Songwriting tips

[JoeOsoDopke]

Throw me out some tips that you guys use when making a song, I have my own process (In my head at least ) As to good ways of doing this, but I'd like to see what others think on the matter. Non genre specific, could be anything from Dub, to fucking classical or jazz.

[ChadDub]

idk man just type in notes

[bl0rg]

the two main ways i write melodies are:

1) i feel particularly inspired and i just write down what i hear in my head

2 I first create the rhythm and note lengths for the melody, and then pencil in the notes later on

[naroja]

the two main ways i write melodies are:

1) i feel particularly inspired and i just write down what i hear in my head

2 I first create the rhythm and note lengths for the melody, and then pencil in the notes later on

I agree with this, but personally find myself never finishing the tracks that I come up with in my head.

Okay, so, I have one good tip I've been using recently for song structure... - What i've been doing lately is filling in the blank areas between my drops / breakdown sections etc. I have everything color coded (not in any particular order), but I make sure that the 'blank' spots I produce with are greytones (I usually use a really dark grey) then have the rest of the clips pretty saturated in some other colors. Coming from a visual background this process has helped a lot.

Other than that, I'd say playing around with different compositional changes helps a lot and stepping away from the computer, listening to it by itself without any distractions also helps a lot.

[didi]

Workflow 1 - sit around messing with settings on my casio privia, playing bits of film soundtracks or any music lying about the house (I play the piano), when i hit on something good, get it into fl to develop later.

Workflow 2 - Drums, Sub, Atmospheres (pads, samples, or otherwise), (mid bass/other frequencies if necessary).

Workflow 3 - Resort to my folder of RBMA lectures, watch some (esp. Mala, Martyn, and Skream to get inspired to get something done), then rush off and build something.

If none of those work, I'm pretty sure I won't be doing much decent producing.

[Hircine]

1. Listen to Mala, Sukh Knight, Skream and Numa Crew.
2. Set up a drum kit with a ride, a crash, 4 hats, snare, kick, guitars, dub fxs and zaps.
3. Make a killer beat.
4. Find some cool obscure reggae vocal samples and use them.
5. Make a cool wobble bass and bassline
6. Make a chill intro, very percussive.
7. I mixed each part while I was creating them, now I listen to the whole track together several times and adjust gains/eq/mix everything
8. Set Maschine's engine to MPC60, resample everything into it and add some bitcrush.

[jingaaldeway]

Read some books, there are a lot of good books on the topic. In general:
- Learn about song structure by analyzing songs you like (or don't like)
- Analyze your own songs to figure out what worked and what didn't
- Keep it interesting throughout the song by varying it up (ex. moving melody up or down, changing rhythm of the melody, dropping / adding parts, etc.). Analyze a lot songs and see what your favorite producers do to keep it interesting.
- You want people to either love your song or hate it. The worst reaction you can get is indifference.
- Trust your instincts.