Not long ago I switched from attempting to make edm to something different, but I'm struggling with ideas/progressions and have no idea what to do next, where to take it. I can usually come up with 4 to 8 bar progressions but they sound so bland. Like the example below, what would you add to make it more interesting, how would you change it? Cheers. (P.s go easy on me, I'm a newb lol)

Just to add, I put these together just as examples to ask for advice. The below examples are not mixed and will probably sound like shit but I'm not asking for mixing advice lol. Thanks

Example 1

https://cloudup.com/cMI21KqXjp1

 

Last edited: Mar 14, 2017

There are a ton of different things you could do. Before getting into music theory, you could try syncopation. Instead of playing a chord on every beat, occassionally put one in an unexpected place. Alter the rhythm. And add some passing notes here and there.

You should expand your vocabulary to go beyond common triads. Try 6ths, 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, suspensions, adds, secondaries, augmented, diminished, quartal...There are a whole bunch of interesting combinations of notes that sound good together. And don't forget their many inversions and drop voicings as well. I definitely think you need to expand your vocabulary.

When you listen to music, pay attention to any chord progressions that catch your ear. Figure out the progression in relative notation (i.e. I V vi IV) so that you can play them in any key. Hooktheory and Hookpad are great resources for learning more about that kind of stuff.

And if you're feeling exceptionallly daring, start studying Jazz. Those mofos can make almost anything sound good. It's really eye opening how they can at times completely break the rules and make new ones. They pull of stuff that shouldn't work, but somehow sound amazing.

 

Last edited: Mar 14, 2017

One trick is to write that 4-8 bar section (to the point where you feel it's pretty ok), and then leave it alone. Move on and write another 4-8 bar section, preferably pretty different from the first one. Till that's feeling pretty ok.

Now here's the trick, come back to the original section, and don't touch anything about it, just listen to it all the way through. As it reaches the end, feel in your gut what "it wants to do next". It's easy because you can imagine shit instantaneously, it doesn't take hours of tweaking. Just imagine that feeling about where it's going next and what sounds would probably be there, doing what.

Now you need balls of steel and some focus, because your task is to sketch that shit in (right after your original section) AS FAST AS HUMANELY POSSIBLE, using the fewest tools and clicks. Doesn't matter if it isn't right or up to your standard, it's a scaffold you're blocking in. Has to be fast, that feeling/idea will evaporate in mere minutes. It's a rush to get it down, and can be exhausting, so don't expect this part to go smooth or easy. You want to sketch it in, so you know what the hell was supposed to be happening during this section. Then you build it up and embellish it nicely...

Oh yeah, GF's have the habit of phoning you at the exact moment you start to do this and actually getting your damn track together, so mute her & everyone preemptively just in case.

 

Take a song that you really like and bring it into your DAW. Use that as a template. Make changes where the template song makes changes. Do this enough times and you won't run into these kinds of writer's block as often.

 

it's up to you to decide where you get bored, and where you keep your attention going.

i could only hear 1 sound, the others .. disaperared as the page load

the thing is,
- if you don't have a solid cuture in differents genres, it will make difficult for your brain to grasp a progression
- if you're not at least good player of 1 instrument, it may be better to stick - i.e- to (ableton) live and play with clips of various chords and scenes in order to build the progressions you want.
there's tons of chords samples out there in various genres that can help you make something new to you.

i'd say that there is another way to compose, which is for example to take a melody of your own.
if you already have the melody, it's not every kind of scales and chords that will support your melody, it follows a certain path.
same thing for the rythm.

after that, what you can do is to make 1, or 2 ( or 3 ) variation of your melody and make it a structure.
then depending on your structure, and how you've seen things, you pick the instruments (and rythms & chords) and where to place them in your structure.

maybe that's one way to look at it.

the thing also is,
if it's only instrumental, it's free, that's why it's difficult to go somewhere at first if you're not inspired.

another thing again: why not write a song?
if you write a song ( you don't even have to record the lyrics after that ) you will picture better where to put what in terms of part, instruments and orchestration
and you will also figure out better where and when to build tension and release

good luck

 

HA! this!! It really is uncanny isn't it?? n1

 

Appreciate all the replies guys, thanks

 

If it is not EDM and it is going into this more melodic direction what is needed is a melody, the idea that you are trying to get across, that what you wish to communicate. Without it I will liken it to a disembodied, half mumbled thought in a one sided conversation, the sound of it bouncing off of sterile white walls in a tiny low ceilinged white room without any doors or windows. Tear the place down, rebuild, use some color and let the sun shine in. Probably, every song in your head is something that you can whistle to ("just put your lips together and blow") and is highlighted in your mind for this very reason. If you are going down this "not EDM" path, why not experiment with an end towards basing your chord structure around a melody line. It will automatically become more alive, syncopated and be much more interesting to craft than the dead end of trying to decide for some random reason or somebody elses's opinion on this board of what to do with four lifeless chords on a road to nowhere. Be an artist and make some art, actively craft your new songs and be the composer that you wish yourself to be. Anything else is less than an effort. Melody and structure go merrily hand in hand with smiles on their faces, walking happily ever after towards a blossoming sunset. Be there!

