why WOULD you act randomly?
I don't CHOOSE a genre, genre is how music is categorized after the fact for listeners looking for something. if you DO choose a genre that CAN mean you start off stereotyping, or writing with a formula.
how do you decide what to do in an arrangement? are you saying you haven't mapped out the song or built the foundation by the time you are in a computer program or tracking or mixing?
i would recommend instead sitting down at piano or guitar write a song foundation , when you have the basic structure set, keys, progressions, song sections, important melodies and harmonies and then wrote it down
then try taking that (your foundation) and going into fruity loops or whatever you normally use . you will solve the confusion and problems you are having fine sir. (your detail is added to the simple structure when writing a song, just like building a house or computer just like anything human beings do actually)

here is something for inspiration
https://www.youtube.com/user/pegzch/search?query=film

 

Last edited: Jun 3, 2017

I am enjoying the arrangements of this artist. A study in dynamic arrangement. Listen to the whole cd (linked here). I like his approach to dynamics. I saw him onstage and have been a fan of his work ever since.

 

Let's compare this track:

with any of these:

1- https://clyp.it/zumtzb1k
2- https://clyp.it/lgmyrib3
3- https://clyp.it/aitd3kec
4- https://clyp.it/zsdxqxnw
5- https://clyp.it/fzhducst
6- https://clyp.it/bpp4hp5p
7- https://clyp.it/bt5bx5gq
8- https://clyp.it/kopen35q
9- https://clyp.it/30o01qx2
10- https://clyp.it/pruek2z2

The first one has a powerful story inside itself and be sure been done by a classically-trained musician. The others do not have any explicit structure and the listener really doesn't know what is the true message of the music or the producer. Everyone can construe it whatever he/she likes. It's due to the fact that they have not been produced with determined aims from the start point and every sound that the producer likes has been embedded in the track. You can use those music as soundtracks, background music, on the documentaries, etc. because they're message-free.

1- Do you like your music have definitive messages or to be set free of any message?

2- Should the message be conveyed just by the melody, voice or picture?

3- Do you try to put any message in your music?

4- Do you believe that the music have to have functions in the society for the humans dictated by musician?

 

foster911

do you want to make music just for yourself?
or do you want to make music for 5 people on earth?
or do want to make music for a fairly small group?
or do you want to make music for fairly large percentage of population?
or do you want to make music for 100 percent of human beings enjoyment?



depending on your answer to this question

the answers would be different for all these questions you asked

what is the purpose behind yourself making music at all foster911?

 

Last edited: Jun 3, 2017

here is some insight into music theory and arrangement for popular music in modern times

version with song titles haha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkYlnKlDrTg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2ByHspr9sQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8T8ou1pD9Q

 

Last edited: Jun 3, 2017

No you can't because they're distracting as hell not to mention some of the sounds are so resonant that will make the listener tear it's ear off.

Many say (and I and pretty much all thepeople I know in the biz agree) that making a song is like making love with a woman: warmup, energy buildup, climax & cool down - or many other variations around this theme (plot twists). Given the sounds you posted above, please change your pornhub search preferences, you'll thank me later.

 

Arrangement is crucial in music production, its the main reason why it takes so much time to develop your own style.

 

'Programmed and groove focussed' .... and you are able to say that in one breath, that's an accomplishement on it's own. The next sentence clears it all; it's pre-defined. It has a template you can not step away from. It's very conservative...... no human feel, pre-defined and conservative, no dynamics and no accoustic instruments, no people playing a part in these productions, mostly prefab shit that's been compressed to hell and back. If you make this kinda sum up on something else, everyone listening in would come to the conclusion that whatever it's about, it must be artificial, dead and of no good to mankind. It takes quite a few people a pretty long time to come to the same conclusion now that it's about music production.

 

Smash mouth? These guys were like the dark plague in the late 90s.

 

Nobody's better than me! And mine is the longest! And thickest! So don't praise any other!

For those that are doubting, here's what Chuck Norris wrote to me last year:
"Dude, there's so much I can learn from you. If only I met you before 'Walker, Texas Ranger', my life could be so much better now. And thanks for the Karate training!"

 

The software on non use of software has nothing to do with the speed. I can arrange faster on my acoustic with pen and paper than I do in my DAW. It's knowing what you are trying to go for and how well do you know your theory (or natural ablility), instruments, and software. Its you, not the tools....

And how you translate whats in your head into what you hear. Most of my songs start like this, scribbled in my chicken scratch on a random piece of paper. Funny thing is, Im usually not sitting and trying to write a song. It just starts playing in my head when Im doing something else completely different, like eating dinner or mowing the lawn etc. But Ill stop and grab the gtr and just go.
I'll already have a basic arrangement before I even fire up my DAW. But it will change and evolve as the song gets done. The end product sometimes (usually) is completely different than where I started, because the inspiration led me in another direction.

 

Last edited: Jun 4, 2017

Don't forget about these!

 

I get that. I find when something is forced it always sounds it. When the tunes in your head are playing so loud from nowhere, it's your conscious getting you the heads up. Doesn't mean application and hard work won't win, but for that spark of imagination, unless you luck in, for me, sitting down at a desk and saying "go" isn't ever the right work flow.
And I stick with a golden rule, that what ever wants to come out should be be set free, regardless of whether it's your genre or a familiar, comfortable sound.

