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Production Rut

Hey guys,

I know this is basic stuff but I have been stuck in a rut for awhile so please bare with me and hopefully you can guys can help give me some insight.

The Positives:

I have spent most of my time studying chord progressions and I'm really happy with how quickly I can pump out nice sounding chords. I am pretty amateurish with synths but i can create most of the sounds i want thanks to youtube and reading some books. My percussion skills are also pretty mediocre but have improved a lot since I have recently switched my focus to that for a bit.

The Negatives:

I cannot create a melody that will cooperate with my chords , further more I am not able to incorporate ANY chord progressions into a song without it sounding just completely out of place(the progressions all sound great when played by them selves). As far as genres go I have tried experimenting with pretty much everything but mainly would like to focus on trance.


To sum things up:

I currently am only able to produce chord progressions, a bass to go with it, and percussion. I cannot seem to find a way to incorporate a decent melody.

I really like learning from watching videos however, unfortunately it seems to me that most of the tutorials on youtube for stuff like melody aren't that great(a lot of it is plagued by this one specific genre(I think its called happy hardcore but I'm not sure).

So how or what should i do in order to learn how to write a melody that will blend with a song(according to my listed pros/cons or anything in general). I know these types of questions are frowned upon in this community but i am really struggling with this and haven't progressed in awhile.


Thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully you can give me a few pointers,

Zlaught

I actually sometimes make a chord progression and then build a melody from that, then dont even use chords in the end.

I would firstly just make a drum pattern your happy with, then with no bass or chords just play around and make a melody with a piano.

Also if your playing around with a idea for over a hour and its just not going no where just stop and try something else, otherwise your just gonna be trying to polish shit.

Good luck

Thanks a lot for the tips!

The idea of playing around with something for awhile that doesn't seem to go anywhere seems to be a huge problem of mine.I guess I need to get better at analyzing the potential of a creation after tweaking it a bit to see if i should just move on.

Re: Production Rut

quote:

Originally posted by Zlaught Hey guys, I know this is basic stuff but I have been stuck in a rut for awhile so please bare with me and hopefully you can guys can help give me some insight. The Positives: I have spent most of my time studying chord progressions and I'm really happy with how quickly I can pump out nice sounding chords. I am pretty amateurish with synths but i can create most of the sounds i want thanks to youtube and reading some books. My percussion skills are also pretty mediocre but have improved a lot since I have recently switched my focus to that for a bit. The Negatives: I cannot create a melody that will cooperate with my chords , further more I am not able to incorporate ANY chord progressions into a song without it sounding just completely out of place(the progressions all sound great when played by them selves). As far as genres go I have tried experimenting with pretty much everything but mainly would like to focus on trance. To sum things up: I currently am only able to produce chord progressions, a bass to go with it, and percussion. I cannot seem to find a way to incorporate a decent melody. I really like learning from watching videos however, unfortunately it seems to me that most of the tutorials on youtube for stuff like melody aren't that great(a lot of it is plagued by this one specific genre(I think its called happy hardcore but I'm not sure). So how or what should i do in order to learn how to write a melody that will blend with a song(according to my listed pros/cons or anything in general). I know these types of questions are frowned upon in this community but i am really struggling with this and haven't progressed in awhile. Thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully you can give me a few pointers, Zlaught

To be honest,i am in a similar situation.I mean how long have you been producing music(please don't include the time spent for learning the tools i.e. DAW etc)?...how many songs have you produced(including the one's you are too embarrassed to show others)???

Learning music theory could be one workaround.Prevents you hitting the wrong notes.

But possibly the best advice i can give(me being a noob) is not to give up. Keep working on it and maybe you will eventually get what you want.It might start off as a trance track but might end up sounding like a mobile ringtone.But keep producing anyway.TIME and EXPERIENCE will help you !!!

Learning the hard way

P.S - I have stopped relying on videos/tuts completely because i am trying to recreate sounds which i like,with what i have, by sheer experimentation/fooling around.

Re: Production Rut

quote:

Originally posted by Zlaught I cannot create a melody that will cooperate with my chords , further more I am not able to incorporate ANY chord progressions into a song without it sounding just completely out of place(the progressions all sound great when played by them selves). As far as genres go I have tried experimenting with pretty much everything but mainly would like to focus on trance.

