any tips for composing?

[To The Rope]

ive been trying to write my own music for a while now, and i just cant really get the melodic tone i want, i know some basic theory, just looking for some tips

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

there are no rules when writing songs. record what you have and keep adding stuff, change it around, make it awesome.
yeah im drunk

 

[FrostbittenGrimness]

Learn more theory. It will help you form more ideas, and when you're able to form these ideas in the first place, you'll be able to purposefully break them to create whatever you want.

 

[King Chaos]

Some of my most interesting stuff comes from just ignoring alot of the theory. Try just crunching together odd rhythms and odd note groupings, fairly randomly, then tweak it to make it sound good. I made an entire EP doing stuff like that. Was totally derranged.

What's most important is you need to find yourself a sound that you don't find challenging to write in. One that can be systematic. My serious projects I usually do the whole, solo melodies.. rhythmic progression, riff, fast black metally bit, slower black metally bit, rhythmic chaos, quiet bit, more swedishy nonesense, rhythmic swedishy nonesense, doom, buildup, big outro riff.

I mean, that's just how I think.

 

[lycanthropyhowl]

theory is a good thing, but basicly if it sounds good, than keep it going. if a song sounds unfinnished dont give up untill it is.

 

[BlackViking666]

All the advice here is really good...
I like to listen to some of my favorite bands when writing you will be surprised how much you can learn from the bands you listen to.

 

[felipemomo]

if you want a melodeath sound use a lot Am scale. this also aplies for gthic/black, but make it trill. also for black use a lot of tremolos. for some trash use maybe blues scales on powerchords and use varied b and #s. also some artificial harmonics here and there work. for power or folk use a lot C scale with a bit of A scale mixed in it.

 

[Thidrek]

I don't like Am respectively C for it's boring for every keyboardist cause it embodies no semi-notes
I really enjoy Em

But play a bit around with scales. Write some odd melody in let's say C and convert it in some random scales so you'll see what fits your style perfectly!

 

[felipemomo]

I don't like Am respectively C for it's boring for every keyboardist cause it embodies no semi-notes
I really enjoy Em

But play a bit around with scales. Write some odd melody in let's say C and convert it in some random scales so you'll see what fits your style perfectly!

yeah, Em is pretty cool. also mixing it (or any scale) with a one tune distance one (in this case D or F# ) creates a more complex and original sound maybe for death-oriented genres

 

[Entropiastrife]

if you want a melodeath sound use a lot Am scale. this also aplies for gthic/black, but make it trill. also for black use a lot of tremolos. for some trash use maybe blues scales on powerchords and use varied b and #s. also some artificial harmonics here and there work. for power or folk use a lot C scale with a bit of A scale mixed in it.

First off melodeath uses locrian, harmonic minor, natural minor, melodic minor, and pentatonic scales mostly. And, like all music, uses scales in every tonic, not just "a minor". You do realize there are other minor scales than a minor which sound nearly identical aside from the register they are in. scales are about the intervals between the notes, not the notes themselves.

I don't like Am respectively C for it's boring for every keyboardist cause it embodies no semi-notes
I really enjoy Em

But play a bit around with scales. Write some odd melody in let's say C and convert it in some random scales so you'll see what fits your style perfectly!

this is rather dumb. A minor natural has the same intervals and sound of any other natural minor scale, it just happens to have no black keys on a piano making it easier to play in.

you guys don't seem to understand the idea behind scales.

yeah, Em is pretty cool. also mixing it (or any scale) with a one tune distance one (in this case D or F# ) creates a more complex and original sound maybe for death-oriented genres

no, it just creates the dissonance of a major 2nd which can sound ugly (in a bad way) unless you modulate down with the proper chords as well.


and yes you can play and compose music without theory but either a) it sounds good, because you can pick out proper tonal chords and scales by ear, but would save yourself a lot of time if you knew them or b) it sounds like shit because your ear cannot pick up on the fact that the solos are out of key or the chords sound ugly and make no musical sense together

 

[Cervantes]

Just play what you feel, try to write a melodie which can describe your mood. In the beginning i just played different notes, sometimes you can find good melodies just by accident .
This year i have written 20 songs for my band and i still writing more (just by translating my emotions to the music) the funny thing is that all of the 20 songs are good (that's what the other band members say). But they are always getting angry when i come up with another one 'cause we have so many unfinnished ones . You can get insperation not only from music but also from books or movies etc.
Hope this helps..

