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Larry Nguyen

How I Make Music

My process, start to finish, and what I am and am not. I play by ear and I'm formally trained (classical lessons, music theory, a music minor); I learned production from an online mentor after nobody else would take me seriously. That story is here.

The process

  1. Start on piano

    Every song starts at the piano. I learned by ear, working out songs from the radio through trial and error, so this is where I go looking for what a song wants to be.

  2. Build the track in Logic

    I lay down the chords, then the beat, in Logic Pro on a cheap MIDI keyboard. Where the track needs texture, I pull samples from Splice.

  3. Structure the song

    Once a barebones track exists, I map the shape: verse, chorus, bridge, the journey the song takes.

  4. Find the melody by humming

    I hum and sing random things over the track until something sticks, and write down what works.

  5. Write the lyrics on paper

    I sit down with a piece of paper and write what I'm actually feeling and what I care about at that point in my life. Then I adjust the lines, what feels like thousands of times.

  6. Guide vocal, then a session singer

    I'm not a great singer, but I record the guide vocal myself so the song's intent is on tape. Then I hire a session singer, these days through SoundBetter, originally through Fiverr, to perform the final vocal.

  7. Mix, master, release

    I mix and master everything myself, then release the song.

What I use

  • Logic Pro (DAW)
  • Nektar SE MIDI keyboard
  • Shure SM7B microphone
  • Taylor GS Mini Koa acoustic guitar
  • Epiphone Casino hollowbody electric guitar

The mixing and mastering chain runs on professional tools I've invested in over time, FabFilter, iZotope, Melodyne, Soundtoys, Valhalla, Serum 2, Keyscape, and more.

What I'm not

  • Not the voice on the final records, I write every song, produce it, and sing the guide vocal; session singers perform the final vocals.
  • Not studio trained, I learned production from an online music mentor, and I'm still learning.
  • Not a certified instructor, everything on this site is my firsthand experience as an artist, not professional music advice.

Hear where it all ends up on the Music page.