I guess this is a reply to my post about being stuck. It's very informative, and I welcome the tips. However, it pretty much completely sidetracks what I was getting at with my post. I have listened and broken down tons of tracks, and I now understand how things are put together. That's not really what I was having problems with.
I see not very many people actually listened to the track I posted. I have a melody which is an obvious sample I grabbed from somewhere. I really like the sample and the way it sits with a drumnbass break. I put it through a phaser and it made me happy. I laid some nice drums over it, half snabbed out of a break, and half my own creation. I think it sounds great. The problem is that I've tried laying a bassline under it, but it just sounds horrible. So I just beefed up the bassdrums and I'm happy with that. So I've got my main theme, some nice percussion, but I'm just having trouble with the variation. I think it sounds really good, but if the whole track sounds like this it's gonna get boring. Should I fill it out with samples here and there? I find if I stop the main riff, the whole song sounds like it just dissapears. Must be because it's a pretty complex sample. It has a melody laid on top of a stringy landscape. I wish I could stop the melody for a few bars and just keep the strings and the drums, but it's one sample so I can't seperate it. If you guys could please just listen to it and tell me what you think! http://members.shaw.ca/vinister/Vinister-MonteCarloRMX.mp3 Thanks -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Monday, December 09, 2002 11:02 AM To: Drum & Bass Arena Discussion List Subject: [dnb-prod] Why You Get Stuck :) A writing teacher once said- theres no such thing as writers block-if you KNOW YOUR CRAFT it will carry you through" It seems a lot of beginners have trouble finishing tracks- they get a break and bassline down and then get stuck. If this is happening to you, you have to face and own up to the fact that, despite being a drum n bass "fan", you really dont know what goes into a drum n bass track. Sure, you know the obvious bits, like the breakdown, the bassline , etc. but the ability to put together a whole track eludes you because you don't know the subtleties and intricacies. You have to admit that harsh reality, go back to your record collection, and LISTEN. Dont go back to your mixtape collection, because DJs usually mix in and out during the intro and outros and you wont learn how to do those. When you listen, think in big chunks- every 16 or so bars ask yourself- what's changing now? ("Oh, i see, hi hats came in." "Oh, I see, hes filtering/playing with the bassline. "Oh, I see, he took out the percussion"). To help you out, here is basic dnb structure (the really big chunks, each one 32-64 bars or so): 1. Part One: Introduction- the themes here dont NEED to appear anywhere else!! 2. Part Two: your main theme (usually starting with a breakdown) 3. Part Three: your main theme "pumps up" with percussion or what have you 4. Part Four: Two and Three REPEAT!!! WIth subtle variation of course, shorter too. 5. Part Five: Track deconstructs, sometimes a repeat/variation of introduction So in essense, your gonna need THREE main ideas- Your Intro (which you have alot of free reign with), your main theme, and then what happens to your main theme to "amp it up", whether that be added percussion, another theme, or doing something wicked with the sample. DO NOT ADD AN AMEN!!!! You can make an entire amen based track of course, but adding an amen to pump up a non-amen track is the ultimate sign of newbie cheesiness. You dont even need to listen to that many tracks . Take one or two good records , listen, break it down, and listen again and again, until you understand without question or ambiguity whats happening at each stage of the track. If you understand fully the construction of a single track thatll carry you over into making your own. One thing youll find is that THINGS LOOP MUCH LESS THAN YOU THINK!! Your sequencing need not be rigidly mechanical and mathematical- sometimes things come in after 8 bars, sometimes 16. Often in the intro, the second time an atmospheric pad or FX sound loops around, something else drops in (so that sound, in effect, is never heard looping by itself). This and many other subtleties of sequencing will open up to you once you get complete pro tracks (from vinyl or internet), and listen, listen, listen. :) --- Drum&Bass Arena Producers Discussion List http://www.breakbeat.co.uk You are currently subscribed to dnb-prod as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- Drum&Bass Arena Producers Discussion List http://www.breakbeat.co.uk You are currently subscribed to dnb-prod as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
