Online Sequencer Forums

Hi there,

I am quite new to this community, so before I get into depth about my question, I'll quickly introduce myself. I have very limited musical training, though I have been slowly teaching myself what works and what doesn't by using this website and a Roland JUNO-DI synth. Compared to my many of my peers, I have quite radical musical interests (e.g. synthwave). When experimenting, I have found it difficult to construct the type of music I enjoy listening. I also have a very hard time transcribing music, so writing something that sounds good to my ears can often be quite troublesome. On my synthesizer, however, I find it much easier to create music that I like better.

This brings me to my question: what are some of the most effective practices that you or others have employed to help write a melody? I know as a first step I should learn the common chords and examine other's music, but any further advice would be well appreciated.

Thanks,
-Will


P.S. I have been able to write a couple of decent songs like the following:
--- Google Drive folder of my best sounding "songs" that I have recorded elsewhere (not the clearest sounding music, btw; highlights of this playlist include "Desolation," "When the Sun Fell Upon Us," and "Taking Cover in an Ice Cave")
--- (MP3 conversion found in external audio-library linked above; "Experiment 3")
--- (probably my most melodic, yet it is definitely not the genre of music I like; I made this by accident)
--- (needs work)
--- (needs more development)

Asking to your question, in my case, i type a random sequence of harmonic notes. Then, i make a "background" with other sequence but with more notes.

I think im bad explaining that kind of information...

If you have piano, midi keyboard, virtual keyboard or whatever, just play randomly twiddle on scales until you get something that sounds like it would be good.
Then build on the riff you made, make variations of it, invert or reverse it, play it on different keys, or make another different sounding riff that's related to the previous one (a subtle way to do so is through sharing the same rhythm), or combine some or all of the techniques above.

If you want to really get technical, a good "guideline" would be following how Cantus Firmi from early western music are composed; combining leaps and stepwise motion (scales), having only one point where the melody "climaxes", no giant leaps greater than a fourth.

This video may also help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl-V2IsUprQ

(12-11-2016, 06:34 PM)Bitronic Wrote: [ -> ]If you have piano, midi keyboard, virtual keyboard or whatever, just play randomly twiddle on scales until you get something that sounds like it would be good.
Then build on the riff you made, make variations of it, invert or reverse it, play it on different keys, or make another different sounding riff that's related to the previous one (a subtle way to do so is through sharing the same rhythm), or combine some or all of the techniques above.

If you want to really get technical, a good "guideline" would be following how Cantus Firmi from early western music are composed; combining leaps and stepwise motion (scales), having only one point where the melody "climaxes", no giant leaps greater than a fourth.

This video may also help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl-V2IsUprQ

Funny enough, what you told me to do in the first paragraph is already what I do. Sometimes, it can be quite slow though. (Maybe it's just experience that helps others go faster.)

I have little to no musical knowledge aside from Online Sequencer, so I can relate, although I've been around and making stuff here for around 2 years now. I believe the best way to get good at making music is to keep making sequences, based on the type of songs you like. It may be difficult at first due to the Sequencer's and your own limitations, but it's still good to keep experimenting. 

A good way to get better is to remix other peoples' sequences. By remixing someone else's sequence, you can study how they made it, while at the same time, giving you a lot of room to experiment and add your own stuff to the song.

My limitation was (still is) that I didn't know anything about chords, chord progressions, how to read notes, how to play an instrument etc. so I've had extreme difficulty making piano-only pieces because 90% of the time, I don't know what I'm doing and I'm just doing trial and error. To compensate for this, a lot of my experimentation and experience with this site went into pushing the sequencer's limits, and that's where instrument stacking and pseudo-sustaining come into play. I highly suggest you try incorporating these concepts in your sequences to come. 

Instrument stacking is a way to create unique sounds (say you put an electric piano and a grand piano on the same square, it creates a unique sound). You can also use instrument stacking to increase the volume of your instruments. A good instrument to stack for volume is percussion (I think the sequencer's percussion is way too soft unstacked). The type of music you like may not even be using the usual instruments, so it'd be good to do some sound mixing/experimenting and find out which combinations of instruments work the best for you.

Pseudo-sustaining is basically spamming 1/8 or 1/16 in immediate succession (good instruments to spam are the violin and the smooth synth), although doing that creates an irritatingly spammy sound. To counteract this, heavily layering the sequence with other sounds and instruments seem to mask the spammy sound and make them sound smooth. It is quite difficult to pull off pseudo sustains since the sequencer doesn't have a sustain option, but if done correctly, it'll sound fantastic especially with the violin and the smooth synth.

The problem with pushing the sequencer's limits makes a lot of my sequences extremely laggy due to high note density. Have some examples of my sequences: , . Arrangement-wise, I don't think they're special at all, and are quite basic in structure, but what I think makes them special is how "complete/full(?)" they sound (these sequences make use of a lot of instrument stacking and pseudo-sustaining, so hopefully you learn something from them).

In a nutshell, keep making sequences, and do your best to make each sequence the best one you have.

(12-16-2016, 08:33 AM)Wafels Wrote: [ -> ]I have little to no musical knowledge aside from Online Sequencer, so I can relate, although I've been around and making stuff here for around 2 years now. I believe the best way to get good at making music is to keep making sequences, based on the type of songs you like. It may be difficult at first due to the Sequencer's and your own limitations, but it's still good to keep experimenting. 