 

Just take yer time moosh........what you've already as good a starting point as any.........me, I like playing the geetar, so on a normal day I'll play a few choons, and every now and then I come up with a chord or a phrase I like and if I like it enough I remember it and play it the next day, and if I like it enough it will grow over time...........some don't some do, but the trick is to enjoy the entire process, at least it is for me........at some point it will be a complete progression (or it will have faded from memory) and I'll record it and maybe some others that have made a similar journey, then for the first time I'll listen to them objectively and I might have an idea or two as to where it could go and I'll dick about with that, but again I'll enjoy the process, and if I don't it won't go any further. Sometimes the entire progression will dissappear from the final cut, but it will have been the bones on which the song was built............there is imo too much crap talked about workflow and such, music shouldn't get messed up with a load accountancy talk..............maybe this guy has something to say on the subject.......speak up Franky.

Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid. Frank Zappa

 

At first I thought, "how this guy switches from EDM to anythings else and has issues, as the workflow and the components are the very same?" Then I saw "attempting". OK, so you basically know something.

This will train your brain: Force yourself for the following months to make many songs (as many as to reach one song a day at some point) which must contain: main melody, chords, bassline (this can be counterpoint or straight from the root of the chords), counter melody, bridge melody and chord stabs (sometimes you can get away without this one but without the rest, songs will sound boring - unless you're an experienced producer which clearly you're not). If anything in the aforementioned list is unknown to you, it's even a stronger reason to experiment my advice.
They will all sound crap but you will learn how to make a finished song, you will learn some cool presets on your synths, you will learn you drum hits collection and you will learn how to pick sounds that fit together and to mix better on the fly during the song creation process.

PS: You will be challanged on things like bad sample-selection (not the samples themselves but how they work together) and their sound as a whole will not be cohesive, sound design issues (you will not be able to synthesize that sound in your head), and most likely many other things, don't be discouraged. Every single finished (and possibly crappy song) will add to your experience, will add new habits into your brain and will improve your ears' sensitivity to levels and frequencies for a more balanced mix.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Mar 14, 2017

If you have 4-8 bars you have an entire song.

It really is that simple. You can play with patterns, in chord (arpeggia), in scale, or whittle sharp passages in harmonic minor. The rest is just timing. You can also introduce atonal character into the pads on any part you don't expect a vocal to cover. Bass lines and tempo changes.

As an example.... I share an unfinished item.... there are only 8 bars of pattern (more like 6 - 7 1/2 actually) it it isn't terribly creative either but it is only been kick around my head for 3 weeks and I've put in about 6-8 hours into it which isn't much really.

The best and easiest thing you can do is to play with others or play along with whatever floats your boat, this help you brain form associations and patterns. If you are just going to compose on paper, which is also valid then you need to read a lot, be very mathematically inclined and understand timing and theory to a much higher degree than most of us around here.

Honestly learning to play an instrument and playing it well is the easiest way forward... the next step is to play with others or play along and figure out patterns and phrases.

 

Learn this lol:

jus'kiddin'

 

I know what you mean but this applies if you have the bars in the middle of the song with the highest energy (the main theme, the chorus whatever you want to call it), when a simple copy paste of the bars across 4 minutes and then removing elements in such a way so they will climax with the initial 4 bar loop is the way to go.

On OP example, on the other hand, there is A LOT to add to that loop at the stage it is so no, he's not having the song in there.

 

Make a simple melody. If you hum the Melody you will instantly feel or hear how the Meldody has to continue. Than find the next chord progression that fits to that Melody.
Sometimes you got the chords and you have to find the Melody and on the next part you got the Melody and than you add the chords. Thats how i write songs.
It is hard for me to write a complete piece of music with just chords. Cause the Molody connects them. Dosent matter if you use the melody later.

If you hum they will come (Chords) .

To make it more interesting some Musik theroy would help. As mentioned add something to the chords. On the second run through you could add i.e. 7th or 9 th to a chord.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Mar 14, 2017

Even repeating 8 bars of melody can be a big hit, if the melody is good - like Ievan polkka - recorded by many artists over the years (even vocaloid) and still super popular.