Time & Willing to learn Music Theory.

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frase.org.uk - music & stuff
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Most of them are just different patterns of playing broken chords. Commonly it's 2 or 3 notes played in a run (often varying the top note). Obviously there are infinite combinations / possibilites but more than likely you could take one of those chords you are holding down, play it broken up, down or up and down and you'll start hearing some familiar sounds :P (Good thing we're talking about music.. sheesh)

multi-layering, similar sonic alterations of the same sound over and around itself, the possibilites are endless, experiment and get creative hella style

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"eh...kinda gamey!!" - Philip J. Fry

i vote for this thread to be stickied...and people can add to it...

http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...59&referrerid=2

becuase this question has come up SO many times...and i know i have the same troubles..

All good answers.

It's all about the harmonic structures, and which octave you want to start on. Don't start too high or too low - too high will hurt your ears, and the harmonics of notes that are too low will clash with those of other instruments that you use. The latter I know from trial and error

As far as patterning your notes, there are a lot of possibilities, and the more steps your arpeggio has (most have 16) the more combinations are possible. Chords are one way of going about things. Or you could leave the chords to the pads and harmonise a little. To do that, as Frase said, music theory (especially about "chromatics") will help a LOT.

If you're a university student, see if you can get into a basic computer music course (if the nearest Uni has one or if you can afford to come to Victoria to take courses with Dr. Schloss). I took one a couple of years ago and it helped me with everything from harmonics and chromatics to how to work LFOs and use filters, and more complicated stuff, too.

And as PsyCode hinted at, it doesn't hurt to fiddle around a little

If you use VST sequencer instruments, start simple with something like Energy, then once you master that, work your way up to something like Motion or Snip. Of course, there are plenty of other VSTis to choose from, available at places like http://www.kvraudio.com

Happy sequencing!

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DC76