If I want to write something sad, I'll just write it in D minor, the saddest of all keys.

Jokes aside, there's one distinction that I think is useful to make: do you really want your music to channel your emotions (as a sort of therapy), or do you just want to evoke a certain emotion in the listener?

Regarding the former, my opinion is that while your emotions can definitely feed your creativity, it is not necessary to feel that sort of a deep emotional connection to your music. Or at least the emotion doesn't need to be there first, you can involve it during the writing process (this tune makes me happy -> I'm happy, and things are going pretty well right now).

For the latter, as has been already repeated in this thread, knowing theory does help in writing music that you know will probably affect a listener in a certain way. When you write music by trial and error, you ARE involving your emotions in the process, by choosing what sounds good to you (evokes a certain emotion). It's just that you can't always be certain that the listener will experience the same emotions, so it helps to have those guidelines.

There is also some interesting research being done on how music evokes emotions (why the theory works, kind of), check out for example http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Anticipation-Psychology-Expectation-Bradford/dp/0262582783.

When writing a chord progression for a pad and bass, for me it does help to think in terms of three/four voices. I think a key take-home message would be to keep the line "tight": i.e. prefer to use small interval jumps in the individual voices if possible, and don't let the voices stray too far from the original location (for example, you usually don't want all the voices to end up an octave higher in the end of the tune, compared to the beginning).

I wouldn't stress about parallel fifths too much, though, there's a reason fifths are called powerchords  On the other hand, I do try to avoid parallel octaves, unless it's bass or melody, because those will sound stronger and might distract the listener from the main melody.

So next time you start a project, try to begin by opening a piano roll for a pad/piano/similar instrument, and laying the chords there keeping in mind the rules you've learned. When you're done with it, copy or move the bass line to its own track, and go from there.

Couple of comments:

Vocals in intro are cool, just make them louder in the mixdown.

I didn't really find the pitched-down male vocals convincing. The pitch correction (?) in combination with the quiet voice makes it sound like an insecure singer. It is also hard to hear the lyrics, which may be a problem with articulation or just due to the processing.

For the transition, just a random idea off the top of my head: fade in a sustained chord with the strings?

Just bumping the updated version (in original post). I'm starting to be happy with the amount of stuff in the track, so next I guess I'll just try to see what I can do about the drums and then finish the mix.

Really like the overall atmosphere, and the transition at 1:17 is great. I also really like the melodic idea and its development. However, the second melody starting at 2:53 sounds a bit too "drunken" for my taste, some notes lag too much behind because of the glissando.

The only other thing that struck my ear as "off" on the first listen was the kick/knock percussion in the intro. The two hits in fast succession sounded a bit sloppy to me, maybe because of the machine-gun effect. I would maybe try lowpassing the first hit of each of those or just tuning down the volume, but that's just a random idea. Maybe it's good as it is.

Hi! It would be nice to hear some feedback/ideas on this house track I've been working on. I'm reasonably happy with the composition and most of the sounds, but since I'm a complete noob in EDM, I don't feel very confident about the track. Especially the second drop at around 2:00 doesn't sound quite as badass as I would like.

I haven't really started properly mixing this, but mixdown tips are of course very much appreciated.


And... shit. As I'm writing this I realize that the lead in the end sounds like Ralph Wiggum from the Simpsons. Wat do? :-X

EDIT: Updated version here. I think it's definitely an improvement thanks to you guys.

I added some reverb to the arpeggio pluck and to Ralph. I had trouble fitting reverb anywhere else, so instead I embellished the funky parts with some reverse reverbs. And cowbell; I feel like I'll probably ruin the track if I go for anything more complex. As for the drums, I couldn't find a better snare sample (I suck at drums) so I left them unchanged for now.

I'm not even trying to flame or anything, but could you give some example of a track in a similar style that is less "boring"? I usually listen to more energetic stuff so it would be nice to have some frame of reference and learn more about this genre.

I like the sounds, and the melody is kinda nice. In the drop at 1:30, I was thinking that maybe it would be more interesting without so much delay in the "buzz" bass? How would it sound if you muted the delay at points for rhythmic effect (like immediately after the upwards octave jump in the bassline)?