but can anyone explain to me why most songs include stabs and what the premise is behind them?
I never think in terms of "stabs" so I can't really say.
it seems as when you only have these 5 layers everything is bland.
If you have all of these 5 layers and your music still sounds bland then maybe you're not doing something correctly? Can you be a little more specific than "bland?"
how can i fill empty space with melodic / harmonic types of sounds. what belongs in that empty space?
If you're having problems with your mixes sounding empty then perhaps you're not eq'ing things correctly or you're using too little elements? Although I'm a bit at a loss for a cause since the once you listed up there actually look pretty good.
Here's my list of elements.
1. Bass (Takes up bass region obviously)
2. Leads/Melody (Takes up mid region and some highs)
3. Harmony (Takes up mid region and some highs)
4. Drums (Takes up bass, mid, and highs)
5. FX/Ambience (Creates atmosphere)
6. Vocals (Takes up mids and some highs)
Pretty much the same as yours. The Harmony & Leads usually go underneath the same bus.
Also, don't forget fills. Idk if that's what you're music is missing but basically every single 8 to 16 bars or so try adding in some type of fill. It makes it so that things don't get so repetitive. If you've listened to rock music then try to think like a drummer in the sense that they add fills every now and then for variation.
