jordanrooben Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 My question is how should I handle repeating sections of a song (if at all). Some of the stuff one this site, do have repetition in them. I want to know some idea of how to pull this off. I currently have a song that has no repetition and is around a minute long. Could I repeat some of the stuff to make it 2 minutes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 The Tracker's Handbook suggests you never repeat a pattern exactly. It's usually better to write similar material and use that for transitions, intro, outro, bridge, stuff like that. Stretching a short song is a lot of work (unless you find the groove - and then it's hard to not keep extending it). That said, depending on style and stuff, repetition isn't necessarily a bad thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordanrooben Posted August 25, 2011 Author Share Posted August 25, 2011 The Tracker's Handbook suggests you never repeat a pattern exactly. It's usually better to write similar material and use that for transitions, intro, outro, bridge, stuff like that. Stretching a short song is a lot of work (unless you find the groove - and then it's hard to not keep extending it). That said, depending on style and stuff, repetition isn't necessarily a bad thing. Can you explain what you mean by groove? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Can you explain what you mean by groove? In this case, it's when the song just works, when all the instruments sound good together and the thing just keeps inspiring you. It's happened on a handful of tracks. It can lead to the arrangements becoming meandering, tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcos Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 You could repeat the parts again, and change one element when the main theme/chorus/melody comes around again. You could change the chord progression, the drum beat, the rhythm. This works well when you've got a groove going. For me, groove is when you never get tired of a piece of music however many times you hear it, it's just so catchy. Like those times when you're making a song and you have a loop going again and again, before deciding to actually flesh it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoozer Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 My question is how should I handle repeating sections of a song (if at all). Is it a pop song? That's usually: intro verse (verse) chorus verse chorus bridge chorus outro Those do have the advantage of lyrics, however - so then it's not that strange that parts are repeated, since they differ by default because of lyrical content (and usually melodic content). I currently have a song that has no repetition and is around a minute long. Could I repeat some of the stuff to make it 2 minutes? Generally, your song tells a story. What parts do you repeat in a story? Take a fairy tale as an example: when the hero has to solve three similar quests (a common motif), then the parts may resemble eachother. When the hero returns after a quest to the place he started at, the motif may be repeated, though altered, to combine familiarity with growth/learning/maturing - while the middle is something entirely different. What kind of story are you telling? If you're just copying to stretch the length you're not going to go far, really. Post an example in the WIP forum - which is meant for this kind of criticism. Specify that you're looking for help on the topic of song structure so you'll get useful comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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