Anorax Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 ...what do you do first? Whether it's for OCR, or an original work, is there always some part that you write first, without fail? Is there a step that you ALWAYS take? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion303 Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I don't start a track because I want to write one, I start a track because there's some musical element in my head that I want to get out. I would suck in a (musical) job with deadlines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicThHedgog Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I don't start a track because I want to write one, I start a track because there's some musical element in my head that I want to get out. I would suck in a (musical) job with deadlines. ^ this this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anorax Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 I don't start a track because I want to write one, I start a track because there's some musical element in my head that I want to get out. I would suck in a (musical) job with deadlines.^ this this Problem is, I get ideas when I can't put them down, or I an unable to return to a certain inspiration later on. (Maybe this is a help thread?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicThHedgog Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Problem is, I get ideas when I can't put them down, or I an unable to return to a certain inspiration later on. (Maybe this is a help thread?) Tape recorders, what I did LONG time ago, now soundcloud even has apps for stuff like that. recording your hums is a great idea to keep ideas, I treat hums and beat boxes as midi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calum Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 occasionaly i open up a virtual instrument find a preset speedily and with no real purpose and play around and something comes, if not move onto the next preset - tweak it randomly and rapidly. With my compositions i've been trying to start with a handwritten score - there are merits but more often than not i simply don't have the time. EDIT: my songs nearly always start with a chord sequence/harmonic language - harmony is usually the driving force in the stuff i write Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelCityOutlaw Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I just pick up my guitar and jam. Don't really think about it. I experiment with different scales, chords, whatever on the fly. Improvise. Eventually I'll come up with a melody or rhythm that sticks out and start building off it from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garpocalypse Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I remember back in college asking a guest composer a very similar question. And for years I thought the response he gave me was just something to dodge my question. He said that before chords, melody, rhythm etc. start with an idea. Common sense right? But when you think about it music is a language, that we can all agree on, so what do you want to communicate? For myself, one thing that I like to do is try to absorb some atmosphere. If I have an idea for something I'll try to find and feel anything that could be related to that. Making a chilled out piece of music? Compose at night, Think of all the times in your life that you felt relaxed. Put on some blue lights, Look at pictures of Oceans or find some abstract art that has what your looking for. Hell, go turn on the faucet and watch if you have nothing else. As far as getting ideas when you can't put them down I think everyone knows that feeling. At work, in the car, a few times I remember suddenly getting out of bed to get something into my DAW before getting frusterated giving up and going back to sleep. Then when it comes for some scheduled studio time I get NOTHING! Sometimes your mind can shut down if you spend long amounts of time in front of the same lighted screen hour after hour. Play with the interface in your DAW, Take frequent breaks but keep what you are doing on your mind, play some different instruments. Anything that keeps you flowing goes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDRKirby(ISQ) Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 I wait for the One Hour Compo theme to be announced at 6PM Actually, contrary to what people have said, I find that nowadays my best work is done when I DON'T have ideas in my head. Call me strange or weird or broken, but I find that whenever I try and go into a new project with any sort of specific preconception of what I'm trying or planning to do (other than a =very general= idea), it tends to block my flow of ideas and things don't "click" as well as they do when I'm just being freeform. This has been both a blessing as well as a curse for me... ...Which is not to say that this will or should be true for you too. Just wanted to point out that it's necessarily going to differ based on the natural "flow" method of your musical ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickomoo Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Problem is, I get ideas when I can't put them down, or I an unable to return to a certain inspiration later on. (Maybe this is a help thread?) Hum it or whistle it. But be aware that reguardless of whatever you do the sounds in your head a very likely to morph into something different (or disappear and reappear years later), unless you have perfect pitch and can record stuff instantly. And it's not that this is bad, it's just that you might almost always lose whatever original thing that was floating in your head. At the end of the day I usually go to a piano room to practice or play around. The piano is a very good instrument to practice or get melodies from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ectogemia Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 I generally play around on my keys with different presets til I start making some cool sounds. Then I generally make a chord progression and start making all my own