I am just thinking there must be rules for melodies and basslines in relation to the chords and the key (Scale)that you are in. Does anybody want to enlighten us not so musically gifted producers with a few pointers as to what they are?

PC

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Trance is our religion and Armin is our god!

Not really any rules. Trance is usually in minor, but tracks in major can sound good too. You could probably even get away with switching keys in a track. The only thing you should make sure of, is that all the compenents of the track are in the same key.

to be honest i don't really think you should produce if you need rules to make melodies..

just do something that you think sounds good

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Daniel

If you want to see what trance melodies look like, look at a midi file (see midi sticky).

ehm. Yeah there are rules for music. It's called Music Theory.

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Sebastian Zander - Hotel Chaplin
Sebastian Zander - Set Two [Electro/Tech House and Trance of some sort]
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quote:

Originally posted by paulc_dj I am just thinking there must be rules for melodies and basslines in relation to the chords and the key (Scale)that you are in. Does anybody want to enlighten us not so musically gifted producers with a few pointers as to what they are? PC

paulc_dj - if this helps try to key out your melodies first. Most trance is written in the minor scale. If you have a melody that you are happy with save it and come back to it later. If you still like it when your ears are fresh then look to move onto the bassline. Again follow TVG's advice and look at some midi files and look at the changes in the bass compared to the melody. Those changes are there because they sound good and they stir the emotion(s) they are intended to. So its all about what sounds good to you. Having an understanding of music theory definitely helps so you don't hit those bum notes in your chords. For example if your bassline is in e then the easiest thing to follow is to form your chords root key around e. But then timing is important as you dont want to follow every change in your melody and do the same with your chords as it will sound pretty boring although it would fit. Read up on the relationship between major and minor scales. As the Cmajor chord has an e in it, it would also work with your bassline. Just cos your melody is written in a minor scale doesn't mean you cant use major chords. Remember the chords are to complement the bassline and melody to instil emotion. Also the minor to cmajor is a minor so again another relationship that would help weed out those bum notes. Read up as much as you can and use the search facility. Keep practising - you'll know in yourself when you hit the sweet spot. Good luck

there are loads of rules. if you have any formal music education you learn tonal harmony, which dominates most music we hear (major vs minor).

writing proper tonal music has a bizarre amount of rules. however, rules are made to be broken, so unless you plan to write trance sonatas et all then don't worry about too many, sticking with one key (and maybe its relative major/minor) is enough for trance tunes.

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quote:

Originally posted by PutBoy ehm. Yeah there are rules for music.

Erm nope. Music is an art form, and art doesn't have rules.

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"I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again."

acctually yes. There has been different times in history were artists had rules and followed them very strictly. There are for instans rules of drama saying that a story should only ):
* be set in one place
* be set within a timespan of 24 hours
* and only have a few characters (three I think)

those rules are still followed today, by some artists at least. I think Strindberg did but I'm not sure. (I don't remember what this system was called

and still there were times were we didn't wnat to follow rules at all, the barockan period (the barock or whatever it's called).

But what I meant when a wrote "there are rules for music", was the music theory, scales for example. The point with scales is to have a system for how a combination of tones work and sound together, anyway that's my take, I'm no expert ;D. now, you don't have to follow these rules of course, but it makes it more structured.

But if you want to see these as rules, or just structures, suggestion, or guidelines, is of course up to you, the artist.

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Check out Crossfade Collective
Sebastian Zander - Hotel Chaplin
Sebastian Zander - Set Two [Electro/Tech House and Trance of some sort]
Paulo Da Costa - AVGN [Prog. House](128kbps])

no rules
just tricks

I'm writing the track i'm working on in A Natural Minor, so what is the relative major to that and how is that key for trance, is it ok?

___________________
Trance is our religion and Armin is our god!

Well, I don't know a thing about music Theory, well somethings ;D. But my guess is "A Major", simple enough.

___________________
Check out Crossfade Collective
Sebastian Zander - Hotel Chaplin
Sebastian Zander - Set Two [Electro/Tech House and Trance of some sort]
Paulo Da Costa - AVGN [Prog. House](128kbps])