How do you get your tunes down?

MT · February 18, 2006, 10:50:23

As a newbie I'm interested in how other people go about getting the music in their heads into a finished product in MPT. I've read posts here that say 'I made this last night' and the song they're talking about is full-length and finished, and I'm like '...holy shit'. I'm curious about the different ways people get their tunes, how they get them into a tracker, and how they elaborate on them.

Me, I can sit down with the program and try to come up with a basic tune, but usually that doesn't work out. Sometimes I can come up with stuff just walking around the house doing nothing in particular, so then I turn on my computer mic and hum the tune into it so I can try to use it later. That way I don't have to worry about forgetting it. It's also handy because I'm not quick enough to get it into Modplug without losing it yet. The AC cable for my keyboard would be handier though I imagine.

But I find I come up with my 'best' music in the twilight zone between being awake and being asleep. Music seems to just come into my head fully-formed, it's something to do with brain frequencies I think. I have no way of recording these in my bed in the middle of the night though so that's kind of a nuisance. Maybe I should get a cheap tape recorder or something.

What about you guys, how do you come up with your music?

apple-joe · February 18, 2006, 11:39:33

I haven't composed many traditional songs, however; I have created several 'full-length' musical pieces during seperated evenings. I am not 'The Master' of tracking, but I am actually able to 'get it down' quite quickly some days.

I learnt the features of Modplug before I got any useful knowledge on music. Then I learnt playing guitar, and then I learnt music theory.

I have to say the music theory part helps a lot. If you one day experiment in your tracker, but can't decide on anything, you can use music theory to plan out a structure and stick to it no matter what. Hence, you will have an outcome after all.

Regarding 'getting down' melodies from in your head to the tracker/patterns. How about focusing on intervals?

You mentioned you're in your prime in the middle of the night. Well, then track in the middle of the night! I've also created several interesting sounds in the night - it's something about the atmosphere.

LPChip · February 18, 2006, 13:01:39

I can track full-length finished songs in an evening. The reason I can do so is because I can work with MPT very fast. I know all the short-cut keys (and if you like to set one different because another program you use has these, then just change the shortcut keys using the preset-manager).

To quickly make a simple tune, don't use a premade melody. Find some sounds, and see what you can do with them. Experiment! thats the whole key to quickly made tunes. If you're successfull in them, you'll see that you can also make premade melodies in an evening. But you'll also see that it get a better result if you just take your time to make the music. You don't have to rush you know...

Sam_Zen · February 19, 2006, 01:34:18

I don't do any (western) music theory, chords, or melody lines.
I just choose the set of the instruments by importing the samples. By listening to them, I get enough ideas to start making patterns.

Blulum · February 19, 2006, 02:23:32

My usual method is sort of like improv except without actually playing an instrument, when making a melody I can sequence one note and from that know what notes I want to follow. So I basically make it up as I go along. It works quickly enough(most of my songs take 2-3 hours to write...), but I have to envy people who can hear whole songs in their heads and transcribe them, even if it does take longer.

I'm also fairly efficient, as LPChip said, that's important. Although I don't use hotkeys so much...I think the biggest efficiency block would of course be learning hexadecimal, but you don't need to have mastered it to be quick, as long as you have a basic grasp on it. For instance I have no idea off hand what 4C may be but I know it's less than 4F and more than 42...If you're doing a effect change over a period of time, visualize effect is a huge help for this anyway.

Although shift(+ctrl)+A or Q is a must learn hotkey I think, if you input a note and want to change it learning this will make it several times faster. Who knows, other hotkeys may also be a huge help, but I've really slacked on learning them since you don't really *need* to...

DavidN · February 19, 2006, 08:58:54

I usually have a much more complete-sounding song in my head than I'm currently able to reproduce using MPT, frustratingly. Nevertheless I usually come up with a chorus first, maybe a couple of lines of lyrics, write it down to see if it sounds decent, and expand outwards from there. Melody first, then rhythm guitars and drums, then chords.

A good test is to get up the next morning and see if the bit you wrote last night still sounds as good to you.

rncekel · February 19, 2006, 09:22:30

The ideas may come in unsuspected ways; I have composed some songs while walking to class, or even in a dream. I'm particulary fond of one I composed hitting an empty beer can; I got three different notes from the can, and the rest I did humming. After having drinking a lot of beer, the result was particulary complex, with a cycle of three 7/8 bars and a 4/8 bar.
Most of the times, I let the ideas rest for some time, and one day (when I begin to get bored of the same idea returning to my mind from time to time) I decide to write them, so I can forget them. And, maybe, some months later I make something out of the notes I've written down. Composing a song in this way might take me months, but I have always several song going on.

