Author Topic: melody questions  (Read 7394 times)

sast5

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melody questions
« on: January 13, 2016, 02:56:35 am »
So im really confused about melodies because when ever i watch interviews they never explain where they actually come from. The only one i've seen was martin garrix tremor which he came up with in an airport and sang it into his phone. But i don't understand are all good melodies just something that comes too you because that never happens to me anything i do is just experimentation which takes hours over weeks. Also how do those super complex melodies come to people like kshmrs(bad example) or something i don't see how it happens and I read these things like anyone can write a hit melody in their head but can't put it down and im like what i can't do that and if i could i would just record myself singing it and play it back for hours until it was the same as my paino roll.

Also is there any tips for making them more interesting because i can make melodies but they never fit into songs cause they sound boring or are too fruity.

Mussar

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Re: melody questions
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2016, 03:15:21 am »
They don't explain where the melodies come from because it's not good interview material to say "I spent years learning music theory or messing around with different melodies and studying other songs to have the level of knowledge needed to just make a melody up on the fly."

Your best bet would be to start studying the songs you like! Try remaking them, and when you look at the MIDI note down what's happening. How far apart are the notes, and what's the rhythm? What scale is it in? What mood does it have? The more experience you have, the easier they'll come!

T_T

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Re: melody questions
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2016, 04:18:05 am »
It's a little bit of column A, column B. You're not always going to have a melody spring into your head, so sometimes you will have to force yourself to write something. Sometimes it's much like computer 'brute-forcing': trial and error of just trying every possible melody until you find one that works. The more critical music listening you do, the more your taste develops, and you'll use it to discern a 'good' melody from a 'bad' one.

Complexity in a melody can result from layering lots of small individual parts to make one big one. You might think 'how am I supposed to build this fantastic jaw dropping melody from nothing' and be disheartened because it seems like you have no foundation. But every melody started with just a note. Keep building and removing and trying everything you possibly can and you will find something you like if you persist.

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wayfinder

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Re: melody questions
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2016, 09:42:48 am »

Gabe D

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Re: melody questions
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2016, 06:51:07 pm »
Buy a MIDI pack with melodies of the genre you like to make. Then use them to learn the progressions and all that.

I recently paid for the program Odesi by Mixed In Key. For a beginner, it could be a good tool to help make melodies over certain chord progressions.
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Knappster

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Re: melody questions
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2016, 03:25:34 pm »
Check out www.dancemusicproduction.com. So many helpful tutorials for writing and learning the ins and outs of producing.
Creating uplifting melodies and fast moving basslines
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Sebas Ramos

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Re: melody questions
« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2016, 03:20:14 am »
man, at the beginning, I also had the worst melodies, but believe that with time and more experience, you will start to gain that ability to make excellente melodies, sometimes a good melody comes when you just say let´s play some chords in the c major scale randomly, (this is one of the best ways to get good melodies when you don´t have ideas) and in 15 min or less something cool can come out, to me sometimes I just say ok let´s imagine a great melody or I just start thinking about them and that´s another way that melodies can come out, melodies can also come when you are listening to a track and you start imagining a good melody taking that song as a reference, be patient! anything can inspire you! good luck

vinceasot

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Re: melody questions
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2016, 11:38:14 am »
thats an interesting question man

i think that when the people say they have a melody in their head, is when they have reached that level of musical creativity, this is after years and years of producing man, and practice after practice

transferring the melody form your head into the daw is the hardest part, believe me.. 
but dont worry I'm sure garrix has a lot of help from engineers and other unknown producers, his dad was a successful businessman mind you,

just remember a lot of the guys in interviews aren't the ones making the tracks, its just good for inspiration

 
« Last Edit: January 28, 2016, 11:40:41 am by vinceasot »

Slizz

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Re: melody questions
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2016, 05:04:48 pm »
HookTheory.com is incredibly helpful for building melodies.

BasicMusicTheory.com will give you access to scales and chords within different scales.

There is a lot of theory involved with writing melodies that resonate with large groups of people. Everyone has their own unique preference but certain note patterns on top of different chord progressions will elicit very specific types of emotional responses from huge swaths of people.

For example,having a melody start on a perfect 5th or perfect 6th and having it "resolve" to the root note at the end.
Hook Theory has a lot of EDM on there so that might be a good place to start.