Infenro

Very very interesting, I never realized how you could break up a chord in that manner. What would you recommend to better learn music theory? Any particular site or tutorials? I usually just look up specific things as they occur to me, but I still am very shaky on more complex chords like sevenths, all the minors, etc. Scales are also still confusing past majors and basic minors. I pretty much know what I do from some videos I looked at a few years back, and learning a bit in my audio production class (its not my major, it was an extra class). Regardless, thanks so much for this, its giving me a lot of ideas to learn more just by examining songs!

Thanks guys, yalls comments helped a ton! Just so you know, I've looked a little bit more into harmony, and also found the sheet music for this song I choose for me to possibly arrange myself in FL Studios. http://www.johnbarry.org.uk/sheetmusic/somewhere-in-time.pdf It's actually a great song for looking at arrangements since its in a relatively simple key, and uses pretty basic chords to great effect. I noticed how he didn't use the dominant key until right before he went back to the tonic at almost every instance. It also is helping me see how varied each instrument gets. The bass line in the song is played by a harp, yet it still gets across the chord without just straight blocky notes. I'm already into reading the Principles of Orchestration, I really hope it helps.

This was immensely helpful, thank you very much! I know this is a bit of a silly question, but how possible do you think it is to learn to do arrangements well simply from reading and understanding? One of my favorite things to do is read books everyday so I'll get started immediately on the principles of orchestration. I already know some of the most basic music theory, but still very basic. I only know enough to make some songs works to a decent degree, namely dance.

For any of you out there who are experienced in making orchestral arrangements, what would you recommend to start learning how to properly arrange a piece? I personally have been making ambient dance type music for a long time, but I think it would make me the right kind of uncomfortable to learn something on the opposite end of the spectrum. Soundtracks and classical pieces always have dynamic compositions, where so far I've made very patterned music. So far when I make anything "orchestral" (namely I am using string samples and such), it just comes across as blocky and doesn't really feel right. Any suggestions? Thanks!

http://infenro.bandcamp.com/album/building-blocks

Oh crap, I guess it deleted it. What's up with that? I'll grab it again.

I was wondering if any of you guys found any of this good. I've been in a huge musical slump and I was wondering if this really shows any promise. I've been going for whatever styles I like, and try playing around with genres all the time. Thanks guys.

Thanks for all the replies guys! This was all incredibly helpful! I'm sorry I would've responded sooner but I've been sick the last 2 days, but all this definitely helps!

This has always been one of my biggest issues, my compositions are extremely repetitive. I've always wondered how people manage to consistently change things up and keep it interesting naturally. I imagine I just get too lazy with how I write songs and am okay with doing what is just good. I've never gotten the feel electronically to write music that is varied consistently and feels fresh the whole time. When I improvise though it's a different story, but I'm not the best at any particular instrument so I never try it. Any help on this would be... helpful. Yeah.

Dude I am like the opposite of you lol. Every Nintendo game I've bought in the last year on the Wii U and 3DS has been very entertaining to me. I almost never regret ever buying their games, which is why I always buy them. Recently I bought Animal Crossing and Luigi's Mansion and they're fantastic, I couldn't be happier with them. Their polish and classical game design (as in puzzles and exploration rather than shooting something) is so fresh by comparison of most of the market. I've just never been dissatisfied with a Nintendo system, even the Wii had merits in its Nintendo games (but there definitely wasn't enough for anyone other than Nintendo fans).

Thanks Argle, I downloaded the samples and will check it out ASAP. You know, timaeus, I almost never try using reverb on a snare. I just find it irritating after repeated hits, but thanks for the preset! I'll try that out (and will probably work, I often learn I just do things wrong a lot). Yeah I actually tried a few different kicks, I wanted to try a more realistic kick but that still had some real bass to it. I've never had much luck in finding any good kicks really I often stick to a handful.

I do want Sytrus, but I usually work with what I have first. Thanks for the link flexstyle! Will check it out and try some new things!

Can I just say that I bought one on day one and am still enjoying it. If anyone bought it for any games other than what Nintendo is making it really misses the point. The reason why I buy Nintendo consoles is for Nintendo games, they're always amazing and you practically can't find them anywhere else. The Wii U is honestly a great console in my opinion since it's way more flexible in that you can be creative with how you control games or keep it simple. The difficultly with the Wii was that there was really no way around the awkward remote and nunchuck if you wanted to make a simpler game. But the gamepad is much more familiar while still being capable of cool new things such as using the controller as your POV.