I’ve come to the realisation that i keep trying to make my music too complicated without intention.
I’ve been listening to a lot of House music which i inspire to make and they’re actually really simplistic, working mostly on the groove, taking away the bass, bringing it back, things like that.
i’m over producing sh*t, it’s mad, i really wish i’d learn to strip back what i’m doing… i may have to go back to loading up a track in my DAW and following it.
Totally agree roben. I think most of us are the same
That definitely is the hardest part… The right sound sits in a very narrow pocket, no matter what style you produce.
aye i get that when i try to do percussion parts etc
always too many notes
the notes ye DONT play are just as important as the ones ye do
It blows my mind how simplistic (in essence) House music is when I really think about it, i’ve been banging my head so many times at tracks i’ve been making , effectivly letting potentionally good tracks never see the light of day because I feel like I can’t ‘do more’ with it, when in reality, i should just work with what I’ve got.
This hopefully could be an epiphany for me, lets see what happens…
[quote]JamieinNC (19/05/2011)[hr]That definitely is the hardest part… The right sound sits in a very narrow pocket, no matter what style you produce.[/quote]
THIS!
there is only so many sounds that can be playing at once. i don’t care what style it is. music only sounds really great when the listener can detect every element of the song. having 2 much stuff is NOT the way to go. i’ve been spending lots of time just perfecting the groove/hook. to me thats the most important thing. if its not catchy nobody gives a ****.
space is the key!
i have been realizing this more & more lately.
listen to some of the biggest tracks like Swedish House Mafia - ONE.
people can say what they want about it, but that track is soooo simple it makes it awesome. the arrangement is clutch. i honestly think thats what makes music great.
simplicity.
another awesome track I keep going back 2 is Eric Prydz - Pianjoo. pure perfection.
i find i have a hard time trying to find balance making complex electro house and keepin it simple.
but I am doing it. it just takes like TONS of hours. i’ve probably spent 100 hours on this track so far.
still not done. probably another 100 to go. atleast.
Thanks UV!
I talk to composers often in my field and always ask them for “wisdom” they have learned over their careers, and the most relevant thing a good friend told me once was this…
“Never have more than four distinct timbres going at once unless it the collective is a part of two things: the climax, or the end.”
This is very important.
I don’t want to harp so much about the classical composers, but you look at what Mozart was able to achieve with two layers: melody and harmony. You look at his piano music and he almost never has more than three notes sounding at the same time vertically, and look at the character and texture he could achieve. To him it was all about space and the linear…Took me a long time to learn how to get that space in my piano playing.
Beethoven sat for hours working and reworking simple motivic melodies and rhythms just to make sure it was “right,” whatever that is musically. Ends up that the motives he worked on and ultimately chose were the basis for an entire 40-minute symphony, albeit motives that were subjected to inversion, augmentation or diminution, retrograde, harmonic alteration, chromatic alteration, and so on and so forth. He literally tried everything with a musical idea before writing a note on the staff.
Mozart = World’s greatest musician
Beethoven = World’s greatest composer
Might benefit everyone here to give their work a listen every once in a while to see what they did, because honestly?.. They figured out the answers to all of our musical problems a long time ago. Just have to listen…
J
[quote]UnitedVision (19/05/2011)[hr][quote]JamieinNC (19/05/2011)[hr]That definitely is the hardest part… The right sound sits in a very narrow pocket, no matter what style you produce.[/quote]
THIS!
there is only so many sounds that can be playing at once. i don’t care what style it is. music only sounds really great when the listener can detect every element of the song. having 2 much stuff is NOT the way to go. i’ve been spending lots of time just perfecting the groove/hook. to me thats the most important thing. if its not catchy nobody gives a ****.
space is the key!
i have been realizing this more & more lately.
listen to some of the biggest tracks like Swedish House Mafia - ONE.
people can say what they want about it, but that track is soooo simple it makes it awesome. the arrangement is clutch. i honestly think thats what makes music great.
simplicity.
another awesome track I keep going back 2 is Eric Prydz - Pianjoo. pure perfection.
i find i have a hard time trying to find balance making complex electro house and keepin it simple.
but I am doing it. it just takes like TONS of hours. i’ve probably spent 100 hours on this track so far.
still not done. probably another 100 to go. atleast.
[/quote]
yeah and its why this song is so freakin awesome.
gotta get your groove on.
You’re all spot on, it’s the groove that makes the track. Yes, sure the synthesised or sampled or recorded sounds are all good sounding and sit well together but what makes the track memorable or danceable is the groove itself.
And that’s as much about space as it is about anything else. I know, when I listen to my earlier tracks, that I was consciously or subconsciously hiding weak grooves with over produced layers.
trying to correct that now.
I have the same problem i have 35 project files and none of them are finished because i over complicate things everyone is doing something simple and i just want to make this epic piece of music and i end up getting frustrated and quit 
most of the time though my computer goes gay and deletes my project files
Same probs too.
Some great ideas… just the execution is poor. Must try harder :)
Less is definitely more. Its just having the confidence to brazen it out.
group hug
Your all a bunch off wooseys :D:P:w00t::hehe:
Perhaps this could be an idea for Phils tutorials haha.
‘Keeing it Simple’
Rob,
You’ve given me a couple of ideas for the next set of music theory videos I’m doing for Phil. I’ve completed meter and rhythm and have begun work on scales, so I’ll incorporate this topic as much as I can into using scales and chords in tunes.
J
[quote]Roben (20/05/2011)[hr]Perhaps this could be an idea for Phils tutorials haha.
‘Keeing it Simple’[/quote]
its all about the hook. im tellin u. if it ain’t catchy… nobody gives a sh*T.
sure experiment all you want. just don’t expect anybody to buy it. hahaha
[quote]UnitedVision (20/05/2011)[hr]its all about the hook. im tellin u. if it ain’t catchy… nobody gives a sh*T.
sure experiment all you want. just don’t expect anybody to buy it. hahaha[/quote] I dunno dude that’s not necessarily true. maybe in some genres it is but a lot of styles rely on just being hypnotic or relaxed, don’t necessarily need a hook in all kinds of music.
Its all about the Music. everything makes sense when u just jam it out and forget about the technical part of it.
everything is about perception and feeling IMO
[quote]gedeon (20/05/2011)[hr] I dunno dude that’s not necessarily true. maybe in some genres it is but a lot of styles rely on just being hypnotic or relaxed, don’t necessarily need a hook in all kinds of music.[/quote]
You may not be surprised if you listen to my tunes - that I totally agree with this statement 
.