Yeah, I realize that what I was recording 2 months ago even had more structure than this, and the disciplined composer-y parts are the hardest for me. I've been playing guitar for 5 years, but with huge lapses where I didn't touch it.
To get started, it might be an idea to just try playing some fairly generic chord progressions like I, V, VI, IV and singing a melody over the top of it to get used to writing something? Improvisation is a great way to write and play but you need experience and a foundation to be good at it.
I know the drum ones are embarrassingly out of time. I do have some understanding of chords and theory, much of what I rootless dyads where I play the 4+5 or the 3+7, I guess I thought there was more variation than there actually is. I haven't just been recording noodling, but it's only like a couple of hours worth of thinking about what I want to play before I do it so the writing is just super weak.
To put it into perspective, most of my music takes me at least four or five weeks of work before I release them. That includes them going through multiple revisions, much tweaking, and sometimes even complete rewrites of sections. Now, especially when you're just starting out I'm not saying that's the kind of effort you need to put in. What I will say is this: every song you write should have a theme, or a direction, or a goal; something you're working towards when writing it and something that you can have your listeners remain interested in throughout the entirety of the song. That could be a chord progression, different melodies and harmonies, multiple "movements" of a song, or something. Lyrics help but they're not at all necessary. I'm mostly an orchestral/cinematic writer for games and videos so take all my advice with a grain of salt, but the general ideas work in pretty much any genre of music.
I'll break down one of my more recent songs for you. It's a completely different genre altogether but the same rules and ideas still apply.
https://soundcloud.com/papkee/waterfall
0:00-1:05 - intro to the song, I'm starting off with a simple piano riff and some diddles. It establishes a chord progression and not much more.
1:05-1:50 - here I introduce a new chord progression and (without people realizing it) the main melody that comes back in the climax of the song
1:50-2:15 - I pick up the pace and introduce one more new chord progression. This is where the tone shifts and the song starts to pick up energy that was lacking towards the beginning. So far the whole song has been slowly building towards something - but the listeners don't really know what yet
2:15-2:27 - here's a trick you can use. After building up, cut a bunch of stuff out and get real quiet. It adds a bit of extra interest so you're not just repeating the same thing over and over
2:27-3:05 - the main and final buildup to the song's climax. This is using the same chord progression we've been using, but more elements are getting added with every measure and it's working towards the final "drop" if you want to call it that
3:05-4:17 - hey, guess what? Here's that same melody we introduced all those sections ago with a little modification. You probably didn't even realize it. This part of the song has the most going on in it - but I still try and keep it fresh by adding new elements, changing up chords, and bringing in some additional harmonies and not just doing the same repetitive chords over and over.
4:17-end - I wrap up the song by using the melody one more time. Ending songs is exceptionally difficult for me and I've only gotten somewhat decent at it. I enjoy bringing back one element from the main song as a small little reprise at the end, to wrap everything up nicely.
TL;DR - every part of the music you write should have some purpose. Right now, you're playing patterns and chords which is not a bad thing. However, if you want to get better, listen, listen, listen. The more you observe how the artists of the genre you're writing for do things, the more those same things will work their way into your own music. I've been at this for 9 years now, and let me tell you: the stuff I wrote in the first two years is garbage. I'll go back and listen to it every now and then and it's amazing how I thought I was so good when the songs I was making were one step above generic loops you can download in sample packs mashed together.
I hope this gives you a little inspiration. As musicians, the best thing we can do to further our art is listening with intent, meaning looking for specific details of the songs we like and understanding what and why certain parts of the songs sound the way they do.
Okay that's the end of my stream of consciousness. Also don't judge me for self-promoting but I'm a big fan of that song I wrote and like sharing it
You shouldn't apologise for self-promotion, especially when your stuff is so incredibly good. This thread's essentially for self-promotion and feedback anyway, so don't sweat it! You wrote something called Broken Sea or something ages ago and I believe I left a comment on that and liked it (one of the few things I have liked on Soundcloud.) You're very talented!
I forgot to mention earlier that I think either your amp has some weird settings, or there's something wrong with your guitar. The sound you're getting from the guitar doesn't sound right at all. I think you should see if you can address that first.
https://soundcloud.com/user-567376538/battlebeacon
Here's something. Give feedback if you want to.
Started singing two weeks ago, this is what I've came up with
https://soundcloud.com/user-198917421/riders-on-the-storm
I can't get past 0:24 because of verizon, but your voice seems to be in the right range and the guitar is nice so far. I skipped to 1:30 and got to 1:43 before I gave up on trying to listen, and overall it sounds good, but less "intense" than the Doors one.
