Hey just quick question just wondering if my bassline is in the key of c do the stabs I use have to be on the c not or are they in key as long as the note you use is a note in the c scale?
thanks
A stab is a chord so the notes in your stab need to fit with your scale unless you are going for a ravey sound.
ok cool thanks and also with melodys if my bassline is in the scale of C does my melody have to start with the first note being C just the a melody i was playing around with started on the D but all the notes are in the scale for C
thanks
The response you’re probably going to get on all music production forums is “just do whatever man! theres no rules just play what sounds good!”. I do concede that what sounds good is what matters and there are no hard and fast rules, however, for a bit more pragmatic advice…
In my experience, a lot of people will start melodies on the 1, 3, or 5 ( depends where all your other sounds are, if everything else is on the 1, putting it on the 1 can be a bit boring, whereas 3 or 5 is going to start making chords with the other sounds). Since they are more dominant notes in the scale. You can also start with less dominant notes in the scale (ie 2, 4, 7), in this case they usually don’t linger very long. I might start at a 4 but quickly go to the 5, or start at a 7 then quickly go to a 1 (These both work quite well btw). To see what I mean try ascending and descending a scale, lingering on 1, 3, 5, 1(octave up) and passing over 2, 4, 7 a bit quicker.
I generally would not start on a 6, in my experience the 6th is my least used melodic note (I only work in minor, can’t speak for major). As a melodic note it has a sort of dissonant or ‘creepy’ vibe to it which generally doesn’t fit well into my genre of music (if you’re making psytrance, however, this might be more useful). 95% of the time or more my melodies contain no 6th’s whatsoever.
This, however, does not include bass notes. The 6th is a great bass note. 6-7-1 and its permutations are in my opinion the greatest and most useful baselines in many dance genres. So in these cases I would play the 6th on the bottom of chords, or maybe just as a bassline. To get a very basic example of this, play thirds with your right hand, and bass an octave lower (not right below the thirds) with your left hand. For A minor play, F as a bass note with your left hand and A & C (thirds appart) with your right hand for 1 bar, then go up to a G on your left hand and down to G & B with your right hand for 1 bar, then go up to A on your left hand and back up to A & C with your right hand for 2 bars.
Once again these are not hard and fast rules but they should help get you moving in the right(?) direction.
Cheers
thanks for the reply mate its always hard not to get caught up in what is always correct and what may sound good but going for what sounds best is a good point, thanks again will keep everything you have said in mind.