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hey everyone,

I've finished a decent amount of songs, and I know enough about synthesis that I don't use presets anymore, but I'm in a totally brutal jam lately just coming up with some melodies or synth programs that I like. Like I can spend 3+ hours on the computer and get up and be like "damnit, I got nothing!"

So how do you guys go about coming up with your good melodies and sounds? Anyone got any answers except "I just do it." lol.

cheers

Depends really. Some people just don't have an ear for that sort of thing so just end up programming 1 note hooks on the mouse.

I load up a synth and just jam on the keyboard until I get something I like. I don't have any training but spent enough time on it that I can come up with something quite easily.

Steal. Copy hooks, loops and small melodies from other tracks. Not only dubstep, but anything. It will probably get you going, and even if your finished tracks is not entirely yours, it might help you to get a better understanding of composing.

Cheers

manray wrote: I load up a synth and just jam on the keyboard until I get something I like. I don't have any training but spent enough time on it that I can come up with something quite easily.

This is the way really, can't see how you could consistently come up with musical, catchy melodies with just a mouse.

Maybe learn some scales (not suggesting you necessarily need to start buying books, just learn what notes sound good as part of a melody when you've got for example: A as the root bass note).

Also helps me if I'm stuck to sing melodies to myself with the track playing(if you're not great on the keyboard then this could be helpful) and then work out the notes after...

Prob the most important part of a tune I think.

Making a good hook for a tune is what will make it stand out on the dancefloor imo.

Get a good sound and then play with the keyboard while the beat is running imo.

sound slike your going through a patch of writers block, give it a while then just jam on the piano, with a bit of basic theory you can start to know which notes will sound good together and build a melody that way, its just creativity imo, wouldnt say steal more draw inspiration

Controller keyboard is the key for messing with, select synth / vst etc .... as you tune it up hit your keyboard.

Play around with a standard sound to get a better idea of notes / chords that sound good together, oh and research.

Get a MIDI keyboard if you haven't already.


Do a simple series of notes using only the black keys


Mess around with placement/length/spacing

listen to jazz on the regular

sing to yourself. seriously. in the shower, even! ba-ba-doo-doo-bu--bah, etc.

'melody' can come from a lot of places. a drum sound that changes as a filter opens/closes can be melodic. don't just look at normal, 'tonal' sounds.

Wub wrote:
Do a simple series of notes using only the black keys

Why the black keys?

I just go into fruity piano roll and lay down some scales with the scale helper thing and get experimenting.
Use different scales to achieve interesting sounds - if you're getting bored of the basic minor, blues can be cool used properly, and phrygian is good for getting an eastern sort of sound.

also as others have said, listen tunes you like and try and imitate them - most of the time you'll end up with something that bears no resemblance to what you were trying to copy.

also, im sure someone else can explain this better as im no music theorist, but going from one note to the next one 3 or 7 semitones higher sounds good, i think thats a minor chord or sometihng...

Serox wrote:

Wub wrote:
Do a simple series of notes using only the black keys

Why the black keys?

Because they're all be in key with each other.


Edit - I think. Can't remember the exact reason, but something to do with scales or suchlike

Wub wrote:

Serox wrote:

Wub wrote:
Do a simple series of notes using only the black keys

Why the black keys?

Because they're all be in key with each other.


Edit - I think. Can't remember the exact reason, but something to do with scales or suchlike

+ melodies with black keys sound dark and badass.

Rendr wrote:

Wub wrote:

Serox wrote:

Wub wrote:
Do a simple series of notes using only the black keys

Why the black keys?

Because they're all be in key with each other.


Edit - I think. Can't remember the exact reason, but something to do with scales or suchlike

+ melodies with black keys sound dark and badass.

That's something to do with minor keys, right?



(TBH, I shouldn't really go dishing out advice without the first fucking clue as to why )

Wub wrote:

Rendr wrote:

Wub wrote:

Serox wrote:

Wub wrote:
Do a simple series of notes using only the black keys

Why the black keys?

Because they're all be in key with each other.


Edit - I think. Can't remember the exact reason, but something to do with scales or suchlike

+ melodies with black keys sound dark and badass.

That's something to do with minor keys, right?



(TBH, I shouldn't really go dishing out advice without the first fucking clue as to why )

yeah you're right, black keys are minor. That's pretty much all I know about chords. Although reading nothing about chord progression I still know what keys to hit in which order by mashing it up on my keyboard. The cheapskates option for people who don't want to buy books on the matter.

Actually melodies with black keys only sound Asian to me.

d1rt1989 wrote:im sure someone else can explain this better as im no music theorist, but going from one note to the next one 3 or 7 semitones higher sounds good, i think thats a minor chord or sometihng...

That's a basic minor chord you have there. Dropping the 7th semitone to 6th will leave you with diminished Am (or Am-) for some extra jazz-points.

Playing with only white keys of a piano leaves you with the notes of A minor-scale (aeolian) or C major-scale (ionian). It depends on how you look at it.


Using only the black keys of piano forms some kind of a pentatonic scale. Don't know the excact name of the scale but it's an easy way to sound japanish. There's a tune in just about every beginner's piano book using those notes. Even computer music recommended black keys in their dubstep tutorial

if you're really having trouble coming up with some melodies, just download some beethoven/bach/vivaldi/insert_old_composer_here .midi files and import them into your sequencer.

if the composition was written long enough ago (around 80 years i think) then its fair game, and you can copy it note for note. rather than copying it exactly, i'd re-arrange the notes or just really study what the composer has done, so you actually learn something from it.

like someone else said, whacking out random notes from a scale can sometimes work too.

lol of course u can make nice melodies and hooks with just the mouse

it doent matter how simple or detailed it is - what matters is how it sounds

i know a guy who isn't a great producer technically but with just his mouse he can create some of the most intricate melodies i've heard