Making memorable tunes?

[TicTackLock]

How does this work?...
I have been wanting to make memorable tunes and the only two songs of mine that I can think of are 8bit rush and boss battle theme 2...
I wanted to make something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyIeHJmrbhs well...at least make a proper lead and follow but still...
even though I practiced for 2 years I still can't grasp the full extent in making a good sounding song...
I wanted to try dnb and chipstep but I don't know where to start. :l

[midimachine]

it's not something you can teach and it's not something that's appreciated the same way by everyone. if you really don't feel like you can do it then maybe point yourself towards genres where memorable melodies don't really matter at all (glitch, noise, ambient, dubstep etc.)
.
idk why you brought up chipstep though, cause the only really memorable chipstep track is moe moe kyunstep :v

[samulis]

I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I've realized that a memorable melody is something you can sing. Having a good experience singing some music or listening to choral music can help (in fact, interestingly enough the entire western music tradition (at least for the most part) originated from choral music such as plainchant and hymns).

Melodies that are especially catchy are simple, often containing arpeggios or leaps to chord tones, sometimes tensions. For an older feel, one can use scales to connect the chord tones, but most modern music shies away from scales and instead uses leaps more.

If you sing or play an instrument, try coming up with a melody doing that... even humming or whistling too.

With getting a song itself to stick, there are several important factors, one of the biggest being production. Having a really slick harmony can also do a huge job of making a song stick. I tend to find songs that express a strong and clear emotion, particularly upbeat ones are adept at sticking. Pop-y influences can also help (as pop music tends to define itself as emotional and, at times, upbeat).

Getting a song to stick is a very subjective thing however... it's hard to manufacture the perfect song for everyone because not everyone likes everything. For example, I might go gaga-eyes over a renaissance piece with a really pretty melody, but someone might go nuts over a dubstep piece and think my song is the boringest piece of shit ever.

TL;DR, there's no one way to make a song stick, but one good way is to make a song that you can sing/hum/whistle and gets stuck with you.

[Phonometrologist]

At 5/26/14 09:36 PM, samulis wrote: I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I've realized that a memorable melody is something you can sing.

Melodies that are especially catchy are simple, often containing arpeggios or leaps to chord tones, sometimes tensions. For an older feel, one can use scales to connect the chord tones, but most modern music shies away from scales and instead uses leaps more.

If you sing or play an instrument, try coming up with a melody doing that... even humming or whistling too.

Yes good input. I think about the piano works of Chopin where his melodies are often inspired by the voice and the opera singers of the day.

[samulis]

At 5/26/14 10:06 PM, Phonometrologist wrote: Yes good input. I think about the piano works of Chopin where his melodies are often inspired by the voice and the opera singers of the day.

Exactly, but it isn't only strictly for classical or even orchestral music. This principle applies to any catchy melody, be it pop, rock, jazz, or even electronic (e.g. can you sing the mario theme or nyan cat off the top of your head?). A lot of people like to show off how fancy their melodies can be or just put down notes, but if it is too disconnected or hard to feel no one will get it and thus no one will remember it.