Sam_Zen · February 20, 2006, 01:01:16

Quote from: "Blulum"the biggest efficiency block would of course be learning hexadecimal, but you don't need to have mastered it to be quick, as long as you have a basic grasp on it. For instance I have no idea off hand what 4C may be but I know it's less than 4F and more than 42

Hexadecimal is really not that big deal, as soon as you realize that it is just another number-system, like decimal or octal. (I explained this to my granddaughter of seven, and she could handle it after one session)
It's just the meaning of the digits. In decimal they are powers of ten, in hexadecimal powers of sixteen. And you have to take in consideration the most right digit as a power to zero, which always means '1'.
So 42 decimal is 4 x 10^1 plus 2 x 10^0 = 40 + 2 = 42
42 hexadecimal is 4 x 16^1 plus 2 x 16^0 = 64 + 2 = 66 decimal

But conversion is not always necessary, so I agree, that it is often handy enough to know that 4C is less 4F.
I think the hex-option is very convenient in pattern-structures because it is far more efficient in the use of columns.
With two digits one has a resolution of 255 steps instead of 100.

Squirrel Havoc · February 20, 2006, 01:38:27

Wow, I envy all of you people. I never have tunes in my head, I just pick a note to start with, and try to imagine what would be best following it. I guess I'm just not a musician

fisk0 · February 20, 2006, 02:20:16

Quote from: "Squirrel Havoc"Wow, I envy all of you people. I never have tunes in my head, I just pick a note to start with, and try to imagine what would be best following it. I guess I'm just not a musician

The same goes for me mostly.
Though I often have entire songs in my head I NEVER manage to recreate them in trackers. Some times I manage to get parts somewhat the way I imagined them to, but more often the song just ends up completely different, very repetative and with quite dull samples.

Bubblenugget · February 20, 2006, 05:04:31

One of my best songs came out of a dream (Ironic that it was dreamed as a music video by Phil Collins). I was very lucky to get it down in the tracker since I couldn't get it out of my head. I'm also a night-composer. Living in a crappy apartment with a major road 3 feet from my window tends to be too big of a distraction.

It sounds like your biggest issue is a 'writer's block' of sorts. A tape recorder is a good idea. If you're having trouble remembering when it's most important, you may want to keep humming it before you even hit record. I've found that using a keyboard or guitar also help me fix the melody in my head.

One of my problems after I started using VST and downloaded millions of samples, I found myself with too many options. Don't try to find the exact, perfect sound in the beginning. There's always time to tweak it to perfection when you're done.

Whenever I'm lost for ideas in front the tracker, I just play. I find a sound that I like and a basic melody or beat. From there I just keep playing it and get new ideas on how to expand it.

Squirrel Havoc · February 20, 2006, 05:06:00

Quote from: "fisk0"often the song just ends up completely different, very repetative and with quite dull samples.

I know what you mean, my old stuff all either sounded the same, or every song was really different. I think I found (by accident) "my sound", it's when I don't sit at the PC and go "Ok, now I'm gonna make a techno/rave/amient/or classical song", thats when it comes out crappy. When I sit and go "OK, I'll just make whatever, and see what happens", thats when I make my best music.

DavidN · February 20, 2006, 08:34:13

Listening to music that's new to me always helps when I'm stuck for ideas. Sometimes, one part grabs my attention as "This sounds like a good idea, but wouldn't it be better if..." - and then I try it out in Modplug to see if it is indeed better.

Louigi Verona · February 20, 2006, 10:18:01

Quote from: "Squirrel Havoc"Wow, I envy all of you people. I never have tunes in my head, I just pick a note to start with, and try to imagine what would be best following it. I guess I'm just not a musician

it's a question of practice. start by humming something to yourself and instantly putting that in a tracker. or, when half of the song is done, shut off the computer and listen to yourself. having worked on the tune, it will be playing in yor head. Then the melodies will freely sing in your mind. get two or three themes you like, turn computer on and get them down.

but it is more important to compose in your mind, rather then getting melodies after random pressing of the keyboard. Develop your composing!

Sam_Zen · February 20, 2006, 23:49:01

2 Wong
I've learned that everybody can suffer from writer's blocks once in a while, but I know now, that I don't have to worry about it, because the 'urge to produce an egg' will come up anywhere some time. A matter of patience, this is not a thing one can articially push. But listening to other composers always can be inspiring, as seeing the statements of some great artists in a documentary, or so.