Put your money where your mouth is and get involved with your local !OHC
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Washington DC
I dunno if this has been covered already cause I kind of don't want to muck through a thread that is probably a giant cluster fuck of ideas, but I think a key element of writing more "interesting" music is not overtly trying to be unique or different. Do what you like and eventually your voice will come to you, even if that means spending a while sounding like a fucked up smoothie of people you admire.
I guess that is a not a very technical piece of advice but yeah. The best way to be unique and innovative is to be yourself. Throw that in the pile with all of the actually helpful information and it should do something.
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vancouver, canada
1. stop using so many pentatonic scales
2. melody lead lines need to have rests so as not to fatigue the listener's attention. quite often i hear songs where melody lines just go on forever, snaking every which way, with no pause. the longer the melody line, the harder the brain to retain it in its entirety until an "end" is perceived - at which point it can then start to file and categorize it mentally.
that's is the extent of the highly biased and uninformed advice that i can give in this highly contentious thread
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Liverpool, UK
Saskrotch wrote:
thank you for guidelines on how to make my music interesting
Saskrotch wrote:
well this turned into a real shit show
good work everybody
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buffalo, NY
Dauragon wrote:
Do what you like and eventually your voice will come to you, even if that means spending a while sounding like a fucked up smoothie of people you admire.
Love this quote, both idea and imagery.
bryface wrote:
2. melody lead lines need to have rests so as not to fatigue the listener's attention. quite often i hear songs where melody lines just go on forever, snaking every which way, with no pause.
I constantly have to remind myself of this. It helps when I write on guitar instead of straight inputting to LSDJ
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brooklyn
bryface wrote:
2. melody lead lines need to have rests so as not to fatigue the listener's attention. quite often i hear songs where melody lines just go on forever, snaking every which way, with no pause. the longer the melody line, the harder the brain to retain it in its entirety until an "end" is perceived - at which point it can then start to file and categorize it mentally.
I can't agree with this more, totally of the opinion that good phrasing is what makes a good melody!
edit: i know i just used "phrasing" incorrectly, but ya know what i mean
Last edited by Kedromelon (Nov 28, 2012 11:30 pm)
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Liverpool, UK
bryface wrote:
1. stop using so many pentatonic scales
2. melody lead lines need to have rests so as not to fatigue the listener's attention. quite often i hear songs where melody lines just go on forever, snaking every which way, with no pause. the longer the melody line, the harder the brain to retain it in its entirety until an "end" is perceived - at which point it can then start to file and categorize it mentally.that's is the extent of the highly biased and uninformed advice that i can give in this highly contentious thread
To add to this, I think one of the Anamanaguchi guys said they sang stupid nonsensical lyrics to come up with their melodies - I think it makes sense to think of your main melody as a "vocal line" if you will, and when you listen to songs with lyrics it's not someone 'go[ing] on forever, snaking every which way, with no pause'.
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mainz, grmny.
For me it's just more challenging to take the hardware most people take + not let it sound like everyone else.
Although it's just a coincidence SFZ is mainly using Game Boys. Could might as well be something else.
calmdownkidder wrote:
To add to this, I think one of the Anamanaguchi guys said they sang stupid nonsensical lyrics to come up with their melodies - I think it makes sense to think of your main melody as a "vocal line" if you will, and when you listen to songs with lyrics it's not someone 'go[ing] on forever, snaking every which way, with no pause'.
Kinda reminds me of myself thinking of how I play the piano... Gets me the best melodies + solos + I just have to "write" them down, as they are in my head already. I know, not the same... Just sayin.
Last edited by Stern Fucking Zeit (Nov 28, 2012 11:57 pm)
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Brunswick, GA USA
calmdownkidder wrote:
bryface wrote:1. stop using so many pentatonic scales
2. melody lead lines need to have rests so as not to fatigue the listener's attention. quite often i hear songs where melody lines just go on forever, snaking every which way, with no pause. the longer the melody line, the harder the brain to retain it in its entirety until an "end" is perceived - at which point it can then start to file and categorize it mentally.that's is the extent of the highly biased and uninformed advice that i can give in this highly contentious thread
To add to this, I think one of the Anamanaguchi guys said they sang stupid nonsensical lyrics to come up with their melodies - I think it makes sense to think of your main melody as a "vocal line" if you will, and when you listen to songs with lyrics it's not someone 'go[ing] on forever, snaking every which way, with no pause'.
