[Slignig]

With a lot of the tracks that i make i always get bored with the usual verse chorus ABAB lame song structure. I like to throw in a lot of breaks and different verses to change up the track. The problem with throwing in a lot of different parts means that there needs to be good transitions that can bring the the other sections back to the main theme. I feel like i did a pretty decent job with my most recent track in my signature but i still need to improve my transitions and make them more clean. Let me know what you guys think of the transitions in my signature track or post other tracks that have some badass, out there transitions.

[AsylumSeaker]

I think so long as there is a strong aesthetic continuity, or melodic continuity, or rhythmic, ie - so long as there is a strong sense of continuity of some elements then people won't be thrown by transitions.

[Beagz]

i prefer to use what i call "natural" transitions. What i mean by this is sort of, not using new sounds (like sweeps) and not using the typical rum roll or pitch bend. I like using delay and reverb to introuce the new melody or sound.

Say i have a track where i want a melodic sort of break, i'll put the wetness of the reverb of this melodic break right up and sort of use it as a pad 16-32 bars before i actually want that sound to be dominant. Then my transition is simply decreasing the wet and increasing the dry of the reverb so the new melody slowly comes through clearer and clearer.

EDIT: I sort of failed at explaining this but hopefully you get what i mean

[Slignig]

Originally Posted by Beagz

i prefer to use what i call "natural" transitions. What i mean by this is sort of, not using new sounds (like sweeps) and not using the typical rum roll or pitch bend. I like using delay and reverb to introuce the new melody or sound.

Say i have a track where i want a melodic sort of break, i'll put the wetness of the reverb of this melodic break right up and sort of use it as a pad 16-32 bars before i actually want that sound to be dominant. Then my transition is simply decreasing the wet and increasing the dry of the reverb so the new melody slowly comes through clearer and clearer.

EDIT: I sort of failed at explaining this but hopefully you get what i mean

Yeah man I get exactly what you mean. I've actually tried using that technique on a more recent track that I've been working on. It works really well in blending the two sections together. I just have to automate the decay and wetness better so it's a little more smooth.

[SpinVector]

I like the transitions in your tracks Slignig. They're varied and involve a lot of different techniques.

Zooming out here for a bit and getting more general - so if I was thinking about things to contrast, I would think about (with a simple example to illustrate):
- Volume (soft to loud herp derp)
- Speed of rhythm, groove (fast notes to long block chords)
- Timbre (mellow plucks to aggressive growls)
- Recording fidelity (lo-fi to big clear sounds)
- Mix Space (Wide revberbs and panned instruments to narrow central sounds)
- Pitch, octave space (a melody that does not jump more than 3 tones, to a melody that spans two octaves)
- Voicing (one voice to a choir)
- Feel or vibe (delicate and melancholy to angry and assertive)
- Noisy to clear (tape hisses and vinyl samples, to sine waves and synthesized kicks)

Usually just by the fact that two separate parts are different they will have some of these characteristics, but it can be helpful to think about why they are different, and if there is anything you can do to promote the contrast.

Also, as Asylum seeker mentioned, the listener needs a thread of continuity running through transitions, so having one or more of these characteristics remain constant will usually provide that for you.

I got a lot of my transition ideas from analyzing Far too loud, these guys have a great grip on hammering you with heaps of different change ups and fills (they were doing complextro style quick cutting transitions before the style really caught on):

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[NExS]

Wish I could show you guys some of the really simple transition tricks I use in my music. I feel like explaining it would take way longer. Hahaha, I guess I'll come back to this thread when I have enough posts.