patches at that point or using ones I've made in the past. 75% of the time I'll toss in a melody of some sort, and the other 25% of the time, I'll start putting together some percussion for the chord progression. If I do the melody first I do percussion next and vice versa. This is pretty much my MO every time I open a project file, and it gets 60-90 seconds of music written in no time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anorax Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 Hum it or whistle it. But be aware that reguardless of whatever you do the sounds in your head a very likely to morph into something different (or disappear and reappear years later), unless you have perfect pitch and can record stuff instantly. And it's not that this is bad, it's just that you might almost always lose whatever original thing that was floating in your head.At the end of the day I usually go to a piano room to practice or play around. The piano is a very good instrument to practice or get melodies from. Exactly. I morph the idea, but can't get the original idea back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ectogemia Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Exactly. I morph the idea, but can't get the original idea back I probably sound like a broken record at this point having said this in so many threads, but I used to have this issue (in fact, I had no musicality whatsoever) until I started to improvise on piano. The more I did it, the more in tune I got with the music in my mind, rhythmically, harmonically, and melodically. Just figure out the chords to a simple song (VIDEO GAME MUSIC PREFERRED, K?) and jam it on your left hand and play variations on the melody with your right. Then start making up your own stuff over the chords. Do this all the god damn time for months and months, then sit down at your favorite DAW and let the music flow. Your mind will explode with how easy it all will come out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anorax Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 hjahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMT Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 I lay down a simple drum beat and then write a bassline. Sometimes it's something simple that winds up just mirroring the rhythm guitars, sometimes it isn't. It helps me figure out both the rhythm and chord progression at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mak Eightman Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 When I making vgm remix, I just take guitar and trying to play original melody to "feel" the theme. Then write midi loop of it. Having one simple loop helping you to write drums. Drums - rhythm, base and actually the "body".. Then do whateva you want. You free now! Things getting harder, when I want to make something original. Sometimes I just run my daw and after 30-40 min I have completed track. Sometimes I have an idea stuck in my brain. Sometimes I cant sleep. Sometimes I'm drunk. Sometimes I'm boring. In this cases I just do the first thing appeared in my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockos Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Inspiration come like this XD. No really I do get the better idea when I'm away. That's a shame cause it's hard to wwrite it back into fl after a couple of hour away from it. But sometime I just listen to something and it comes out right away. Like yesterday. I've listened to the remix track of schala that mirumu started: http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=38330 Then this came right up after listening to it. http://soundcloud.com/rockos-1/rockos-schala-theme-dnb You never know when inspiration can come. For me it's totally random. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicThHedgog Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 I kinda agree with Aphetica, and he is pretty much echoing what davidwallmann said on youtube. The best way to thing ok some crazy new shit for a song,instrument and not forget by distraction or doing the same old crap progression,scale position,shred licks, and all that is to NOT play your instument. then when you got your new Idea (best if some how recorded or written in notation for those who like notation) you can combine some stuff you usually play for some kick ass results! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avaris Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 First I sit down and decide what kind of song I actually want to make. What genre and basic types of sounds I would like to use. Once that is done I analyze the source material. I find the most important part of the source tune that will successfully allow me to adapt the source to fit my ideas. Once I have identified that part (ex. melody) I then work on that one part to make it how I want. Once that is done I make every other part of the song based off that one main important element. This makes it WAY easier to arrange when every part I have fits with the main element/part of the song. I tend to end up with a more cohesive feel by the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darangen Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Everything starts in my head, like a burst of ideas. If I don't get a basic part recorded shortly after that it's usually lost forever. Once I start recording I begin with my main guitar track, just playing through the whole idea to start the foundation. Then I add some temporary boring drums, then start building the real instruments around that, usually starting with bass. Later I go back and replace the guitar and drums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickomoo Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Exactly. I morph the idea, but can't get the original idea back It's likely that once you start recording a crap version, the "best version" will start to stabilize in your head. It happens for me at least lol, I just don't have the skills to produce it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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