Secret to Good Melodies

  • 1/2 cup butter or hard margarine (Butter is probably better)
  • 1 cup corn syrup
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 6 heaping tbsp. cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 10 cups of puffed wheat (not found in the cereal isle at Super Store but by the baking supplies like chocolate chips and nuts etc.)

  1. Combine butter, corn syrup, sugars and cocoa powder in a heavy saucepan.
  2. Bring to a boil. (Very important)
  3. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
  4. Pour over puffed wheat
  5. Mix well and press into a greased 9 x 13 pan.
  6. Wet hands work better than greased hands to handle the stickiness so just moisten them with a bit of water.
  7. Release on Beatport.
 
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I can't say it better than Yumid, but I will try.

The secret lies in your hands, not your brain. There is no secret. But a melody will always suck without the right support from the right chord progression
 
i think a good chord progression to build from helps but sounds that go well together are very important, also the track must be able to set the mood you want it to be. even a very simple melody can sound great if its combined with the right sounds and mixed well.
 
melodic ideas can be broken down into 5 simple ingredients
  • intervals - stay on the same note, move up or down by step, move up or down by a leap of a 3rd, move up or down by larger leaps (most likely to least likely); further still these can usually be found as part of some arpeggio pattern (a broken chord)
  • rhythm - sounds and silences are equally important in creating good melodic lines, as is changing length of notes (quicker or slower passages have different rhythmic bases)
  • articulations - accented, unaccented, on-the-beat or off-the-beat, short, held, legato, tenuto, staccato, etc
  • dynamics - loud, soft, transitions
  • repetition - at the same pitch or at different pitch, providing a unifying aspect to the above
you can hear these things in your head, no doubt

what most people have trouble with is extricating from their aural imagination to a reality inside a daw or onto paper

you can improve your chances by training your ears at teoria.com
 
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Ok one real tip- for beginners its said to be easier to stick to the pentatonic scale when creating melodies (no 2nd and 6th degree?)

Avicii, Kygo, all those guys that are getting/got big because of 'melodies' wrote them using whichever corresponding pentatonic scale fits above their section. Not gonna explain what they are, if you don't know you can look em up pretty easy. Takes another 2 notes out of the equation though so it will raise the odds of 'randomly' riffing a melody. Then if you feel you're missing a note that you don't have, its probably the 2nd or the 6th. Adjust accordingly.
 
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Once I have layed out my chords then I find it easy to find hot melodies but when try make a beat with the melodies first I struggle and end up starting a new project.
 
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I think the application of the melody is relevant too.
A vocal melody should not have complex or large intervals.
A 'dance' melody should have an easily understandable rhythm.
Therefore the demands on a good melody cannot be universal I think.
 
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