Length of Melodies??? - TranceAddict Forums

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Posted by sterilis on Nov-09-2006 00:07:

Length of Melodies???

Does anyone have melodies outside the 'rule'. like have a 14 bar melody or a 6 instead of the standard 8 or 16 etc?

Posted by DigiNut on Nov-09-2006 00:14:

I suppose you could, depending on the time signature, but for standard 4/4 music, it just won't sound right. I'd be the last person on here to advocate formulas for arrangement, but the 4*N-bar "rule" is a pretty solid one that you should follow unless you're writing really unconventional music. And when I say unconventional I mean outside the realm of trance/techno/house and really any western music at all.

That's not to say you can't have motifs, fills, or other interludes that are 1 bar or 3 bars or 7 bars - that's a good technique to grab the listener's attention. The melody as a staple of the track, though, really has to be either 2 bars or a multiple of 4.

Jazz is different, and there's a fair amount of classical music that breaks the rule, but again, if you're talking about EDM (i.e. dance-floor music) then you don't want to throw off people's sense of rhythm.

Posted by verdonsky on Nov-09-2006 03:04:

I've done some experimenting, and it sounds like 2*N bars is good. Any odd number of bars sounds like gross.

Conditions being that the N*2 melody has to flow nicely through to the next N*2 melody.

Posted by S-Tune on Nov-09-2006 12:28:

Even classical music uses very often that 4/8/16/32/...-bar scheme - so it seems to have its eligibility!

Sometimes it�s really "disturbing" how mathematical typical classical music is...

But try it... i�m really anxious!

Posted by sterilis on Nov-09-2006 23:47:

sounds a bit shit as you would expect. just doesnt flow. although i was listening to a remix of art of trance - madagascar think it was the ferry corsten remix and it seems to have a strange format. ill give a more indepth analysis when i get to listen to it on the speakers.

Posted by DJ Shibby on Nov-10-2006 07:03:

I have a really awesome one, that just WON'T fit into 16 bars.

I can't really write a song to 13 and a half bars, so it's just sitting there, doing the tragic prime number thing.