It should be really easy to make a melody that goes along with the chord progression.

As long as you are using notes from the chord progression, while that chord is playing it should sound like it goes along with the chord.

Maybe your problem is not composition related.

Hard to tell unless you post something.

Chord progressions are nice, but you really need the perfect combination of sounds that goes well together. Its tricky business, sometimes it happens immedietly a lot of times i find myself browsing for ages getting nothing.

But in the end, all you can do is continue trying to fit sounds together, eventually the time will come.

Post examples of your attempts at melodies, otherwise, we're just guessing at what your problem is.

Before you sit down to produce, dump a bucket of ice water on your head.

Re: Re: Production Rut

quote:

Originally posted by Beatflux It should be really easy to make a melody that goes along with the chord progression. As long as you are using notes from the chord progression, while that chord is playing it should sound like it goes along with the chord. Maybe your problem is not composition related. Hard to tell unless you post something.

I'm sorry I posted late at night and should have clarified my self a bit more on what your mentioning.

This is actually exactly what I do for my attempts, most of the time I will make a chord progression and then I will try to make a melody using the same notes in the same order as the chord progression, like say the first chord in the progression is CAE, i will then use specifically those notes in the same meter/meters that chord is played, and so on for the next chord etc... I'm sorry if this doesn't make since I'm really bad with terminology.

The problem is it either becomes too repetitive and if i try to change it up it sounds out of place, like whatever chords i use towards the beginning or the middle prevents me from making the song more diverse instead of the same chord looped endlessly.

I definitely need to post something I guess for it to be clear for you guys to know where and what I'm struggling.

I am not computer savvy what so ever, how do I upload a song for you guys to hear?

Thanks so much for the advice guys it helps a lot,
Zlaught

Sign up to a soundcloud account its free then give us the link.

Okay, so I made a sound-cloud account but when i try to upload a song i can't, its greyed out and wont let me select it. What do i do?

Upload a screenshot.










You'll need to make a photobucket account.

lol, select the audio to upload and wait for the upload to finish

lol i feel like an idiot for not knowing how to do this xD.

1. I log in
2. I choose upload/share any files, i choose upload
3. I go to the location of where my song is but instead of it being the normal color text, it is greyed out and will not allow me to click it.

Where am I going wrong?

After uploading did you wait for it to finish transcoding

quote:

Originally posted by EddieZilker Upload a screenshot. You'll need to make a photobucket account.

sorry I somehow didn't see your post, I guess i will go get a screenshot for you guys.

quote:

Originally posted by Julz After uploading did you wait for it to finish transcoding

It wont let me upload because i cannot select the track.

What format is the track?

I use logic to produce so whatever form logic saves music in is what the file format is.

I'm about to pull my hair out. I tried taking a screenshot but i can't seem to get it to work o_0. i hit shift+3 to take a screenshot, and nothing captured, i give up on the screenshot thing.

Do you know what I was talking about though? like how sometimes an item can not be selected so it will appear in gray and something that is selectable is in normal colored text.


sorry about this incompetence

quote:

Originally posted by Zlaught I use logic to produce so whatever form logic saves music in is what the file format is. I'm about to pull my hair out. I tried taking a screenshot but i can't seem to get it to work o_0. i hit shift+3 to take a screenshot, and nothing captured, i give up on the screenshot thing. Do you know what I was talking about though? like how sometimes an item can not be selected so it will appear in gray and something that is selectable is in normal colored text. sorry about this incompetence

You have to export it as a .wav or .mp3 file. There should be an export function - usually in the file drop-down menu in most DAW's - I don't own logic.

Okay thanks I'll give this shot, sounds like it will work


EDIT: I think i got the screenshot to work, apparently macbooks save screenshots directly to your desktop and not a folder.

Link:

http://s1087.photobucket.com/albums/j461/Zlaught/?action=view¤t=Screenshot2011-12-18at60207PM.png

Just export as a .wav, from your open source/song file, in Logic. Then, upload the .wav. Make sure you know which folder you're exporting to.

Any clue how to export as a song and not the individual .wav files?

thanks for the help and patience.

Bounce and export as MP3 or WAV.

bounce button in logic

quote:

Originally posted by Zlaught Any clue how to export as a song and not the individual .wav files? thanks for the help and patience.

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