Got stuck starting a new track ? Try this suite of plugins.

So you're all set in the studio, ready to write a great tune but don't know how to get started ? In this video I look at a suite of plugins that is specifically designed to help you in the first stages of the music creation process: Captain Plugins by Mixed in Key.
You can check out Captain Plugins here: mixedinkey.com/captain-plugin...
I'll show how to come up with a nice chord progression, bass line and lead melody. Once all the ideas are there I'll build a full track out these beginnings.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:09 Chord progression with Captain Chords and the Roland Alpha Juno
7:22 Bass line withe Captain Deep and the Arturia PolyBrute
10:41 Lead Melody with the Arturia Stage V
15:30 Putting it all together
19:00 The final track
Want to support the channel ?
The music that has been created especially for the videos here is available on bandcamp: estuera.bandcamp.com/releases
Or if you are looking to buy new gear you can use my Perfect Circuit affiliate link: www.pntrs.com/t/TUJGR0tHS0JHS...
estuera.com
/ jonassteurmusic
/ estuera
open.spotify.com/artist/0aPas...
open.spotify.com/artist/1dpap...

[@belledesirepc]

Aaaah, I like your mixing of the hi-hats in the extra sparkly mode :)

[@wrmusic8736]

Aspiring musicians need to remember that Gsus saves

[@Estuera]

applause :D

[@gunnwtal]

Nice, thx for presenting this great tool👍

[@michaelproctor8777]

Very useful bundle. Will looking into that this weekend. Nice chilled tune to listen to at 01:30 in the morning.

[@ChrisNash461]

This is a life saver. Thank you.

[@mimikova390]

Instead of just picking a progression from a list. I recommend using modes to find something a little more special. Then mixing modes to go to the next level. Remember you do not have to stay diatonic to maintain cohesion. Modulation provides variety and surprises to otherwise vanilla concepts. Let me challenge you to write something modally based. I will select a mode with a lot of flavor. Try Mixolydian flat 6. Mixo flat 5 6 in C is these notes. C,D,E,F,G.Ab, Bb. so the I chord is C, ii° is Ddim, iii° Edim, iv Fm, v is Gm, vi+ Ab aug, and the VII is Bb. Remember when playing modally to hold the feel you need to Touch your tonic frequently keeping it home. To get the magic out of this mode 1 3 5 6 7 in the melody will bring out the character.

[@Blackmind0]

..your way to explain this is really fine unterstandable....some guys on YT jumping around in this plugins and i can't unterstand...thx man..😃.. greets from austria... btw. top track 👍👍

[@nathanlewismusic]

My biggest problem is mostly, it never sounds good enough for me. After years of having produced anything, I feel like a toddler trying todo rocket science. Your videos help a lot!

[@dicasdoanthony]

Nice approach Jonas showing your creative workflow, you could make a video about arrangement: intro, verse, break and chorus, and how you make transitions between sections. :)

[@Estuera]

Thanks. And yes, a video about how to arrange could be interesting. Will keep it in mind.

[@user-rc9pi2nw2o]

Man 17 k sub and only 1k view shame on youtube your videos deserve more views they arent bad ❤️😑

[@Estuera]

Already one more thanks to you ;) And yes, the youtube algorithm does its thing. This video is a bit different than the others and that usually means it takes some time to take off. I don't worry about it :)

[@user-rc9pi2nw2o]

@@Estuera also i want tell you something iam trance music producer too i want make some new trance music genre mix old forgotten trance genres like hardtrance dream Trance or ibiza trance like saltwater chicane after i add vocal to it like rap vocal or female vocal make my song popular example kygo bring back tropical house with new vocal chop tropical house and ibiza trance is realy simillar even ibiza trance us more Beautiful of tropical house uf you Know kygo after making tropical house become very famous so if i do this and mix some Elements from old trance genres into new we making future trance another guy use this method was alan walker he used handsup vibes and mix it with progressive house 😑 also i realy miss old trance genres but i am realy alone i need co pruduser for make my dream true i have alot more idea too so i want Know can you work with me we making new trance or if you cant connect me with other producer thank you ❤️:)

[@Tyvm-mo3pj]

@@Estuera best KZbin channel I’ve found for music production

[@_mickmccarthy]

Very cool idea for some plugins! I'm a bit more low-tech in just having some dice on my desk to randomly choose some keys & chords when I'm feeling stuck Though the melody one is particularly cool, not going to be replicating that with some dice anytime soon!

[@Estuera]

The dice idea is pretty cool though. Low tech randomization 🎲

[@leevinylcritic]

BT.... if you know, you know. NICE👌.....👍

[@EdgeOfPanic]

But where's captain jack ? 😋, Great video though!

[@nighthawk1986]

Good review. Didn't knew those plugins. Especialy the melody plugin is something to try. Making pads and basses is no problem for me, but good melody's to accompany them is something i always strugle with. Going to try them! Tnx.

[@mah-7322]

i love your chanel soo much. please please talk about 90s sample cds and maybe name some. i only know about downtown beats and i can't find it nowhere

[@DavidMlnhf]

Very nice inspiration video actually but that was the intention of course

[@Estuera]

Thanks :) And indeed ;) glad to read it worked.

[@stevenburns989]

Thank you! first of all im old skool...hate software ,no time or the patience to do what you do. i'd rather have 5 friends all on hardware and jam, with maybe the same if not worse or better results .However i am now a number 1 fan of yours...technology is finally passing me by!!!!! One day we will just plug things into our brains and the tech will sort the rest out...

