Composing backwards/Uninspired intro

O

odinnshred

Wireless Wizard!
Have you ever come up with a great main bit for a track, then after making it awesome you decide that you need to come up with an intro and everything you come up with either steals the thunder or seems too sparse and average?

I've got this problem with a liquid breakbeat track I'm making, where I want the break to be exciting (in its liquid context), so I want the intro to be less rousing for contrast. And when I try to make it less rousing it just sounds boring (perhaps just to my perfectionist ear). This is because I have few ideas for the intro, and I'm just trying to make it functional for the rest of the track.

Does your work ever get like this? Do you find the best solution is to just keep trying new ideas until one fits? Or is there a better method?

Please share any ideas on this that you may have, thanks in advance :)

---------- Post added 02-07-2013 at 05:39 PM ---------- Previous post was 01-29-2013 at 06:36 PM ----------

(post bump because I didn't post this for no one to care)...
 
This is a problem I'm dealing with everytime I make a track. Either boring intro almost the same as the main part or the good intro not getting along well with the rest.
I guess it has something to do with the way I compose - I create the "loop" of some cool theme in my head, and then it gets stuck there and I can't move on.
Interested as well if there's some advice how to block this, or how to derive the intro from the melody? :(
 
odinnshred said:
Have you ever come up with a great main bit for a track, then after making it awesome you decide that you need to come up with an intro and everything you come up with either steals the thunder or seems too sparse and average?

I've got this problem with a liquid breakbeat track I'm making, where I want the break to be exciting (in its liquid context), so I want the intro to be less rousing for contrast. And when I try to make it less rousing it just sounds boring (perhaps just to my perfectionist ear). This is because I have few ideas for the intro, and I'm just trying to make it functional for the rest of the track.

Does your work ever get like this? Do you find the best solution is to just keep trying new ideas until one fits? Or is there a better method?

Please share any ideas on this that you may have, thanks in advance :)

---------- Post added 02-07-2013 at 05:39 PM ---------- Previous post was 01-29-2013 at 06:36 PM ----------

(post bump because I didn't post this for no one to care)...
Click to expand...

I did care, I just didn't have time back then to give a detailed response (nor do I now). However, i would suggest that use a simple 4 on the floor kick with snares that are pumping something like --x--x--x-x--xxx and hats only being the foot pedal coming down on 2 and 4 and one of your bass patterns to begin with. If the snare line doesn't work take one of the ones that you have later in the piece and use it.

Layer the intro so that it starts bass, then adds the snare, then the hat, then the kick.

have fun and let me know how it goes
 
Make the intro interesting in a different way. Get away from plateau style composition. An intro isn't just a stripped down version of another part of the track. Starting with this then adding that, and then that, and then that isn't composition, its just one part of it.
 
Thing is odinshred wants the intro to be reflective of what comes later; i.e. he is looking for exactly the type of cohesion that this approach to creation (it is not composition but arranging) will bring to the whole piece.
 
That's contrary to my understanding of the meaning of the word contrast.

A contrasting intro to a movie isn't the chase scene minus the cars.
 
However he freely admits that the attempt at contrast is failing to convince him that the approach is working - hence an alternative approach which is what was asked for.....
 
Okay so I'm back.

I started off taking Bandcoach's suggestion, and built an intro from there. It ended up sounding pretty trancey, which is fine really. I think my main problem in developing this is that I wanted to make a liquid breakbeat track at first, and the track (even before asking for input on futureproducers) always had a less-than liquid quality. I think this caused a problem when I tried writing other sections of the track. I tried overcompensating for the lack of liquid in the main section, instead of making what works with it.

I think that this track will be a bit of development hell, but I like it so it will probably be worth the struggle. Whenever it sees the light of day I will post it here.

Thanks for the help Bandcoach!
 
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