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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.

https://soundcloud.com/zachnichols-1/unforgettable-dream-wip Okay this isn't much, but this is 3 bars where you can hear a few things I tried to do. I used different more relaxing drums but when it drops at 1:19 I'm going to try and go for a bigger beat feel and have more of a drop to and change drums. I'm still having trouble thinking of a good sound for the bass that would fit in.

Oh okay, right now I'm doing about an hour a day. It's complex trying to work it into 2 jobs, and soon school (I'm trying to get through school debt free). I think the main reason why I don't vary much is because I think patternedly from years of lack luster percussion. The most fun I had was in drum line, and only a few times did our director actually let us change it up. He in general didn't like percussion so we never got to bloom much. How much do you think learning a bit of keyboard skills would help write more varied pieces?

Oh I'm glad to hear not everyone is formally trained lol. I played in band in high school, but I was a percussionist lol (ironic since my drums lack a lot of soul). So I really only know a bit of music theory, as much as you can learn experimenting. My biggest issues are my knowledge in music theory, and my lack of variation. Or at least as far as I can see. Out of curiousity, how much time do you spend producing music a day?

Yeah I feel it now that you guys said it. Seriously though thanks for the advice, it's only been a few days and I feel like I'm really improving and learning a lot more than I have for the past year at least. You kind of get stuck in your ways. I'm currently trying to fix up this track a bit based on what you guys said. So far I have changed the drums, but I don't have many samples to choose from that are more organic. I'm also working on making a good bass track that would fit the style, dreamy and groovy. But I have a bit of a music theory question, it is true you should generally stay with the chord for the bass right? (side note, what would you recommend to learn more music theory) Sorry if my posts seem long-winded, I'm really new here. I'm clueless on good etiquette here.

Yeah timaeus got me (unrelated, but I found your youtube channel and I really liked your Zebra 2 tutorial). See right now I'm using Sytrus, its safe to say that I need to get a better synthesizer right? I had already heard of Zebra from Zircon, and I'm seriously considering getting it. Would it be to much for someone like me who really quite a novice? And, would it help actually making successful LFO basses? (had to get back on topic)

Everytime I attempt to learn to make a decent LFO bass it comes out sloppy or I just don't understand the main parameters used to make such a thick bassy sound. It often just comes out flat like I'm just messing with a LP knob on any of the other synths. What did most of you guys do to learn how to make a cool LFO bass? Of any kind too, not just those huge heavy sounds but the more laid back ones too. Sorry if this is a common question, I do not mean to waste time on the forum but I didn't find any threads specifically aimed at this question

Personally I liked it, I guess it did seem to be hitting too much of a wall. I've noticed most classical pieces tend to be really quiet so that when they get louder it's not hitting a wall of noise like most popular songs today. It seemed like you hit your limit when you did song of storms, which didn't help the ending seem as dramatic.

I don't much about performance, but I can definitely tell you I adore your performance. I would listen to this all the time in my car going to work. From what I can tell you have some great piano chops. I think it's a nice celebration of all the great melodies from Zelda (which I also adore Zelda lol). Great work!

Yeah you're right, and so is timaeus. Thanks a lot guys this really gave me some insight on it, I can definitely see the flaws in it now. My question is, particularly on the drum samples choice, where do you really draw the line between a stylistic choice or just an unfitting choice? It does sound out of place but I do like playing with throwing genres together, how can you really tell when you're just putting two things that don't go together at all together? Sorry if that question seems a little confusing lol >,<

https://soundcloud.com/zachnichols-1/unforgettable-dream-legend-of Alright to make sure I keep my word and get used to it, here's the same song rendered as a WAV on Soundcloud. This is actually probably a bit of a different render than the Youtube but only with a few mixing and mastering tweaks, not sure if it's anything helpful.