Eek - to be brutally honest, hearing that reminded me of some of the less-appealing tracks from Zelda II on the NES back in 1988, only not put together as well.

My advice to you is:

• Get rid of that synth and/or patch and don't ever even think about using it again. It's beyond cheesy, it's just plain bad.
  
• Separate your voices into different instruments. It's never good to have one of them doing all the harmony (with the possible exception of piano, and not usually in electronic music).
  
• What you think is a I-VI-IV-V progression is not. In every sample you've got a key change from the "I" to the "VI" - don't do this. Abrupt key changes should only be used if you really know what you're doing and definitely not in every single repetition of the progression!
  
• The last sample really just sounds random. My guess is that that's what elicited the "too complex" comment. Keep in mind that a lot of people who listen to your tracks, even other producers, don't really understand much about harmony, and often they use the word "complex" as sort of a catch-all phrase to refer to anything that just doesn't sound right or make musical sense to them.

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THe number one cure to know whether your melodies sound appropriate or not it to actually listen to music from the genre in question.

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quote:

Originally posted by B_man THe number one cure to know whether your melodies sound appropriate or not it to actually listen to music from the genre in question.

Amen to that

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The first sample was bit too incoherent for me but I was actually diggin' the other two after a couple of listens. Granted the patch sounds very thin in isolation, but a tweaked version in the context of a full song wouldn't sound as awkward. I think people are being a bit too harsh here. The track has something of an old school rave sound that I find nostalgic. Perhaps people demand so much from a pure production standpoint these days that the creative aspect is overlooked when a song is not up to contemporary production standards. My advice would be to go with what YOU are satisfied with as the author of the song. There are enough artists out there trying to replicate what already exists; do what you enjoy, even if it means not having as broad of an appeal. Who knows, maybe in the context of a different time and amidst different fads, your work may be heralded as having been ahead of its time. At least you can sleep at night knowing you did not sacrifice your vision for something you don't even believe.

quote:

Originally posted by newtrancer and i agree with MaxC if everyone sounded like everyone else then Electronica would be very boring.

That's not the point. The point is that there are things that sound right, and things that sound wrong. True, the things that sound right fit into a very narrow domain, but there are enough of those things that no one ever has to sound the same, and everyone can sound right at the same time.

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quote:

Originally posted by tranceinjection The melodies just need a better synth and a good driveing bassline to make them sound better. It sounds cheesy becouse of the synths you have used, use a harder synth and it will sound 100% better.

I agree with this guy, and DigitNut.

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Yeah... share midi files to test with any other synth.

I don't recommend the old escape of "they just criticize me because I'm unique/different". Yes, there have been a handful of brilliant people way ahead of their times who never gained mainstream acceptance in the community until after their deaths, but odds are that you aren't one of them. Neither am I. For every misunderstood genius there are a hundred more people who are simply unwilling or unable to grasp the fundamentals.

Of course we all want to make art that's different from all the other art. Different in what way - that's the important part. It only pays to break convention if you have good reason to believe that the conventions are wrong or incomplete.

___________________
My party schedule:
2009-02-21 - DJ Attention @ I'm So Popular
2009-06-18 - DJ Annoying @ People Need To Know Where I'll Be
2012-11-32 - DJ Insufferable ɸ Or At Least the Stalkers I Complain About
2048-06-66 - Spastic & Whocares ¶ Although I'm Actually Flattered
9999-45-81 - Tweaker Gimp ☼ I Probably Won't Even Go To This But I Have To Make Sure I Fill Up All The Available Space Here

hey digi that's deep yo.

I don't want to sound harsh but that sound is kinda hilarious. Seems like that standard 3x osc sound with 2 saws or something. You have to find the patience to get into the world of synth programming and FX. Try some new synths (synth1 is a free one and a very good one - find it on google and patches on my websit-) and try using reverb, equalising, chorus, pingpong or stereo delay. I can imagine this melody would sound good with a decent patch on it. You could try to change the pattern a little but the chords sound okay.

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quote:

Originally posted by newtrancer I programmed a new patch and a different melody and you can hear the difference .

The sound makes the melody not better, sorry.
Your melody is not too complicated.... it is too simple!
You are just playing 16th Notes up and down on your keyboard.
I think your hands move over the keyboard like the little "monkey dancer" icon you can see in my reply.
Sorry for this hard words.

quote:

Originally posted by DigiNut I don't recommend the old escape of "they just criticize me because I'm unique/different". Yes, there have been a handful of brilliant people way ahead of their times who never gained mainstream acceptance in the community until after their deaths, but odds are that you aren't one of them... For every misunderstood genius there are a hundred more people who are simply unwilling or unable to grasp the fundamentals... It only pays to break convention if you have good reason to believe that the conventions are wrong or incomplete.

Good post. So true, as seen so often on...



"No really, I'm good. They must be jealous, or just not able to see my genius... even though I came to get THEIR feedback." Oh wait, I've never watched that show... nevermind...

Newtrancer - why don't you post a MIDI file and let someone show you what they mean regarding the patch.