7 Steps to Creating Music – The Blouptokio Way

How do you create music? Which comes first: melody or harmony? What are the steps to prepping your music before sending it off for mixing? Percussion duo Blouptokio shares their 7-step music creation process.

The duo Blouptokio is made up of two drummers, Jim Saint-Amour and Mike Halpern. There's no malice in their band name, they assured us. They love Tokyo and simply want their music to one day blow up in popularity.

So how do these two drummers, who have known each other for years and have gone through music training together, create their music? It comes down to 7 essential steps, Mike explains. Using Blouptokio’s latest single “Cubana” as an example, he and Jim walk us through each step of their creation process in detail.

Jim Saint-Amour on the vibraphone

Jim Saint-Amour on the vibraphone

Mike Halpern working on editing music tracks

Mike Halpern working on editing music tracks

You’ll have to watch the video to learn these 7 steps, where they showcase their signature percussion instrument, the vibraphone (one of Jim’s primary instruments), and talk about putting the final touch in step #7, where they add in the magic sauce for each song.

Louise on the vibraphone, instructed by Jim

Louise on the vibraphone, instructed by Jim

The vibraphone, a percussion instrument frequently used by Blouptokio

The vibraphone, a percussion instrument frequently used by Blouptokio

And as a bonus, watch producer/host Louise attempt to play the vibraphone and the surprising comment she received from Mike for her playing!

Visit Blouptokio on Facebook and Instagram

Listen to Blouptokio’s “Cubana” on all digital music platforms here.