How do you deal with this

[vercitti]

To me it's sounds like the beginning of a track.
The drop could start with a simple melody.
For instance:
Melody in beats: | B /// | D C B A | B /// | //// |
Chords: | Em | C / G / | Em | C |

|

I will try that , how did you know btw it's in E minor ?

[DJ Warmonger]

that's a track I started this morning and after 1 hour it sounded bad although when I started I liked the melody and the sound design I made for the pluck sound I like everything , 1 hour everything became dull after working on the arrangment

Uhh, then don't start working on arrangement until you have more ideas for different parts. That's what I do with Ableton, I first create a ton of content and only then try to arrange it.

[vercitti]

well, if youre listening to a 4/5min track on repeat for an hour, or just a loop of it, it will become dull.
the constant repetition will do that.
try listening to your favourite song, by your favourite artist, on repeat for an hour or two.

take regular breaks, 15 mins or so every hour and give you ears a break. go for a walk, somewhere quiet, sit in the garden.


some people have multiple projects at once, so as one gets to the too much repetition point,you can switch to a different track.

thanks bro I will try taking rest every hour and I hope it make a difference

[vercitti]

that's a track I started this morning and after 1 hour it sounded bad although when I started I liked the melody and the sound design I made for the pluck sound I like everything , 1 hour everything became dull after working on the arrangment

Uhh, then don't start working on arrangement until you have more ideas for different parts. That's what I do with Ableton, I first create a ton of content and only then try to arrange it.

sounds good to me , but I followed that " don't spen much time in the session view" so I go to the arrangement with 1 idea or two and I find it hard to continue with intersting ideas

[excuse me please]

To me it's sounds like the beginning of a track.
The drop could start with a simple melody.
For instance:
Melody in beats: | B /// | D C B A | B /// | //// |
Chords: | Em | C / G / | Em | C |

|

I will try that , how did you know btw it's in E minor ?

Music theory, I'm studying Bach cantates and if I like a transition, then I'll try to implement it in my tracks.

https://www.free-scores.com/free-sheet- ... stien-bach

Ok, I have to sleep now

[vercitti]

To me it's sounds like the beginning of a track.
The drop could start with a simple melody.
For instance:
Melody in beats: | B /// | D C B A | B /// | //// |
Chords: | Em | C / G / | Em | C |

|

I will try that , how did you know btw it's in E minor ?

Music theory, I'm studying Bach cantates and if I like a transition, then I'll try to implement it in my tracks.

https://www.free-scores.com/free-sheet- ... stien-bach

Ok, I have to sleep now

Night bro

[imrae]

My analysis is that the music is boring because it lacks content, and this should be addressed by writing more notes.

Too much is happening in short loops, which leads to a sense that it isn't going anywhere. This is a very common problem in electronic music. Try developing your ideas into longer chunks.

A classic trick is to take your 1-bar loop, copy it to two bars, glue to a 2-bar loop and change a few notes. Now copy this to make a 4-bar loop, change a few notes and repeat. Especially useful for drums.

A better approach is to map out some rough sections and timings based on what you artistically want to achieve. Select a chord progression that creates tension and resolves in the right places. Then write those melodic variations so that instead of being arbitrary they support, anticipate and generally work with the chord progression.

A better approach still is to do the above but cut out more of the looping, writing fresh melodies and counter-melodies that work through the sections and support the harmony while making some kind of internal sense.

And then the next level is to write multiple interweaving melodies that are satisfying individually, avoid crude parallel motions and create a rich harmony amongst themselves, such that we no longer need rely on lazy "backing" chords to make the harmony clear.

And that's the point at which one is beginning to seriously study composition. This stuff is hard and takes practice. Lots of people drop out earlier on the ladder and that's ok. Sometimes an overall strong piece of music can have very simple/repetitive elements that support e.g. powerful lyrics.

To be clear, I am not saying Baroque counterpoint is the only way to make good music. Ricardo Villalobos can create an extended satisfying piece of music with very short loops, barely any harmonic movement and relying mostly on automation. But he's a) a genius b) using a huge amount of experience to create tension and release in a controlled, satisfying way with those tools. Trying to make good music like this is doing it the hard way compared to writing more notes.

[vercitti]

My analysis is that the music is boring because it lacks content, and this should be addressed by writing more notes.

Too much is happening in short loops, which leads to a sense that it isn't going anywhere. This is a very common problem in electronic music. Try developing your ideas into longer chunks.

A classic trick is to take your 1-bar loop, copy it to two bars, glue to a 2-bar loop and change a few notes. Now copy this to make a 4-bar loop, change a few notes and repeat. Especially useful for drums.

A better approach is to map out some rough sections and timings based on what you artistically want to achieve. Select a chord progression that creates tension and resolves in the right places. Then write those melodic variations so that instead of being arbitrary they support, anticipate and generally work with the chord progression.

A better approach still is to do the above but cut out more of the looping, writing fresh melodies and counter-melodies that work through the sections and support the harmony while making some kind of internal sense.

And then the next level is to write multiple interweaving melodies that are satisfying individually, avoid crude parallel motions and create a rich harmony amongst themselves, such that we no longer need rely on lazy "backing" chords to make the harmony clear.

And that's the point at which one is beginning to seriously study composition. This stuff is hard and takes practice. Lots of people drop out earlier on the ladder and that's ok. Sometimes an overall strong piece of music can have very simple/repetitive elements that support e.g. powerful lyrics.

To be clear, I am not saying Baroque counterpoint is the only way to make good music. Ricardo Villalobos can create an extended satisfying piece of music with very short loops, barely any harmonic movement and relying mostly on automation. But he's a) a genius b) using a huge amount of experience to create tension and release in a controlled, satisfying way with those tools. Trying to make good music like this is doing it the hard way compared to writing more notes.

best thing I've ever read since starting producing music (1 year ago)
thank you for this because I can feel how complicated the music making
a lot of music I hear I found it very simple structure,sound design and melodies but it's powerful and interesting , but When you said writing more notes and add more element , the track became bad because I don't know yet the way to make many elements work together
I always stuck to the power of 3 theory , things work fine maybe 4 or 5 elements but more than that I can't handle and it will go out of control
thank you for this information ,I like the classic way you mentioned , gonna try this today I really like it .

[remiblaze]

I think sometimes we think our tracks are not as good as they are. I read somewhere that highly successful professionals think for whatever reason they are not that successful. It's that drive for perfection but chasing perfection is everlasting and will leave you unhappy more times than not. Taking breaks helps to clear your ears/head, asking for peer feedback (like in the music cafe with a private Soundcloud link) or just pushing through and releasing it to see what the world thinks. Some of the songs I produced that have done the best aren't ones that I thought were my best or favourite. The reality is you never really know how people will take to your music until you put it out there. I think we can become our own biggest critics. I do all I mentioned, ask for peer feedback, take breaks, shelf a track for a bit and come back later, try to be balanced in my criticism, etc.

I've also found the 80/20 rule to apply, where I can easily spend 80% of my time fine tuning the last 20% or sometimes even the last 2% especially if I'm extremely critical. 20% of the time will generally get you 80% of the way and if your unhappy with the idea/theme, etc. you can always shelf it, tweak it, change it, explore new ideas, etc. Ableton session view is great for just exploring ideas.

Just my 2 cents. Keep on making magic.