Music creation tips/guide lines

[btriangle]

I have been trying for a long time to help make us newgrounders come together and learn from each other to further improve are composing abilities. Many of us are teaching ourselves, and therefore thats an even greater reason why we should work together more.

So, I believe a large majority of the composers here on newgrounds have faced issues that took them weeks to months to figure out, and wish they had figured them out earlier.

So if you have a suggestion, please write your story, and I will read, and I hope others will too! If you recently solved a problem, explain it, it will help you understand why you had a problem, and how to fix it.

[btriangle]

For example, I have been composing music for a good 4 years now. In the first 3 years, I didnt limit myself when sound engineering and mixing, I just went all out. I was truly creating what was coming from my head, onto tracks. And it was fun, might i add.

But these past 10 months I got into a new aspect of my composing hobby, orchestration. It was something that was very, very over my head, and hard to understand. I didnt understand a single instrument, not even the strings.

Unlike most composers, I inadvertently tried to create music visually, by making tracks and coloring them to remember their purpose in the orchestra. For a while it worked ok, but the songs never turned out the way I was hearing in my head, and i never wanted to look at other composers music as a reference, i considered that stealing, pretty dumb huh?

So, a couple of weeks ago, I came to a song that is probably my most difficult song yet, in terms of orchestration and sound engineering. I again followed the rules of visualization, and it failed me for about a month straight. I finally came to a block, and became very depressed by my lack in progress.

But than I tried something different, something so new!!!! I just closed my eyes without looking at the tracks, and tried to match the sound in my head, and copy it into the tracks.

And what do you know! It works!! Something so blatantly obvious to the entire sound engineering world! But i missed it, I had truly no idea how to do it. No wonder i found sound engineering boring...sheesh.

However Im glad I did start of visually composing, because now I know both ends, and thats always good too.

So i guess the moral of this story is, POST TIPS! Someone should not have to wait 10months to figure out something that is so obvious. And also be open to these ideas people!

[Chozz]

Organisation and planning is a key part in music creation.

It took me a while to come to grips with this,and I still am, because when you have a song or you are working on it, you just want to dive straight in and come out with an acceptable .mp3 or .wav

I've found though, if you simply take the time to tidy up your layout in the software.. putting tracks and fx channels into groups or folders in the mix, your song becomes a lot easier to work with. Even writing things down, keeping notes on what needs to be done can be a big help ; you can mantain focus on a particular thing, and not get too bamboozled!

It's a simple aspect of audio engineering/audio production, but an important one to me!

[Box-Killa]

Ok guys, I am going to show you text music

Drums : Bmm Tss Ka Tss

Guitar: Ra Ra Da Da Ra Ra Da Da

Bass: bo bo bo du bo bo bodu bow bow bowda bow bow

piano: te te te ta te ta ta te te ta ta ta

there now you know music,

there are like 12 notes for that crap

play 3+ at the same time and you got a chord

make a melody

make a base line

make some drums

make some effects

convert to mp3

sumbit to newgrounds

get 0 bommed

make a stupid thread

make another song

0 bomb

... repeat

[Step]

I'd say the best way to compose is to think of melodies not when you're composing, but when you're doing something else. For example, if you're a passenger in a car which is driving somewhere covered in countryside and you're looking out of the window, thinking of an ambient melody would be easy, and you'd come up with a much better one than staring blankly at your DAW/doodling around. I find it to work really well with me.

Also, if you suddenly run out of song ideas and think that you're hopeless at composing, don't give up, but the best way for me is going on NG, looking at the reviews of your best song (providing that the reviews are positive), and then using that encouragement/those tips to keep your mind rested that there IS hope for you.

[Chozz]

Wow Box - Killa, you really have a way with words today.

What you said I found really insightful...

[Box-Killa]

Yeah ask people for reviews, you can Improve lots from reviews :D

[Box-Killa]

Yes I am on a roll... lol

I'm going to be good now though :D

Sorry for my existance :(

[Zooloo75]

If you're gonna buy headphones, then buy VERY good headphones.

I used to use headphones and thought they sound better. So I mixed my music to what I heard on my headphones and my songs mixing always turned out bad. The bass was too powerful and whenever a bass came up the higher and mid band sounds would pretty much mute. So if you are gonna use headphones, then make sure it has a good amount of bass being fed into your ears :P

Speakers FTW! :D

[gavitron22]

yeah chozz i think said about taking notes, this is realy important, literally getting a pen and a piece of paper that has all your ideas and things to do for a piece, this is actually really helpful to not lose stuff, cos there is really nothing worse when your looking at how to continue a piece and you think what the hell was that feckin great idea i had........?

oh and about the reviews of your pieces, i uploaded me first piece yesterday and it hasn't come up, how long does it usually take for your first piece to be accepted by a moderator or whatever?

[amaterasu]

Never try to learn how to make music solely through studying and learning to mimick a particular genre. In other words, don't be afraid to crack open a book or two on music theory.

[gavitron22]

yeah music theory is a definate help, even if it's just the basics, the best thing it's for is visualisation of your mental music ideas, like where you were saying it comes out differently to what's in your head, music theory can really help you understand the music you make, and therefor help you get it across better to pen and paper

[Step]

At 11/1/09 08:37 PM, gavitron22 wrote: yeah chozz i think said about taking notes, this is realy important, literally getting a pen and a piece of paper that has all your ideas and things to do for a piece, this is actually really helpful to not lose stuff, cos there is really nothing worse when your looking at how to continue a piece and you think what the hell was that feckin great idea i had........?

Good idea, man, that happens to me all the time.

oh and about the reviews of your pieces, i uploaded me first piece yesterday and it hasn't come up, how long does it usually take for your first piece to be accepted by a moderator or whatever?

It usually takes around 3 days max, but sometimes it moves to weeks/months. If it takes too long, try and submit another song and it'll say if you're banned or not. Just make sure that your first song wasn't a midi rip/using other melodies/a cover/stolen (duh)/using copyrighted samples/spam/covered in preset drum and melody loops. Click here for more info on it.