 

great album up there with their album Close to the Edge. Read through the way they modulate motifs, change keys and build the intensity and alter songs suddenly as if a new dimension has been entered. That gong that introduces the final part of the song is just one example of this technique.

 

as far as hardware, software and any DAW are concerned, you just need to have a workflow in which these tools can provide you a quick handling of all the idea's going on in your mind. That's how I've set things up, using quick access recording templates (build your own or use one of the ones around, like Steven Slate's Batch Commander) that have a primary set-up that gets you going. The main thing is getting these idea's down, it's not about the DAW nor the software, it's about getting the idea's you hear down on your HD or tape recorder.

 

Last edited: Jun 4, 2017

https://play.riffstation.com/

this site you can see how any song was written , once you reverse engineer say 100 songs you aware of it really opens up your mind to the process of how music is written
foster911 i don't mean this condescendingly, it is really true.

 

My buddy, I'm anti-pop, rock, ..., anti-any real instrument, anti-voice, anti-everything that you like and praise. Also by arrangement I don't mean song-writing, chord and melody-development, etc. I mean putting elements next to each other for making a 4 minute special electronic track from an engineering view. You may have this question in mind, "what are the elements"?

 

@foster911
I think you should go into tundra for a few months, make some friends with bears and siberian tigers, so you could get some fresh perspective on music.

 

i'm not saying that you have to use pop or vocals or instruments, im saying that the musical aspect can advance you. what is happening musically , assign any sound you wish change it up however you want, it is just to get the ball rolling for you my friend.
for example here is far away from pop as you can get these days but take in the amazing music of this my friend.

just because you have something in mind for sounds and beats, does not mean there is nothing to be gained form other music. in fact i would speculate this is where all your confusion is coming from ( not having other perspectives draw on)it seems you having trouble with the music as a language(music is literally a language) part and that is the most important aspect of creating music.

you have the sounds and beats (aesthetics) down for what you want.
but you have to have a musical foundation to apply those to. this is the area you struggling with many have offered fine advise how to obtain that i have offered as well good luck with it fine sir.

 

Last edited: Jun 4, 2017

foster911 i will offer up a last bit , i hope you will draw on it to help yourself

we will start with 8 notes that form the C major Bebop scale

C D E F G G# A B

We form our chords by selecting every other note , i have chosen 8 note scale because that gives you only 2 chords a consonant or home and dissonant or away from home ( music breathes)
when using this note collection every time you play any note is it representative of 1 of only 2 chords .
C E G A = AMinor7 = C major6
D F G# B = D diminished 7 = F DIMINISHED 7 = G# DIMINISHED 7 = B DIMINISHED 7
E G A C = INVERSION AMIN7 = CMAJ6
F G# B D = INVERSION D DIMINISHED 7 = F DIMINISHED 7 = G# DIMINISHED 7 = B DIMINISHED 7
G A C E = INVERSION AMIN7 = CMAJ6
G# B D F = INVERSION G# DIMINISHED 7 = B DIMINISHED 7= D DIMINISHED 7 = F DIMINISHED 7
A C E G = INVERSION AMIN7 = CMAJ6
B D F G# = INVERSION B DIMINISHED 7= D DIMINISHED 7 = F DIMINISHED 7 =G# DIMINISHED

you see this note collection means any time you play any one of the 8 notes it represents 1 these 2 chords ( the diminished chord is 4 different chords at all times and the amin7 is also cmag6 at all times.

that is for section A next for section B we will use the G dominant Bebop scale same concept 8 notes that work same way

G A B C D E F F#

In the same way any of these notes represent one of two possible chords for this section

G B D F = G7 G dominant 7 chord
A C E F# = F# MIN7 FLAT 5
B D F G = G7 G dominant 7 chord
C E F# A = F# MIN7 FLAT 5
D F G B = G7 G dominant 7 chord
E F# A C = F# MIN7 FLAT 5
F G B D = G7 G dominant 7 chord
F# A C E = F# MIN7 FLAT 5

this means you start a song that has 2 sections (for demonstration)
next each section has 2 chords represented by 8 notes you can do anything you want with
now you have a foundation to build upon
you can play notes back to back ( in a row)
or you can stack the notes building the chords with single or multiple instruments.

you can take any 4note chord remove one note from the end to break nto 2 chords example GBDF = G dom7 remove G now you have BDF= Bmin7-5 or take away the F = GBD= Gmajor
ex. 2 ACEG = A MIN7 Take away the G = ACE = a minor or take away the A CEG = C major
next you take a 3 note chord slide the middle note to the right by one note and you have SUS4
example. ACE=A minor but move middle note 1 note up = ADE= Asus4 ADEG A7Sus4
ex. 2 GBD= G major GCD= Gsus4 GCDF = G7sus4
next you take a 3 note chord slide the middle note to 1 note back and you have SUS2 chord
ex GBD= Gmajor move middle note down by 1 note = GAD= G sus2 GADF= G7sus2
next we will compare sus 2 to sus 4 chords
start with ACE= a minor ADE= Asus4 , now lets take DFA= D minor DEA= D sus2 but look ADE=asus4 = DEA dsus2

 

Last edited: Jun 4, 2017