Instrument choices and demo writing

Videos Dan Nigro Producing Olivia Rodrigo
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Hey Dan! Thanks a lot for the great episode. You and olivia together are probably my favourite musical duo ever. I love your chemistry and the results are insane!

I wanted to know as thats something i always struggle with when making a song, what type of instruments you usually pick when you start an instrumental? And do you always start out with a chord progression or rather with improvised melodies or some synth sounds or do you regularly switch between both depending on what Olivia brings to you to work with?

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When Olivia and I are writing we almost always start with a chord progression, first on guitar or piano. We usually try to write most of the song first before even thinking of production sounds/drums/etc… I think it can be really freeing to do this because it gives you unlimited options on how to produce out a song, but also can be seen as a problem, because sometimes too many options lead to indecision!! Either way, it’s what seems to work best for me.

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