May 11, 2004 05:18 pm From my professors: Music is about tension and release. Find unique ways to create and release that tension. More later...
a list of tactics
Posted on May 11, 2004 04:31 pm
fortymile
Member Since: Jan 18, 2003
does anyone care to talk about ways that you personally AVOID doing the "quiet-dynamics verse to loud, full throttle chorus" template in your songs? i keep doing it! i try not to, but i always end up assembling a song according to this template, and it's really starting to freak me out. my songs feel predictible to me. they need something else.
so what are some verse/chorus transitions you have used? what are some of your favorite examples from songs that you know? or do you stick mainly to one volume/dynamics level throughout a whole song?
maybe this is a dumb question to ask on a forum. i might just start having no guitar in the verses. just large drums or something. i need to get away from this radio-format style. help!
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May 11, 2004 05:18 pm From my professors: Music is about tension and release. Find unique ways to create and release that tension. More later...
May 11, 2004 05:50 pm i would agree with that. i have thought that myself.
May 11, 2004 07:02 pm I find the source of my tension, and I break it's legs.
May 11, 2004 09:25 pm dB is hard-f%%$'in-core !
Quote:
maybe this is a dumb question to ask on a forum. i might just start having no guitar in the verses. just large drums or something. i need to get away from this radio-format style. help!
You answered your own question... very zen !
Maybe you could start listening to what I call "pallet-cleansing" music . Stuff you just never pull-out for one reason or another, that is vastly different from what you're used to, but still find interesting, and perhaps realative to what you're looking to do ? Escavel, Bauhaus, Beethoven, Brazilian rainforrest trbal drums, or whatever . Maybe take notes on ideas you get, before getting back to the room ?... just a suggestion . Maybe go camping and listen to a whole lot of nothing ?
May 12, 2004 10:50 am Sometimes you can just liestn to a song and decide what you like about it. And say - hey I want to do a song that bases itself on that idea. I am studying drums at the moment and am learning lots of new rythms that have expanded my horizons. Expand and grow. Maybe add some samples. Or challenge yourself to try a new style.
May 12, 2004 11:46 am ok, i'll start listening to more stuff from outside my genres. actually i have some rainforest drums music.
just the sort of thing you have to experiment with, i guess. no shortcuts!
May 12, 2004 12:33 pm Hi guys, I have to agree with the idea of the "pallet-cleansing music". I try to rotate my main listening selections every so often just to keep my ear from getting stale. My writing style seems to also change subtly with my choice of entertainment, so I try to keep my choice of music as varied as possible.
Here are a few specific things that came to mind when you wrote about your dilemma.
When I get stuck in a pattern like that, I usually either stick in a prechorus, or use an altered version of the verse right before the chorus.
Add variety and interest by inserting a pre-chorus bit with reduced instrumentation - like a 2 bar little jaunt with just a couple of instruments, or even a solo.
Or, use your prechorus as a mini bridge to the chorus by adding a part that isn't repeated anywhere else in the song. A brief solo may sound good over this part as well, if you want to go that route. If you so choose, you can even put lyrics here. (a minor benefit: If you ever decide to go back and do a "part 2" or sequal to the song, this ad hoc section might be a great place to draw ideas from.)
May 12, 2004 03:23 pm You might also try to consciously work out other patterns - you can use pure mathematical approach and jot down every possible combination of loud-soft slow-fast and experiment with that somehow strange forms (jazz guitar innovator Allan Holdswoth did similar thing with intervals creating new scales). Try to write a nice and smooth song starting from outlandish pattern - effect can be interesting. For start try a loud and fast verse and backedoff choruses... as I can remember a song that follows that structure is Paula Cole's 'hush hush'
May 12, 2004 03:45 pm good ideas, guys. tincan--yes, prechoruses are something i've wanted to get into more. your suggestion seems obvious to me now, but when i wrote out my question here, it wasn't even on my mind.
what do you mean by this though: "Or, use your prechorus as a mini bridge to the chorus by adding a part that isn't repeated anywhere else in the song." do you mean over top of it?
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