How to get a whole track out of a musical pattern/part which I made in a sequencer?

[crazyfiltertweaker]

I make IDM and Drum and Bass Music. I have a say in one part/pattern which last 8 or 15 seconds in average. But then I cant get the alternations which I need for a whole track! If I chance the pattern to get a alternate pattern, it sounds worse. I have the sense that ALL is said within the 15 seconds long pattern because I got the best sounding possibility for my taste.

But how can I make a WHOLE track out of the 15 seconds pattern, WITHOUT being boring with many repeatitions and a predictable buildup???

[JumpingJackFlash]

Dude, no offence, but you should really go to school. Find some music classes, get a teacher, have lessons, practice, analyse what other people have done, read some books and study.

There are no quick fixes in this business, it involves many years of hard work. You are not going to find all the answers on a site like this, chances are it's just going to confuse you even more.

Just take things one step at a time, and don't try to run until you can walk.

[padillac]

A lot of drum & bass is based on a 4-bar loop*. Analyze some tunes you love and see how they work. A lot of tunes focus on 4 bars and throw in different samples / mix techniques to keep those 4 bars interesting, with something different for the intro & breakdown (pad/drone & some percussion).

This is way oversimplified and there's a lot you can do...but just mess around with creating separate "sections" that are really mostly the same loop but w/ different samples or layers.

Also, ignore the 4-bar thing and analyze tunes you love and figure it out for yourself


* and yes, a lot of drum & bass *isn't* based on a 4-bar loop.

[coquillo]

But how can I make a WHOLE track out of the 15 seconds pattern, WITHOUT being boring with many repeatitions and a predictable buildup???

What JackFlash said

but

there are essentially only 5 musical transformations

Transposition (scale/key)
Octave (register)
Permutation (note order)
Inversion (note direction)
Cardinality (note number)

Apply to taste.

[murnau]

well, if you created a pattern 15sec length you have "nothing".
the real work of an artist just started then!
giving any advice is difficult. just like said: copy the arrangement from tracks you love just to get an idea. it needs a few years of practice to finish songs (if ever).

grtz

[manducator]

You should keep your eyes on this release:

http://www.dancemusicproduction.com/?ne ... g#more-277

there are essentially only 5 musical transformations

Transposition (scale/key)
Octave (register)
Permutation (note order)
Inversion (note direction)
Cardinality (note number)

Maybe this is the best thing I have read this year. But can you explain a bit about 'Cardinality'?

[coquillo]

Maybe this is the best thing I have read this year. But can you explain a bit about 'Cardinality'?

How many notes you're dealing with, intervals, triads, 7ths etc or 4/4, 5/8, 7/11 and so on.

[Aroused by JarJar]

But how can I make a WHOLE track out of the 15 seconds pattern, WITHOUT being boring with many repeatitions and a predictable buildup???

What JackFlash said

but

there are essentially only 5 musical transformations

Transposition (scale/key)
Octave (register)
Permutation (note order)
Inversion (note direction)
Cardinality (note number)

Apply to taste.

This is a misguided missle you've fired here- it's "not even wrong".

What you've presented is an academic description (Tymoczko I would guess) of transformation of abstract musical sets which retain the (alleged) identity of a "pitch class set".

The "transformations" the original poster is looking for are contrasting motifs, modulations, tonal answers, augmentation/diminuation, contrapuntal (eg bass line) and/or harmonic support of melody created and used to support different melodies, rhythmic variation, and so on.

[coquillo]

This is a misguided missle you've fired here- it's "not even wrong".

What you've presented is an academic description (Tymoczko I would guess) of transformation of abstract musical sets which retain the (alleged) identity of a "pitch class set".

And/or Steven Rings.

[deleted]

DELETED

[manducator]

I would recommend them but then again, I think the dance music manual is one of the best music books ever written, so I don't know if I'm a good referrence...

[jancivil]

But how can I make a WHOLE track out of ...

you get some chops for it. you, yourself, by working for it, like as a musician does since forever, in favor of this constant soliciting of somebody's words on the internet.

you do not have to go to school officially but you have to find a situation where you get schooled in real time from exposure to people, by exposing your own problems to other people, in reality; in a band, or singing songs, some kind of real life work. this reading shit does not cut it in isolation. as JJF said, the shit we type at you is liable to confuse you, you don't show you're moving forward with this approach and you repeat yourself a lot trying.