[@Estuera]

I'm also quite oldschool myself btw. Usually I come up with new ideas by jamming on my synths. It was very interesting though to let this software trigger the process. A great extra tool to have in the box.

[@JPav91]

I've used Captain for a while now and it is very useful. An extra tip is to have a couple of options with these "music theory" plugins. I also use Scaler 2 for different workflow and get completely different ideas out of both suites. Btw, Captain Plugin's Satellite tool is incredible, hands down the best collab tool I've seen yet.

[@Estuera]

The Satellite tool is something I still want to try out when doing a collab indeed. Seems to be very convenient.

[@JPav91]

@@Estuera It doesn't take long to pick up and they're pretty consistent in their updates with most of their tools, Satellite included. Best part, it cost about free.99 so it's quite affordable. Being able to share MIDI this way has eliminated my need for dropbox when collaborating with people across the world.

[@_P_M_]

Where can I get Captain Words, to give me some lyrics??? I use Band in a Box to kick my song ideas off. Save as an SMF and use it as a template as I play my own parts in. But lyrics are hard! Nice job on the video. Thanks for incorporating the outboard gear. It's more fun to watch than just using VST's.

[@Estuera]

Thanks. And yes, maybe Mixed in Key can do some vocal AI magic as well in the future? 😁

[@Marauder1981]

Could you make a video abou the instruments your Dutch boy Kettel uses?

[@rabmccudden683]

I think the opening chords remind me of an old space brothers tune or something from that era lol 🤔

[@gstoelen]

Perhaps a good idea for another video: how did you set up your hardware synths in Cubase? ☺️

[@florida-boy]

Great video as always, absolutely love the Rhodes melody! May I ask, what is the song that was playing throughout the intro? I would really love to hear the full track

[@Estuera]

Its a part of the same track. Just used some of the elements to create an intro segment.

[@lairdtomfrenchelectromusic2545]

... Surprenant !!! As usual, a high quality video and song. You certainly don't need this software. Yes ? I think not !!! ;)

[@Estuera]

It's not something I really need myself indeed as nowadays I have more than enough inspiration. Mixed in Key asked me if I wanted to take a look at it though and it surely was quite interesting and productive.

[@lairdtomfrenchelectromusic2545]

@@Estuera That's what I thought, an electronic music adventurer like you doesn't need that (and neither do I).... In 30 years mayby when we'll be old grandpas ! :D

[@MrPegekh]

Very good! This music brings back the good old feelings in me! This style you mixed up is very close to me, it is very rare for such a good teacher like you! My hobby is making music! I want to implement this style. How the arpeggio melody came into being in this music, from the chords that sound in the music or another separately written melody thread?

[@Estuera]

For the arpeggio I played a chord in the same key using the arpeggiator on the Jupiter Xm. Just some inspiration of the moment.

[@MrPegekh]

@@Estuera Thanks!

[@ireallyreallyreallylikethisimg]

I used to make music for fun and loved it.. That was 5 years ago and since then every project I start I end up deleting because of the lack of inspiration.

[@Estuera]

I hope you can find some inspiration again. The creative process can be a struggle.

[@henrikfisch]

I think you're using the Captain-X-toolset in a perfect way. I saw advertisement for this tools on KZbin a lot of times and asked myself: _My god ... aren't you guys not able to press some keys on a keyboard and just LISTEN what you get?_ But if you really have some »motivation block« such tools can really trigger some inspiration. The big big BIG danger is in just doodling with the Captain-X-PlugIns and at some point DON'T nail yourself into a specific rhythm, progression, baseline. Then it starts to sound arbitrary in your head which can kill inspiration even more.

[@Estuera]

That's the key here indeed. I was quite skeptical as well before trying it out, because usually for me inspiration comes by simply playing on the keyboard and jamming until I get a vibe I like. But indeed, when _nothing_ good happens it's really great to give you some initial directions to explore. In the end you'll always have to work with it and make it your own and yes, don't keep on noodling forever with something that doesn't trigger your own ideas. At that point its better to get a coffee or talk a walk.

[@wrmusic8736]

The irony is that with such tools there's a bigger chance for your mindset to get pushed out of its boundaries. Like you have your style and your "preferred" chord progressions - but then you begin randomly noodle in such plugin and then be like "...I didn't know these chords fit like that!"

[@AmeyahOfficialTV]

heheh me every evening i set down with ableton :D actual i think i have the plugins, also the one by Xfer. so lets see if this helps. thaks for your videos, you helped me to get back into music production (trance?)

[@AmeyahOfficialTV]

the final result is very good! how long took the whole process, coming up with the ideas and finish the track? the perc is awsome, minimals drums. few days ago, i really sat in front of ableton, loading the trance template, god some basics drums in and then simply no idea came out, all what i had, simply didnt fit together :S but maybe i should try with the plugins again, since i have them, but i forget that i have them, like i said i also have the Xfer plugin, which name i cant remember :D and scaler 2 maybe i could try too.

[@Estuera]

I think from start to finish I spent about 5-6 hours on this. So yeah, try it out. It can really be a way to get the process going.

[@DJVasC]

I think the first thoughts about these plug-ins are: feels like cheating, but watching your video I see the creative potential of it. Good job again!

[@Estuera]

Thanks ! And that was indeed exactly my intention :)

[@VladoT]

Adding predefined chord progressions, basslines and melody reminds me of Magix Music Maker. Anyone remembers that?

[@Estuera]

I do. My little brother had some fun with it back in the days. This is quite different though. Magix was more of a collection of loops. These plugins are actual generators and arpeggiators.