A good way to get better is to remix other peoples' sequences. By remixing someone else's sequence, you can study how they made it, while at the same time, giving you a lot of room to experiment and add your own stuff to the song.

My limitation was (still is) that I didn't know anything about chords, chord progressions, how to read notes, how to play an instrument etc. so I've had extreme difficulty making piano-only pieces because 90% of the time, I don't know what I'm doing and I'm just doing trial and error. To compensate for this, a lot of my experimentation and experience with this site went into pushing the sequencer's limits, and that's where instrument stacking and pseudo-sustaining come into play. I highly suggest you try incorporating these concepts in your sequences to come. 

Instrument stacking is a way to create unique sounds (say you put an electric piano and a grand piano on the same square, it creates a unique sound). You can also use instrument stacking to increase the volume of your instruments. A good instrument to stack for volume is percussion (I think the sequencer's percussion is way too soft unstacked). The type of music you like may not even be using the usual instruments, so it'd be good to do some sound mixing/experimenting and find out which combinations of instruments work the best for you.

Pseudo-sustaining is basically spamming 1/8 or 1/16 in immediate succession (good instruments to spam are the violin and the smooth synth), although doing that creates an irritatingly spammy sound. To counteract this, heavily layering the sequence with other sounds and instruments seem to mask the spammy sound and make them sound smooth. It is quite difficult to pull off pseudo sustains since the sequencer doesn't have a sustain option, but if done correctly, it'll sound fantastic especially with the violin and the smooth synth.

The problem with pushing the sequencer's limits makes a lot of my sequences extremely laggy due to high note density. Have some examples of my sequences: , . Arrangement-wise, I don't think they're special at all, and are quite basic in structure, but what I think makes them special is how "complete/full(?)" they sound (these sequences make use of a lot of instrument stacking and pseudo-sustaining, so hopefully you learn something from them).

In a nutshell, keep making sequences, and do your best to make each sequence the best one you have.

Just saw this. Thank you for the advice! I look forward to incorporating some of those strategies you have encouraged me to employ.

(01-07-2017, 11:40 AM)Momocody Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-16-2016, 08:33 AM)Wafels Wrote: [ -> ]I have little to no musical knowledge aside from Online Sequencer, so I can relate, although I've been around and making stuff here for around 2 years now. I believe the best way to get good at making music is to keep making sequences, based on the type of songs you like. It may be difficult at first due to the Sequencer's and your own limitations, but it's still good to keep experimenting. 

A good way to get better is to remix other peoples' sequences. By remixing someone else's sequence, you can study how they made it, while at the same time, giving you a lot of room to experiment and add your own stuff to the song.

My limitation was (still is) that I didn't know anything about chords, chord progressions, how to read notes, how to play an instrument etc. so I've had extreme difficulty making piano-only pieces because 90% of the time, I don't know what I'm doing and I'm just doing trial and error. To compensate for this, a lot of my experimentation and experience with this site went into pushing the sequencer's limits, and that's where instrument stacking and pseudo-sustaining come into play. I highly suggest you try incorporating these concepts in your sequences to come. 

Instrument stacking is a way to create unique sounds (say you put an electric piano and a grand piano on the same square, it creates a unique sound). You can also use instrument stacking to increase the volume of your instruments. A good instrument to stack for volume is percussion (I think the sequencer's percussion is way too soft unstacked). The type of music you like may not even be using the usual instruments, so it'd be good to do some sound mixing/experimenting and find out which combinations of instruments work the best for you.

Pseudo-sustaining is basically spamming 1/8 or 1/16 in immediate succession (good instruments to spam are the violin and the smooth synth), although doing that creates an irritatingly spammy sound. To counteract this, heavily layering the sequence with other sounds and instruments seem to mask the spammy sound and make them sound smooth. It is quite difficult to pull off pseudo sustains since the sequencer doesn't have a sustain option, but if done correctly, it'll sound fantastic especially with the violin and the smooth synth.

The problem with pushing the sequencer's limits makes a lot of my sequences extremely laggy due to high note density. Have some examples of my sequences: , . Arrangement-wise, I don't think they're special at all, and are quite basic in structure, but what I think makes them special is how "complete/full(?)" they sound (these sequences make use of a lot of instrument stacking and pseudo-sustaining, so hopefully you learn something from them).

In a nutshell, keep making sequences, and do your best to make each sequence the best one you have.

Just saw this. Thank you for the advice! I look forward to incorporating some of those strategies you have encouraged me to employ.

I agree with you that a good way to get better is to study other people's mixes and remake them. But even without the formation of a music school, this is not easy to do. But I was very surprised when I read about several self-taught composers. In college, I wrote an essay on the unusual uses of music in the treatment of complex diseases, most of the material I found at https://papersowl.com/examples/diabetes/ . I was surprised, but some nurses and doctors who are enthusiastic about their profession collaborate with various composers and use their music in the clinic in the treatment of patients even with complex diseases such as diabetes. It would seem impossible, but according to patients, they feel better. And when I read an essay on this topic on the Internet, I discovered that doctors often use music not from professional musicians, but from amateurs. Perhaps this is one of the ways that amateur musicians can become famous.

Funny enough, I already do what you instructed me to do in the first paragraph. However, it can occasionally be very slow. Perhaps some simply run faster because they have more experience words from letters

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