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So the past couple days Ive lacked inspiration. My main DAW is ableton, so naturally I switched my controller on and played around with some of the midi plugins that are native to it. Suprisingly came up with some pretty solid results, recorded those results to a midi channel and viola! I had some sort of groundwork for a track laid out. I normally either do this or just jam on my midi controller to a dummy beat (some simple loop I use for timing), and then quantize and add a bit of swing to it. So, im curious, how do you DFer's come up with your melodics either when you're lacking inspiration or are teeming with it?

I just make absolutely random sounds and save them for later. Or make a pad and go nuts on keyboard, progressive is nice to do.
Be inspired by events in your life, people around you, things you saw, anything that affected you in some way.

Smoke a few crackspliffs. Problem solved.

I just take my keyboard into the living room and play random stuff while watching Scrubs.

I usually screw around on my keyboard until I play something that sounds decent

I usually play the same damn chord I have been playing since 2006 and just transpose it up a couple tones and play the notes in a different order lol

RandoRando wrote:I usually play the same damn chord I have been playing since 2006 and just transpose it up a couple tones and play the notes in a different order lol

oh hey deadmau5

Smoke a few crackspliffs. Problem solved.

+10

What I usually do is think 'what sound am I going for?' A reggae versus a dark trench-crawling feel will utilize certain notes more or less. So basically I do some research about different scales that may fit the particular style I am going for and I try to stick to what others have defined while making a couple tweaks to keep it interesting. I have absolutely no piano/keyboard training so this is how I usually go about it.

Lectric wrote:

RandoRando wrote:I usually play the same damn chord I have been playing since 2006 and just transpose it up a couple tones and play the notes in a different order lol

oh hey deadmau5

I just jam randomly till I get a nice hook/melody. Then I pull out the theory to build bass/chords/counter-melody.

Okay here is one for the ages: Just play one sustained note, over a bar or two, and use fx processes to create rhythmic and tonal variation. Very strange way to make melodies, but also very fruitful. Absolutely unexpected and unimaginable results follow.

Out of the box process when boring old F, G#, A#, F# won't cut it any more.

I have no Idea where my melodies come from. They're weird as fuck though.

Mostly pattern sequencers, otherwise trying stuff on the mpd.

Just muck around. Fiddle about with synths, go through presets in synths and tweak them around till you like them. Go through sample packs and when you find something you like or something that sounds good, muck around with it. Wack it in piano roll and mess around with chords. Think, 'Do I want this to be happy, sad, dark, melancholic, atmospheric, spacy?' Or whatever. Think about what inspires you, think about the things that you LOVE, and try to put a tune to those things. If you feel sad, try making a sad tune, if you feel happy or energetic or whatever, try making something that matches your mood. Often my best melodies come from simply hearing a certain note or chord that just HITS you inside, and from that note you can continue your own tune to it...

Look into how different notes/chords evoke different emotions.

Nice responses! Seems like everyone has their own way of doing it. I really like the arpeggiator in ableton! Thats what I bust out when I don't have any ideas. That and if you check out maxforlive.com theirs a ton of max plugins that I also love using for midi madness!

i don't.. melodies and riffs evade me

Plug the midi controller in, hit record, turn monitor off and just jam for as long as it takes to get something I feel.
Turn the monitor back on and trawl through the recording to find the sections I like.

Sine69 wrote:I usually screw around on my keyboard until I play something that sounds decent

Sine69 wrote:I usually screw around on my keyboard until I play something that sounds decent

+1

Sometimes I even copy melodies I hear in other songs. I'm sitting in a restaraunt right now and I heard this song earlier that had a melody I thought would sound sweet with some straight wubbiness on it. Recorded my best impression of it and I plan to work it out later.

Improvise on the piano for a while mostly and just record it then take out the good bits.

just find patterns that sound good ; maybe pitch bends, use scales /jam on the keyboard for 15 minutes