In this post I will document my "research" and will also include some ideas I have come up with.
Firstly, I got 2 points off on my timeline and I redid it - I'm not sure if I redid it well enough but here you go:
Research
I am doing a lot of research on melody-producing making. Here are the resources and stuff I used:
1.
I am watching the video as I type. The person goes through a lot of music theory basics that I know already. I thought it was really interesting how she played every note of the scale over every single chord. It definitely would be helpful because you would be able to hear how every note sounds with your chord progression. However, I don't really know how you just "pick tones that sound good"; I will have to work on that. I guess I'm not xNxx enough lol
Rating: First step is cool but meh 5/10
2.
Obviously this isn't going to be exactly what I am looking for but it will probably give me insights into how a piece is really made.
Too much repetition...
I don't actually like the piece very much. And like what is it???
Rating: What on earth is this??? 2/10
3.
Another video with a different guy who seems to know what he is doing:
The guy seems to be able to immediately get out a cool melody but I still don't know how he does it. I haven't reached my goal yet then. Maybe I have to work on that myself. And still too repetitive.
Rating: Same as above 2/10
4.
Another video from a different channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj1VC_rfaP4
This seems like a FL Studio tutorial (I do have to learn how to use music production software eventually but not now)
Watching the guy make a melody was cool, I'm not sure if I'm learning anything though.
Rating: It sounded cool and was cool to watch but like didn't do anything sorry 3/10
5.
Another different video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA7gdz56LtY
Seems like what I am looking for.
Use notes from the chords - well duh but only using the notes from the chords won't sound that good, and I don't know how to manipulate notes that well either.
Passing notes - nothing I don't know yet. Still, I am confused how these people take the notes and put them in the right time and place; I cannot do that. Also really repetitive.
Yeah I got too lazy to listen to the whole thing
Rating: Interesting 6/10
6.
A website now
https://www.musictheoryacademy.com/composing-music/writing-a-melody/
Darn I have to actually put effort into making up random strings of music??? I thought I could just find the secret rules for thinking better... I am so sad now... 🍄
"Motif writing" seems intelligent. I did that with the previous piece I made with my friend and am trying to do so now as well. It also kinda sorta explains how it's done too.
"Writing a melody over a chord progression" also seems intelligent and manageable; I know what chords are and am good at playing around with those. But then it says to just "improvise a melody". Again that is my main issue...
Rating: Actually tells me stuff 8/10
7.
The last (for now): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD3VMQpTI48
Ok this seems helpful and also very simple and easy. However I will not use the exact same chord progression and notes (it does seem kind of restricting). The repeated chord progression also seems too repetitive. I'm also not sure if this is the type of thing I should be looking for (improvisation sounds too jazz-y). It also seems a bit too flexible. I think it would be easy to mess around like this and sort of make it into a more suitable melody.
Rating: Spends 10+ minutes talking about a single trick 6/10
8.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVuZp5gZCgA
Well, I was only going to do seven but I saw this one and it looked interesting enough to record down here.
It seems nice (gneiss) at first glance because I know how to find chords and a chord progression, and it tells you how to just build off of one of those. It turns out I need a chord progression to make a melody.
Ok it seems super super simple, which has its upsides and downsides. The simplicity will help with my bad-at-composingness and my laziness, but will also make it harder for me to further develop these simpler ideas. (And my goodness that is an extremely ugly staff.)
Rating: Too easy? But doable 7/10
In the end, a lot of these things are just ultra-specific tips and strategies. They are helpful but there aren't many overall takeaways.
Add to important list: Start with a chord progression, there are no shortcuts (do random things until something sounds good), play around with different chord progressions which will help with improvisation and stuff
Real Stuff
Here is what I have come up with so far. It is currently really bad and I do have to practice it more but I don't feel like it right now haha.
https://bit.ly/ooohoogoogoohoogogog0
If you have any sort of suggestion please tell me I don't care how offending or mean it is just tell me so I can make it good
Commented on Evan Bananis, Stefan Preutu, Jack Pickel
Josiah! Your progress is coming along super well, it sounds great! Don't be so harsh on yourself! I don't know how to explain this, but part of it kind of had Coldplay song vibes, which is cool. Your ratings are helpful if I ever do decide to look into composing, I will already have good sources! Your blog is also super interesting to read. Good job! -Kate
ReplyDeleteDon't be so harsh on yourself, music is a creative process and you may have dry spots at times. Personally I love the personality with the post but I feel like you use the review of sources too much. The ratings might be helpful to anybody who wants to might be doing a music goal (although a lot of them are lowly rated).- Chris
ReplyDelete