How to get epic sounding melodies

I.C.E. Prod.

I.C.E. Prod.

New member
I have been working on trying to get something epic and this is what i got (the piano melody would sound way more epic on brass)


But ive been bumping these to songs recently because they are just plain epic, so my main question is how do you get melodies to sound that epic. is it the chords or is there a specific scale to use? thanks for your help and enjoy the two songs below ;)

 
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Chords>played dynamics/ velocity> Instrumentation/ layering> mix/ effects

I'm sure all have a part to play.

---------- Post added at 06:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:32 PM ----------

Also take care to play your chords in multiple octaves ...
For example use a pizzicato string chord at around c4. At the same time play a string ensemble sample at around c3.... Play some cellos and lowbrass in the same chord around c2. Play a slow attack string sample chord at c5..... Now if all that's not enough try an find an epic synth pad to subtly reinforce your chords for emphasis... Might just sprinkle it in subtly.
You get the idea..... There's plenty you can find online about the proper way to distribute instrument sounds for orchestral ... Band coach may chime in on conventions for this.
Or take a look at Bandcoach.org.

---------- Post added at 07:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:46 PM ----------

After givin your stuff a second listen.... All I said still applys.... But I would say that your intent should be to fill all frequency ranges so that the sound is thick, taking care to choose both instruments and octaves that are compliment each other. So in your example you have piano and stings playing what sounds like the same chord in the same octave... Why not transpose the strings up an octave... Take the last 2 or 3 notes of your melody and layer in some cellos at a lower octave ... Further; all of this will sound so much funkier and punchier if some notes are soft and some are played hard
 
I.C.E. Prod. said:
I have been working on trying to get something epic and this is what i got (the piano melody would sound way more epic on brass)
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So I would add two bars to your opening 8 bars, drop them in when you go to the C in bar 5, changing the last two notes of the melody here to D-C and then continue:
Melody: B B B A-B
Chording/bass: Bm

next bar is
Melody: C C C B-A
Chording/bass: Am

Then try some melodic variations:
1) using G as the first note and everything moved up a 3rd
2) using B as the first note and everything moved up a 5th

But ive been bumping these to songs recently because they are just plain epic, so my main question is how do you get melodies to sound that epic. is it the chords or is there a specific scale to use? thanks for your help and enjoy the two songs below ;)
Click to expand...


I did this one for kevorkio a while back

bandcoach said:
I[sup]b[/sup]VII[sup]b[/sup]VIivV[sup]7[/sup]iv[sup]b[/sup]VI[sup]b[/sup]VII
AGFDmE[sup]7[/sup]DmFG
A[sub]3[/sub]B[sub]3[/sub]C[sub]4[/sub]D[sub]4[/sub]E[sub]4[/sub]D[sub]4[/sub]C[sub]4[/sub]B[sub]3[/sub]
E[sub]3[/sub]G[sub]3[/sub]F[sub]3[/sub]A[sub]3[/sub]G[sup]#[/sup][sub]3[/sub]A[sub]3[/sub]F[sub]3[/sub]G[sub]3[/sub]
C[sup]#[/sup][sub]3[/sub]D[sub]3[/sub]A[sub]2[/sub]F[sub]3[/sub]D[sub]3[/sub]F[sub]3[/sub]C[sub]3[/sub]D[sub]3[/sub]
---D[sub]3[/sub]B[sub]2[/sub]D[sub]3[/sub]A[sub]2[/sub]-
A[sub]1[/sub]G[sub]1[/sub]F[sub]1[/sub]F[sub]1[/sub]E[sub]1[/sub]F[sub]1[/sub]F[sub]1[/sub]G[sub]1[/sub]
Click to expand...
followed by this post
bandcoach said:
In the example above,

We start out in A major but in the second chord we modulate to A natural minor by the time we reach the E[sup]7[/sup] chord, we have modulated again to the A harmonic minor and we then reverse our modulation sequence.

