Music Technology almost ruined my music

I think most of us can relate to creating a sequence or loop we really like, then proceeding to listen to it over and over with no idea where to go next. While this is often blamed on writer's block, I actually don't think that's to blame. Today I'll talk about some really old composition techniques that helped get me out of the 4-bar rut.

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[Veridi]

Writing a 16 bar chord progression was the best thing I ever did in my life.

[BrianLarney]

Writing in a DAW or by using a sequencer is ths kiss of death for me.

I abandoned those tools for writing my songs years ago for the exclusive reason that it invariably trapped me in 4 (or 8) bar loops. I don't even begin to think about opening a DAW anymore until the song is pretty much completed. Lyrics, chords, melodies, rhythm, etc. Now, I never get trapped in a loop and I'm way happier with my output.

[andrew_nayes]

Yes, please more content about composition. Very interesting to understand how a classically trained pianist compose electronic music.

[TheBeatMechanic]

Trap and Hip Hop Producer here. Who is also a classical pianist from a young age. And this is exactly what I needed right now.

[AlbertKimMusic]

It's actually a completely different perspective to those composers who learned to compose music THROUGH midi/sequencers rather than the classical approach of writing to sheet. But I'm at a point where I feel as if I begin learning to write in sheet rather than in midi, alot more new ideas will flow for me, for example writing in musescore rather than a traditional DAW

[pthelo]

"It's that idea about giving someone a fish vs teaching them how to make their own fish idea" LOL. Amazing. Not only did you provide lots of fantastic musical inspiration and direction, but the dry jokes were on point. Thank you Jameson!

[neuralvibesstudio]

Put this on while I worked to listen to him in the background, and I could swear Billy Bob Thorton was giving me great tips on making ambient music.

[tristanlincolndavis]

Love how you break it down to brass tacks and waste no time. Super inspiring, thanks for this !

[RickyTinez]

Incredible video. Just what I needed to hear! Thank you Jameson

[mirr]

I got stuck in the 4 bar loop for years and still do at times, but I've found that improving my understanding of music theory and working from the perspective of arrangement has helped break out of that habit. I will basically take a synthesizer vst (or a piano vst) and create a song in MIDI before doing anything else. So if I don't have a song that has a beginning, middle, and end then it's either keep trying to scrap it and start again. The hardest part is creating a melody and harmony that either leads into a chorus (or drop) or creating a melody and harmony that takes you out of the chorus (or drop). So now I try to think in a linear fashion from start to finish focusing on melody and harmony instead of thinking in terms of depth and creating a 4 bar loop with tons of layers and a repetitive melody or chord progression. The problem with the world of electronic music is people tend to learn about EQ and Compression before they learn about actual music - rhythm, harmony, melody, counter-melody etc. I made that mistake and now I'm really good at mixing but suck at creating actual interesting music.

[lkns]

You forgot to mention: "THE MIDI PACK!"

Seriously though, very interesting video topic on something I'm struggling with myself. I'll be downloading your Guide Book shortly, thanks!

[tristanotear]

Maybe the most compelling “how to” music composition video I’ve ever seen. And the most beautiful background music. Smashing.

[neilingle]

Some really good points here, and I particularly like your analogy of grammar (theory) and talking (improvisation) to reading (composition). This video is poignant to me right now, as I've been gathering together and writing down music composition techniques with an eye to composing my next pieces.

The interesting to note is that when I look for examples of these techniques, I often find them in my own music. And then I realise I didn't even think about it at the time (more likely I thought that I was a 'fraud' or 'doing it all wrong').

In fact, contrary to sitting down and working stuff out using theory, often my ideas come to me from my subconscious, within dreams (and then I wake up and scramble to get my phone and press record - otherwise within 10 minutes, the idea's gone forever).

So, maybe I should listen to myself here. And try composing by just playing anything, and see what comes out. As you say, improvising is great, but you use familiar vocabulary. Whereas random play might take you to new creative places.

[LEKProductions]

I've been writing electronic music since the end of the '80s, my setup was severely limited in the early days, but I always said, limitations breed creativity. I'm also big on melody, I knew about the question/answer thing back then; I never really think about it while I'm in the zone composing, but when I listen back afterwards, I can hear it clearly. Thanks for an awesome video, we're certainly on the same wavelength.

[clarabellemusic]

9:27 Conversational... What came to mind immediately was Alice Coltrane's Turiya and Ramakrishna. The way she speaks with the piano. And then Pharoah Sanders' Greetings To Idris. The way his sax melody is exactly like a greeting. And then, oddly, Ghost Town by the Specials... that part about a minute in where they start yelling... love that part, and it conveys so much about that era and the ska scene.

[DanMess]

Thank you for telling us a bit about your musical background and journey. I would love to see more content like this. Fantastic video!

[DANAMIONLINE]

Interesting topic! Thanks for starting this convo. I've never reviewed the piano roll in DAWs as written music that can be edited.

From my perspective a Hip-Hop & Soul music Songwriter and producer, I believe DAWs further influences "loop culture" without much variation or none. Sequencers are typically set to a certain amount of measures that then gets loops. The presentation of sequencers influence the notion that loop is the end all be all loop.

[Eazy-V]

And there's me : Making random stuff, experimenting where I want to, saving useless projects... But I still manage to find new things. Takes time but I'll make my way out the cosmos

[neuralvibesstudio]

Great tips, man. This is super helpful because I'm coming from the opposite end of the spectrum—I'm an excellent sound designer coming from the world of synthesizers and design to the world of piano and other acoustic instruments. Subscribed.

[Lukelucas]

Wow! The development of the track in the background is hauntingly beautiful. Amazing piece of music!