type of idea to really smack on some rave mainstage type beat.

DAY 2 - MECH HOUSE IDEA
More "electronic" today, less EDM. Fan of the melodies/face in this track. Overall idea is valid to me, and has potential to be a huge vibe. Sound design could be more dialed in.

Pros:

• melody is actually solid. Contrasts nicely against the lead that comes in during "drop".

• like the hat selection > very on point for this style of music.

• vocal use for different layers is really good to fill out idea with having competing melodies.

Gaps:

• stronger sub design/shaping.

• percussive mid sound design. this is a type of sound I want to use a lot so need to improve as designing it and making it my own.

• composition of the second half has potential but needs to be massively fleshed out.

• better kick selection

• build and whole section in 2nd half when the percussive mid is introduced needs to be fleshed out > more space or more sense of build (even if subtle) so it can come back to "drop". needs contrast, but not EDM style build/tension.

• find way to bring back that melody from 1st half into second??

DAY 3 - LOS ANGELES
I like the house section in terms of groove. Sound design on the one-shot basses are not valid. Sound design of the keys in the intro are not valid. Lead at 1:00...lol. Meme lead. I think it's possible to re-sound design elements and flesh out transitions/builds and composition so the melodic ideas and the groove house idea go together. But I'm not sure if the two sections should go together or if the core “drop” idea would be better served on its own with a new intro and other parts.

Pros:

• core house idea is good.

• hat selection for this style is valid.

• I do actually like the melodic idea in intro, even if it may not make sense for the house track. Or maybe that contrast in vibe is actually super big brained. Will need to sit on it. But the melodic sxn to me is very day-party in LA with zero care in the world, house section is like nighttime in the arts district at 2am.

Gaps:

• huge sound design gap here. Noticing a trend. Pretty much only the drums and mid bass in the drop feel valid, everything else feels either not well designed or undercooked.

• bridging sections with detail worked and more intentional composition. right feels like smashing sections together.

DAY 4 - 60 DAYS
Most complete piece of music so far. Only an intro and build but everything here is the most intentional so far. Effort put into getting the micro edits, transition elements, phrasing to work. Listening to this makes me think of sitting on a hill watching the skyline with no pressures. Slice of life type beat.

Pros:

• Sub coming in delayed after drums come in

• using vocal chops/hits to add energy and fill out space. Not really a melody but is able to add what

• stop and start idea in build is valid.

Gaps:

• kick feels too saturated or powerful.

• build kick is not it. not even sure what style of music needs that kind of kick but it's terrible.

• noise layer too loud, but I like the idea of having noise layer subtley to fill out space.

• build needs some more work after the vocal stop/start. feels like it go a bit further. maybe 1/2 more layers or maybe just sound selection.

• needs drop

DAY 5 - IN THE WATER
Shoutout noisia drums. Messing around with Operator in Ableton to make basses. Want to keep using it to create new sounds. Overall I think there's potential with this idea. It has a certain "IT" factor that the other ideas haven't quick had.

Pros:

• vocal sample is valid. use of vocal layers throughout I like.

• operator is great. I think main bass in drop 1 and drop 3 could be fleshed out but are valid enough.

• pre-drops are valid. good use of negative space and vocal in 1/3. Wouldn't change too much.

Gaps:

• second drop switch up needs to be massively fleshed out. Main bass could be pushed further and processed a bit more so it stands out. Feels like a patch right of operator right now tbh.

• intro probably could be just one take of the chords with it designed/mixed better. Right now its just untouched saws waves. raw but needs something to make it saucier or different approach.

• valid idea overall actually, feels a bit undercooked in terms of detail work for composition. Like a really valid sketch.

• composition lacking overall. intro needs more care. after drop 2 (switch) it goes immediately into build > this needs to be flesh out more, needs a moment to come down and build into that.

• build into final drop needs work. lowpass that bass

• think track could use bigger sense of space. whether adding a texture/atmosphere, or sending core elements to a reverb. track deserves to feel huge.

• bass stabs in drops need additional processing. feeling undercooked.

DAY 6 - COME GET ME
Sort of meh on this one. I'd had this sketched for a while with that bassline and core idea for perc drop and thought it would be a great track. I'm glad I wrote it because I think it was a better idea in my head than on paper. Lesson in there.

Pros:

• Bassline and that sine-y sound is good.

• Re-discovering love of dubstep type snares. They feel good.

• I like the percussion that comes in at 0:18

• I like some of the synth stabs used in intro/build to give sense of space and energy.

Gaps:

• Don't like the way I used vocal use in this one. Feels kinda cheesy. I think a different style of track and idea would serve her vocals better. Also I just downloaded different vocal phrases from a Splice pack and tried to arrange them. Kinda sounds exactly like that lmao.

• Not sure this is a "gap" but I think the overall drop sounds dated or something that's already been done.

Not too much to say about this one, not a fan. Ironic considering I'd had the idea and sketch for it for a minute and fleshing it out resulted in my least favorite so far

Day 7 - nothing x___x

I forget to save and Ableton crashed so I have nothing. It was nothing crazy.

Week 1 Takeaways

• Writing consistently gets a lot easier after a couple of days. Day 1 was exciting, Day 2 was chill, but Day 3 and 4 were hard—procrastinated a ton until I just got started by end of day. Days 5, 6 were easier because I’d done it on the hard days so I felt like I had momentum.

• Lack of sound design knowledge, presets, or samples → leading to placeholder ideas/sounds.

See you next week.

Aiya