Ive been playing with a beta of Imitone, you hum and it will instantly turn it into midi. Its kind of like cheating at being a musician, almost like how autotune is for singers hah.
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Seattle, WA
Princedmorn wrote:
I write out a series of numbers; -1,-2,-3,-4,-5,-6,-7,1(-8),2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16
Three octaves, just to play around with a melody and if it fluctuates to a higher tone or lower.
Each number is the note of whatever key you are in (number one would be your tonic, two would be supertonic, three is mediant, ect)
You have to start on one or five (reason for this is because no matter what key you're in, the tonic is your major and dominate is your minor)
Doubling notes is hard to explain, but should be kept to root,third,fifth,(and sixth or seventh for a fuller or jazz swing).
Listing a line of numbers now becomes your sheet music, that can be played in any key.
If anyone makes sense of what I just typed, try this out. I can throw an example but I'm getting ready for work at the moment.
Man, I could have had 2d6 write for me all this time. Might not work but maybe it will.
Sesska wrote:
on my phone as voice memos. Whistling, humming, whatever. That way I can browse 'em whenever I'm in the mood of composing and just port it to the tracker or play it on the keyboard.
this too, but I never have the recording gear with me, and forget 99.9% of them...
I got a field recorder and I love it for this reason. Also because I can turn anything into a drum hit.
n00bstar wrote:
Just wrote something on that topic a few days ago, give it a little read if you're interested:
I love how you talked about making things work in context, and for all the LSDJ users who may not know: Select + Start plays every channel starting on where you are in the phrase or chain screen.
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Oklahoma City, OK
Strong melody is a KEY part in any one of my own tracks. Sometimes, it pops up in my head randomly, and sometimes I get some ideas by tinkering away at a piano for a good 10-15mins. But, (to go into more detail, here) I almost always think of it like a skeleton, or building blocks, or something. If I'm trying to write a melody (as opposed to it popping up randomly) I begin by deciding what rhythm I want, next I try to fit some pitches into that rhythm, and then I might begin adding things like articulations and perhaps ornamentation. Lastly, once my melody is completed, I will write everything else (harmony/chords/bass/percussion) to fit with the melody. For me, it is SO important to write a piece around a melody, and not the other way around, for a couple of reasons.
1.) It is so much easier to do so. Chord progressions are easily interchangeable, melodies are not so much.
2.) It makes your work more memorable. Let's face it, if you're in the audience and you're listening to another person's work, what part is going to stick in your head the most? 9 times out of 10, it's probably a strong melodic line.
But, again, this is just MY way of doing it, and it may not be the best way, but it's worked for me. Maybe it'll work for you! (Also, I agree with n00bstar's article, the part about treating the melody like a singer.)
EDIT: Can't believe I forgot to mention this, but ~RECORD YOUR SHIT EVEN IF IT SOUNDS BAD AT THE TIME. YOU CAN ALWAYS CHANGE IT LATER!!~ And by "Record", I mean audio recording or just writing it down on paper, or typing it in a .doc, whatever works best.
Last edited by DBOYD (Feb 27, 2015 4:01 am)
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Philly
Most of the time I come up with a heavy riff on my guitar, then I improvise on it in the same scale (which is pretty much always blues) about an octave or 2 higher, following any key changes.
Or I just fart around on a scale with my keyboard.
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Brunswick, GA USA
I vary my strategy on purpose to keep my ideas fresh, so I don't have any one way to compose.
A good composer can start with any element of a song and still finish it.
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Seattle, WA
chunter wrote:
I vary my strategy on purpose to keep my ideas fresh, so I don't have any one way to compose.
And that's what the thread is for! I want to change up my "process" in a more organized way than literally having no process.
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Chronoseptor wrote:
Ive been playing with a beta of Imitone, you hum and it will instantly turn it into midi. Its kind of like cheating at being a musician, almost like how autotune is for singers hah.
sounds amazing, and i dont think its cheating not everyone has the time to learn how to write the notes in their head
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Brunswick, GA USA
Dire Hit wrote:
And that's what the thread is for! I want to change up my "process" in a more organized way than literally having no process.
Then you should have a song for every response in the thread by the end of March. Seriously, try them all immediately.
The again, maybe avoid the ones that say "poke around and get frustrated," nothing personal 
If you struggle with composing, you can get better with practice, just keep trying!
I didn't mention any in particular because there are so many things I have done that none stand out for me, but that doesn't mean I compose haphazardly: there is always a plan in mind, though there isn't always a desired result besides a finished piece of music.
Last edited by chunter (Mar 1, 2015 5:13 pm)
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vancouver, canada
most of my melody writing ends up being exploratory but i do try to hold to a few core maxims:
1) pay attention to melody contours at different scales of time. if you have a series of, say, 3 notes rising up a melodic scale, think also about how those 3 notes exist in context of the larger melody. does the larger melody support these 3 notes? or are these 3 notes meant to provide contrast to a general downward trend in the melody? in my mind the more interesting melodies consist of what i call "a chunky jambalya" or different melodic motions: some upward, some downward, some groups making a parabolic arc, some motions happening in the span of a quarter note, larger melodic motions containing smaller facets of shorter melodic passages, etc.
2) try to identify or appoint "nodes" in the melody that ultimately define the melody and try to surface them clearly in the melody. sometimes the "nodes" simply amount to the notes that you intended to have accents. sometimes the nodes consist of local maximums in the melody contour, like the highest note in the bar or the line. but the general idea is that, like a bezier curve with anchor points you can nudge around, if one pushed these nodes back and forth they would still get a sense a melody with an identity. you will need to de-emphasize the non-important notes - either by lowering their volume, using a gentler timbre, or cutting their note lengths - to make these main melody nodes stick out. sometimes, to make the nodes more obvious, you need more rests surrounding them.
that's all i can think of so far but i'm sure there are more concepts i employ that i just haven't been able to articulate yet. there are less tangible aspects too, like how to write melodies that support a particular emotion you're trying to evoke - but the only advice i have in that area is simply to study the artists that can successfully evoke an emotional response, and hypothesize upon how their writing works toward that goal
Last edited by bryface (Mar 1, 2015 8:12 pm)
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Seattle, WA
chunter wrote:
Dire Hit wrote:And that's what the thread is for! I want to change up my "process" in a more organized way than literally having no process.
Then you should have a song for every response in the thread by the end of March. Seriously, try them all immediately.
The again, maybe avoid the ones that say "poke around and get frustrated," nothing personal
I didn't mention any in particular because there are so many things I have done that none stand out for me, but that doesn't mean I compose haphazardly: there is always a plan in mind, though there isn't always a desired result besides a finished piece of music.
Fuck it, wish me luck.
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Montreal, Canada
Just download old modules from Aminet and slap your name on them. We won't tell anyone.