My first time ever posting on this thread. I've always been the type to make music by just throwing already made instrumental tracks into Audacity and such. But I had just gotten Mixcraft 8 Pro and I pretty much spent my first day trying to learn everything on how it works, even now I don't know it all yet, but I made 2 tracks for the current time to try to practice. Let me know what you all think.
https://soundcloud.com/user-31096942-963090675/inner-minds-ost-2-adagio-for-synthesis
https://soundcloud.com/user-31096942-963090675/inner-mind-ost-1-palalus
Palalus: I think mostly everything here worked well, though the stereo effect at first is kind of jarring.
Adagio: It sounds pleasant, but stretches the premise too long for me.
Are these meant to be soundtrack/background songs? I like Palalus quite a bit in that role, and they're titled OST.
Guys, have we all forgot the N°1 rule here?
Please, enforce it. I know it can sometimes be a little forced, but giving C&C on other people's work is necessary.
I think this also comes down to the lack of general content on the thread. I really miss the days on oldpunch, where this thread was a bit more alive.
Every recording I've heard from you has a really bizarre guitar sound. I think you need to sort out however you're recording it before writing more things because it doesn't sound right at all. Either way, having 2m30 of the same short loop is not very interesting - you need more variation and more going on. Having more than one instrument/part is ideal too, unless you're writing something reasonably full that can stand on its own. It did have a sorta 'alien' eeriness though, something that could maybe be interesting in certain soundtracks if the way you were recording it wasn't so bizarre.
I liked the first half of the first one a lot, but it became a bit repetitive in the second half and less interesting. I definitely think the first half had more room to develop and it's definitely a great start for making new music.
The second one I wasn't much a fan of, but you're new to this so that's okay. The harmonies seemed a bit random. Have you got a basic understanding of how theory and stuff fits music together? If not, it might be good to learn some of that stuff, as it really helps when writing.
Yeah, I think towards the end of the last page, people stopped providing feedback. I've provided people feedback today who didn't add any themselves, but please add feedback before you post your music in the future, everyone.
Appreciate your feedback and I want to lean more into the role of simple instrumental soundtracks, but I decided to label them as OSTs mainly for labeling purposes, probably not the proper way to do it but I'll take any advice for it.
And to tell you the truth I don't really have a clue on creating perfect harmonies. I listen to a lot of Tim Hecker and Edward Artemiev and I prefer music like that, so most of the tunes and patterns of scale I create is all by ear. But if you have a recommendation for where I can learn better harmonies, that would he great.
Thanks for the feedback!
So I got an abundance of stuff today that I have been working on for the past days. A mix of everything so I can use your feedback. Continuing to get the hang of it and mostly practicing different genere's and stuff.
Starflush - Ambient Track
https://soundcloud.com/user-31096942-963090675/inner-minds-ost-3-starflush
Love for All Mankind - Ambient
https://soundcloud.com/user-31096942-963090675/inner-minds-ost-4-love-for-all-mankind
From Hell - Synthetic Horror
https://soundcloud.com/user-31096942-963090675/inner-minds-ost-5-from-hell
Into the Fray (I have to upload this one to another website because for some reason Soundcloud Copyrighted it even though I made it entirely through Mixcraft)
https://instaud.io/3IDv
Bonus
Half Life 2 - Central Park Shootout (Not made by me, but made by my Brother who I introduced to for this program. He made his own HL2 Style Track)
https://soundcloud.com/user-347762963/half-life-2-central-park-shootout
I'll take any feedback I get, thank you for listening!
Welp I made one more for the count which is my favorite. Took a lot of inspiration from Eric Serra for this one.
https://soundcloud.com/user-31096942-963090675/inner-minds-ost-7-for-a-while
@The Devils Own I'm not going to comment on your songs because you need to read the thread rules.
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It's unfortunate how far back I have to go to find people giving feedback, not that the thread is alive, but whatever.
@Papkee Waterfall: I know you were posting that track as an example of some things, but I really liked it and your explanation is really good. I am slowly learning this stuff on my own, but it helps to have you lay it out like that. You are also really good at melody, you must play piano? I played saxophone and clarinet for years, but I find I always default to jazz melodies since that is what I played mostly, so melody is something I struggle with.
@I was boobies Malignant Revery: Piano is nice and meaty, but warm, I like whatever setup you are using to record. The piano riff in the beginning is simple, but quite enjoyable and works well for the back-up to the singing. I like the transition you do at around 1 minute and then how it blends into the singing, though that section feels a little rushed, but not intentionally so (which I think you probably meant to do). The song has a lot of nice variety right when it needs it, very engaging and all the things that I usually like. Really dig the melancholy tone you always nail.
