Im totally locked in my music making process help me

[hansba]

Hello!

Im totally locked in my music making process help me. I have found out how formal and generic structure electronic genre has. Also find out how many songs based on sample cds. That makes me wonder if there is some electronic music genre which have more freedom to work without thinking bars all the time and sounds too much and which are more experimental and not that generic structured?

[faun2500]

Invent a new one.

[ZenPunkHippy]

Now that you know "the rules" it's time to break 'em

Peace,
Andy.

[Sampleconstruct]

Erase the HD partition in your musical brain, reformat and start from scratch. Don't listen to all these silly genres anymore and just try to compose what's inside you. Not every piece of music needs a "groove" or a repeating phrase, or even a noticeable rhythm. Forget about supersaws and leads and basses and plucks and "drums", invent your own sounds, do some field recording, listen to some purely acoustic music, also classical, not even pop, if you're brave enough listen to some atonal stuff too.

[Sendy]

Stop and listen to what the music wants. YOUR music.

[ariston]

If you've got access to back issues of Computer Music, check out rachMiel's column for some great inspiration on leaving the beaten path. He's got a good blog, as well http://rachmiel.org/blog/.

Trying to find the music within yourself is an ideal. Speaking realistically, it's a complex and often life-long endeavour. Meditation helps; the idea being to drop all of your preconceptions and just let it flow, trusting the music to take you where IT wants to, not the other way around.

Easy as pie, hard as hell.

[ghettosynth]

Erase the HD partition in your musical brain, reformat and start from scratch. Don't listen to all these silly genres anymore and just try to compose what's inside you. Not every piece of music needs a "groove" or a repeating phrase, or even a noticeable rhythm. Forget about supersaws and leads and basses and plucks and "drums", invent your own sounds, do some field recording, listen to some purely acoustic music, also classical, not even pop, if you're brave enough listen to some atonal stuff too.

Sure, that's all great, but what you'll probably end up creating if you follow that, without knowing why, is just more music that nobody wants. There's nothing wrong with that, I know from experience how easy it is to create music that nobody wants. The challenge is in breaking the rules and creating music that others find compelling.

So, the question is, what's your goal? There's a reason that dance music is structured the way that it is and if you're asking the question that the OP is asking you probably don't have enough exposure to it to know when or why one should break the rules. There is plenty of electronic music that doesn't follow "the rules", a lot of it even shows up on EPs that are mostly tracks that follow the rules.

It doesn't make you interesting if all you do is break the rules, it just makes you different, in that you're not following the rules, and, the same, in that there are already plenty of people making music that nobody listens to.

What's your theory? Why is a particular "field recording" interesting? Why will this evoke some response in the listener? What response do you imagine that it invokes? EDM makes people dance and there's a lot of solid theory about why it works in the context that it works. Some of the "rules" exist largely to support how it's played, but granted, others are just artifacts of genre. You should know the difference. You should also be aware, however, that many artists do know the difference and there is a lot of music that does break the right rules and still can exist within the framework of what makes people dance.

So, what's your goal for making music? Do you actually enjoy MAKING music? Or, do you view it as a means to an end that you're willing to endure in order to get to the end. If the latter, then you must have some idea about what the "end" is, is it to sell records? If so, to whom?

I'll tell you that I enjoy the process of making totally worthless music. So, I don't care that the music is totally worthless, because, I like making it. If I didn't like making it, I wouldn't do it. Sometimes the process of making it is largely unproductive in getting to a finished goal, e.g., producing a record. I regularly jam with friends on ninjam doing noise/experimental/ambient. There are truly no rules. We completely ignore the tempo and just add to the soundscape based on what's already there. Sometimes it's shit, sometimes it's alright, it's almost never worth listening to a second time, it's just noise for now. The process itself is relaxing and that is my goal, to enjoy the process. Sometimes the exchange of musical ideas seems very real in the moment, and I try to get there. Sometimes it feels like everyone is talking at each other and nobody is listening. For this process is all about the present, still, I love that someone is making an effort to archive that shit for posterity. The internet will become Borges Library of Babel, completely full to the brim with every possible utterance in every available media.

So, think about why you create music, and let that inform the validity of your need to break the rules. Then be prepared to accept the consequences of forging your own path.

[Tricky-Loops]

That makes me wonder if there is some electronic music genre which have more freedom to work without thinking bars all the time and sounds too much and which are more experimental and not that generic structured?

Listen to the tunes in the KVR Music Cafe and you'll find tons of (more or less) musical experiments!

You're free to make the music you want to hear as long as you don't want to get rich & famous...

Most of the I-want-to-sound-like-Avicii copycats won't get rich, either...

[Zombie Queen]

You're free to make the music you want to hear as long as you don't want to get rich & famous...

Why? I don't see the relevance.

[Tricky-Loops]

Sure, that's all great, but what you'll probably end up creating if you follow that, without knowing why, is just more music that nobody wants. There's nothing wrong with that, I know from experience how easy it is to create music that nobody wants. The challenge is in breaking the rules and creating music that others find compelling.

...

