These are the answers. Tap out the tempo in your daw to your favorite song. Import wav file of your fav track into your arrangement window, drag the wav so it snaps to grid when you activate your metronome to tap along with your song and see if it matches up.

Now start dropping time markers at the top of your arrangement in your DAW. After that's done, delete your fav wav and save it as a template so you can open up future projects and pack your track into those already place and pretty time markers that did the work for you previously.

 

Thank you for your story man. It is really inspiring. I will have to force myself to keep making tracks I guess. Even if they suck.

 

Exactly, OP is only holding himself from his own experience without even realizing it. They call where doctors work a practice because they are never pro's no matter how many years they have practiced. They are just better than they were before. That doesn't make them outside of the jurisdiction of difficulties. The keyword here is practice. Which can't be danced around no matter how much you wish for it.

Appetite comes in the middle of eating, but first you have to take a bite.

Party at dude house who I can never tag to save my mofucking life. But he's right you don't have to "waste the tracks you're struggling with anyways" on learning some arrangement skills. It can be this fun instead.

This OP, loops are great placeholders but you have to learn to make your own breaks and write your own drums using individual drum samples inside your drum sampler to really get a feel for the rhythms you're using as place holders for your harmonies, melodies and basslines.

Music is work on top of work on top of work my guy. So chill out and have fun doing it otherwise it's not for you unfortunately. You have to either already love doing the work or develop a love for hard work otherwise you won't get the same satisfaction your hitmarkers give you in your favorite FPS instantly because music only awards you barely if you have patience.

 

Right, and also - Finish what you begin!

Better to have a Finished Round turd, than not having any at all..

Hopefully by your 3rd/4rth/5th Complete track things will start to be more properly Defined and Worth,
but you need all this preliminary experience to put your head together/on place,
and define/refine a working system on technical terms like, how to do the Drums, Bass and other basic elements..

 

I did try and do that but it confused me. I got the MP3 of a song (not a favorite, but it's a hit record) put it in my DAW (FL Studio) and used Alt + T to create the time markers to label the song sections (Intro, Verse 1, Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Verse 2, Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Bridge, Pre-Chorus, Chorus), then deleted the audio and now I have the template, Hoo-ray!

But I don't know if I should also follow how they introduce new instruments in this song. If you get me. I still will need to figure out when to introduce each element on my own. For example some EDM songs start with percussion loops then they bring in a melody, Rock would typically be melody first, then introduce drums and bass etc.

 

That's really what the OP is afraid of, he just doesn't want to make shit because it's shit he's made.

Shit he made in private that no one even has to necessarily know about just like the last actual shit he took in private. So there are no real problems here.

 

Great job, you took a bite!

Don't follow what they did no, just log out for an hour. Then log back in when you winded your favorite track out of your head and just start stacking your own work into those time markers without the previous track present. Now you have a fool proof agreement to an arrangment where only your own work can fail you. Good luck!

None of this is set in stone and every one of the rules you mention are bound to be broken as they already have because I've heard many tracks from both genres that did the complete opposite. The reason EDM has percusion or drums is to beatmatch tracks for DJ's in a set. Otherwise they have songs that don't start that way at all, or they have multiple versions for use in clubs.

In rock there is nothing saying you can't start your song with a bassline, an atmospheric element or drums instead either. DJ's don't usually have to beat match them so there's even less rules in rock.

Rock recycles basically the same 5 instruments and manages to keep it interesting for decades on end.

 

When I said I only make loops I don't mean I just make melodies. I am way past that. I already know how to program drums. I typically sequence them and quantise to difference grooves and velocities.

Songs are just loops of loops right? They are just different loops arranged in a specific way. All I make are those loops. For instance a 4 bar drum loop that sounds good, I'll make it. 4 bar chord progression, 4 bar bass pattern, 4 bar counter melody. Sometimes 8 bars. I will make all the essential components for the song and just have it there in my daw a 4/ 8 bar section. I don't know how to put those elements in the right place to make a full song. I do not understand song structure/ arrangement. Maybe I made myself clearer now.

 

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Yeah but loops are made of individual hits anyways so might as well beat em to the punch right?

Well that's where you have to experiment and practice. You have to put in the work to see what sounds good to you. Music is subjective so we can't answer how your song should go theoretically based on a person we don't know who hasn't even posted examples. We can only answer what you ask for trough your text. What it takes is tons of practice changing things in too many ways for your own good.

