At 11/4/23 10:44 PM, cccmccc wrote:
i don't know how to make music... it evades me completely. I have the tools! I've tinkered in so many programmes, jammed with so many instruments, but i've never put the pieces together in a way that feels good. sometimes I feel like those people who say they have aphantasia and can't "imagine an apple" image in their head... I have no idea how to turn the quiet into something that sounds okay! even if i try to make something that sucks, it doesn't even feel like a song to me, just some noise. i'd like to try, though.
Anyway, enough about me, tell me about YOU! What's your workflow? How do you get in the zone to make music? do you start with a drumbeat, do you start with a melody? how do you know when a song is done? what's your favourite part of making music? is music is your artistic medium of choice, tell me about it! maybe i'll understand a little more about the art if i listen to the artists? :) (also this is my first ng forum topic! hello!)
Hello! And what an excellent question you have posed to us. It's funny because the advice I will give to someone who wants to make music but doesn't know how to is to just "make something anyway, even if it's eight seconds or if it's not very good", but that appears to not work for you. But never mind, maybe just reading about how other people make music will help you.
So, the thing is, my workflow is wildly inconsistent. I recently did a music project for Inktober where I wrote a song every day for each prompt and the only thing I had to go off of for each day other than the given word was a general vibe that I wanted. So for CHAINS I already knew I wanted it to be a fast song. For WANDER I had already had it in my head that I wanted it to feel a bit sad and I had even written some lyrics down that I wanted to use. However with that particular song I originally had it in my head that it was going to be a very slow, almost smooth-sounding song if that makes any sense? But what it turned out to be in the end was a sad, but somewhat upbeat song as well.
With both of the songs I just mentioned though, the first thing I did was just play around on my keyboard for a bit until something came to me that I thought would sound good. I mean it makes sense in a way, a Piano can either give you your chord progression or your melody (or both!) so why not start with it?
But another thing I noticed that I was doing, particularly for the later prompts, was that I would often start writing the Bass first. I think part of that for me was because I tend to make my bass lines very simple, so starting with Bass and making it slightly more complex then gives me a foundation for everything else. But really that's just me.
Drums are usually the second or third thing I do. I only ever do Drums first if I have a particular rhythm in my head that I want to use, but generally I find starting off with drums a bit hard. I find it's best to do melody and/or bass first and build the drums around them.
As for the other questions...how do I know a song is done? Well, I suppose for me it's "this song should end after this bit" or "Okay, now let's have all the instruments pull back and we'll end it". Stuff like that.
What's my favourite part of making music? That initial burst I get when something just clicks and I'm playing what I've made back and going "Yeah, this sounds awesome!".
Music is my artistic medium of choice mostly because I grew up with music. My father plays guitar and has written many songs with other people, he showed me how to make music at a young age with programs like eJay. I learnt how to play clarinet as a child, then self-taught myself how to play drums as a teen/young adult just because I wanted to. I listen to lot of music in my spare time. etc. I have written down MANY song and album ideas over the years that I would love to work on some day. Right now for me I'm still learning, but even for what I've made so far with my current knowledge I really like what I've done.
My advice would be, based on what you've said, is to listen to the type of music you WANT to make. Music often comes with some sort of story or message. What do you want to say? Is there a story you want to tell? Is there a message you want to convey to a listener? Do you just want to sing or rap about your own feelings or experiences? All of those and more are valid. Once you have that down, you may start forming ideas in your head. You may be able to "Imagine the Apple" as you put it. If you can do that, you will starting forging your own path.
Hope this all helps, and good luck! If you have any further questions feel free to DM me!
