lets see, it depends on whether my girlfriend is in.

if she is, then its ear cans in a darkened room late at night

if she's not, its pumping through the speakers in the hope of getting a nice mix.

as far as the process goes,

create a nice chord sequence, riff or beat groove and take it from there

you really cant find me happier than when i'm locked into some hypnotic state creating something, be it a beat or a soundtexture. i had literally 100's of small repetitive pad loops i created on my hdd that i'd go to once in a while to modulate on the fly and zone out, all gone now. (boo hoo)

like jay i dont approach anything with an idea, i just let it flow, whether thats by chance or the subconscious. **** knows. one thing i do know repitition and subtlety make me happy