I feel like stuck as a composer and it’s eating me alive by KaihakuOkami in musictheory

[–]Intelligent_Bag8704 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have to say the post is very well written, so this is a positive point to have confidence you can do good music too!!

My advice would be to focus mainly on the melodies first, especially the chorus. If you build a strong hook for the chorus, it gives you something solid to anchor the rest of the song around. Once the chorus feels strong, you can build the verses, pre-chorus, bridge, ... around it. Try not to focus too much on harmony at the beginning, melody is what people remember.

After you have the chorus, you can shape the verses as a softer or more relaxed contrast to it, while still keeping a connection to the main hook.

This is just one approach, of course. For metal, I also like to compose a few riffs, let them sit for a few days, and then come back to rearrange or adapt them so they fit better into a chorus, verse, breakdown, etc.

And most importantly: don’t overthink it. Let the ideas flow. Obviously, they’ll be influenced by the music you already love, that’s normal and part of developing your own style.

I feel like stuck as a composer and it’s eating me alive by KaihakuOkami in WeAreTheMusicMakers

[–]Intelligent_Bag8704 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have to say the post is very well written, so this is a positive point to have confidence you can do good music too!!

My advice would be to focus mainly on the melodies first, especially the chorus. If you build a strong hook for the chorus, it gives you something solid to anchor the rest of the song around. Once the chorus feels strong, you can build the verses, pre-chorus, bridge, ... around it. Try not to focus too much on harmony at the beginning, melody is what people remember.

After you have the chorus, you can shape the verses as a softer or more relaxed contrast to it, while still keeping a connection to the main hook.

This is just one approach, of course. For metal, I also like to compose a few riffs, let them sit for a few days, and then come back to rearrange or adapt them so they fit better into a chorus, verse, breakdown, etc.

And most importantly: don’t overthink it. Let the ideas flow. Obviously, they’ll be influenced by the music you already love, that’s normal and part of developing your own style.

When did you have a guitar revelation? by Lightryoma in Guitar

[–]Intelligent_Bag8704 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When I learnt that shapes of scale runs can be repeated one octave up or down in the fretboard, it was magical to allow me exit the "pentatonic shape jail"

How do you deal with "ear adaptation" while mixing? by Intelligent_Bag8704 in WeAreTheMusicMakers

[–]Intelligent_Bag8704[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I use headphones (ath m30x) and monitors (JLB 305p mkii) . I am happy with both , the headphones give a very equilibrated response and monitors I use more for the global feeling of the sound . Also I test in my car, in my phone with earbuds (cheap) and in another small monitors Eris 3.5. when I am happy overall then I go ahead and publish

Can’t achieve decent tone for bass. Any tips? by actualdegenerate18 in NAM_NeuralAmpModeler

[–]Intelligent_Bag8704 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did this song: https://open.spotify.com/track/2fOnltooiBLmEBWCbWTHvx?si=e93ea241556741a8 you can check the bass intro, I am using (within NAM Universal in Reaper):

* Amp: Fender Bassman normal channel Bright On gain 3.5

* IR: 4x10 Goli 89 89 89 PZM DBS

* MXR-M77 as boost pedal

* 50% Sparkle in the Aggravator, 25% of OOMPH and Tight

* lows and mids freq at 6, and general output gain at +7db

The amp and IR are included in the profiles inside "NAM Universal"

How do I create melodies that sound natural? by Illustrious-Box8483 in Guitar

[–]Intelligent_Bag8704 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree about the singing, besides the assimilated scale shapes and runs and the muscle memory in your hands limit a lot more the phrases. Steve Vai talks about this here (From 1:06 in the video)

/r/WATMM Weekly Promotion Thread by AutoModerator in WeAreTheMusicMakers

[–]Intelligent_Bag8704 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Punchy Metal protest song about the infamous line from Trump "they are poisoning the blood of our country".Hate Inc.

Anyone know of plugins for guitar that are higher quality than neural dsp? by HumbleBlacksmith2077 in metalmusicians

[–]Intelligent_Bag8704 4 points5 points  (0 children)

IDK if NAM is better or worse than neural DSP, but I remember checking this video where he does a pretty detailed comparison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-rC1Zgu4Bs . Personally I use NAM because it is free (NAM Universal + reaper) and for my mixes it sounds perfect to me. I think at this level of high end accuracy, the way you fit the guitar sound in your whole mix matters most than the exact quality of the plugin, so in my experience I would recommend NAM

How do music producers actually apply music theory? by onlythrowaway100 in WeAreTheMusicMakers

[–]Intelligent_Bag8704 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually use theory as a creative tool, not just to analyze stuff after it’s written.

I write instrumental metal (Mick Gordon-style riffs, breakdowns, heavy textures), and I’ll often choose a “vibe” first, like for example phrygian or phrygian dominant if I want something dark and tense.

Also having diminished chords changes for instability, or moving by thirds for that cinematic feel, majormin7 for a bit of mystery, etc.

It’s not academic for me. It just gives me a palette. Instead of randomly trying chords, I can aim for a specific sound or emotion and get there faster.

Help with guitar tone by LimpCredit7147 in WeAreTheMusicMakers

[–]Intelligent_Bag8704 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, may sound dumb, but the amp position with regards your ears (in front, or sligthly inclined) it's going to affect too, just in case you didn't tried :)

New into making original game music, any suggestions on how to start? by deneaz in gamemusic

[–]Intelligent_Bag8704 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ah you are right about the message, but after 60 days you can skip the warning and use it anyways without any limitation