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Getting Stuck in the 8,16 bar loop(discussion)
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| Aventador |
I want to get more songwriting/arrangement conversations going, so I wanted to get some ideas out there about turning a fantastic loop into a source for a great arrangement.
I think everyone has been there: you have a great idea and you build it up until it can't be any better, and then you have no idea where to take the 8 or 16 bar loop.
Here are some of my ideas:
-Backtrack to how you added each piece to your amazing loop, and that could give you a template on how to arrange. It's really simple, but it could account for a third to a half of the arrangement.
If you stretch out the loop for the entire song, and add variations and other additions to fill in the boring spots, that could be the entire arrangement.
-So you have some kind of loop and there's nothing else that can go on top of it...you can either let the energy start to drop in the arrangement OOOOORRRR...you can add a variation: Change up a pattern, change a sample in a pattern, change a synth patch, etc.
-You have some kind of a sweet loop that's either drums or a short synth line. Keep it playing the entire song, but have everything else around it change.
-Ableton(or equivalent DAW) users: put all of the loops into session view and play around with different combinations while you record to arrangement. This is more fun than manually piecing stuff together in a standard arrangement view.
-Work backwards: your finished loop is the highlight of the song, now work backwards so you introduce new parts of the loop. The main highlights of a song are usually: chord progression, hook, bassline.
Add your own ideas and I'll update the first post accordingly . |
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| Looney4Clooney |
| next action list for the thing you are working on. |
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| wayfinder |
| pretend that you are seducing the listener |
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| chris marsh |
you can think of your loop so far as an A part, then write a B part and breakdown, intro, outro etc
Work on transitions between the different sections
put a pro track in your daw and look at their arrangement and get inspiration from this
:) |
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| Astralist |
If you're stuck in a quality loop then you already have enough ideas for the basis of your song. I try to start muting things, and then create an intro. Any intro, it doesn't have to be a great intro. The point is to get the song moving forward in time. You can only begin to flesh out how these elements are going to interact together once you're listening to the tune in your Arrangement View.
Work on writing the actual song before worrying about perfecting every element. It's all about getting out of Session View, into your timeline/Arrange View, and listening to your piece as a cohesive thing that travels through time. Music travels through time linearly and follows you along. Don't just sit there when you have a good loop and listen to it on repeat and wonder what to do next. Start carving out the arrangement as soon as humanly possible. |
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| Looney4Clooney |
| quote: | Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
next action list for the thing you are working on. |
what this good looking guy said.
download David Allen's getting things done. It outlines the general organization of project management that most people use. YOu don't have to read all of it. YOu can pretty much sum it up in 10 minutes. Get a tool like omnifocus on your ipad. And start creating next action lists. And just follow it. |
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| Allied Nations |
| quote: | Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
what this good looking guy said.
download David Allen's getting things done. It outlines the general organization of project management that most people use. YOu don't have to read all of it. YOu can pretty much sum it up in 10 minutes. Get a tool like omnifocus on your ipad. And start creating next action lists. And just follow it. |
such killer advice
the first soundtrack project i worked on we started doing huge charts and action lists... got done! i have since added this to my own practice and seen a lot of progress |
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| meriter |
| if I start a track with the main hook or middle part it usually never gets finished. I've had the best luck just starting a track from the very beginning and working on it as though what I have so far is what is FINISHED and not some ideal. Like if you start a track from the middle you get this idea that it's better than it is |
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