 

[Thidrek]

this is rather dumb. A minor natural has the same intervals and sound of any other natural minor scale, it just happens to have no black keys on a piano making it easier to play in.

my post was not meant to be taken serious thoroughly!

 

[felipemomo]

First off melodeath uses locrian, harmonic minor, natural minor, melodic minor, and pentatonic scales mostly. And, like all music, uses scales in every tonic, not just "a minor". You do realize there are other minor scales than a minor which sound nearly identical aside from the register they are in. scales are about the intervals between the notes, not the notes themselves.



this is rather dumb. A minor natural has the same intervals and sound of any other natural minor scale, it just happens to have no black keys on a piano making it easier to play in.

you guys don't seem to understand the idea behind scales.




no, it just creates the dissonance of a major 2nd which can sound ugly (in a bad way) unless you modulate down with the proper chords as well.


and yes you can play and compose music without theory but either a) it sounds good, because you can pick out proper tonal chords and scales by ear, but would save yourself a lot of time if you knew them or b) it sounds like shit because your ear cannot pick up on the fact that the solos are out of key or the chords sound ugly and make no musical sense together

now you know about composing. still, normally Am creates a cheesy melody cool for power and some guthemberg that can if its handled well, be also a "tough melody". and the mixing of one tune away scales, yes has to be handled with care.

the other day i discovered that mixing minor and mayor Cs can create a viking or folkish sound

 

[Bryant]

ive been trying to write my own music for a while now, and i just cant really get the melodic tone i want, i know some basic theory, just looking for some tips

I have advice for you everyone in the world will hate...... write on an acoustic. Use a few chords to make your song. Make a song simple and catchy then expand on it to make it as progressive and as complicated as you want to. Don't try to do it he other way around.


Bryant

 

[Thidrek]

That might be a good idea and sounds kinda simple as well but I for example am not really able to write songs this way. I usually compose complex but crappy melodies and simplify them afterwards.
So try what suits you best.

 

[XvoraZ]

Hi everybody! Ive just found this forum and this interesting thread. Youve got really good tips and this thread evokes quiete many thoughts in me.
Before I say anything I must say that I have not one complete song in metal style as I m new in metal, I worked with classical music so far.

I cant really tell whether composing from theory is good. I never do so, but learned quiete a bit theory so it might be that it comes a sort of interior from me...
My problem is that i try to write in a style quiet new for me and for instruments I barely now. I think i have good ideas, melodies, maybe chord progressions (at least some say I have), but when I try to make it a song I always spoil it... When I try to make my chords into riffs it beaces boring, the rythms are also shit and so on so it just not gets music and especially not metal music. I dont want to throw away my classical music knowledge cause I think it can be integreted into metal and maybe this is what could make my music special, but so far my music is somewhere between metal and classical but in a wrong sense...

XZ

 

[Thidrek]

I think, a good way to get to know what metal music is about is "analyzing" metal songs you like with all their instruments. what settings do they use? what techniques? how is the whole song arranged? and stuff like this.
i think that'll help most!

 

[XvoraZ]

I think, a good way to get to know what metal music is about is "analyzing" metal songs you like with all their instruments. what settings do they use? what techniques? how is the whole song arranged? and stuff like this.

Good tip. Im doing it. Hope it helps. GP rulez especially with RSE.

 

[Thidrek]

indeed, it's great and helps alot

 

[XvoraZ]

1-Would it be possible to share songs here. I mean gp tabs or recorded songs? Phaps in mail? Or do you know a site for this?

2-Metal Theory. Is there such thing? Special chord progressions? Special forms? I see that Children of Bodom has many songs whith T, T, GuitarSolo, KeySolo, Coda structure. Can it be generalized?