Total lack of inspiration.

[zircon]

Oh, I HATE writing actual notes on manuscript paper. Can't stand it. What I came up with today is was.. interesting. It's a bunch of boxes from left to right with different labels, like "Vinyl breakbeat mix (highpass/bandpass), "Light affected percussion", "Dropping sync/perc fx", "Rhythmic nonpitched chug syn", etc. I placed them from left to right to represent the time they come in in the song, and drew arrows to show where they went.

I also wrote out a bunch of rhythms for the different parts. For the drum part for example, I wrote something like this

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

K (K) S (roll)sK S

With | representing one 16th note, K = kick, S = snare, (roll) is a fill, lowercase s is a ghost note, (K) is done every other measure.. that kinda thing.

For the guitar chug rhythm I did the same thing but put little dots over where I wanted the chugs to be. For the bass part I didn't really have any ideas for notes, so I did the same rhythm notation thing but moved the dots up or down depending on the general direction I wanted them to go. There are a FEW musical scribbles, but not traditional notes; I just wrote out "C" at the beginning of a 16th note ||| passage, then F# Bb OR EB depending on where I wanted the line to move.

I got up to the main chorus, which is the word CHORUS in huge letters. Under it; "thick main drumline", "layered vinyl", "syn fx", "heavy crunch dist bassline".

So uhh.. I have no idea if this is going to work or not. Again, I didn't really have any particular ideas in mind, just general feelings for sounds that I wanted. I tried to write them down.

PriZm; interestingly, a lot of my songs are born from little things I've heard from other songs. For example, the main riff of "Hourglass". Go to a keyboard and play the plucked instrument melody that plays in Prodigy's "Mindfield" track from "Fat of the Land". F C Bb C Ab G Eb C, F C Bb C Ab G Eb C. Well, I was listening to that track and playing that riff on my keyboard, and I just got stuck on the Ab G Eb C F part - the second half of the riff plus the first note of the beginning. I played it over and over and that became the basis for Hourglass! The song "Endorphin" from the same album was inspired by "Over the Line" by The Crystal Method, "Acid Dominion" was an attempt at doing something like "Smack My Bitch Up" (hence the main distorted synth line) and so forth.

I think it's always a good idea to look at songs and break down why they sound good. I do that a lot whenever I find a song I like. I'll load up a bunch of VSTs and just sort of play along first while listening to the song, then I'll actually pause the song and sequence some of the chords or the melody and look at how it's constructed. Unfortunately, this is not very helpful when writing the kind of electronic music I do, because a song like "Badass" by TCM or "Dig Your Own Hole" by The Chemical Brothers hardly have any notes at all, and what's there isn't very interesting. What makes the songs good is the simplicity of the riffs and the sound design. Were I writing trance it might be a different story..

I haven't really tried working in different time signatures, perhaps because out of all the electronica CDs I have, nothing is in anything else besides 4/4. Just recently, I wrote a final boss theme that was in 6/4 (I think) but whenever I try something like that for breakbeat or big beat it just ends up sounding stupid. Really stupid. If I had a bunch of examples of grooves in weird time signatures I'm sure I would be able to come up with something.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.. some great advice in your posts, even if a lot of it is not working for me right now.

[CC Ricers]

If even Zircon gets writer's block and has a buildup of unused WIPs, then I guess I don't feel as bad. My last OCR submission attempt was in October 2004. I have 20 game-related mixes, most which haven't seen the light of day to anyone but me. Actually, my game mixes outnumber my original works now, is that a bad thing But now I'm starting to feel more confident again, little by little since I joined the Tales music project. That has helped me stay in with completing at least one song.

And Zirc, I actually still have a few of your game WIPs lying in my playlist somewhere. They're cool renmants of stuff that could be something more.

[Arcana]

If even Zircon gets writer's block and has a buildup of unused WIPs, then I guess I don't feel as bad. My last OCR submission attempt was in October 2004. I have 20 game-related mixes, most which haven't seen the light of day to anyone but me. Actually, my game mixes outnumber my original works now, is that a bad thing But now I'm starting to feel more confident again, little by little since I joined the Tales music project. That has helped me stay in with completing at least one song.

And Zirc, I actually still have a few of your game WIPs lying in my playlist somewhere. They're cool renmants of stuff that could be something more.

Man, I haven't tried making a song since August... and then I decided that it was no good and eventually withdrew from the Tales project. It's not really a slump, though... I just haven't had the heart to try lately.

[Nicole Adams]

A few days ago I started a new remix, but before I actually opened up Reason and FL, I created an outline in Windows Notepad. I've been listening to a couple "inspiration songs" and have noted some of the effects, instruments, etc. used to help build my outline. Anyway, when I got to working on the song, the outline really helped. I don't feel blind at what I'm doing. The outline I made was pretty simple, but it still helps me know where to go.

