(World) Melody Advice Needed

[ravisoni]

I recently got back into music/Reason, but I realize the one thing that eluded me for much of my previous exploration still continues to be my weak spot. I just. Can't. Melody.

Was working on a track for an older challenge on this forum, and I've got some major ideas for the main percussive elements of the track, but I just. Can't. Melody.

So I am looking for advice - how does one go about even thinking what sort of melody will fit here? I tried Scales and Chords, the Chord selector player thing, and a few YouTube videos on how to Melody, specifically in the Vikings genre. But I just. Can't... you catch my drift, the ships are floating wayward.

Here's the sample (volume alert , there's no mixing on this yet, so please play at a lower volume, especially for the drop soon into the track):



Any pointers you have are very much appreciated! I am beginning to enjoy the track, but the melody, man, sheesh.

[Przemyslaw]

I think it depends... it could be a short melody, simple, around four notes; it can be longer if chord progression will appear; it can be an arpeggiated style melo, something like that come to my mind. It can be a great track!

[TritoneAddiction]

Melody. That's a big topic. But an interesting one.

I can only give my own perspective, viewed from how I do things in my own music.
So here are some of my thoughts. Do what you want with them.
Sorry for posting my own music in this thread. But it's just that my own music is the only music I know inside out. If it counts as spam, mods feel free to remove my post.


If you're looking for solid memorable melodies I generally find players to be a terrible method. For the most time they generate pretty random sounding note sequences that doesn't really lead anywhere. They can sound cool sometimes, but they almost never generate anything that's "humable" or something that sound like it's made from a human. There are exceptions. They can be idea starters, but usually you have to rework what they give you.

For me making anything memorable, whether that's melodies, riffs, bass lines, drum parts, it's all about having some degree of repetition. Patterns. What gets repeated tends to stick and can become a theme for the tune.
What I often do is have a melodic phrase that starts it off. Then I typically have a second a phrase that's similar. Maybe it starts off the same but doesn't end the same way. Same goes for third and forth phrase. You can keep a similar rhythm or note choice but alter it a bit to add variation. That way they feel connected, like one big melody, but it's not the same thing played over and over again, verbatim.
Sometimes I use an A-B-A-C form, meaning the A phrase gets repeated the exact same way, but gets altered with B and C.
Sometimes you can have a phrase over one chord, have it play the exact same melodic pattern but have it altered to fit the harmony/new chord. That way you get repetition, something that grabs you, but you also get the variation.
Here's an example from one of my tunes where I use the same melodic phrase, but alter it slightly everytime.


To be honest I usually go with my intuition. The aforementioned is mostly an analysis of my own music, something I didn't think about during the process of making music.
With intuition I mean I see where my voice wants to take a melody. Does it feel natural to hum/sing? I trust that intuition more than anything. If I hear the notes in my head, it's the correct way to go. How that is explained in theory doesn't matter.

If you really want to explore and getting better at creating melodies, try do a couple of chiptunes. That way there's zero production or interesting sounds to hide behind. If the melody and the actual songwriting sucks, the song will suck. It's the perfect melody making exercise.
Here's one of my many chiptunes.

Also, vibrato and slides/portomento in leads is always good to make them sound more hummable/human.


Sorry I didn't relate things to the song you posted here specifically, but hopefully you can get something broader from what I've written.
Good luck.

[selig]

I remember being in high school band and learning the adage “if you can sing it, you can play it”. When we first learned a new piece, our directors would have us sing it through first, THEN play it. It worked, someone singing it connected the melodies (or rhythms for us percussionists) at some deeper level.

Taking this concept to melody writing, I try to first hear a melody in my head then I try to sing it to refine it. With singing, bad as I am, I don’t hit “wrong notes”, I just sing what’s in my head. With keyboards, despite playing all my life I still cannot reliably connect what I’m imagining with the physical keyboard. This means that ANY wrong note I play can instantly derail my whole internal melody/connection and all of the sudden I’ve forgotten what I was hearing.

I believe the bottom line is to learn what works for YOU, because my techniques probably only really work for me but might give you ideas to try, which is how you learn what works for you.

[ravisoni]

All, thank you for taking the time to write detailed replies. It sometimes strikes me as incredible that Deadmau5 has no training in music theory if I remember one of his interviews, yet, his stuff is very catchy and one wouldn't be able to guess his approach to melodies.

I feel for some people melodies come through very organically. Maybe a tune plays in their heads, perhaps they are able to transcribe it immediately to the piano and then to midi. Maybe for some people, it is repeated practice that leads to learned patterns and slight alterations that then create beautiful pieces. For example Tritone mentioned intuition, and that's amazing to have, really.

I fit none of the above. For me, sometimes it is very literally play one note, then play a second. Do they fit? Rinse repeat. I hope to someday achieve a more fluid sense of building melodies. It remains to be the one thing I open Reason and then close it in 5 minutes.

I'll try something tonight, I'm sure keeping at it will open up some neuronal channels.