How I created my new song Loser Like You
How I created my new song Loser Like You
Contents
As a singer and songwriter, music is my life. I have been passionate about creating music since I was a child, and I constantly try to produce something unique that not only resonates with my audience, but also pushes the envelope of my producing abilities. In this article, I will share with you my process of creating my new song, Loser Like You.
Inspiration for the Song
Every great song starts with a story, and Loser Like You is no exception. The inspiration for this song came from my personal experience with the toxic relationship with my ex-best-friend. After years of friendship, I had to discover they talked bad about me behind my back, and lied about pretty much everything they have ever told me. I usually cope with hard moments like these by trying to incorporate them into a song I am producing. So, inspired by that situation, I wanted to create a song that lets that person know that I am done with them. No longer will they appear in my dreams, no longer will they be able to rain on my parade and make every of my good moments about them.
Creating the Melody for Loser Like You
Even though I knew what I wanted the song to be about, I started out with the melody. I typically start out with the musical aspect first when creating a song, as I want the lyrics and the production to feel like they belong together. I wanted the melody to be catchy and memorable, something that would stick in the listener’s head long after they had finished listening to the song. Furthermore, I experimented with the chord progression of Em Bm C G and some improvised melodies on top. To make things more interesting, I made the song’s rhythm three-four time. Pretty quickly, I managed to create a basic melody, which evolved further when I accidentally changed a D into a D# and decided to change the B minor chord to a major. That spiced up things quite a lot and I ended up with the catchy but moody and almost a little scary melody for Loser Like You!
Writing the Lyrics for Loser Like You
So, I had the melody and I knew what I wanted the song to be about. The next step was to write the lyrics. Drawing the melody into a MIDI player in my DAW, helped a lot for writing the lyrics. Basically, I played it back and recorded myself singing the melody, randomly saying vowels or word structures that came to mind. This way I knew where I wanted to have what kind of word, sound wise. This is a pretty organic approach to songwriting, as it yet again helps fuse the lyrics with the music, making everything sound natural. With this, I found I wanted to have the word “loser” at a certain point of the melody, and as that point was repeating quite a bit, I knew that’s what the song title was going to be. Writing the chorus was a lot of fun, as in my opinion, you don’t need every line in a song to have Shakespear-like greatness. I mostly just write exactly what I am thinking about the situation, and later on rewrite it to sound a little more poetic! The first verse was actually quite hard to write, it took a little more time than the rest because knowing the chorus was not super poetic, I had to include some lyrical class there. So, you will find a lot of word play in the first verse.
The second verse, as well as the pre-chorus, came super naturally. I just intrinsically knew what type of sound and melody I wanted there and created it really quickly.
Music Production for Loser Like You
Whilst I was writing lyrics and creating the melody, I was already producing alongside. Since the track was going to be three-fourth timed and I knew I wanted it to be poppy, I felt like I had to go with a very simple bass line: a hit on every off-beat! Hearing this felt so powerful, that it inspired me a lot for the rest of the production. I threw in some electric sounds as well and created yet again a very Julian Guba sounding instrumental! For the bridge, I knew I wanted it to sound very special, so I included a tempo-change to slightly spice up the last chorus. The BPM goes from 124 to 64 and then to 128. Crazy, right? I finished the instrumental off with some string samples, giving it a proper professional sound.
Recording the Song
I was already experimenting with recording the vocals during production. However, for this record, I only properly started recording after I had fully finished the instrumental. I created a separate project file and recorded all vocals and backing vocals there, with my new Neumann microphone. Tip to every reader: If you ever feel like you have to EQ way too much of your vocals, and they don’t ever really end up sounding professional, your microphone is the issue! Get a Neumann one! Recording the vocals took quite some time, especially for the backing vocals, since I wanted a big choir like sound. I also had my mom sing some layers!
Mixing and Mastering the Song
Once the music production was done, the next step was to mix and master the song. This process is crucial in ensuring that the song sounds polished and professional. This song was also the first time I ever properly exported my stems to mix them in a separate project file. I found, that I had way more control over the sound this way! Mixing and mastering usually was my ultimate nemesis that killed a lot of my creative projects, but with this new approach, it felt like magic!
Conclusion
Producing Loser Like You was a challenging but rewarding experience. From writing the lyrics to recording the song, every step of the process was a labor of love. I hope that this article has given you an insight into my creative process and the work that goes into producing a song.
FAQs
- What inspired you to create the song Loser Like You?
As an artist, I often draw inspiration from my personal experiences and emotions. The song Loser Like You was inspired by a past friendship that turned out to be a complete fake. It’s a reflection of the feelings of disappointment, frustration, and anger but also apathy, moving on and joy that I experienced during that time.
- How long did it take to produce the song?
The production process for Loser Like You took a few weeks. I had the demo sitting around for some more time though. It involved writing the lyrics, composing the melody, recording the vocals, and mixing and mastering the track. I wanted to make sure that every aspect of the song was done to the best of my ability.
- Did you work with other musicians to record the song?
No, this is yet again a complete production only done by myself. (Unless you count the three vocal layers my mom did in the chorus.)
- What challenges did you face during the production process?One of the biggest challenges I faced during the production process was trying to find the right sound and mood for the song. It took a lot of experimentation and trial and error to get the bass to sound right. However, most of my struggles were remedied once I went on to the mixing and mastering phase of the production!
- Where can I listen to Loser Like You and your other songs?
All of my music, including Loser Like You, is available on all major streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. You can also find my music on my official website, where I regularly release new tracks and updates on my music career.
Julian Guba
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