I've been trying to make music. Everything I come up with

Keep writing. Do you think every great songwriter started off writing bangers?

fuck around til you get good.

>>53599551
I feel ya. But there's always a weird doubt I have about myself and how I think I'm doing it wrong. Ignore it?

>>53599575

Yes and no.
Be critical about your work but don't give up.
Try to finish your songs or it will become a bad habit.

Also, post a vocaroo/clyp.it/whatever

>>53599539
You're probably not gonna make anything you're proud of for a while
Songwriting is a skill that needs to be practice like anything else, you're not going to start out amazing at it.
The best way to get good at it is to write a lot. Don't be too much of a perfectionist, try to make a song or two a week.

That being said something I find helpful is sort of 'plotting the song out' beforehand - decide the structure of it, ie 'intro - verse - chorus - verse - chorus - post-chorus -conclusion' or something, as well as the general tempo and 'feel' of the song if that makes any sense. Get an idea of what you WANT to make, then try to make it.

>>53599539
I'm assuming you play guitar? I guess that same goes for any instrument, but:

One thing I learned from a young age (that probably helped me from quitting prematurely) was to come up with a chord progression/melody + rhythm hybrid that can stand alone. If you go through your progression 4 times and you literally feel like you're boring yourself, then you know it needs tweaking (even just subtle fills between chords, a pause/stutter, anything really). You'll know almost immediately when a chord progression, played at a certain tempo feels like a 'song'. Even just from those basic chords.

The next thing you have to do is imagine everything else that could possibly be played in harmony with your progression. Imagine another guitar line, what the bass would do, strings, piano, etc. If you're a lyrical person, lyrics help give a song character right off the bat too (although I usually add them after). Never hear your song for what it is. Hear it for what it can be. That's how you keep digging until you've found something that resembles music.

>>53599539
Well what you should asking yourself about your music is "why don't I like it?"
Honestly, writing is a lot of derping around until something falls into your lap. You'll know it's good when you really feel it. Don't think that you need to write a song, just play and let it happen, and feel good about getting some pent-up emotion out.

>>53599614
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0qEuDo1z6t1

Feel dumb as fuck. Here's a thing I did that I actually saved. I know, it's kinda shit.

like others have said, keep working at it. it takes years to get good.

don't think about how bad your songs are, but how they're improving. keep learning new things. it's not where you're at, but where you're going. keep working, keep learning new things, and you'll improve. it's a gradual process, it takes time.

>>53599677
Dude I like it. I listened to the whole thing, and that should say something. With songwriting, the drums are pretty important with the how the song feels. You've got the snare on the 4th count, but I think for a song like this, you should have it on the third. Also, you're strumming straight eighth notes throughout it, and I think it works for some of the song, but maybe try strumming a chord and holding it out, or alternating the strumming pattern into a more loose feel.
I feel like when you add a second guitar and maybe write a melody, this song will turn into a solid song you'll be happy with.

>>53599789
Thanks, I appreciate it. I'm still getting used to transitioning between drum beats in songs (I was stuck in a rut with that for quite a while) and I definitely should be working on strum patterns more as well as doing rhythm and lead guitar instead of just having one. I also play the piano. Would it fit in that particular track?

>>53599847
Yes, but I think if there's piano, it should be like, fluttering above the rest of the track. If you know how to play jazz piano, that's what I'm imagining.

>>53599863
Haha, that'd be cool. I'm no jazz pianist though xD. My knowledge of piano/keyboard is all translation from guitar or utilization of the minimal music theory I know (building major and minor scales, building chords from those scales).

>>53599575
>But there's always a weird doubt I have about myself and how I think I'm doing it wrong
you will never get rid of that. use it to your advantage and learn when to finish a song and move on

>>53599575
I doubt that there are many artists who can stomach listening to their own records.

i was like this for a long time. a big turning point was when i stopped playing guitar chords because they just sounded cheesy and i started just playing riffs on top of each other. heres my music now btw:

https://soundcloud.com/tennis_champ

Any suggestions as to how I should progress through music theory? I don't want to inhibit creativity, but I'm also not sure if I know enough. I just know how to build major and minor scales and construct chords from them.

>>53599997
follow up, i know it's cool to make music for yourself and no one else, but's its really hard to tell if somethings good without outside opinions. play stuff for friends, release stuff on bandcamp, stay open and critical, keep trying

>>53600058
please elaborate? in the mean time ima check out your soundcloud.

>>53599575
>>53599539
I'm critical as fuck of my own material. I've put out 3 albums so far, two of which /mu/ well and truly loved (and now I'm some kind of meme, which I don't really like) but my fourth one which I'm liking most isn't liked at all.

I hated my first 3 albums but others liked them. Keep this in mind OP, what you don't like is what others might like.

Keep at it dude <3

>>53600176
may i hear some of your music?

