I've ended up deleting the last 10 or so song ideas I've had, because they don' turn out how I plan, or they don't turn out good enough. For me, the hardest part is converting the melody in my head into a tracker or other mediums.
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NC in the US of America
It varies. Sometimes I set out to write something specific and it happens (recording myself humming helps, just have to remember stay on tune =S), other times I set out to write something and something else happens, and still others I just hit the empty canvas and let whatever happens happen. Usually if I finish it, I like it in some capacity. Usually.
I have a hard time throwing things away, so I usually have a stash of discarded chains at the bottom of my song screen (or multiple "backup" versions of a midi file or what-have-you just in case I decide that a scrapped idea would work somewhere). Sometimes I do end up finding a use for them.
The most annoying thing is when I'm working on a tune that I want to GO somewhere, complete a quarter of the tune, then listen to the unintentional loop that I have so far so often that it starts to feel "right", and I can't remember where I wanted it to go in the first place. Grr. I usually barge through it, but it's not longer fun after that point unless I hit my stride again (if I do). I've been tempted to leave them as they are, but I don't... (but I have a backup of the short version just in case, hurhurhur). That's why I prefer non-loop based composing, because it's more organic, fluid, and liberal. Unfortunately, there's not much of that going around with the chiptune tracker scene.
My method is a lot more difficult and harrying with LSDJ and other such limited phrase/loop/pattern-based programs because I can't just throw in all the ideas and variations I may have due to the fear of running out of space/doing irreversible damage. Feels like I'm playing La Mulana with music, sometimes...
Last edited by SketchMan3 (Oct 11, 2012 10:24 pm)
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buffalo, NY
bryface wrote:
the music i want to make typically has lots of imaginary jazz/prog chords and progressions. but then i realize that i know very little about such advanced theory and i have to make do with the odd accidental that sounds cool by freak accident.
want to know a secret shitty insta-jazz device? Come up with a "complex" chord arp. Make it have a 7th and maybe a 2nd. Then for the 2nd chord, use the same shape transposed to a different place, try a couple different variations. Experiment. Experimenting with transpose has gotten me way too much mileage.
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vancouver, canada
danimal cannon wrote:
bryface wrote:the music i want to make typically has lots of imaginary jazz/prog chords and progressions. but then i realize that i know very little about such advanced theory and i have to make do with the odd accidental that sounds cool by freak accident.
want to know a secret shitty insta-jazz device? Come up with a "complex" chord arp. Make it have a 7th and maybe a 2nd. Then for the 2nd chord, use the same shape transposed to a different place, try a couple different variations. Experiment. Experimenting with transpose has gotten me way too much mileage.
oh yeah, that's what i usually end up resorting to and i've been really pleasantly suprised with what i end up with! i just wish i had a better innate understanding of the relevant theory so that it's not just a giant Slot Machine kind of progress.
one of my ultimate pipedreams is to be able to write incidental music that really fits the subject matter, and in my mind that means minimizing my guesswork when it comes to writing progressions and chord voicings, and not settling for chords/progs that are cheap substitutes for the ones in my head.
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washington
Saskrotch wrote:
getting closer every day
haha, i wish i could say the same
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Gosford, Australia
the only time i make the distinction is when i want to make modern sounding electro house. i'm bad at that.
FWIW i spent the first few years of my musical life just trying to copy sounds from other tracks i heard. i made one song when i was 14 that was pretty much just didgeridoo by aphex twin.
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Fargo
I really want to do prog rock/funk type stuff with lots of interesting chord and time signature changes, but I can't quite seem to make the transitions smooth enough.
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Brunswick, GA USA
Krubbz wrote:
I really want to do prog rock/funk type stuff with lots of interesting chord and time signature changes, but I can't quite seem to make the transitions smooth enough.
Most of those transitions are actually tape splices, so just make awkward ones until you learn which ones work best.
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Fargo
chunter wrote:
Most of those transitions are actually tape splices, so just make awkward ones until you learn which ones work best.
Hah! I suppose you're right about that. I just want to be able to write good, musical transitions.
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Gosford, Australia
chunter wrote:
Most of those transitions are actually tape splices
maybe in the studio, but they still play the same thing live don't they?
then again i've only ever seen dream theater and planet x live so my experience with live prog is pretty lacking :<
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NC in the US of America
chunter wrote:
Krubbz wrote:I really want to do prog rock/funk type stuff with lots of interesting chord and time signature changes, but I can't quite seem to make the transitions smooth enough.
Most of those transitions are actually tape splices, so just make awkward ones until you learn which ones work best.
Isn't Tracker composing all just one big virtual tape splicing session anyway?
Last edited by SketchMan3 (Oct 12, 2012 4:23 am)
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buffalo, NY
Dream Theaters changes are not very difficult.
Planet X changes are fucking ridiculous, they stack metric modulations on top of metric modulations. Donatti is a monster. Meanwhile, the only Dream Theater metric mod I can think of is in The Mirror, and its that really simple one with 6/8 that I've seen 4 other bands do.
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Brunswick, GA USA
SketchMan3 wrote:
Isn't Tracker composing all just one big virtual tape splicing session anyway?
Yes, and I believe that's part of how I came to take to it so well.
It's a bit funny, actually. My favorite songwriters, in the majority, composed by taking really long jams and using production sense (either their own or someone else's) to edit their work down to its best. It's something I always knew and always shot for, but didn't notice in an absolute way until someone I worked with said "Yes would've been shit without Eddy Offord- listen to how many cuts and punches there are in this song."(Yours Is No Disgrace was playing on the radio.)
I've never found other musicians I can compose with in that way comfortably, so I try to reproduce that feel alone. It's not easy at all.
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Gosford, Australia
danimal cannon wrote:
Dream Theaters changes are not very difficult.
Planet X changes are fucking ridiculous, they stack metric modulations on top of metric modulations. Donatti is a monster. Meanwhile, the only Dream Theater metric mod I can think of is in The Mirror, and its that really simple one with 6/8 that I've seen 4 other bands do.
yeah virgil is insane! my bro got his shoes signed by the whole band on the night & the guy filling in for derek said they stank /coolstorybro..
i was gonna post a link to part of a fates warning song, jim matheos has immaculate rhythmic sense as a guitarist and composer.
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For me, it's never a problem of writing a song but a matter of conveying the right feeling. It has to be genuinely convincing. I've axed countless of good songs of shelved them for later for something as simple as they never had a place. But when it all sorts itself out and you have no regrets behind it, that's when the feeling starts to take form.