If your songs have no hook, try this.
Trying the opposite (removing space between strong ideas) is okay too, I think it's more a point to have your lead give way to the other things happening in the song, so that each sound gets attention at different times. (That's one of the OP's points, isn't it?)
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Canada
I've always written my melodies by whatever I was humming in my head as I let my accompaniments repeat over and over. Sometimes I end up singing stupid lyrics to it, sometimes it just comes to fruition so fast I don't need to use any sort of technique.
But yes, letting each sound have their own dynamic space is a huge thing, I think, and can lead to some awesome variety!
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Melbourne, Australia
Wow, so much hate for some pretty damn solid guidelines.
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TSSBAY01
more often than not my melody stuff comes to me in my sleep, which is really unnerving sometimes but its also a blessing. maybe my mind is the most creative in that period inbetween deep rem and waking up and a lot of time it is a battle for me to get those ideas out. but theres a clarity there whenever i actually go to jot it down that doesnt fully make sense to me, its almost a matter of recalling an actual memory or something that the idea is fully realized before i get it out. to me its sort of symbolic of the essence of creating for yourself, the physical act of thinking and then doing and bringing your idea to realization, but it still creeps me out.
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Canada
tempsoundsolutions wrote:
more often than not my melody stuff comes to me in my sleep, which is really unnerving sometimes but its also a blessing. maybe my mind is the most creative in that period inbetween deep rem and waking up and a lot of time it is a battle for me to get those ideas out. but theres a clarity there whenever i actually go to jot it down that doesnt fully make sense to me, its almost a matter of recalling an actual memory or something that the idea is fully realized before i get it out. to me its sort of symbolic of the essence of creating for yourself, the physical act of thinking and then doing and bringing your idea to realization, but it still creeps me out.
Holy crap! This happens to me all the time! Ill think of a tune, lyric, or even a chord progression that seems like genius, then go to bed/wake up fully and it'll be gone. It's getting them out at the right time that's hard. It's gotta be that your mind is more relaxed and not running at a high frequency cycle or something.
The musician as a clairvoyant... Romantic era thought. Really cool stuff temp:)
Last edited by Jansaw (Nov 29, 2012 2:27 am)
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NC in the US of America
I've had a few tunes that I thought were cool that were created in my dreams. I usually try to sing/hum all the parts into Audacity or a tape recorder as soon as I wake up, or else I'll lose it forever (unless I have the same dream again?). It's scary, because it will be disappearing from my mind as I'm recording.
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D D D Detroit, not the burbs
danimal cannon wrote:
Dauragon wrote:Do what you like and eventually your voice will come to you, even if that means spending a while sounding like a fucked up smoothie of people you admire.
Love this quote, both idea and imagery.
bryface wrote:2. melody lead lines need to have rests so as not to fatigue the listener's attention. quite often i hear songs where melody lines just go on forever, snaking every which way, with no pause.
I constantly have to remind myself of this. It helps when I write on guitar instead of straight inputting to LSDJ
Yes and yes. The thought of those I admire blended into a smoothy is the only way to truly love.
I also like glissandos a lot, start one on bar 7 or 8 in a phrase for a transition... thats kinda my style, i midi'd this up a few weeks ago i dont suggest you listen to all of it and its not chip related.
http://soundcloud.com/jeffrey-s-cook/jc … soundcloud
In the first phrase i cleaned up the transition with the organ glissando. They are also fun to write.
like i said dont listen to the whole thing i dont want this to come off as some kind of listen to my non-related crap, i just wanted to talk composition.
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Canada
Ya that's totally relevant! I've actually never given glissandos or any type of run like that any serious thought. That's a great example, though! Just cuz it's not chip doesn't mean you're gunna get hated (by me, at least).