Melodies, Chords, etc.

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PhobikONE

New member
When creating a new beat (hip hop), what elements do people use.

I'd like to find out how others arrange and compose their music.

Do you start with drums, chords, or melodic instruments? Or bass?

I think it varies from track to track, but I seem to get drums going first mostly.

I don't really have a way of arranging melodic vs chordal, this is really what I'm trying to figure out.

Peace & Respects
 
I always get a melody.

then I'll do the bass to get that low end.

lastly i'll do drums and add anything I feel needs to be added.
 
Well it varies from track to track u're right. But usually i start with a beat. Just simple one, only snares and the first kick. It will be like a metronome for me. Then i make a bassline, coz nice lows of the song is the most important thing IMHO. After this i create a melody and make beat more harder and complicated. That's it... something like that.
 
Man, I'm glad there were at least a couple response, thanks guys.

I nearly always start with snares on 2 and 4 and kick on 1 and 3.5 (gives it that swing).

Its the simplest drums but I'm looking to expand into more creative then the daily tabloids.

Well, I hope a couple more posts come up eventually.
 
i make the drums first, but not just simple drums but the way my drums will be at the end of the song. That way I can make a melody different each time that also fits with the drums. hope this makes sense.
 
With me, it's always the melody or chords first. Next, I'll determine a tempo, lay down some generic drum patterns, and tweak from there.
 
For me, it depends if I already have an idea for a beat in my head. If I have the idea in my head, I start with the drums followed by the bassline. Then I add the cords and melodies, in that order. If I don't have an idea, I usually start with a basic drum loop, play with different cords until I get a vibe I like. Once I get a good vibe from my cords, I drop a solid bassline and alter drums to match the vibe I am getting from the cords. After that, its just a matter of building on that vibe until you feel that you have enough music for your song.
 
it varies every single time. sometimes i'll be messing with a drum sample.. and love the way it sounds.. so i'll make a beat loop with it. Sometimes i'll hit a chord that hits me really nice..and just start w/ a melodic chord progression. I think the melody is how i start most of the time... but, i don't limit myself to that at all...
 
I think gudo is right IMO. It is different everytime. Sometimes a single note on a piano will lead to a full song and I usually try to start my songs with drum and bass!
 
drums and bass are the spine to the beat everything got to fit with them.. thats why i start there. always start with bass and get the drums to compliment that. then a melody/counter melody build ups bridges etc come last...

D
 
I've figgered that creating drums first, will make the beat more bouncy.
Beats that will be more deeply usualy begin with the lead instrument's melody first. Thats how I do it.
But If beat comes first, I add the bassline 2nd, after that anything else.
Sometimes, but not often, I'm starting with the bassline.
 
As with gudo it varies for me too. Sometimes I'll lay a tight drum loop and other times I'll lay a nice melody. Once I find it, that's where I take off and start layering other parts of the song; lows, hats, strings, tempo etc.

It usually depends on my mood, I just flow with it and I encourage you to do the same.

You will find yourself, if you haven't already, creating melodies,or drum loops that go against what you intended for the track. If you are still learning and experimenting as I am you will mute the other sounds out and save the track under a different file name or record it for work later. It's all fun. Just do what works best for you.
 
drums and bass are the spine to the beat everything got to fit with them.. thats why i start there. always start with bass and get the drums to compliment that. then a melody/counter melody build ups bridges etc come last...
Click to expand...

Not trying to disrespect, but why couldn't it work in reverse order starting with the melody being the backbone?
 
It varies. If the swing's kinda complicated, i first lay down the drums and percussion. But in most cases the tune and the melody are already in my head..

But a great disadvantage of laying down the drums first is that you are stuck on just 1 rhythm...
 
take a look at video tutorials...look how them do

i think in all of them i've saw they start wit drums
 
Do whatever works best for you. I usually start with the melody. The melody is the structure of the song. And sometimes...the bassline is the melody. Anyway, after you do this...its much easier to write chords and beats to fit around it.
 
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