So, I've always viewed song sequence as an artform in itself.
Do you guys have any rules or guidelines to creating the best album sequence? I'm not asking for hard/fast rules, just how others approach it.
At 2/12/13 05:56 PM, LemonCrush wrote: So, I've always viewed song sequence as an artform in itself.
Do you guys have any rules or guidelines to creating the best album sequence? I'm not asking for hard/fast rules, just how others approach it.
Nope.
I just put songs in order, generally from soft to hard and play the album. If some feel like they should be moved, I move them.
They usually don't end up in the same order I start them in, or even in the soft to hard kind of progression.
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Yes, it's an art.
An album should have something that holds it together, the most elaborate are concept albums (like my own, just saying).
You have to take the listener on a journey that goes beyond each individual song. Sure, the songs have to link together well but does the album flow? Are there ups and downs?
Usually you want to start with a heavy and fast one to get people interested. Place a softer one around 3-5 and ramp it back up towards the end then add an outro song. That's what I do anyway. You have to find your own way.
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Well, this is something I like to do often.
When I try to make a playlist that is meant to be more than something to just be put on shuffle, I try to match songs of similar sound, genre, and theme. Then, I try to line them up in way that can carry a listener - tell a story.
I took the liberty of taking a screenshot of one such list I made called "DreamZone," partly after the last song in the list, but also because I designed it with the intent of tripping out.
I have a slight color association with songs. I'm not exactly sure why, and I'm fairly sure it's not synethesia, but I added the colors I associate to this picture, just to try to help illustrate what I mean by similar. I might be missing a few as I'm going off of memory with a few.
I think the text in the picture kind of explains the rest.
The first few songs introduce genres and most of the sound variety. It works out decently because they are all done by the same artist. Classical, rock, and DnB genres combine with epic, trippy, and space themes.
technically, this list also coincidentally works on loop, though not the best.
also, a few songs in the list are from traxinspace if you want to listen to it for yourself
Basically,
A good album = tastefully sequenced emotions
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Basically, the way I do it is to listen to the end of a song and match that ending up with a song whose beginning sounds good coming off of it. I do that until the album is complete.
Some songs end up in different places from which I had initially wanted them to be. If a song I just made sounds better coming off of a pre-existing track or if it sounds better preceding a pre-existing track than the song that had been preceding said pre-existing track, then I put it there. If this is the case, then the song that was replaced in the order has to be either repositioned, possibly left where it is (if it works) or cut from the album entirely.
