How do I improve my melodies?

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Dr.FillyBlunt

Member
Sonically, I am happy with the sound of my pianoish melody. As it plays out though, it just feels to me basic and repetative.

Whenever I lengthen the pattern and get more creative with the melody by changing notes, it sounds okay on it's own but in the context of the song I feel like it draws too much attention and it feels like it's played "over" the song rather than "in" it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I feel like there is a fine line between too simple a melody and too complex and that I always end up falling onto one side or the other.

This is a song I did recently that demonstrates this (former of the two situations). How do I find a way to give my melodies "direction" without overstating their role in the arrangement?

Am I perhaps placing the blame for my conviction about this beat wrongly on a single element (melody) when it could possibly be something else, perhaps the arrangement?

 
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Very common question and I ask myself the same thing. There really is no right or wrong answer. A good answer all depends on you, and your ears. I would check out Internet Money for a start. But it all comes down to what you think sounds good and what doesn't.
 
I actually like your beat, it's quite good. I also like the stereo swishy effect that you do in the middle part. And I feel like the middle part and everything else is fine. What's maybe a little off is as you say the melody. To specify, I'm talking about the high piano notes that you hear in the first part. At first hearing they felt fitting and a little mysterious. But then it became a little boring and repetitive. So before I get into it, melodies are a very difficult topic because it's very subjective. There is no rules and it all depends on feelings and preference. But there are some ways to boost up your melodies a little.

Your melody tones all have the same length and distance to each other. There's nothing really going on there. No note is faster, slower, louder, or more silent than the other. There are no breaks. Which can be fine for some melodies. But I guess the most important thing is that you want to be speaking through your melodies. And just like when you're talking you're being a little faster, a little more silent, a little offbeat, you do a little break and so on. Nevertheless be careful here. What I'm trying to say is not, the more of those you add, the better. But my point is that melodies have to make you feel something. I personally like to contain a lot of notes from the chord that is playing. Then again some disonance is sometimes really cool. Then again the whole melody sounds odd and weird, but that's exactly the feeling that I want to create. So what you have to do is think, what feeling the listener should get, or what story do you want to tell through your melody. This sounds bigger than it actually is. I never do that, I only do that subconsciously. Or you can go the other way around. Just play around with your piano, try to make small changes, adjustments and listen to what you like most. I experiment with my melodies a lot before I consider them finished. And there are always things that could have sounded different. But in the end the melody I started up with is never the melody I end up with. Because I try out a lot and always find a note, a velocity, a break or anything else, that makes my melody more like I want it. Your most important instrument when writing a melody is your feeling. Try to really listen to it and if your melody doesn't make you feel anything then make adjustments or start from scratch. I hope this helped a little bit. I played the piano for a really long time now and I think melody writing is one of my strengths, so I know what I'm talking about. But even for me it's one of the hardest things sometimes, because the most beautiful melodies are often the simplest ones.

Greetings Liontari

Ps: If you want, you can check out my music on Youtube. My user-name is Liontari Music
 
No offense, but this is this basic lame ass trap melody that i've already heard like 1000 times. Try to use different octaves, different layers, like use the same chords or w/e but with some different sound, like a pad, and don't stack too many melodies in the same frequency range cuz it will sound mudy.
So best would be 3 different layers of melody and all in different frequency ranges and then you get a fantastic not lame ass sounding melody.
And then you can put grossbeat on it and play around with halfspeed and the time knob.

Hope i could help you
 
@Liontari
Thanks.

Usually not but sometimes before I come to the computer, I have somewhat of a melody or "mood" already in mind. For some reason it never translates into reality though, I typically just end up drawing notes from a scale I know I want to use and keep playing notes from it almost randomly until it makes sense which ends up sounding bland.

As for experimenting and ending up with different melodies than I started with is all to familiar with me however a change in dynamics, lengths or spacing has never really occurred to me and I'm glad you pointed this out.

I'll have to look back on this the next time I'm working on something. Thank you for the help.

I'll check out your channel.
 
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@cy_alex

Sounds like a neat idea for improving the sound of the melody sonically by stacking in alternating frequency ranges. I'll have to try that. Thanks.
 
OP, something that's easy to point out is the robotic sound of it, and yes - it's does get boring after 1-2 bars of no change.

If you get a base in the melody you can deviate and make it interesting with minor changes in the notes you add or withdraw from the groove if it.

Velocity changes and automation is your best friend. when plucking notes in the piano-roll it needs more human feels. some notes are lighter, others heavier, some short, and some longer. Not all notes should be quantized perfectly either. All this makes the melody flow better.

Throw in some other instrument to play the lead melody, or layer it to change it up and keep it fresh for the ear to hear.

Lastly, I would recommend you watch this on youtube. just search "you suck at producing - melody". it gets the gist of it in an easy understandable way. furthermore, there's loads of these vids on youtube that tries to explain what makes a good melody.

all the best
 
I'd say: watch tutorials on music theory and learn about chords, scales, etc. Better: get piano lessons. Learn about harmony as well - music is not only melody.
 
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