[fogcreature]

I normally use random crap from movies for a suprise intro. For a build up, after im pretty much done with the song, ill take the verse part and deconstruct it. I dont know if that makes any sense but its what i do. Making good songs takes time, the important thing with the intro or any other part, is that it reflects your version of music.

[Arana]

yes, "reverse engineering" a few of your fave intros is the way to go...pick it apart element by element (not just the melodic relationship to the hook of the song but others too).

[Ade Beats]

'TheRe's nothing you can't do that can't be done'. IKeep my ears open when they play soundtRacks on movies to draw inspiRation or memoRise a part of a song. With cReativity you can find ways of working this into youR song.

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[darkhorse75]

A simple technique is to take 2 or 3 elements from your main groove, the bit of your track where it really gets going and use this as the intro.

Or sometimes glue two totally different tracks together, you need to get clever with the transitions though to make it fit.

Darkgroover

[FunkMasterBrown]

almost all of the stuff posted in reply on here is complete bullshit tbh

always write the main part of your track and build up to it. you're giving yourself an impossible task if you try and write a track from the intro and build it up

[darkhorse75]

Originally Posted by FunkMasterBrown

almost all of the stuff posted in reply on here is complete bullshit tbh

always write the main part of your track and build up to it. you're giving yourself an impossible task if you try and write a track from the intro and build it up

Thats kind of what I said.

[aikario]

To start, if you're trying to produce any type of house music, you can just start with the intro beat - a kick and a clap/snare with some perc or fx of your choice.

The more experienced you get, the more able you will be to think outside the pox and produce some sort of iconic intro, such as the one in strobe.

[Barry Acid]

Your problem is you have no idea of what you want it to sound like, you know what an intro is and how one sounds but your having trouble with them because, you, like so many others fail to set out a theme or idea/plan/story of how YOU want it sound, give it some meaning and believe me it will be so much easier to make.

[Hakuin]

Of course, there isn't one answer to your question and everyone here has awesome input. I just wanted to address how you said perhaps you can classify the intro as a lead.

Two things come to mind: the intro has a feeling of wandering and timelessness, whereas a typical lead in the heart of a song, may often seem to loop. This intro in the Deadmau5 song does not seem to have a beginning or an end. That timelessness is a hallmark of this intro, in my opinion. it isn't always the technique implemented.

Secondly, the intro seems to be made of some pads etc that are then used in quick-attack and quick-release arps later in the song. Or if he didn't use the same patch/waveform etc, then he may have used similar ones. This would provide the listener with consistency.

Honestly, the intros that are timeless like that are harder for me to write. It reminds me of a Boards of Canada intermission track which have a lead line that seems to modulate between modes. I presume classical training might help with those matters (or a lot of practice).

[Renz]

One easy way I found to make an intro is to take root notes use them in a strumming lead synth that teases the listener into thinking the chorus/melody is going to start playing.

You can be very progressive about it and play with the filter of the synth by adding suspense and lowering it. Adding a bit of soft white noise or swells during alterations can also help add to the feeling that things are going somewhere and not being repetitive.

Lately I have found interest in playing every other note in the melody with a soft synth; fading it out and in like the synth is going to lose consciousness. In contrast the percussion is progressing upward to fit the melody.

Hope it helps.

[agargara]

Intros are overrated, I like tracks that just jump in medias res.

[Sapling]

Originally Posted by FunkMasterBrown

almost all of the stuff posted in reply on here is complete bullshit tbh

always write the main part of your track and build up to it. you're giving yourself an impossible task if you try and write a track from the intro and build it up

lol, I saw this and have to agree; I am able to make a track alot easier when I can either hear the main hook/chorus/ect. in my head or when I'm screwing around and I have every element of the song playing.

Although, the other day, I was making some drums, and in the middle of the track I just scrapped the entire beat, and dropped the tempo because I started to picture what the song SHOULD sound like and not what it actually sounds like atm.

seriously, its like some third eye stuff.

[st326]

One good approach is to basically work on the main loop from the track first, and just basically keep adding layers, then as it gets too much, turn some stuff off, and keep adding some more, and some more, and some more. By the time you've done all that, you end up with a construction kit that you can rip apart and reconstruct as the track you want it to be.

If your DAW has midi filtering/arpeggiation (Live is awesome for this), you can also take tracks you've played and then mess with them to create things you'd never have played in the first place. A good trick is to loop the midi back into another track, which lets you manually go in and change things to fix anything that doesn't fit.

Basically, once you've done all that, you'll almost certainly have enough parts to build a track from. There's nothing special about an intro, as-such -- in dance music it's common to build up to the first main loop by bringing in the kick, snare, hats, bass, etc in some kind of logical sequence. Then again, some of the best intros are little musical pieces in their own right that basically set up some kind of tension or anticipation that is released when the thing really gets going. If you want to listen to an OMG killer intro, check out some of the following (they are all on Spotify):

'Metaforce' from The Seduction of Claude Debussy by the Art of Noise.
'The Sea' from Parts of the Process by Morcheeba
'Army of Me' from Army of Me by Bjork
'Turquoise Hexagon Sun' from Music has the Right to Children by Boards of Canada
'Barrel of a Gun' from Ultra by Depeche Mode

Some or all of these may not be the kind of music you make, but listen to them and really try to take apart what was done. Metaforce builds energy, starting simple, then chucking in some really cool Debussy-inspired chords before the rap starts. The Sea by Morcheeba is an example of a basically different tune from a lot of the rest of the song standing alone and supporting the vocal when it arrives (note that the arrangement actually pretty much does a breakdown when the vocal starts, which means the chorus really pops). Army of Me takes no prisoners -- it starts with a little brief sfx thing then goes straight into an in-your-face bassline with heavy drums that establishes the groove before the vocal comes in -- again, the arrangement doesn't go nuts until the chorus gets going. Turquoise Hexagon Sun is just a beautiful track -- it starts with no drums, just a keyboard loop that then breaks down into something much simpler (and chromatic -- yum!), then comes back in later. Barrel of a Gun is another example of an intro that's only loosely related to the rest of the song and really serves mostly to build tension for the first verse, which pays off in the first chorus. The one thing all these tracks have in common are great intros, but they all use completely different approaches. Build tension, pay it off. Or do something else. There aren't any rules!

Hope this helps. :-)