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Genre limitations
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| Sonic_c |
| I make melodic trance or try to but lately I have come to realise that genres are actually limiting for example typical melodic trance rules are approx 138 bpm plucky melodies dreamy harmonies etc etc. The reason I am thinking about this outloud (on ta) is I wonder how many people do impose limits on their own creativity as I do mine. What got me into EDM was melodic trance but I have had little flings with electro, minimal, hard house/trance, house, and even breakbeat the most notable was the raver years where i was a hard trance DJ. My friend who produces can write a track in a day tinker over the weekend get me to master and is happy with it. That's because he writes harder edge trance uses loads of samples and is not necessarily a purest when it comes to harmony and being in key etc. Although not all his tunes are going to be next big thing he does write some great stuff and he doesn't care whether his bass follows the root note or if his channels are separated enough etc (admittedly he leaves that to me) but I sometimes think he is more creative than I am being. I cant remember the last time that I made a weird melody that didn't quite fit in with my typical trance ideas and made it work. Then I realised that I make a lot of the time generic trance nothing that really stands out creatively there are exceptions when a track has gone well but that's not who I want to be especially in a musical climate where you must be different to stand out. I want to innovate not recreate. Are genres limiting? and by breaking the norm you usually risk some heavy critisism (not always a bad thing). I recently posted a blog on my myspace saying I was going to experiment mixing elements from other genres into my mix and i got message after message saying I like your trance please don't do what all the rest are doing and go all electro. What's everybodys experience of genre limitations, and what do you do to avoid being pigeonholed into one specific genre? |
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| G-Con |
I dont think of making a "insert genre here" track ever. I just make what feels natural at the time. Sometimes when finished, it could easily be placed in a specific genre, other times it is more cross-over stuff and is hard to fit into one genre.
I think deliberately attempting to make a specific genre track such as uplifting melodic trance is a bad idea. You'll end up following all the typical conventions of said genre and it will end up sounding like every other track out there.
Btw, use paragraphs, people are more likely to read your post if you do ;) |
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| Subtle |
Simply do not copy other peoples music.
Copying and being influenced by are two totally different things.
I find influence from all music i have hear from any genre.. but i never copy anything ever!
My sound may not be awesome, but its still my own sound! |
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| Sonic_c |
| quote: | Originally posted by G-Con
Btw, use paragraphs, people are more likely to read your post if you do ;) |
I did but then i spell checked and it removed formatting and didnt correct sorry potential readers :D
Its true what you say though guys trying to immitate just wont get me where i want to be. Im going to go nuts on the next one make some wierd crossover original stuff |
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| owien |
"don't ever be afraid to mix things up"
is a term i feal fits well here sonic mate. as diversity can lead to making some great tunes.
off course the only downside is can you be consistent? this is why so many people stick to one or two formats. because they need to know what the end result will be.
"pet sound" is a phrase that also springs to my mind. people will always stick to what they like and know.
if you dare step out off the comfort zone don't be upset when the end result isn't what you hoped it would be. |
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| Owsey2008 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Subtle
Simply do not copy other peoples music.
Copying and being influenced by are two totally different things |
Well said. |
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| Icone |
Working with similar sounds doesn't mean I think that you should feel the genre is limited. Look at rock or pop music; people have been working with guitars there for ages and ages.
I think you shouldn't be afraid to use 'generic' sounds as long as the melodies are good and the track sticks to your mind. I think the fact that a lot of trance sounds generic today is because of different reasons. |
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| Subtle |
| quote: | Originally posted by Icone
Working with similar sounds doesn't mean I think that you should feel the genre is limited. Look at rock or pop music; people have been working with guitars there for ages and ages.
I think you shouldn't be afraid to use 'generic' sounds as long as the melodies are good and the track sticks to your mind. I think the fact that a lot of trance sounds generic today is because of different reasons. |
Yeah indeed. |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
I think rock and pop are a bad analogy, though.
From the very beginning, electronic music was about exploring new sound textures and breaking conventions about how "instruments" were supposed to sound. It was pioneered by classical composers who were tired of the limitations of acoustic instruments and tired of the same old sounds and arrangements. It's boring to me when tracks use nothing but beaten-to-death presets and don't carry on the sonic experimentalism that was the motivation behind making electronic music from the very beginning. A big part of the artistry in electronic music is the sound design, IMO, and I often find tracks to be bland when people neglect that part of production, even if they have a nice bassline or melody. |
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| Sonic_c |
| Yes jive it is about new sounds however you missed a crucial point. Trance music is pitch based music or at least melodic trance is some detuned sounds and wierd synth noises just dont harmonise. Thats why electro is so free as it rarely relies on pitch. |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sonic_c
Yes jive it is about new sounds however you missed a crucial point. Trance music is pitch based music or at least melodic trance is some detuned sounds and wierd synth noises just dont harmonise. |
Tell that to the guys who were making great trance back in early '90s with all kinds of weird synth noises. The main reason people no longer do that isn't that it's "too hard to harmonize," it's because today's listeners would probably say "that's not trance!" if somebody used sounds other than a supersaw-ish sound or Deadmau5 saw lead / Andy Moor square lead. And often enough today's producers are themselves part of the group who think that the only trance worth listening to is from '99 and later. |
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| Sonic_c |
| Not all trance has to harmonise depends on the whole "what is trance these days anyway?" debate. Plenty and i mean plenty of new trance uses rythms and stuff that are not typical check out the shakedown podcast episode 86 first track killer track! not a supersaw in sight. However the sounds do harmonise well thats all i was saying and i really intended my comment to quite unusual patches that are not musically useful. Im not against making a great new sound believe me. |
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