How to make a track with SEIDS on Launchkey and Logic
SEIDS is a singer, songwriter and producer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Through her TikTok, Instagram and YouTube accounts, she shares helpful tips and tutorials for producers and songwriters across the world. With a strong online presence, SEIDS has built a music community where she empowers others to develop their production skills, take their music to new places and follow their dreams.
“My biggest advice is don’t just be great at one thing, try to be good at as many things as possible.”
Music has been a part of SEIDS’ life from a young age, “I was always singing, I was always performing, and that’s just what I had to do. I didn’t really have any other choices – it just chose me.”
Starting as a singer and performer, SEIDS has only been producing music within the last two years and her journey through production gives her the chance to learn new skills every day.
“I like to think of producing as this massive toolbox, and the more skills you learn the more you can pick out and put into your project.”
With a more do-it-yourself approach to production, Launchkey supports SEIDS’ learning process, as learning to use a new controller or device helps to inspire her songwriting and shapes her music. By challenging herself to write an 8-bar loops every day, SEIDS is able to stay inspired and develop her skills as a songwriter and a producer, with Launchkey giving her all the tools she needs to hand.
“I really love the Launchkey because it’s super easy to use so you don’t have so spend a lot of time learning and there’s not a big learning curve. It just helps me make music faster.”
How SEIDS builds a track in Logic with Launchkey
With a song idea already in mind, SEIDS begins building her song with a chord progression using User Chord mode on Launchkey.
“I’m not the best piano player, so I actually programmed in the chords using User Chord, so I can just play it out on the pads.”
Useful workarounds like this can help any artist or creator of any ability bring out the creative ideas that they have in their heads, so you’re not limited in your songwriting.
Melody and song structuring
Using the transport controls on the keyboard, SEIDS records a bass line and quantises her melody, layering more instruments as she goes.
“You don’t have to invest tonnes of money into a super luxurious studio. Really all you need is a DAW, a MIDI controller and an interface, and that’s pretty much all you need to get started.”
The integration with Launchkey and Logic makes it easy to work on each instrument track with less clicking around on your computer. This way, SEIDS is able to focus on structuring her song, adding in a breakdown and quickly getting the instrumental ideas from her mind into her project.
Next, SEIDS switches to Drum mode on Launchkey and uses the pads to create her drum pattern in a more tactile way from the keyboard.
Experimentation with arpeggiation
Launchkey is great for bring out creative ideas that you never thought you would have through experimentation.
SEIDS uses Launchkey’s arpeggiator to inspire her songwriting. “For this breakdown section, I actually sampled my vocals. This is really cool because no one will have this exact sound,” she explains, “and then I can run it through the arpeggiator and just mess around and see what it sounds like.”
Just as SEIDS uses the arpeggiator to create inspired new ideas for her music, any artist can use a combination of Launchkey’s features, such as the arpeggiator or chord modes, to strike inspiration and develop ideas regardless of skill level.
“I really like to use the arpeggiator to get some ideas for something that I might not have come up with without that feature.”
Once the instrumental has taken shape, she records vocal melodies to tie the track together.
There’s nothing that stops SEIDS creating music. Even as a fairly new producer, she’s able to bring her ideas to life, and learn and grow in the process.