Ableton Forum

For some odd reason I love listening to upbeat 4/4 electronic music, and whenever I hear it am inspired to have a go myself, yet whenever I sit down to write music I usually end up writing down-tempo keys-led music.

Anyone else find they don't naturally write the kind of music they'd like to?

and has anyone found a way to free themselves from their groove?

check out 'donkey rhubarb' by aphex twin

ridiculously up-beat, and something I'd love to recreate/figure out

that happens to everyone, especially if you don't understand music theory. The best thing you can do is actually bring the track into your live session. It sounds stupid by try to emulate everything about it. What makes the beat kick..? What is it about that bassline that grooves so much? I guarantee you no matter what you try to do, you won't be able to completely copy it, but you may be able to get the feel, and at least make something more uptempo than you had been doing.

Beyond that, you should learn as much music theory as you can. Alot of what makes a track upbeat has to do with 3 things: rhythmic syncopation, key/scale choice, and chord progression in relation to melodic placement... There's obviously alot more to it than that, and tension/release for me is the biggest part of it. Good luck, have fun.

yes, but i think there can be fairly obvious reasons for that. i love d'angelo's voodoo, but my music sounds nothing like it, cause i'm come out of rock bands. so i can neither sing nor swing like d. i suspect there's something similar in where your music ends up -- it's likely you're strength, what you most comfortable with or somesuch. i'm not saying not to try to do new things -- do, it's excellent fun, you end up nifty places, etc. but i wouldn't be too bothered if you can't necessarily ape your favorite artists or songs. (fwiw, i don't think it has much to do with theory -- i have the theory to understand (e.g.) stevie W, but i still can't pull off anything like what he does (mainly because his songs are piano based, mine are largely guitar based, which dramatically affects the chord changes you play etc.)

I would love to sound like autechre but I just can't pull it off, but it's a good thing cause I sound like myself. I think it's a blessing to not be able to sound like exactly what you want to sound like but rather end up sounding like whatever you do sound like.
you end up being who you are instead of who you want to be.

sussing out melodies & chords is easy.....

figuring out the percussion is where I hit the brick wall, and usually fall short of what I'm trying to re-create. Its a matter of time I suppose, its just about attaining the knowledge and not forgetting it

re precussion, much of its wicked hard to figure out because of the interplay with the rest of the beat, and if it's not exactly right, it sounds lame. e.g., dc gogo has a very specific countersomething you play on rototoms, but until someone shows you, it just makes no sense (b/c played alone it doesn't add up to much).

my point wasn't to sound like everyone else.. my point was to be able to breakdown the components of what you like in any artist, to the point where you understand exactly what moves you. Any music teacher will tell you that, and in any class you go to, analysis is a huge component, doesn't even matter if it's music, or mathematics, or physics, or linguistics. You have to be able to analyze what your doing, and what others are doing, to be able to compare, contract, and creatively differentiate... and, borrow. There's nothing wrong with mimicing. In fact, nothing is purely created in a bubble. Everything you do is built upon the backs of others, whether you want to admit or not.

the best way for me to analyse & understand something I like is to try and recreate it. if you can recreate it, you understand it. its just an excercise, definatly not what I would recommend you do with your own music/art.

the best way for me to analyse & understand something I like is to try and recreate it. if you can recreate it, you understand it. its just an excercise, definatly not what I would recommend you do with your own music/art.

that's exactly what i meant.. albeit, said in a different way.

yep

I listen to a lot of clicks'n'cuts stuff, and these days all my own stuff comes out as either glitchy techno or sappy melodic shit... grr. I want to do more glitch and grimey tracks - I think I need to be mad about something.


This forum needs more trolls

I've problems too! I love and i want to make Electro (electrofunk), but when i try to create it i loose the groove and my track goes into trance!

Electric Trancer: That's exactly what I'm getting at. Start off with one thing in mind then slip in to what's comfortable without realising.