ChipMusic.org - Developing/building a song from smaller parts

Re: Developing/building a song from smaller parts

2015-07-16T23:21:12Z

an0va wrote:

IMO many times parts feel repetitive because we accidentally listen to it too much. we build a great pattern or progression and never seem to get farther because we become so used to the feel of that one specific pattern. this sometimes makes any new part sound "bad," but I think that we mistakenly believe that just because it's different from the first pattern that we listened to so much.

The #1 way I get stuck on a song is making one or two bars, and listening to them over and over again. At that point I can't imagine anything else coming next. So for me, I have to get a running start to get through the whole song, and not play it back too much.

Re: Developing/building a song from smaller parts

2015-07-15T21:47:02Z

One thing that help me a lot is writing music with four track.
I write the four pattern which play together, small pattern.
Then I change one of the four, then a second one.
This is one of my section : part a,b,c,intro,outro,whatever.
Then I modify another one of the four ( i keep the three other part ) it give me another section.
Then a third one and a I conitinue this way.
I doesn't use the stop button. Never, because it break my imagination.

It give me more control of myself on how I can write stuff.
I'm not able to write a song with different part in my mind, it just doesn't work for me.
Lgpt, nanoloop and LSDJ are good at this because you can write track mute, change part without the STOP button.

The other thing I use to write melody is a simple midi keyboard and when my part are well I play with the keyboard directly in a 'no pattern' mode.

Re: Developing/building a song from smaller parts

2015-07-13T14:49:03Z

Thanks for the help everyone. I'll get writing and hopefully you'll hear some results soon.

Re: Developing/building a song from smaller parts

2015-07-11T16:34:56Z

Using bigger parts is always boring. The best songs in pop msuics history always contain a very simple acompainment of chords or a very small yet catchy riff.

Just repeat your riffs till its boring. Then, go back 12 bars before that, and thats your ending. Add some drums/arrangements to put some dynamics and make the song "flow" and youre good to go.

Really.

Re: Developing/building a song from smaller parts

2015-07-11T16:28:03Z

For me, the best way to know if my song sucks is leaving it alone for a few days. Then after about a week I put it on while I'm doing something else. This is important actually...because you don't want to concentrate on the song. Just let it play in the background and if there's something that really doesn't flow or fit in, it'll jump out at you. Somehow we tend to ignore background music that flows well, but the bad parts seem to just kick you in the teeth and bring your attention back to the music.

As for building songs from smaller chunks... a lot of the time, the reason why you feel two different parts aren't flowing well into one another isn't because of the notes / arrangement / blah. It's more like.. you just gotta ease into the new part. Put a drum fill. Cut the bass. Start the next melody early on the last 2-3 beats of the first part. Often you'll find that by making these small change make things flow into one another better.

Re: Developing/building a song from smaller parts

2015-07-11T01:43:17Z

Minimalism is a style of music.

Re: Developing/building a song from smaller parts

2015-07-10T18:05:55Z

Jellica wrote:

and there is lots of great repetitive music

this is also very very very true - lots of styles even focus on making repetitive yet perfect grooves (techno is a great example)

Re: Developing/building a song from smaller parts

2015-07-10T17:11:10Z

east of england!

all good advice

but also remember that

it is ok for you to make short songs

and there is lots of great repetitive music

let go of what you think peoples expectations of what music should be, or what they inform you that music should be and become a better artist!

you haven't linked to any music yet so idk what style of music u are trying to make

Re: Developing/building a song from smaller parts

2015-07-09T18:19:08Z

HillyOTM wrote:

When I write a new section it just feels disjointed from the previous one, but how do I know if it's just me having listened to one part without the other 300 times, or of it really does suck?

IMO you won't know if it really sucks or is amazing - that's subjective and for others to decide for themselves i think
I also think it's really important to keep finishing songs if even as a way of practicing songwriting

because even if you write something that you feel 100% excited about on all parts, people might still hate it haha. people also might love the part you spent the least amount of time on. it's just good to keep making music and honing your craft

Re: Developing/building a song from smaller parts

2015-07-09T17:53:25Z

I've been having the same problem lately, there's a lot of good advice in this thread. In my experience, sometimes coming up with a new part for a song is just trial and error, so don't be afraid to just try a bunch of things and see what sticks.

Re: Developing/building a song from smaller parts

2015-07-09T05:12:42Z

just write a bunch of "songs" in the same key or tempo or like related keys and then figure out some graceful transitions and modulations and junk

Re: Developing/building a song from smaller parts

2015-07-09T02:49:48Z

I find that joining separate sections and making things seem less repetitive can tossing in elements from previous or upcoming sections into subtle variations. Done right you make a/b/c parts and riffs become a nice cohesive song.

Re: Developing/building a song from smaller parts

2015-07-09T02:27:27Z

You're definitely making sense, I've wondered if that's an issue before, and sometimes when I stop writing something and come back to it a month later I love it again. I really would like to speed up my writing process a little though, as I often find that I'm in a different mindset when I try to carry on with a track a day after I've started, so it doesn't seem to flow as well.

When I write a new section it just feels disjointed from the previous one, but how do I know if it's just me having listened to one part without the other 300 times, or of it really does suck?

Re: Developing/building a song from smaller parts

2015-07-09T02:04:50Z

IMO many times parts feel repetitive because we accidentally listen to it too much. we build a great pattern or progression and never seem to get farther because we become so used to the feel of that one specific pattern. this sometimes makes any new part sound "bad," but I think that we mistakenly believe that just because it's different from the first pattern that we listened to so much. it's hard to explain and i'm holding myself out from going too into the psychology of it, but think of it this way:

1.) every pattern we make starts off basic and becomes more complete when we work on it more
2.) we avoid repetitiveness by creating new patterns or using old elements with a different approach
3.) if you've already completed a pattern and are attempting to write a new one, you're basically going to point #1 again. every new section will always feel inferior to the previous one at first, if even only because you haven't worked on it as long

i have no idea if i'm making any sense here, but that's how I think about it anyway - don't be hard on yourself and keep writing music

Developing/building a song from smaller parts

2015-07-09T01:05:14Z

So, I'm pretty happy that I'm getting things to sound roughly how I want them, but only on a small scale. I'm able to build catchy little riffs and stuff, but I'm having trouble building on top of that to make a whole song. It will sound fine on repeat by itself, but when I try to make it go somewhere different, everything just seems to go to poo. I get frustrated that it doesn't sound the way I want to, and I give up and start a new track.

I'm fine with getting different instruments to sound good together and things like that, and I can flesh out the sound of each small section, I just can't seem to add some length to what I'm writing without overusing the same part, which sounds much too repetitive to me.

Is there anything I'm missing? Some section of theory I should be looking toward, or way to turn that one riff that's stuck in your head into a fully fledged tune?

Cheers