The workflow approach - Axel Boy Q&A. 🤓 (Patreon)

Hey everyone.

I sat down with one of my Patrons- TIM3LIMIT for a Q&A on workflow!

Thanks to him for letting me share his write-up.

If any of you guys are ever needing any support or advice for educational reasons, never hesitate to hit me up.

Hopefully you can find this useful!

- Axel

1. Introduction – How much time should you spend on making music?

Earlier in his career, he used to spend around 7 h a day (that’s almost a full 40-h-week!) on music production

• ➔  in the beginning, you learn very fast and the more you practice, the faster you get better
• ➔  you have to be careful though, because having too much time or forcing yourself to be productive can be an inspiration-killer. Nowadays, he only spends around 3-4 h a day (15-20 h per week) on production, because other things like gigs or Patreon are taking up time, too. His workflow also got faster so he can use the time more effectively. (in a week he usually starts 3-4 ideas and finishes 1 of them)

➔ When you want to take music production seriously, you have to focus on other parts of the music industry and turn your skills into a business. You will have less time to actually work on music, so the time you have should be spent as effectively as possible. Therefore, you need an excellent workflow to keep you going.

2. The Workflow

2.2. Preparation

- Axel has a basic template with Sidechain Triggers set up. He uses it for every single project.

2.3. Starting ideas and finishing them

• -  Axels starting point for a track is usually a melody or chord progression, so his focus is on the musical / melodic side. When it inspires him, he then turns it into a drop or intro for a song (whatever works better) and builds the track from there. He likes to get the main idea of a song (the hook, the main melody, the drop bassline) down as early as possible.
• -  If you struggle with writing something inspiring, a good sample can be a solid starting point as well. Make sure to make it your own by repitching, chopping it up, changing the playback speed, ...
• -  Instead of starting with the intro or drop, it can be a good idea to start with the buildup of a track. It will give you direction for both intro and drop.
• -  Knowing where you want to go with a project is crucial to finish it. For example, Axel wants every project he finishes to sound different than the last one. That’s why he switches through various genres.
• -  Never try to force yourself to finish a project. If you’re not sure where it needs to go, just put it away for a while and come back to it later. Some of Axels best tracks were projects he never thought he’d actually finish.

- Be drastic about your projects. If you don’t vibe with it, try to pitch the whole song up or down or just delete elements that you think aren’t good enough. Try to get back to a point that inspires you to keep going (but make sure to save all the project alternatives).

2.4. Songwriting

• -  Using your own voice can open up completely new horizons for your production process. Axels biggest track to date, „I Dare You“ with Jauz, features his own vocals. (of course it’s possible to just process the vocals heavily if you feel uncomfortable about the sound of your own voice)
• -  Working with other artists is another great way to push your creativity, especially if they have other strengths than you. For example, Axel does a lot of songwriting together with Ruth Royall.
• -  When working with singers (especially when you are in the studio together), let them have an impact on the song. They know how they can perform their best and if they want you to change something about the track, do it. Usually it’s for the better.

2.5. Must-have tools for Producing

• -  Logic Overdrive on almost everything to warm up the sounds and control the dynamics
• -  Logic Noise Gate for Sidechaining
• -  Serum for Sounddesign

➔ Axel says himself that his productions are not too technically complicated. He rather keeps

the process simple. Creativity comes first.

2.6. Sounddesign

- It’s no shame to reuse sounds from older projects that you know work very well. Changing just a couple of parameters can often change the sound completely while maintaining that same vibe you were going for. Sounddesign from scratch usually takes up too much time.

2.7. Structured workflow?

• -  Besides usually starting with a melody, there’s no specific structure to Axels workflow. It all depends on the song and the ideas he has for it. If he feels like recording a vocal in the middle of producing an intro, he just does it.
• -  Axel usually works with a master chain applied and tends to finish most mixing work as he produces.
• -  He tends to finalize part of a song first (usually intro, build and first drop) and fully arranges the track pretty late. This helps keep your focus and also saves time.

2.8. Mixing + Mastering

- After finishing an arrangement and adding all the elements, Axel exports stems and mixes and masters them in a new session. As he already mixed quite a lot down the road, it usually means just polishing details of the mix.

- Axel has various master chains from older projects saved that he can try out on his tracks. He then plays with the input drive and changes individual parameters, if necessary. He mixes into that mastering chain to get a clear picture of how the finished song will sound.

3. Conclusion – The right mind set is everything

• -  Second guessing and procrastination are your worst enemies. Axel still experiences this regularly. He recommends: stop caring about trends, labels or anything while producing and just focus on the music. You never know if it is a hit. If you can’t apply this mindset, you will end up making music exactly like everyone else.
• -  Technical perfection doesn’t make a hit. In the end it’s all about the vibe and emotion of a song. Axel says himself that he dropped a lot of techniques he used to apply to really focus on the creative idea of his songs.
• -  Keep learing! Axel still watches masterclasses after producing for more than 10 years. Just make sure to differentiate the real pros from the youtube gurus. (If you’re into D&B, Metrik masterclasses are highly recommended!)
• -  „Don’t try to be original, try to be better.“ In todays music industry, it’s nearly impossible to come up with something completely new, especially if you want to reach a lot of people. Instead, take the kind of music you love and try to make an even better version of that.