Somebody please help plz! Constructing melodie question?

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platinumstatusbeats

New member
im having treble constructing my melodies i can get a good chord progression
and maybe a lead melodie line

but after that it seems like every thing else i try to put start clashing
and funny thing is im in key it just seems like after that melodie my possibiltes for adding on to it gets limited i meen should i switch the scale after the 1st melody or what?

somebody please i wrecking my brain
 
Why are you trying to construct two melodies? Most music has only one. Keep it simple.
 
platinumstatusbeats said:
im having treble constructing my melodies i can get a good chord progression
and maybe a lead melodie line

but after that it seems like every thing else i try to put start clashing
and funny thing is im in key it just seems like after that melodie my possibiltes for adding on to it gets limited i meen should i switch the scale after the 1st melody or what?

somebody please i wrecking my brain
Click to expand...


Let's avoid a brain wreck.

Sounds like you are trying to create melodies in the same register/octave - not really going to work as the notes will clash as you have experienced.

Some ways around this:
  • Add secondary melody an octave higher or lower
  • Add secondary melody so that it is a counter melody
    • plays when the other doesn't or
    • plays when the other melody has long notes
  • Add the second melody as a harmony to the first - they don't need to be playing the main chord all the time, but should emphasise it

Examples in a short while
 
bandcoach said:
Let's avoid a brain wreck.

Sounds like you are trying to create melodies in the same register/octave - not really going to work as the notes will clash as you have experienced.

Some ways around this:
  • Add secondary melody an octave higher or lower
  • Add secondary melody so that it is a counter melody
    • plays when the other doesn't or
    • plays when the other melody has long notes
  • Add the second melody as a harmony to the first - they don't need to be playing the main chord all the time, but should emphasise it

Examples in a short while
Click to expand...

Nicely put..! Waiting for those examples here!
 
OK, some examples, more are possible if something needs to be illustrated further.

I've deliberately used a foreshortened 12 bar blues (it is known as an 8 bar blues) as the chord progression for both major and minor versions:
All notation examples show the harmonised version of both the melody and the counter-melody.

Major

Tempo 120 bpm

C /// | C /// | F /// | C /// | G /// | F /// | C /// | G /// :||

[mp3]http://www.bandcoach.org/fp/audio/melCM-01.mp3[/mp3]

Melody, Counter-melody
Harmonised melody, Counter-melody
Melody, Harmonised-counter-melody
Melody, Extended-counter-melody
Harmonised-melody, Harmonised-counter-melody
Harmonised-melody, Harmonised-extended-counter-melody

Melody
melody-01.png


Counter-melody
cm-short-01.png


Extended-Counter-melody
cm-long-01.png


Minor

Tempo 84 BPM

Cm /// | Cm /// | Fm /// | Cm /// | G /// | Fm /// | Cm /// | G /// :||
Melody, Counter-melody
Harmonised melody, Counter-melody
Melody, Harmonised-counter-melody
Melody, Extended-counter-melody
Harmonised-melody, Harmonised-counter-melody
Harmonised-melody, Harmonised-extended-counter-melody

[mp3]http://www.bandcoach.org/fp/audio/melCM-02.mp3[/mp3]

Melody
melody-02.png


Counter-melody
cm-short-02.png


Extended-Counter-melody
cm-long-02.png
 
platinumstatusbeats said:
so lets say i got a good piano melody! and then want to add say a saw synth

tha saw synth would not be a melodie i dont understand
Click to expand...

The brain usually likes to follow only the one thing at a time. Having two melodies playing together at the same time can be like two people talking to you at the same time - hard to follow at all. When you add the synth you have to do it in such a way that it backs up the piano melody - in other words it becomes more of a harmony than a melody.
 
You actually have that one wrong, ep9!; or are you speaking for yourself and from your own experience?

The human brain is able to monitor between 5 and 9 separate audio streams depending on the individual complexity of each stream.

Books: Auditory Scene Analysis
Al Bregman's Website
Huron's Review of A. Bregman's "Auditory Scene Analysis"

It is possible to transcribe four or more melodic lines at once if you have the proper training - it is a difficult skill, but one that becomes easier with training and application - we used to do it at university all the time - multiple rhythms, multiple melodic lines, 1 overarching set of harmony. Very doable and very much what you say the brain can't cope with.

Even the average listener can sing you the bass part, the drum part and the melodic material from a pop song where it exists.

This is why it is easy enough to follow pop music in its various forms as at most there are 5 streams of audio to process:
  • Lyrics
  • Melody
  • Counter-melody
  • Harmony
  • Rhythm Section

When you get to orchestral music you still maintain that same basic balance of
  • Melody
  • Counter-melody
  • Harmony
  • Percussion Section

Even choral music is presented as 4 independent melodic lines.

Where the human brain does have difficulty separating streams is when they are all in the same register.
 
bandcoach by looking at your two songs i realize that most of my problem is something that you already explained to me a couple of days ago
and thats note lengths smh but i most say now this post really puts it all together for me
 
Last edited:
bandcoach said:
You actually have that one wrong, ep9!; or are you speaking for yourself and from your own experience?

The human brain is able to monitor between 5 and 9 separate audio streams depending on the individual complexity of each stream.
Click to expand...

I was going to say my favorite songs are usually ones with multiple melodies intertwining each other. Just one melody is very boring for the human ear, imo.
 
k81 said:
I was going to say my favorite songs are usually ones with multiple melodies intertwining each other. Just one melody is very boring for the human ear, imo.
Click to expand...

Depends how good the main melody is though. However "I'd like to teach the world to sing" (Trying to think of something every one will know) got quite intertwiny at the end and that was a good melody. Only think they could have done that for the last verse though.

Maybe the OP needs to say what type of music this is though as there are many different types. As mentioned the brain usually likes to follow only the one thing at a time - as in the subject of a painting or the protagonist in a story/ movie. A melody is usually the same thing and all the other music is backing for that. (Especially since singers can only sing the one melody at a time.)

No boundaries if it sounds good, but if the lead melody is very communicative and especially if lyrics are to be added then you don't want anything else getting in the way of that. (Unless it's the last verse :))
 
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