First I want to atone for the past and try to redeem myself for the earlier blunders. I have some questions if you don't mind because I want to know what I produce:

1- What does the melody mean? How do you define it?

2- Why are the mainstream media usually engrossed in the melodic musics (vocal or instrumental) for their programs and are almost inattentive to the non-melodic genres?

3- Do you like to produce melodic musics or not and why? For example @Rolma is a great producer but if you listen to her musics, you can not find any serious melodic track.
soundcloud.com/rolma/tracks
(Her music are excellent but non-melodic of course by my definition of melody).

4- I don't want to generalize anything but does the personality of melodic and non-melodic producers differ alot? Or is it just a short-lived mood being aroused by environmental powers and also variable?

5- Is the melody of tracks your number one priority for making distinction between good musics and bad ones?

6-When you say a tune is so catchy what do you mean by that? Is catchiness directly and predominantly related to the melody of songs?

7- And finally, please listen to this sloppy and disorganized track that I posted it to another thread but deleted from there to find a better place. I want to know is producing a melodic work a big advantage or not?

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 13, 2017

you have some good questions so i took the time to answer to some

1- What does the melody mean? How do you define it?
I think this is a bit more complex question than it seems. generally a melody is the "most important" part for a song, but sometimes there's not a clear melody in some underground tracks or even genres (some ambients come to mind). So: melody is something that you can sing later, whistle, or that gets stuck in your head. it may be 3 notes, a motif, an 8bar riff, etc. etc. It may even be a bassline to be honest, as long as it can be remembered and it's the main focus on the song (in that case the baseline functions as a melody I guess?): think of that song with the organ bass, wait I forgot its name. Yeah, ROBIN S - SHOW ME LOVE. that's instantly classic (i don't even know if it was sampled but i doubt it)
I don't think it's easy to define melody. I see you listened to some of my tracks I posted: as you saw in the first two tracks there's really not clear melody, how's that work then? etc. etc. It's not that easy and i don't have much time now we could talk about this for days!

2- Why are the mainstream media usually engrossed in the melodic musics (vocal or instrumental) for their programs and are almost inattentive to the non-melodic genres?
well this is easy, most people don't really listen to music like some of us do, they just want to "hear" the music on radio, shows, their mp3s/phones, etc. so you HAVE to have something that grabs your attention because you're not listening fully. you want to have cool words, cool melodies, intervals that grab you and stick with you for two weeks when you forget them soon after. that's why it's called mainstream media it has to appeal to the most people possible. oh and it has to be a short track obviously.

3- Do you like to produce melodic musics or not and why? For example @Rolma is a great producer but if you listen to her musics, you can not find any serious melodic track.
I listened to some of rolma tracks some time ago but I forgot them. I like to produce whatever I like/want to produce or whatever I come up with. I don't think there needs to be a distinction between melodic musics or not, that means nothing

5- Is the melody of tracks your number one priority for making distinction between good musics and bad ones?
the melody is a very important part of a track, but so are many other parts. i can't enjoy a good melody if the bass is shite on a hands up track, or there's not enough power in hard trance, etc. thank god we have remixes and different versions ;).
bad music does not exist.

6-When you say a tune is so catchy what do you mean by that? Is catchiness directly and predominantly related to the melody of songs?
answered above, but it's not only the melody, it's also what's around it. yeah sure, you can pick Super mario bros melody and play it by itself, but it's also the other sounds around it that help. A catchy tune gets stuck in your head, lets you dance, has a good groove, etc. all this stuff can't be achieved by having ONLY a good melody, you need a GOOD song ;)

I'll listen to your stuff when you'll make a proper release foster, sorry! cheers hope this helped in some ways

 

a well writen melody needs a well produced track ...many have different visions on a melody to make a remix, others dont, they just start and go from there ...even a not so great melody can become a very popular track, if you have well placed elements that give a nice general groove ...

it is, it can be absolutely ...but here i must say it goes to taste, and producing a non melodic track to me is a courageus effort and very challenging ...

yes but sometimes i find hard to come up with something that sounds some kind of unique

https://instaud.io/SrW



PS: where is point 4

 

Hi hello foster911,

I' ve just saw you mentioned my productions as an example of non melodic attempts to lay ideas. Thanks. I stubbled upon it by chance, while trying to connect with my muse and get back to music.

