#music structure

[elrohirtheneurodivergent]

I absolutely love it when in the last chorus of a song (or in similar structural song elements) a melody instrument plays a slower, wailing kind of melody under the faster, often heavier already established parts. Examples of this can be found in Planetary Bliss by Opal in sky, Soulless existence by Lorna Shore or Laplace's Angel (Hurt People? Hurt People!) by Will Wood

Do you know any that might fit this description?

[hotwaxmusic]

Hey dude, I was wondering if you could recommend me some good ways to learn about composing, mixing, etc. I'm basically a novice, I've read a few guides online and have a little knowledge of audacity and studio one

Unfortunately you’re talking to another novice. haha I’ve never had any formal training beyond getting a B- in a Music Fundamentals class, which didn’t teach me too much as far as practicality is concerned.

I don’t know anything about Studio One, and I know Audacity is not widely used to create music, as it doesn’t have a grid functionality to “snap” sections of songs into place, but it is quite helpful in editing sounds and pitching them up/down, changing volumes, panning, etc.

As far as advice; basically, keep creating. Don’t stop. I’ve been at it for 2 & 1/2 years and I still don’t know what I’m doing. But if you keep at it, then at the very least you’ll have a more refined ear for what sounds good and what doesn’t.

A lot of my earliest stuff doesn’t sound too different from what I make now, compositionally. However now I’ve learned about how to mix better and EQ things and such, as well as different techniques strictly through practice and experience. Do something often enough and naturally you progress. That goes for anything.

Maybe you could message some of your favorite producers and see what they say? I know everyone has their own methods, so you’re bound to get some helpful tips.

Personally, I like to start with a basic 4 chord structure using some sort of soft synth, then build drums around it, and add or subtract different drum parts (change up the drum pattern, add a different snare/clap to break up sections) as the song progresses. Sometimes I’ll start out building a complete 16 bar section and have that serve as my “chorus”, then remove parts of the chorus and scatter them across the track until it hits about 3 minutes.

I usually organize sections 8 bars at a time, and have the “intro” be the first 8 bars, then add sparse drums and another sound, usually an arpeggiated synth, for the next 8 bars, which leads to a quick drop, followed by the main “chorus”, where everything comes together, including bass, full drums, and maybe another sound all placed on top of each other. From then it’s mainly just repeating verse/chorus/verse structures, but without the vocals in my case, of course.

A good song should have a nice “changeup” moment, where a new melody is introduced about halfway through. It can use the same instruments you used in the first half, or it can use totally different sounds/textures, as long as the transition is smooth and the change in melody is not too jarring. Then after about 16 bars of that new melody, put in another quick “drop” to give your transition back to the original melody a little more punch. Drag out the last “chorus” of the song for 16 bars, then have 8 bars at the end be the intro sounds, if you dig the whole “full circle” effect thing. That’s just me, anyway.

If you’d like a decent audio example, here’s a relatively new Toro Y Moi song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y33IZ9tZH2Y Toro is really good at creating solid pop-based structures to build his songs around, so I would pay attention to his newer stuff for tips, as well.

I’m sorry if I got a bit too involved with that question. haha I hope I didn’t scare you away. Basically all you have to worry about it practice, practice, practice. Everything else will fall into place, and in time you’ll have a better grasp on how to go about making a song that you actually are proud of. :P