[DDRage]

A few days ago I started a new remix, but before I actually opened up Reason and FL, I created an outline in Windows Notepad. I've been listening to a couple "inspiration songs" and have noted some of the effects, instruments, etc. used to help build my outline. Anyway, when I got to working on the song, the outline really helped. I don't feel blind at what I'm doing. The outline I made was pretty simple, but it still helps me know where to go.

when you speak about an outline, what are you referring to specifically? Is it some chord progressions or the different parts the song will be comprised of? Or sth else?

[zircon]

Well.. my report; after planning out a song beforehand, it came out like crap anyway. I couldn't even force myself to keep going with it. No surprise there I guess. I couldn't even get the basic groove down right.

[Fickett Towleny]

I've had this happen to me to. Typically this means that you need to take a good rest, stop forcing yourself, and find a piece of music you REALLY enjoy. Listening to John Williams always gets me back in action.

[Chavous]

Also try Faure: Pavane. One of THE most amazing and beautiful songs ever created.

[Nicole Adams]

when you speak about an outline, what are you referring to specifically? Is it some chord progressions or the different parts the song will be comprised of? Or sth else?

My outline contains the different parts the song will be comprised of and how long each section will be. I don't write out chord progressions since I don't have perfect pitch. One thing I always do, though, is figure out the key of the song.

[zircon]

Nicole; you don't need perfect pitch to be able to hear chord progressions in your head. Really, if you just learn the common ones, play them on the piano, and listen to songs that have them, you'll pick it up in no time. For example, I -> vi -> IV -> V is a really common trance progression and it's also used in oldies music.

Example (key of C)

C E G

A C E

F A C

G B D

Very bright and happy. Another one is VI-7, VII, i.

Ab C Eb G

F Bb D

G C Eb

BT used this one in "Force of Gravity" and it's a pretty popular one in a lot of kinds of music. The variant is starting on i, then going to VI, VII, and back to i.

Then you have a sort of Fatboy Slim style progression: I -> III -> IV.

C E G

Eb G Bb

F A C

I used this one in "Throwdown", it's very happy and fits upbeat music.

Here's one that's used in LOTS of different pieces, from anime soundtracks, to trance music, to classical music. i -> VI -> III -> VII.

C Eb G

Ab C Eb

Eb G Bb

Bb D F

It's very expressive and emotional.

Finally, here's one that's somewhat serious. I used it in a couple tracks on "Impulse Prime" (Hourglass, Dimension) and I think it has a cool sound to it. i-7, VI-7, iv.

C Eb G Bb

Ab C Eb G

F Ab C

[Nicole Adams]

Thanks for tip and examples, zircon. One thing I did start doing is once I get the key of the song I then write out the triads of that scale for a reference (I to vii° or i to VII). I guess I kinda went against what I said earlier.

[Arcana]

Nicole; you don't need perfect pitch to be able to hear chord progressions in your head. Really, if you just learn the common ones, play them on the piano, and listen to songs that have them, you'll pick it up in no time. For example, I -> vi -> IV -> V is a really common trance progression and it's also used in oldies music.

...

LET ME SAVE THIS TO MY DRIVE NOW.

It's the kind of thing I've needed for a while.

[zircon]

Cool! If you found it useful here are some more.

i -> III -> VI -> VII

Another good trance one, not bad for 80s style stuff either. I find it sounds best in the following voicing:

C G C Eb

Eb Bb Eb G

Ab Eb Ab C

Bb F Bb D

Alternatively, you could look at this as vi -> I -> IV -> V, which could resolve to the vi or the I.

A C E

C E G

F A C

G B D

This one is kinda funky, I used it in "Endorphin" on Impulse Prime and it's got a pretty bright feel to it.

I -> VII -> I -> VI-7 -> VII (the last two take place in one measure). Example voicing:

C G C E

C F Bb D

C C E G

Ab C Eb G

Bb D F

Something like that.

This next one could be used for a lot of styles, but I think it adapts well to something like smooth jazz. There are two parts. Here's the first one; i -> iv -> VII -> i.

C Eb G

C F Ab

Bb D F

C Eb G

Then the next part is i -> iv -> ii(diminished) -> V -> i (with the ii(dim) and V being in one measure).

C C Eb G

F Ab C F

D F Ab D

G B D G

C Eb G

You can hear this in action here.

http://www.zirconstudios.com/Smoov.mp3

[PriZm]

Heh pretty cool.

If you want your progressions to sound 'jazzier' you can try substitutions too. The most common one I can think of is substitute IV to ii7

In C: IV = F A C

ii7 = D F A C

So you get the picture... you can always try substitutions yourself, as long as they remain diatonic to the scale you're in (there are some times when non-diatonic chords work well too, but let's not elaborate too much on that).

Some very basic chord progression that are useful to build riffs on:

viii - VII - VI - V7 (used very often in popular music and can be given any kind of fell. I think Portishead's Roads is a little variant of that progression)

viii - viii - VI - VII (used in old electronica and power metal pretty often too)

I - I - IV - V7 or i - i - IV - V7 (used to give a bluesy feel to your riff)

Of course this is pretty generic, you can always expand on this on do a riff with, say:

viii - viii - VII - VII - viii - VI - VII - V7

NB: I notated viii or VIII just to say that the other chords should be lower.