Well tell you a bit what is all about when I make music, I buy a ticket for a phantasy world, it's cheap in terms of cash, but tiring in terms of energy and attention applied. For me the trick really works, not as universal recipe to good practice, but as gateway to something I need to feel.

Im not so sure, if there is such a notion of an audience in my mind, since what I really value is the process of gaining awareness of personal emotions and repressions through a musical form - and here comes my programatic part- that always fails standards, and by no means it 's the container of any piece of aesthetic or epistemic truth, as music.

On the other hand, yes, music is the vehicle for powerful inferences, even when this music could be played with a spoon, a glass and a funnel, in the context of a party for deeply troubled souls.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 13, 2017

Mainstream media is a repeater of "what is hot". They don't care how any kind of music becomes "hot", they just play that music because they need public's attention. And they need public's attention for commercials.

As you seem to be a frequent visitor of pronhub, take a pornstar and consider the melody her/his face. Then start studying many pornstars: is the type of the face you like enough for you to have a boner? Maybe they also need ass? Maybe a certain shape of tits/chiseled pecs. Maybe long legs, or muscular? Maybe an all-rounder pornstar is hotter than one that have a couple of strong features but severly lacks the others? And let's not forget race: either we like it or not, different races (even different geo regions) have different cultures - which favor different features.
As long as you understand the culture that music is part of, you can better connect with the music itself. Somehow, if you really follow your signature, I don't think you actually listen the music but rather you're just hearing it.

If is catchy the listener will hum it, or whistle it. I can hardly see anyone whistleing a bassline or a chord. This is to study in your own culture/genre: make a list of a couple of dozens of catchy songs and study them - key, number of notes in the melody, techniques used (certain groove, call/response etc.) song length, time of release and how the "catchy" element changed over time (what was "then" catchy, what is "now" catchy).

A big advantage ove what? Melodic production is the Everest of music making. The rest (minimalistic, ambient) is just our brain filling in the missing information - that is, if we belong to the same culture. But as a producer if you don't master the art of real music making, you risk to dumb down your "non-melodic" productions to the level of pure noise.
It's like in painting - we see an abstract painting consisting of few red line across the white canvas. But that painter can do actual paint work, can imitate any famous painter in the world, knows the styles, knows the history of the paintings. And when he did those red line he knew exactly why. Hew knew that those lines are the skeleton of a more complex work. And his brain is filling the blanks because he positioned those lines so he they can give enough hints to an experienced (read: cultivated) eye. And so act the brains of other critiques and public. And as the public becomes more unfamiliar with painitngs (like me) that public will only see some crappy red lines because we can't connect the dots anymore.

The irony is strong with you because these are all things we learn when we actually produce and finish music. It's the experience that shapes us and I am afraid that your obsession for shortcuts and learning is keeping you on the same spot: you've learned nothing and produced nothing.

And coincidence or not, today I read this quote from Jeff Bezos the CEO of Amazon:
"most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70% of the information you wish you had. If you wait for 90%, in most cases, you're probably being slow. Plus, either way, you need to be good at quickly recognizing and correcting bad decisions. If you're good at course correcting, being wrong may be less costly than you think, whereas being slow is going to be expensive for sure."

 

Melody is the main tune in the song; the riff, the hook, if you want to call it that. This can be a lead , a bassline, even drums can be used. It's the thing that catches the listeners attention, and it can be very simple or more complex, but it needs to be easy to remember.

People hook onto it, which makes it more desirable and easier to push out to the public.

What I produce is dependent on the track itself. But I tend to go for more monophonic type melodies, but that's probably due to my love of monophonic synths too. I tend to find they don't clutter up my soundscape.
Having just listened through some of Rolma's tracks, there is a melodic structure to the bass and percussion, which grounds the tracks for the non melodic parts.

Not sure about this to be honest.

No.

Catchiness is the thing that makes you want to hear the song again. So, ask yourself why do I want to hear it again? That's the answer. But, there is no secret formular, because different people will find different things catchy.

Melody doen't work well without feeling. The more organic you can make it the better. it's not just about the progression of the notes. Find yourself a DAW that doesn't have a piano roll, and try playing things in.

 

Last edited: Apr 14, 2017

Didn't want to post music in my original reply. When I refer to bassline melodies, I'm talking about things like this......

