The alchemy of converting a single melodic line into a sprawling musical narrative is akin to painting on a sonic canvas, with each stroke of sound carefully layered to bring depth and emotion. Danish DJ and producer Solanca masters this craft, inviting listeners into the wilderness of his imagination with tracks that merge the organic with the electronic. As he promotes his latest offering, ‘Chanterelle,’ a collaborative effort teeming with the lush vocals of Margret and released under Songspire Records, we sit down with the artist for an ‘Ask the Experts’ to unpack the oft-sought-after goal all producers have to develop a melodic idea into an entire song.
Solanca’s process is less about chasing originality for its own sake and more about storytelling through music. His approach to composition is organic, prioritizing emotional resonance over technical perfection. Yet, in the track ‘Chanterelle,’ the layers of gentle pads and enchanting melodies intertwine to form a progression that is anything but generic.
The song’s intricate soundscape guides listeners through an ever-evolving journey, reflecting Solanca’s philosophy of music creation—one where intuition leads and captivating stories follow. How does a producer known for such vivid auditory experiences grapple with the challenges of musical storytelling? Solanca shares insights on this transformative process, revealing how he shapes fleeting moments of melody into timeless tracks.
How crucial is originality when developing a melodic idea into a full song?
It’s not always originality that’s the main goal when I create songs, but I try to tell a story with the music.
Of course, I always like to make choices that lead to new ideas or to go against what could be considered generic, but my experience is that comes along when I start to challenge my ideas or when I try to bring them to their essence.
What are the challenges of moving from a single melodic idea to a complete song structure?
The greatest challenge is overthinking.
When I start an idea, I try to go with how it feels over how it sounds.
Making something that sounds good is always longer and less intuitive than following with something that feels right. Sometimes, when an idea doesn’t feel right, it’s better to let it go and start again. There will always be a new idea and a new story to tell.
What techniques can you use to extend a short melodic idea into a complete song?
When I write ideas, I try to see them as non-static. It’s like imagining an orchestra and how the players use their instruments to make all these dynamic movements to either create tension or release. Having a place for the musical elements to move towards is some abstract destination is a technique I tend to use a lot.
Another technique I used a lot in the beginning, was to grab a piece of paper and write down how I wanted the song to develop. The arrangement was one of my greatest struggles, and creating a guideline or instruction for myself helped me complete more music.
How do you balance repetition and novelty when developing a melody?
It’s always tricky to balance this. On one hand, repetition is fundamental for rhythm and groove. On the other hand, novelty or spontaneous changes can be so interesting to incorporate, and it can be a way of evoking a certain emotion.
My first approach is stability and repetition before adding novel or chaotic changes to a melodic element.
Can you share some of your favorite tools or plugins you use to help in the process of turning a small idea into a full song?
I don’t have any particular plug-ins that help me finish songs. I probably use the same as everybody else, but I can give You some tricks I tend to use for this process:
- Limited time to force yourself to act. Challenge Yourself to make an arrangement or section in 30 minutes and see how far You can get.
- Recording a more extended section to have as much material for a song. The more takes You have, the more You can work with and experiment with. It doesn’t have to be with hardware, You can just as quickly do this with software. The important thing is sometimes to have elements that are ‘done’, so You can allow Yourself to move on.
- Make mistakes and accidents. It’s those small things that can genuinely make an idea into something greater and it helps to make a song feel more alive.
- Utilize personal recordings and blend them into the song. I have a handful of recordings from the woods, with my footsteps, snapping branches, or throwing rocks. Being in nature and playing with it is an immense source of inspiration, and I love to bring that mindset into my songs.
- Having a template that allows for both experimentation and completion. In my case, I have an Ableton template that is empty arrangement-wise but instead allows for me to get creative and be free from any restrictions at first. Afterward, I can move on to another section, where I can think about the logical sense of song structure.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