[Chavous]

Now that we're on the subject of chord progressions, Here's a neat one I found today:

iii - Imaj7 - iv - VII

In the key of C:

iii - E G B

I maj7 - C E G B

iv - A C E

VII - B D# F#

Very dark sounding until the last chord, which flips around the feeling entirely. Kind of neat, I thought so anyway.

maj7 's are my favorite kind of chords, too. I use them everywhere.

[zircon]

Hey, that's the progression from "The Final Countdown".

[Chavous]

Hey, that's the progression from "The Final Countdown".

Oh, wow. I didn't recongnized it; and I should know that kind of thing...

[suzumebachi]

PS: No matter how bad zirc feels about not being able to finish tracks, I'll still always be the WIP king. In the last 4 years, I've probably made well over 300 tracks that have never seen the light of day. That's not even counting the concept WIPs and shit i've actually shared with some people. I still constantly get people telling me to finish X or Y song. And I probably never will. Why? Well in my case, I think it's more of a bad luck problem. I'll be working on a handful of WIPs, and then have some kind of terrible technological catastrophe (ie: my brother putting a magnet on my hard drive) and lose everything I had worked on up to that point. This has happened... 5 or 6 times now.

Also, being addicted to World of Warcraft totally doesn't help either. Neither does staying up till 4:00am coding php.

[zircon]

It's not a matter of having problems with my WIPs, it's that they're not even good. At least you have stuff that COULD be good, you just keep running into technological difficulties. I'd still rather be in your shoes any day of the week.

[Nase]

It's not a matter of having problems with my WIPs, it's that they're not even good.

Maybe that attitude is part of your trouble. I've often found that when I tinker around with something long enough, I'll eventually start to like what I hear most of the time. To me, the expectation of getting something good sounding within short time often is a problem.

I sometimes remind myself of the time I tweaked some knobs and placed some notes into a piano roll for the first time. A typical beginner's state of mind is the best thing in some ways: You just fiddle around open-mindedly and don't get worried about reaching a certain quality standard too much.

Of course, I don't know you and might be way off. But you're pretty popular around here, which might add to the pressure of making your music live up to your previous releases.

And I'm not saying that applying a "quality filter" is bad, it's just unhealthy when your critical attitude keeps you from doing anything.

[Navi]

Hey, that's the progression from "The Final Countdown".

[Chavous]

Ok, turned out I get my Roman numerals confused (or at least the placement of the "i").

Now that we're on the subject of chord progressions, Here's a neat one I found today:

iii - Imaj7 - vi - VII

In the key of C:

iii - E G B

I maj7 - C E G B

vi - A C E

VII - B D# F#

Very dark sounding until the last chord, which flips around the feeling entirely. Kind of neat, I thought so anyway.

maj7 's are my favorite kind of chords, too. I use them everywhere.

fix'd

[Arcana]

Ok, turned out I get my Roman numerals confused (or at least the placement of the "i").

Now that we're on the subject of chord progressions, Here's a neat one I found today:

iii - Imaj7 - vi - VII

In the key of C:

iii - E G B

I maj7 - C E G B

vi - A C E

VII - B D# F#

Very dark sounding until the last chord, which flips around the feeling entirely. Kind of neat, I thought so anyway.

maj7 's are my favorite kind of chords, too. I use them everywhere.

fix'd

ohshi, those are NOTES, not chords. No wonder I was confused. I was entering into my sequencer, "E chord. G chord. B chord. C chord. E chord..." and wondering, "Hmm, this doesn't quite match up with what I know from music theory."

But still, it's totally fun to play, even if it sounds like crap.

[The Joker]

Hmmm, I'm in a similiar situation as well. I've been having trouble making things that sound good. Leik I'll have something, then, crap. Though it has more to do with the fact thaT i'M JUST NOT MUSICALLY INCLINED AT THE MOMENT. Plus I'm lazy right now(note the fact I hit caps & refuse to retype it).

Though when I do make music, I go through the same process Zirc does. I just sort of make stuff as I go. One thing that helped me a whole lot was to use my emotions at a given time. Soemtimes I'd think about someone or something. A person, or a thought, or a state of being. From that, I get some inspiration.

Yes, totally weird starting point for a new paragraph. Anyway, once I visualize whatever it may be, I make music that reflects it. If I'm feeling happy, or thinking about something that's upbeat; I make something upbeat & happy. If I'm thinking about dark moody stuff; BAM, dark moody stuff.

And that's how babies are born. Musical babies. At least in the Puga household.

[Argle]

I say, force yourself to finish songs, no matter how much you think they suck.

I go through stages with each song:

1. Jot down some ideas and think I'm off to an awesome start

2. Start fleshing out the song, but start to think, "WTF, this doesn't sound good at all"

3. Stick with it, despite my misgivings, and get to the point where I start to like it again and enjoy working on it.

*shrug* So yeah, just force yourself to turn your ideas into full songs.