As far as the vocals go, its kind of the same comments I think I've given in the past. They are quite unique, obviously inspired by a few things (The darkness? Radiohead?), but unique enough to be your own. They are also SO close to being amazing. I really like the higher register that you tend to stay in, but I think you should try to work out some post-processing to really get that nasal / sharp quality out of there. If you could smooth the vocals out and take the edge off, man it would be orgasmic.
The middle drags a little before the strings / organ come in around 3:15, and again the chorus feels a little rushed afterwards. It could work either noticeably faster or slower.
The end starting at 4:50 is groovy, but feels a little out of place until you start singing. Which maybe is ok.
Overall, very enjoyable and I would listen to an album all like that for sure.
@fartparty Temporal Anomaly: I like the subject matter, I like DnB, some cool effects in the intro, but could probably use something a little more engaging to nod along with a bit earlier.
Drums are nice and crisp with a legible, but groovy beat. Once the lower end stuff kicks in at 2:05 it gets real good. Really really felt like it could use some like vocal chirps / vocal samples sporadically earlier, and maybe higher register. The vocals you chose later on are ok, but they feel a little separated from the song.
Overall, nice chill track with a lot of good parts to it. I would probably just tweak the sax(?) melodic accents to blend a little more and try maybe distorting / pitch changing the vocals a little?
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Here is something I've been working on the last couple days. Trying to make a dark space / warp / dimensional concept album with some horror / existential dread elements. Some of it is hip-hop style beats, etc. but I want it mixed with some real soundtracky songs like this one where I can picture a scene in my head. Throughout the album I'm trying to play with ethereal and otherworldly / alien sounds where possible. This one is a little light on that, but oh well...
This is by far the longest and most ambitious song I've taken on, and I'm actually really pleased with how it came out.
Picture a darker version of the scene from 2000: Space Odyssey where he goes through the monolith. Its supposed to be a person floating through void space and being sucked through a black hole type anomaly and then traversing different layers of void, chaos, etc. before arriving on the other side and feeling like something has changed.
https://soundcloud.com/user-229460575/into-the-black-iris
I can definitely see how what you wrote here fits the theme. The quieter section at around 2:20 is my favourite part - it's really eerie and disturbing. The sample choices used in that bit are also perfect, IMO. It could be an interesting idea to try and find some movie scene you think it goes with and clip it to fit, as I'm sure there's a lot of SciFi out there you can find with similar climaxes, with some editing.
It must've taken you a long time to do that all, so kudos! I don't really think I have any criticisms for it because it's been made as a soundtrack and is more setting some mood than going for convention. I do really like it though. AstroPilot did the soundtrack for Space Engine and there are elements that remind me of them.
You'd sound good with this, already you are good with that sinister western sound thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX-9RpAcSbE
I wish this music can get a new breath of fresh air.
@Smeetin Getting a lot of Tim Hecker feels from this style track. Great composer to model off of in my opinion. Especially the last 3 minutes makes you feel shit just hit the fan.
https://soundcloud.com/user-31096942-963090675/inner-minds-ost-5-portions-are-small
You definitely nailed the 80's vibe with both of these. I like the drums in the second one in particular. Only critique I'd give is maybe:
a) work on making a few of your instruments a little more wide in the stereo field. In the first one there was a lot of stuff dead-center in the track and it was a bit claustriphobic
b) expand a bit on your synth patches. In the second song you've got a unison saw with not much else going on. after a while it gets to be a little bit monotonous
That's it though. I enjoyed both quite a bit.
Okay here's my most recent orchestral track. Wrote it yesterday after finishing the Chernobyl miniseries, but other than that it really doesn't have anything to do with nuclear power.
https://soundcloud.com/papkee/rods-critical
Cheers!
@Papkee I listened to your pieces on this page and some on your soundcloud and while they both sound very professional and well-produced, none of them have a memorable melody or hook. It all definitely passes as "real" orchestral background music but that's about it imo
I think @Papkee writes good music. Orchestral background music is often just as complex as anything else. I think he mainly writes soundtracks for people.
What do you use to make these, if you don't mind me asking?
<3
I just write for fun. I wish someone would ask me to write stuff for their project.
FL Studio with Kontakt and a ton of orchestral sample packs. Plus some soundfonts thrown in for extra spiciness.
Could I borrow a midi version of that track? I'd love to remake it on a sci fiey style
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