Listen at about 35 secs in on Happy WubDub. The lower harmony and the
arpeggios are pulsing on 16th notes, making them very hard to
differentiate. And it makes a solid wall that competes with the melody
for your attention. You could change things so that not every part is
going full bore all the time. Thin out some rhythms and use dynamics to
emphasize parts in others. I am guessing that if we looked at the source
of those arpeggios, they are all the same volume. Just by varying that,
you could create far more interesting runs.
Michael Render
On 11/10/2013 10:40 AM, Ben Lippincott wrote:
What do you mean by competing rhythms?
On Sun, Nov 10, 2013 at 9:18 AM, Michael Render
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
I don't think your melodies suck. I think you just straightjacket
yourself with your chord structures.
Take for example Mole Day 2 and Quirkiness. They both use a simple
C minor pattern of root, minor third and fourth. Almost an
arpeggio instead of chords. That leaves you almost no wiggle room
to move about. You are stuck in a very claustrophobic box.
Everything has to fit within a C minor chord with a D major
passing, resolving back to C minor.
In Happy WubDub you do use a more complex chord scheme. But you
arpeggiate the chords very tightly. No inversions. This competes
with any melodic phrase and again straightjackets where you can go
with the melody. Your rhythms also compete.
We also need surprise and tension/release. Even the most
repetitive techno/dubstep stuff adds change, whether just bringing
tracks in and out, dramatic filter sweeps or stopping to drone on
a beat or phrase.
My challenge to you would be:
Build richer chord structures with thought to tension/release and
use inversions to give yourself breathing room.
Let parts of you melody/harmony/chords have dramatically different
rhythms.
Don't constantly repeat small patterns. Mix it up and surprise us.
I think you will find that if you give yourself enough room,
better melodies will flow.
Oh, and don't stop. Experience is the absolute best teacher.
Michael Render
Michael Render On 11/9/2013 10:48 PM, Ben Lippincott wrote:
Well, first off, I would like some tips. Here's my soundcloud:
http://www.soundcloud.com/ben-lippincott/
I use FL Studio and Logic Pro X.
I really suck at writing melodies. :P
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Thanks!
Ben Lippincott
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