drumnbass.be forum » Production » Production questions & answers » How to write a melody How to write a melody Author Post LPF Newbie Registration Date: 26-10-2009 Posts: 9 One of my biggest failure points is making a decent melody that is at least interesting, does anyone have any tips of writing one? 01-11-2009 10:34 cynik Cp6uja Registration Date: 15-03-2005 Posts: 5,646 Helpfulness rating:  wtf. listen to your favorite tunes and try to reconstruct melodies to find what key and chords you prefer __ https://soundcloud.com/tsai-vidro-voves 01-11-2009 10:45 Zugzwang Doin' it for the love Registration Date: 13-05-2009 Posts: 206 Helpfulness rating:  I suggest reading up on melody and harmony. Chords, and especially major chords, have groups of notes that sound good together. If you take the individual notes that make up a decent sounding chord and try and arrange them into different patterns, you might come up with some cool stuff. You might also take a chord and arpeggiate it in an ascending or descending fashion, this is like doing the above except with less possibilities and creativity. Try playing with different timings and note placements, for example using patterns that play triplets. You can play notes really close together to get a stutter effect if that's what you're going for. The possibilities are endless really, just make sure everything is in the same key and it harmonizes nicely with the rest of the track. 01-11-2009 11:25 Crispy Liquids Liquid Funkateer Registration Date: 22-05-2005 Posts: 251 Helpfulness rating:  An interesting melody is characterized often by: It doesn't stick to just one scale but plays between several scales The bassline defines the key of the melody, making it sound different even though the tones of the melody are the same The notes should be humanized, or at least quite dynamic compared to the bassline for example Variations, obviously; the bassline could take over some parts from your lead synth, or a second lead synth might come in with a countermelody Dragor also has some tutorials explaining some of the concepts: http://www.djcooler.com/dragor/ Cheers __ Crispy Liquids on Soundcloud Facebook Myspace 01-11-2009 11:29 Muad'Dib Andrejnalin Registration Date: 02-12-2003 Posts: 4,197 Helpfulness rating:  I listen to the part of the tune that requires melody of some instrument, and try to 'find' the 'right' one for that part (it is a subconscious process). I usually come up with something. Then I try to recreate that in the sequencer, but I'm following certain requirements, such as, is it long enough, is it complex/simple enough for the song/part of the song, should it be more pronounced, should it be harmonically paired with another instrument (unison, counterpoint and similarly). It is a matter of experience in creating chords, chord proressions and simple melodies, so that you can create complex melodies. __ Thinking about becoming an Image-Line/FL Studio customer? Want a 10% reduction in price? Use this affiliate link: http://affiliate.image-line.com/BADEBDG473 There is no such thing without its opposite -Bene Gesserit 01-11-2009 13:47 arclimberock Tourist Registration Date: 18-05-2009 Posts: 18 Base it on a scale, and stick to this with your other parts unless doing it for effect. Use a mixture of rythms, and steps and jumps in intervals up the scale; mix it up but use repeating motifs. Trust your ears in the end- play around on an instrument, even if its just your keyboard. __ Click_Me 10-11-2009 22:36 Travis_Huckins Rogue Ai Registration Date: 18-06-2008 Posts: 200 Helpfulness rating:  I think chronic put it very well in the "how to make a melody fit a bassline" "how to make a melody fit a bassline" __ Rogue AI-Death Star 10-11-2009 23:05 BattleDrone 2161... the future. Registration Date: 30-12-2005 Posts: 6,413 Helpfulness rating:  quote: Originally posted by Travis_Huckins I think chronic put it very well in the "how to make a melody fit a bassline" "how to make a melody fit a bassline" Either that or make techstep which doesn't have melodies. __ Check my soundcloud (exclusive tracks on there) 10-11-2009 23:15 Nick ZZ Master Producer Registration Date: 29-05-2005 Posts: 960 Helpfulness rating:  Sometimes I will use a midi file or sample as the idea/foundation of a melody and then alter it to make it personalized by changing a few keys around or re-arrange the keys backwards. You might be surprised what you can come up with in a matter of 30sec. Cheers. __ Nick & Erina Z http://www.beatbiz.net/artist.php?USERID=493 11-11-2009 12:49 drumnbass.be forum » Production » Production questions & answers » How to write a melody