What i like to do and im no pro but they are things i picked up on is the little things people do to keep a track interesting are…
Drums
Sometimes they add a filter to the hats and have a lfo very slowly remove some of the high end but very little so the change is subtle
2.On the kick i will sometimes add a gate to shorten it or layer one of the kicks with a tone layer to change it a bit and do these once every 2 or 3 bars to **** with people
3 Also with snares i like to shorten the decay so it will be Kick/ Snare (with short decay) /Kick / Snare (with no decay changes) or maybe add reverb on one of the snares.
You can layer a clap and snare and remove the snare on the second beat so it will only be the clap and leave both on the 4th vary this in 4 bars to create variation.
(use these in different sections of the arrangement)
Rhythm
1.Write different Motifs/Motives for your rhythm sections and vary them in your arrangement so your track wont get boring i hear peoples tracks without any motif variation and it bores me.
2 Work on additive rhythm slowly adding variation as the track progresses.
Musicality
Try Modulating into another key to change the feel of the song itself.
Modulate from a Minor to Major or a Mode.
Dont introduce all sounds IMMEDIATELY i hear alot of peoples songs and they bring in all their sounds after the breakdown and then they have another drop and they bring back the same ****.
FX
If youre adding reverb or any sort of effect to a sound try modulating some of the parameters on some of the notes/Bar/section
If you have a portable Mic go out and record some sounds and add them as a background to your music.
I do the same thing. I have been drumming for 12 years and I still get the tendency to play the same beat/idea over and over again in any new song I make.
My opinion that has helped me is just try something else, it might not sound the way you expect it to sound but if you listen back to it in a month you’ll think “That does sound good”
Again a great thread with lots of good tips (like the polished sound thread)!
Think all things I use are already mentioned. There are some things you need to do to keep the attention of the listener.
Automate, modulate certain elements during the entire track. For example the hats, I have a return track with a filter/saturator that my hats (and other sounds that might benefit) get send to slowly/gradually. Max when the breaks start.
That parallel compression is a great thing to do as well. Really gives your track more.
That clap/snare trick I use as well. But I do this with the open hihats as well. I have one impulse with about 4 different hats that you program in a 4 or 8 bar loop. Each got a slightly different filter (within impulse). Even have slight settings on the Velocities of Transp, Stretch, Random, etc. This will have a EQ8 and a compressor. Try to find the right balance.
Find the right fillers (drum rolls, rises, sweeps, vocal stabs) that sound great with the tune your working on. From each of those, make some slight variations, eg. drumroll#1a, drumroll#1b, drumroll#2a, etc.
Listen to techo and minimal tracks for all those subtle variations. Cause that’s a style of music that really depends on it heavily.
