Tempo Goat Studios
Experiments

Don’t write one song. Explore ten possibilities.

RPM, the Rapid Prototype Method, is how this studio makes music: sketch lots of versions of an idea quickly, keep the one that feels alive, then do the slow work. Try it below with sound on.

Idea
Four notes. That’s the whole idea, for now.
Versions
  • ASlow and darkDown an octave, half speed, a soft sine pad.
  • BBright and fastFlipped to major, doubled up, sparkling arpeggio.
  • CBroken rhythmSame notes, pushed off the beat. A little nervous.
  • DDreamUp high, slow, every note answered by its own echo.
Select
Listen to the four versions and choose the one that feels right.
Refine
Waiting for a choice.
Song
From here it’s arrangement, recording, mixing and mastering: the slow, careful part. It goes faster when you already know where you’re going.

The method, step by step

  1. Start with a feeling

    A mood, a concept, or a fragment of a song. Whatever the idea is, find what it is really about.

  2. Sketch many versions

    Make quick sketches that take the idea in different melodic, harmonic and rhythmic directions. Speed over polish.

  3. Listen honestly

    Play them back to back. One of them will feel more alive than the rest, even if it isn't the one you expected.

  4. Refine the one

    Build the chosen direction out with instrumentation and arrangement until it holds together as a sound.

  5. Produce it properly

    Full production, then mixing and mastering, with the direction already settled.

  6. Finish the whole thing

    Artwork, metadata and everything else a song needs before it goes out into the world.

RPM is the studio’s own working method. It isn’t offered as a service.