File: 1417103154764.jpg (10KB, 247x247px) Image search: [Google]

10KB, 247x247px

>>53600193
thanks homie

>>53600209
Sure

https://dave-roland.bandcamp.com/album/roland-under-the-covers

My second album which people really liked

https://dave-roland.bandcamp.com/album/janus

My latest release, which really isn't liked at all

Music is all about having fun anyway, so I'm not crazy over who likes it and who doesn't. But it is nice to know sometimes that someone else enjoys it and that it's actually worth sharing.

>>53600256
bookmarked your bandcamp, will be checking you out. Would love any kind of help you can give, man

>>53600282
Writing help? I can give you a few little tips if you want, I'm not majorly knowledgeable in music writing though.

>>53600096
Music theory doesn't inhibit creativity. It will be easier to start out because you will actually know scales and shit instead of just hitting random notes till something happens. Theory helps with workflow and actually being able to pull of more complex music with different harmonies and stuff.

Walter Piston - Harmony. The most famous music theory book and can be found on libgen.org. Do it man. There have been some interesting things done outside of theory but there really is no excuse not to learn if you are trying to make music with the resources we have today.

>>53599677
Listening now.

My post >>53599660

Yeah, you have a long way to go my friend, but I do hear it! It sounds like a song is in there (I hear a perfect bed for some vocals in there) but I also hear a lead guitar and possibly a melodic bass (my favourite combo) to accompany.

The drums are off. I'd suggest even forgetting about drums for a while. Might need to learn programming or something. I'd focus on adding more melody before any percussive stuff.

Don't ever stop making music. You will hit road blocks, you will hear music by more capable musicians and be discouraged. Learn from them. Figure out what tricks they're using. There are no secrets to songwriting, only you can turn a song into what it's meant to be.

But I think you're ready to advance from Vocaroo and start using a DAW for recording. The you can play around with second/third/fourth guitars in separate channels and really flesh the thing out. Good work m8!

>>53600311
whatever you have man, listening to under the covers right now. really enjoying it so far

>>53600330
I used ableton to make that. drums are digital, step sequenced as a matter of fact. I know theyre off. still not too good with that

>>53600337
Thanks. Some of my music was improv, so quality can vary. RUTC had some effort put into since I enjoyed jangle pop at the time.

The first tip is knowing about keys, chords and what notes can go into certain keys. Once I learnt a bit of that it was easy street and I liked my own structure better.

Second would be actually coming up with ideas, which is hard if you're making music on a computer. I personally just use a drum loop and then use an old cheap synthesizer and I just play whatever I think of or try to figure out something I hum.

So if you want fast ideas, humming can do a lot. I've built entire songs around things I've just hummed.

>>53600421
I currently am able to build major and minor scales, and I know how to use those scales to make chords (on piano or guitar) is that whay you mean by knowing keys and what goes with them? Anything related to that I need to learn?

>>53600471
Well like I said, I'm not majorly knowledgeable. I know what chords are in what key and then I search up what notes work in them on wikipedia. I don't really know about scales or anything else.

For a time I used to just hit whatever notes sounded good to me, which I'd guess is why my first album is referred to as "outsider".

https://dave-roland.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-the-sensitive-man-stereo-remaster

Probably the best way is to learn from mistakes and learn what doesn't work. My whole musical career is a pretty good example of what to do and what not to.

Also try to emulate artists you like. I do it all the time but my results are not even close to the artist I was listening to, so it's sort of a mixed outcome in those cases. Good because I made something pretty good but bad since it isn't what I wanted at all.

>>53600562
Cool, thanks man. I'll be looking to your music for dos and donts.

>>53600707
Oh also, decent recording equipment. I've had some heavy criticism for my instruments clipping, which was unable to be fixed since I just use a phone to record everything. So a good mic is essential.

>>53600780
I have a CAD u1, an AKAI MPK225 and a guitar cable to usb rig. Sometimes the mic sounds like shit, sometimes the rig sounds like shit. I can fix these problems in Audacity damn near everytime.

everytime i "try to do music" it always end up feeling wrong, like i dont feel that is my music

>>53600907
I'd say some shit like you haven't found your voice yet, but it's useless, so I'll say to hone in on rhythms and progressions you like and go to most and build from them. Melodically, it's pretty much all you from the start, so it's very much based in what you listen to.

even stuff ive hated that i made, other people liked, so whatever.

>>53601177
all for doing my own thing, although it sounds like shit advice its really reassuring

>>53599616
>You're probably not gonna make anything you're proud of for a while

i was gonna say no to this at first, but then i realized i had been writing shit for years before i recorded anything. didn't make my first album until 17, but i could have written complete songs at 15, and had been into music since 12-13, so i guess that's why i'm 19 and like almost anything i've made. especially my first album

>>53601277
I'm 17 now (inb4 underage faggot, well memed) I started playing the guitar at 10, wasn't any good until I was like 14. Been toying with the idea of songwriting since I was about 15. Pretty much in the same boat as you.

>>53601318
>well memed
Truly the worst meme of our time.