My #1 Reason that Music Fails - create better Flow

[Benedict]

If you are looking to make a New year's Resolution around music, maybe this should be it:
Make It Flow Better

I stare straight into the MIDI of a performance that is challenging and without changing a note, make it flow and have character. No, this is not a Mixing Tut.

[integerpoet]

When I was kind, I started learning to play a real piano… and then dropped it for years and forgot almost everything… and then picked up a computer… and definitely started at the wrong end of the MIDI continuum. It bothered me tremendously and the only thing that kept me going was some advice I heard somewhere that my music sounded terrible to me because I had good taste. (!) It took me a long time to stumble across the controls that allowed me to realize what I had been missing, and this video would have saved me a lot of time and heartache.

I suspect many people stick with a relentlessly electronic sound knowingly or unknowingly because it minimizes and even sidesteps this kind of detail. Automating a filter sweep is much less effort. In my current project, I gave myself permission to slack off that way, and it's been a nice vacation! This is not a criticism. The world has a place for both apples and oranges.

[Benedict]

I put a lot less effort into my "Many Moons" album and it was my biggest & fastest-selling album ever!

However, while I did not put as much work into melodic lines, countermelodies etc, I still made sure that what was there did feel smooth and organic. Never scrimp on the things that are core to the subtleties of the story. Make them clear like one of those old Greek Theatre masks so people in the back seats can see what is happening.

[avasopht]

Automation and effects are polish (and they are quintessential).

It's an easy step to miss, but it makes all the difference.