How do artists compose;

     

How to compose an original song
When composing, the first thing to consider is the mood of the song. When deciding this, the tempo of the song needs to be thought about, will it be slow, or upbeat? Come up with a melody, with lyrics. Once you have a melody, start to consider guitar riffs, and bass lines. For drums, first find something with just the kick and snare that compliments the bass line (or the guitar part if you're feeling like John Bonham) then slowly add things like drum fills, cymbals to transition between verses and choruses etc. Once all the elements are there, eventually a track will begin to materialise.

Chosen artist; Royal Blood.
How do royal blood compose their tracks?
Being a two piece, there are less elements to consider when composing. As appose to considering Drums, bass, guitar, keys and melodies, Royal Blood only need to consider melodies, bass and drums. However in terms of composing, you'd expect their music to come from heavy and traditional bands. While famous groups such as Led Zeppelin, their hit 'Little Monster' was composed and inspired by the two messing around with a "Beat up Spanish guitar and bongo's".  A pretty big contrast in terms of their genre. In another interview, when writing their song 'Lights out', in an *interview link* they tell us how the closing drum fill came to life, that was that their drummer, Ben, was told to do the worst fill he could, which builds suspense for the big bass solo at the end of the song. Spontaneous elements within composing, sometimes create the best music.

What techniques can i use to create music from scratch?
As a drummer, when creating music from scratch, it's a two way street. The most effective way is to bounce off other musicians. A track can come about from a guitarist playing over a spontaneous drum beat thats come from the top of my head, or a Bassist will come up with a riff and i'll come up with a beat that fits with that. Other techniques can come from asking a vocalist the tone of the track, Major or minor? Happy or sad? Calm or aggressive? By using this technique, it gives us as musicians a base to build on for composing an original track