If we strip out the passing chords (every other chord) the progression is as follows:

A-F-E[sup]7[/sup]-

If we were to continue this progression so that each chord V[sup]7[/sup] becomes a new chord I, we might run the following

A-F-E[sup]7[/sup]-C-B[sup]7[/sup]-G-F[sup]#7[/sup]-D-C[sup]#7[/sup]-A-G[sup]#7[/sup]-E-D[sup]#7[/sup]-B-A[sup]#7[/sup]-F[sup]#[/sup]-F[sup]7[/sup]-Db-C[sup]7[/sup]-A[sup]b[/sup]-G[sup]7[/sup]-E[sup]b[/sup]-D-B[sup]b7[/sup]-A-F-

and so on.

add in passing chords of your choice to heighten the feeling of winning

in the case given we started as

A-(G)-F-(Dm)-E[sup]7[/sup]-

so we might continue as

A-(G)-F-(Dm)-E[sup]7[/sup]-(Dm)-C-(Am)-B[sup]7[/sup]-(Am)-G-(Em)-F[sup]#7[/sup]-(Em)-D-(Bm)-C[sup]#7[/sup]-(Bm)-A-(F[sup]#[/sup]m)-G[sup]#7[/sup]-(F[sup]#[/sup]m)-E-(C[sup]#[/sup]m)-D[sup]#7[/sup]-(C[sup]#[/sup]m)-
B-(G[sup]#[/sup]m)-A[sup]#7[/sup]-(G[sup]#[/sup]m)-F[sup]#[/sup]-(E[sup]b[/sup]m)-F[sup]7[/sup]-(E[sup]b[/sup]m)-D[sup]b[/sup]-(B[sup]b[/sup]m)-C[sup]7[/sup]-(B[sup]b[/sup]m)-A[sup]b[/sup]-(Fm)-G[sup]7[/sup]-(Fm)-E[sup]b[/sup]-(Cm)-D-(Cm)-B[sup]b7[/sup]-(Gm)-A-

and so on.

What we begin to see in this example is that the minor chords resolve to two different chords along this progression, e.g.

DmE[sup]7[/sup]DmC|AmB[sup]7[/sup]AmG|EmF[sup]#7[/sup]EmD|BmC[sup]#7[/sup]BmA
a:ivV[sup]7[/sup]C:iiI|e:ivV[sup]7[/sup]G:iiI|b:ivV[sup]7[/sup]D:iiI|f[sup]#[/sup]:ivV[sup]7[/sup]A:iiI

From this we can suggest that we move between the relative minor and major in each group of four chords, A minor to C major, E minor to G major, B minor to D major and F[sup]#[/sup] minor to A major

alternatively we could have:
A-(G)-F-(Dm)-E[sup]7[/sup]-(D)-C-(Am)-B[sup]7[/sup]-(A)-G-(Em)-F[sup]#7[/sup]-(E)-D-(Bm)-C[sup]#7[/sup]-(B)-A-(F[sup]#[/sup]m)-G[sup]#7[/sup]-(F[sup]#[/sup])-E-(C[sup]#[/sup]m)-D[sup]#7[/sup]-(C[sup]#[/sup])-
B-(G[sup]#[/sup]m)-A[sup]#7[/sup]-(G[sup]#[/sup])-F[sup]#[/sup]-(E[sup]b[/sup]m)-F[sup]7[/sup]-(E[sup]b[/sup])-D[sup]b[/sup]-(B[sup]b[/sup]m)-C[sup]7[/sup]-(B[sup]b[/sup])-A[sup]b[/sup]-(Fm)-G[sup]7[/sup]-(F)-E[sup]b[/sup]-(Cm)-D-(C)-B[sup]b7[/sup]-(Gm)-A-

note that this time we use the Major version of the passing chord on the second appearance of each naming note, e.g. F-(Dm)-E[sup]7[/sup]-(D)

DmE[sup]7[/sup]DC|AmB[sup]7[/sup]AG|EmF[sup]#7[/sup]ED|BmC[sup]#7[/sup]BA
a:ivV[sup]7[/sup]IV[sup]b[/sup]III|e:ivV[sup]7[/sup]IV[sup]b[/sup]III|b:ivV[sup]7[/sup]IV[sup]b[/sup]III|f[sup]#[/sup]:ivV[sup]7[/sup]IV[sup]b[/sup]III

the choices are many and hard to enumerate as different chord choices at one level will affect available chord choices at another level.
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Click to expand...


This Bm-G-A-Bm throughout the first 60" - didn't hear any need to listen further, if you think it changes up let me know and I'll have another listen further in.....
 
Layer your sounds. Use epic sounds like brass/trumpets/strings. Play chords on a major scale. Play notes above the chords. Use common, powerful chord progressions.
 
Three things:

The tempo makes a big difference. If you want it to be more exciting, epic, energizing, etc... try turning up the tempo a bit.

And the energy of the instruments makes a big difference.

Also, that third bar... when it drops back to the first chord.. sounds good, but if you want more energy, you should move through the chords a little more. It kinda dropped the energy/emotion there. I mean, it sounds great, but it sounds more like a deep, R&B track than an epic anthem track.
 
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