Hey everyone, In this video, I am going to be showing you
how to arrange a good EDM intro for your track.
This is the fourth video in the series of How To Produce EDM.
I’m also going to show some interesting tips and automation clip tricks that you can do
besides your normal arrangement steps, so stick around…
So to build the intro, we’re going to continue on the project that we’ve previously build so far.
So we have the main melody, or “Lead”, we have our chords, and we have our bassline.
So now it's time to add drums and an interesting arrangement to these elements, and possibly
some FX, so we have a good solid intro to the track.
And trust me the drop is not the only important part of the track, a good intro and build-up
is really key to a great track.
Most record labels are not even going to consider your track and will turn it off halfway through,
unless there is a solid foundation and build up to the actual drop.
So let’s begin.
I chose a few audio samples here, including some drums and a few fx.
But you can use any audio sample pack, and if you don’t feel like spending money,
there are also a lot of great free ones.
Most of the samples I use are free.
So let’s start off by giving ourselves a few bars and some space to have an intro,
and then a short build-up.
Let’s just give ourselves 24 bars for now.
You can add more depending on how you feel.
I personally like adding these time markers in my arrangement, because it helps me get
a better view of where everything is.
So let’s name this intro, and I’ll move our patterns all the way here and give ourselves
this space until the buildup and the drop.
So let’s arrange the actual intro.
I like to start with the kick, and just put it down and drag it out with the brush all
the way to the drop, for now.
We can mix and arrange things later.
Next, let's arrange the clap.
We can use both these claps for an interesting drum rhythm.
And have the clap arranged on every second beat.
The way you do it easily, you extend it to the size of two beats, and again, with the brush.
Next, let's add the main hi-hat.
You want to have your hi-hat hit on every beat, but unlike the kick, arrange it to hit
on every second step of each beat.
Like this.
And let’s have it starting right here.
It’s already starting to sound like a drum arrangement, but it's still a bit too basic.
We have our main three elements, but what we can do now, is add some other minor elements
and percussions, to give our drums some contrast.
We can add the other clap too, but arrange it differently from the main clap
and we can lower it down a bit too.
So we can add it in a specific rhythm like this, starting from here at the end of every second bar.
We can also add another high hat, in an unusual rhythm, like this.
And arrange it like this, once every two bars, after the 9th bar.
Perhaps this will give our arrangement a bit of personality.
And we can also add a random percussion sound too, arrange it anywhere you feel.
We can add it like this on every second bar.
Let’s see where we’re at with the drums.
*Percussion example so far*
Not too bad, but they’re still completely raw.
And we can give them more flavor with a little mixing.
I will route all our new drums, in the mixer.
Quickly do some things that I do on every track.
Add the kick in mono, since it’s the main element of the track.
Trim the low end on the claps, and percussions by around 120hz.
And we can trim the low end on the hi-hats elements and alike, all the way to 300hz.
The main purpose of this is to create some space for the kick and bass,
and not have interference in the low end.
You can also add compressors accordingly to however you want to mix your drums to sound.
But you don’t have to, most audio samples are already fairly mixed by the people that
release them before they publish them.
So it's mainly preference at this point.
A fun addition we can do for the main clap is add the fruity delay...
Create an automation clip of the mix level here,
and what we can do with this is...
Draw it like this on every four bars after the clap hits here,
and we can get an interesting delay effect for the clap.
*Example of automating delay on a clap sample*
Next, we can arrange the chords, starting from here...
But instead of having the chords play at full power here, we can add a high-pass automation,
from the fruity EQ, by clicking here, and then creating an automation clip of this setting here.
This will make our chords sound ghosty and seem like they're making an entrance all the
way from the background, giving us a wind-up for the full elements at the drop.
Let's draw the automation like this, starting at low,
and then rising up towards the breakdown-buildup section.
We can even slice a portion of the first note of our lead,
from every second bar
and just put it here.
Add a delay and a reverb effect to make it sound unusual and ghosty.
And of course, make an automation clip for these too,
spreading all the way until the build-up.
You can do that by doing this.
*Example of the build-up of the song so far*
Finally, we can add some FX downer and riser effects.
These are subtle and are just there as white noise but do help and make the track sound more lively.
I will add this down-lifter FX all the way to the build-up.
And I will also make a unique version of it, reverse it, and add the same effect but now
reversed as a riser effect all the way until the build-up as well.
This will make the intro sound more full.
Let's also add these riser effects here just before the breakdown before the drop.
And trim them just before the end like this.
These risers are pre-made audio wind-up samples that help you create anticipation
without having to do anything with the arrangement.
And lastly, we can remove some of the hats just before the build-up like this.
And also, I will remove some of the kicks at the end of each 4-bar section like this,
to create some momentum, for the next part that is about to come.
Okay, let's listen to everything we’ve arranged so far for the intro, and see how it sounds:
*plays whole intro*
So that’s it for the intro.
In the next video in this series, I am going to be showing you how to arrange the build-up breakdown,
the actual drop, and finishing out the arrangement for the song.
If you liked this one don’t forget to like and comment.
And if you’re interested in seeing the next one where I explain the finishing of a complete track,
click the subscribe and bell button so you don’t miss that one out.
And as always…
Thanks for watching!