Episode 4

Samples, Splice and Getting Out of Your Own Way

Fab digs through Splice for atmosphere, designs sounds with reverses and stutters, and shares the producer mindset that keeps creative ideas flowing.
This is the episode where creativity and mindset collide. Fab gives himself a constraint, keep it to two chords, then digs through Splice for atmosphere, landing on a sound he describes as a forest. From there he gets experimental: reversing samples, drawing envelopes by hand, building a Beastie-Boys-style non-sequitur transition, and chopping a vocal hook into a Max Headroom-style stutter. Threaded through it all is the most valuable lesson in the series, a candid talk about the producer's psychology: why real-time self-censorship kills ideas, why most of what you make will (and should) miss, and why "input," everything you listen to and live, is the true engine of your output.

In this episode you'll learn:

- Using creative constraints (like a two-chord rule) to spark ideas
- Finding and auditioning samples and loops on Splice
- Sound design with reverses, hand-drawn envelopes, and stutter effects
- Building surprising transitions and ear-candy moments
- How to silence your inner critic and keep ideas flowing
- Why volume of work and constant input lead to better music
- Turning your influences into something that's still your own