 

"Songs are just loops of loops right?"

Well there's other things like Bridges..
Bridges don't loop, but may help you Connect two separate Sections,
and that's also one thing you can do for Modulating..

And this can be done like forever..
Section w/loops -> Bridge -> New Section w/loops (and maybe new Order/Harmony) -> Bridge....

Bridges can be Diatonic, like a simple descending bass/chords line/pattern..
Or can modulate themselves, using a Diminished scale or whatever..

Just an example

 

I'm actually almost picking up on a need for some basic music theory because you seem to be clueless on what to do inside your pattern, not your arrangement.

 

Thanks I guess the answer really is just forced practice.

I know basic music theory, quiz me if you must. But without it, I would not be able to make the chord progressions, drum loops or melodies/ leads I make. If you have anything specific in mind please suggest it and I will do my research. I mean the patterns sound good to me, it's just when I start to clone them and move them around to create the full track, it sounds bad. I don't know what goes where. It sounds boring/ uninteresting and I don't know how to use FX samples to transition, breaks etc.

 

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Modulation is probably too advanced for me right now. I have not even completed a single track. I'll definitely get into that later on for bridges when I am a bit more experienced. But I understand the concept. It's temporarily taking the song/ journey to a new place, somewhere unfamiliar, before bringing you right back. Through one of several means, e.g. relative minor/ majors, circle of fifths etc.

 

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I only thought that because you said if you should follow what your favorite track does or do your own thing. Arrangements aren't rocket science after you actually finished one. Just push through your track and you will see.

It's just copying and pasting certain parts in a certain order then blending them in with atmospheres/impulses, transitions, risers and bridges. You just have to bring it to finish and you will have your eyes opened on your own without anyone elses input.

 

Modulation is done inside your pattern or mixer slot while you are still building up patterns to place into your arrangement. It's often times the bioluminescent life in your track shining down to compliment your song. Without movement it's still. Even some chorus could go a long ways used minimally.

Maybe look at the bulk of your mixing as also your arrangement if that helps.

Arrangement = Mix.
They are one like your last marriage that's actually split but has relations a little bit.

 

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You wouldn't say "it's just running" to a toddler still learning to walk. I'm fairly new to music. I don't get the contexts of where I should use those FX though (risers, hits, etc.) and where to introduce the different parts.

I made the template, OK perfect. Now I don't need to worry about lengths for different sections of my songs. But how do I know when I should introduce a counter melody? Layer a lead?

Anyone got any good tutorials on structure and using FX samples?

 

In fact, I made this thread so someone could arrange my patterns into a full song/ proper arrangement. That way I could learn from the way an expert would approach it.

 

That's fair. I've no problem with someone new to music as I once was.

Depending on which genre you make will depend on which of these elements you will use to introduce your chorus from your intro and from the chorus to your verse and from the verse to your bridge before going back to your chorus. For example. These elements only serve to introduce whole new parts or chapters of the song.

This is up to you but after you play the original melody play a counter next time it rolls around to keep it interesting. Or keep it the same, you have no idea how many tracks are simply arranged nowadays. Leads or melodies are for the most part but not limited to a part of choruses where are verses focus more on lyrics and overall strong theme with the most hard hitting information before the catchy chorus again.

Melodies happen in verses too just ducked and mixed in ways that don't interfere with the main part as much as the chorus. Again these aren't set in stone across all genres.

 

Hard work son, on your own terms is how we all made the slightest of progress but are constantly out for more because the practice is never ending no matter how many grammies you fart out while trends are changing faster than panties. It doesn't ever make the practice enough.

Not only do we have to learn things outside of what we ever imagined we ever had to, we have to be these IT bastards that figure out their own errors for weeks on end because we didn't sign up for these tarded issues we are having.

My forehead is sloped. I monkee the bar of soap straight to my armpit just like anyone else. I learn while the appetite has been followed by the first bite just like you.

 

I also don't know how to differ a melody for a verse. The loops/ patterns I make are melodies for the chorus/ hook. If I knew maybe I'd find song structure/ arrangement easier.

Here's to hoping someone on this forum can actually help me

 

Last edited by a moderator: Aug 4, 2021