Ableton Forum

it seems like everytime i hop on ableton i put together a really strong drum beat and bassline but when it comes to the harmony and lead i always get stuck.

how can i get past this?

try making drum and bass... ftw. and just use pads, and some white noise.

max crespo wrote:it seems like everytime i hop on ableton i put together a really strong drum beat and bassline but when it comes to the harmony and lead i always get stuck.

how can i get past this?

why don't you start by making a lead and build the drums and bass around that?
or is that too obvious an answer?

Learn some music theory? Try learning some chords / songs on the piano in whatever style floats your boat, like jazz, or some beatles songs, or some gospel or whatever.

Half an hour a day will pay off after a few months.

Lots of tutorials on youtube BTW.

Sing a lead...record it to an audio track. Then work out what you sang. Done.

Once you have the lead you can figure out a harmony to go with it.

Work with somebody whose natural aptitude is toward melody and harmony.
You'll get outcomes you wouldn't have normally, and also possibly gain some melody yourself.

I get melodies by just walking away from the computer and making a coffee, while I wait for the percolator I usually find myself mentally doo-be-doo-ing something. I then jog back to put it down.
My problem is too many different melodies in one song!

Just fill a bar with 16th notes on C3, then go on moving around the notes by octaves (12 steps), fifths (7 steps), thirds (5 steps) etc, deleting some, shortening some, stretching out some - just mess around, you'll find useful stuff in the end.

I have to say that advice makes me wince.

So much low level music sounds like exactly that, just random meaningless notes placed in a baffled manner. Please, if we want to call ourselves musicians surely thinking up a tune shouldn't be beyond us.

Angstrom wrote:I have to say that advice makes me wince.

So much low level music sounds like exactly that, just random meaningless notes placed in a baffled manner. Please, if we want to call ourselves musicians surely thinking up a tune shouldn't be beyond us.

+1

to learn music theory, or skip music theory, that is the question...and this is where you decide...

you could always slap a scale plug and a chord plug on there and bang away...but.....

As much as theory is useful, I'm not sure that theory is at the core of this issue.

A good tune is driven by something more than just theory, it's got to have some balls. A tune built robotically on a progression is just as likely to sound dead and mechanical as plonking notes blindly onto a grid, a progression might sound more 'correct' harmonically. But without a creative drive behind it, it'll be dull.

Music theory is like a business management course, essential to prevent you going bankrupt - but meaningless unless you have a good business idea in the first place.

Angstrom wrote:I have to say that advice makes me wince.

So much low level music sounds like exactly that, just random meaningless notes placed in a baffled manner. Please, if we want to call ourselves musicians surely thinking up a tune shouldn't be beyond us.

If you had read my post carefully you would have grasped that I haven't said: "Take the first random result which comes up".

It's just one means for lacking inspiration. If you manage to come up with sth good, then it's ok. It's the final result that counts. No need for production ethics here I guess.

get a keyboard, and play, play, play...

the coffee do-be-dooing advice is also very good, I often let a loop loop and loop while getting on the internet, checking emails, etc. and really often a melody comes to mind...

next step is harder, when you want to write/record this intuitive melody, and then, there is practice, practice...


good luck

cheers

Angstrom wrote:As much as theory is useful, I'm not sure that theory is at the core of this issue.

A good tune is driven by something more than just theory, it's got to have some balls. A tune built robotically on a progression is just as likely to sound dead and mechanical as plonking notes blindly onto a grid, a progression might sound more 'correct' harmonically. But without a creative drive behind it, it'll be dull.

Music theory is like a business management course, essential to prevent you going bankrupt - but meaningless unless you have a good business idea in the first place.

sounds like your only talking about scales...don't forget that brio, dissonance, passing notes, improvisation and so many other nuances all are part in music theory...

personally, i get inspired through theory...options on where to go next (far from robotic, or predetermined)..and how to step out and back in to scales...

It amazes me to think that people actually think - take music theory or not.

Admittedly a bad teacher, or someone that's ust going to teach you western classical theory might casue you some problems.

but, not being able to harmonise a melody, or understanding the basic rules of melody, being able to put together a chord progression and understand why it sounds good or bad or what it's doing strikes me as crayzee.

It's like saying i want to be consistent 10% of the time, rather than 60-80% of the time.

But, each to their own.

To the op, find a bloke called Duncan Lorien, he teaches all over the world. Go do his music course then beg borrow and steal to do his songwriting course. Thank me later for it.

I spent years struggling self taught, did 2 weekends with him and now understand music inside out. My reading isn't as quick as I'd like, but I get music like I never did before.

And once you do you will laugh at the thought that not having music theory is somehow better.