I'll tell you that I enjoy the process of making totally worthless music. So, I don't care that the music is totally worthless, because, I like making it. If I didn't like making it, I wouldn't do it.

Should people make worthless music that other people want to listen to?

[ghettosynth]

Sure, that's all great, but what you'll probably end up creating if you follow that, without knowing why, is just more music that nobody wants. There's nothing wrong with that, I know from experience how easy it is to create music that nobody wants. The challenge is in breaking the rules and creating music that others find compelling.

...

I'll tell you that I enjoy the process of making totally worthless music. So, I don't care that the music is totally worthless, because, I like making it. If I didn't like making it, I wouldn't do it.

Should people make worthless music that other people want to listen to?

I think that if even the original authors listen to their own music after creating it then it's no longer "worthless" as a "product." It still has low value mind you, just not zero.

I have some stuff that I still enjoy listening to and maybe it gets played by someone else once every five years or so, or maybe not. I wouldn't say that it's worthless, but it's far from compelling.

But nobody listens to our jam sessions, not even us. It's like endless blues jams, they were never meant to be a product, they're just an experience.

[hansba]

That makes me wonder if there is some electronic music genre which have more freedom to work without thinking bars all the time and sounds too much and which are more experimental and not that generic structured?

Listen to the tunes in the KVR Music Cafe and you'll find tons of (more or less) musical experiments!

You're free to make the music you want to hear as long as you don't want to get rich & famous...

Most of the I-want-to-sound-like-Avicii copycats won't get rich, either...

Yup don't want to make music like Avicii do. I think it would be nice if people could dance it anyways. I want be more like Wolfgang Gartner but being rich isnt important. So I want to create music people like but not bcuz song is famous one but bcuz they get something to listen it. At the same time I like to get also something for me. But dont wanna stress but relieve stress when make music. First I thought I could make Progressive house then complextro/electro house, DnB, Trance, Tech House, Minimal but nothing gave me answer and now I think Im end of journey. Totally locked.

[hansba]

three years ago I edited videos alot without caring about rules and it was fun also got thumbs in youtube so people liked them also. But now I have lost my faith to believe I could make good music someday. Maybe this is a phase of my life but im still disappointed about myself. Maybe I should experiment with synths and make music without caring anything. It maybe gives me musical joy without any public success. Thanks guys for your answers.

Could you give me good examples about breaking rules inside electronic/dance music genre, please. I have listened many kind of music throughout my life but nowadays Im listening only dance music. Quite often it's frustrated to listen dance genre music analytically and find out the similarity of many songs. And Beatport's top list is the last one I would recommend cuz found it very restrictive. Don't know which place is the best one to listen dance oriented music. Youtube is too huge.

[ghettosynth]

That makes me wonder if there is some electronic music genre which have more freedom to work without thinking bars all the time and sounds too much and which are more experimental and not that generic structured?

Listen to the tunes in the KVR Music Cafe and you'll find tons of (more or less) musical experiments!

You're free to make the music you want to hear as long as you don't want to get rich & famous...

Most of the I-want-to-sound-like-Avicii copycats won't get rich, either...

Yup don't want to make music like Avicii do.

ok, 1) You aren't interested in pop-dance.

I think it would be nice if people could dance it anyways.

and 2) You do want to create dance music.

I want be more like Wolfgang Gartner but being rich isnt important.

Ok, 3) scratch (1), you are interested in what is popular

So I want to create music people like but not bcuz song is famous one but bcuz they get something to listen it.

and 4) You actually want people to listen to your music.

At the same time I like to get also something for me.

and 5) You want to earn some money, i.e., you ARE interested in selling records.

But dont wanna stress but relieve stress when make music.

and 6) You want it to be relatively unlike work.

First I thought I could make Progressive house then complextro/electro house, DnB, Trance, Tech House, Minimal but nothing gave me answer and now I think Im end of journey. Totally locked.

And 7) you've tried to make music, but couldn't?

You see, here, you have to define what you mean exactly by "nothing gave me the answer", do you mean that you failed to create those styles, or, do you mean that you didn't like what you created? What exactly do you mean?

The way I see it, (7) is somewhat incompatible with (4,5,6) until you get good at what you do. Making music that sells is work. Further, your goals seem completely incompatible with breaking the rules. You have described cookie cutter genres that sell because they are formulaic.

So, I think that your next step is to describe what was the "answer" that you didn't find when you created these cookie cutter genres?

[Tricky-Loops]

I think you're locking yourself into genres. To get new inspirations, you could listen to some music of other people here, play on your instrument (whatever you can play), listen to some vocals or samples or listen to some strange, inspiring synthesizer presets.

For example, I love the music of Karunesh. But I cannot pigeonhole him into any genre. It's not meditation music, it's not ambiente, it's not chill-out, it's dancable but it's not dance-music. It isn't even "world" music...

His music is a mixture of everything (except hard rock).

Or think of "Enigma" by Mihai "Michael" Cretu. Absolutely unique! I don't think that he's worrying whether he should make a tarnce, miximal, depressive house, trap pop or dark dance song...