Some more duophonic style melodies, but still very bass driven.

And an example of a percussion driven melody.

 

Last edited: Apr 14, 2017

Most complex field of all questions. It is about a multitude of elements that all fall together.
1. Harmony. Major harmony makes people happy and so it is more likely they tune in.
2. Groove. Can't teach this one. You must feel it. Groove does not mean a certain drum pattern or rythmic progression, but the production of an overall feeling that lets the listener wanting to dance to it or almost bursting from joy. You find the groove in "Smoke on the water" just as well as in "Get up Sex Machine" or "In da Club". Even in some classic pieces.
3. Easy melodies. Very important for listeners to sing along. Above examples also share this.
4. Uplifting. Not really a necessety, but makes it easier to get the people (see 1.)

I'm sure there are more points. Listening to a range of catchy songs will give you way more insight than text.

 

FFS just do it

 

Any given tonal content you can whistle at and that fits proper harmonic context

If people can't whistle or sing something, it's not gonna be mainstream.
Everything beyond that is niche market (including some crappy EDM non-melodic material)

I like to produce/compose whatever comes to mind. If it's a standard, tonal and pulsative content with a simple melody then so be it.

Personnality analysis attempts are crap even when based on research material (ie, MBTI),
I wouldn't even dare to try to analyse someone based on melodic personnal settings.

No.
It would If I'd have to market it though.

Yes. "Catchy" in a musical context, has always been commonly understood as an easily singable/whistlable melodic content (also, heady).

Just listened to your track.
Let's just say your melodic considerations should be the very least of your worries.

 

Poppy&Rocky&Hoppy singable melodic materials are so loose. Using weak sounds. For me melody means this:

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 14, 2017

should take this >



Music, The Brain, And Ecstasy: How Music Captures Our Imagination

if u need answers

 

You're a fine one to saying that, really!

 

The reason I've not used these kinds of sounds in my works is just focusing on the harmonic considerations and the way I can use them in my tracks. Now I can totally harness the harmony and melody. In my mentioned styles, everything is around the singer's voice and sounds are usually the supporters and accompaniments and individually do not have much autonomous personalities. IMO, melody for the human voice is different than the ones for the machine. When your aim is the voice as the melody performer, things are losing their power.

 

Part of creating something catchy is the choice of sound. Here's a track that can work with or without the vocals. Without the the vocals it's almost poppy dance, but it is 15 years old now. Add the vocals and it's definitely isn't.

But then again all you really need is a flat beat. Just ask Eric.

 

Found it by chance:

A specification sheet (20% Rock 30% Hip Hop 50% Pop) from a smart customer to Mr. producer for making his/her own masterpiece.

 

OK, so why don't you just stick to it, if it pleases you? You can't do music that you don't like, just as you can't express a feeling that you don't feel. It is annoying to hear the same over and over again. It starts with a question that tries to give the impression of you willing to learn something, but as soon as people reply it is all about your "understanding" of music. You won't convert any of these people to "befosterers", because there's no substance whatsoever in your "understanding" of music.

Learn or don't, but please stop this clickbaiting.

 

This is a new way of learning. Kidding.

My questions are not just limited to me exclusively. They're common between most of us (OK a small minority of us). Some of them being mooted in the tutorials but the rest that relate to the human's perceptions are forsaken because of not forcing people to produce anything specific. When I surely don't know what I want to make, how could I make it? I can sit behind my DAW and mess around and fumble with various objects and make something and feel proud of it (like most EDM producers) but is it really making music? I have acquired lots of skills during my attempts and more importantly with your help but I need to find out how to route them through a good context.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 15, 2017

Ok foster one last hint from me then I unsuscribe from here so I dont get anymore notifications from the thread:

1- pick ten songs you really like, preferably same genre
2- study and analyze them
3- copy the structure
4- add instruments, change notes, do what you want, but keep structure intact
5- at the end you should have something you're happy with since you picked songs you like and it's your first actual song
6- release and let us hear, for once, a finished SONG

 

My friend, I'm an amateur and really love music. More than music are just you. All of you that spend your valuable time teaching me something. You'll see nothing except gratitude from me. I appreciate alot. Also I removed my stupid signature. It's like an evil witchcraft.