[reticent]

So I've spent a lot of time trying to learn synthesis and I've got the basics down.. now for chord progression.. do you guys generally just punch in some chords or is there some basic rules you follow? for like EDM music.

thanks!

[RaidenBeats]

i play some guitar chords see what i like and transfer it to a midi piano roll, choose my vst and preset/patch and hit play. tweak accordingly

[Divercity]

Get some theory under your belt mate....It will take everything to a new level!

[AndyMcG]

Posted a few other places for people asking, this website helped me a bit - [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click here to register]

[Crude_beats]

I grab the root and the fifth on a midi keyboard.

then I hammer away up and down. then I put in whatever other note I find suits. maj, min or whatever.

then I just add something to that, melody whatever. might change it many times but this is how I start if I start with chords.

[reticent]

So I've read up on chords.. Major/Minor, 5th etc..

I did a basic chord prog here;

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.

I don't always have to use 3 notes at a time right? Like how do I make this sound not as lame lol?
Do I just cut and paste and mess around basically? I hope people know what I mean haha.

[RaidenBeats]

you can use as many notes as you want, i looove going from a 3 note chord to a 4 note chord and having the notes slide (i think this is called portamento, not sure the correct term)

[statisticquill]

Originally Posted by reticent

So I've read up on chords.. Major/Minor, 5th etc..

I did a basic chord prog here;


I don't always have to use 3 notes at a time right? Like how do I make this sound not as lame lol?
Do I just cut and paste and mess around basically? I hope people know what I mean haha.

Thats a loaded question hahaha, there really is no answer but to learn more theory.
Try to make the jumps between notes as small as possible. Ie, if your lowest note goes from a C and then jumps up to an A, instead you might want to make it go down to an A because the A below C is close than the A above C.

But really, just keep learning theory.

[RaidenBeats]

also, if you have a note made up of three notes (lets say notes a b and e)
you cna take a b and e and then take the e and make it one octave higher then on the third chord make it go one octave LOWER than the FIRST chord, so it s the same chord but with slight differences

[reticent]

Originally Posted by statisticquill

Thats a loaded question hahaha, there really is no answer but to learn more theory.
Try to make the jumps between notes as small as possible. Ie, if your lowest note goes from a C and then jumps up to an A, instead you might want to make it go down to an A because the A below C is close than the A above C.

But really, just keep learning theory.

yeah but theory won't necessarily help me come up with a good melody/chord prog right?

because even from just reading up on major/minor scale, and then looking at like deadmau5's chords, they don't follow this music theory at all

[statisticquill]

Originally Posted by reticent

yeah but theory won't necessarily help me come up with a good melody/chord prog right?

because even from just reading up on major/minor scale, and then looking at like deadmau5's chords, they don't follow this music theory at all

Hahaha it doesn't make sense to you because you've barely even scratched the surface!
Deadmau5's chords are perfectly in keeping with music theory. PERFECTLY. I have NEVER heard him do anything musically unusual.
Thats like saying that calculus doesn't follow the rules of math because you barely understand how to add and subtract. No offence man, but people study this stuff for their entire life, theory is a vast world of information and you can't expect to read a couple articles and understand it right away.

Keep persevering and you will get there!

[reticent]

yeah I guess so.. I just found the Music Theory for Computer Musician book at my local bookstore for cheap, guess I'll pick it up and read!

[Reg Reginald]

Coming from a classical background, I have the opposite problem: I suck at synthesis, but I can put together chord structures all day. The advice you are getting in this thread sounds good.

I would recommend learning chords and roman numeral analysis (look this up on Wikipedia... I can't post links because I'm new) so that you can understand chord patterns independent of key. deadmau5's stuff sounds very traditional. With some more experience, you will be able to identify the chords. If it's confusing, that's probably because you are having trouble recognizing the inversions. Also, when listening to electro, it can sometimes be harder to recognize chords if they are detuned or distorted. The same chord progression can sound very different if the timbre is different.

Music theory will help you get ideas about which chords to put next, and it will also help you analyze what other people are doing and understand it.

Check out Wikipedia's article on chord progressions and learn all the jargon until you understand it. For example, the chords you are experimenting with are a very common progression (look up the 50s progression on Wikipedia). C-Am-F-G in C, aka I-vi-IV-V in roman numeral notation (though your inversions may be different from the Wikipedia article). Of course, just because it's used in the 50s doesn't make it bad, and it won't sound 50s when played on synths.

With more music background, you will come up with your own chord progressions. A lot of the time, you probably will use classic chord progressions, but you want to do this intentionally, rather than accidentally. You will learn which chord progressions invoke which emotions.

Whenever you listen to music, try to figure out what the chord progressions are, and maybe use a keyboard to help you.

[AndyMcG]

Good advice guys thank you

[ckiiln]

Learning some theory will take you from noodling around with a keyboard onto actually making music. It'll be more fun, too - also when you're playing plain old acoustic instruments.

[Reg Reginald]

Noodling is indeed the right word, ckiiln... Trying to write chords without music theory is like trying to synthesize without knowing what oscillators, filters, and envelopes are. If you noodle around long enough, you can come up with something that sounds good, sure. But it's easier to get the sound you want when you know what you are doing, so your experimentation will be more directed.

[ckiiln]

That's how I've felt that transition, at least. I had to learn the basics at what feels like old age, so it's not something that I can just do from the hip yet - but it has definetly helped me progress.

[FunkMasterBrown]

stopped reading the thread half way through but i wack on the keyboard throwing shapes about until i get a chord i like the sound of. then ill probably find the next one and try and build shit like that

your 3 note triad things ARE gonna sound gay cause its the basics of theory. i have a very musical mate and when we try and make tracks together he always comes out with the single most un cool chords ever cause he plays the guitar and is wanging out these major triads

use your ears and see what you can come up with is my advice

[harpeer]

I'm just geussing that noodling around can have some very profound results for a good ear for music.
All I know is that I would rather fanagle myself into a happy accident I can run with, whether guitar, piano, or program, than refer to some theory along the way. But thank god there's theory for us who need it!

[ckiiln]

Originally Posted by harpeer

I'm just geussing that noodling around can have some very profound results for a good ear for music.
All I know is that I would rather fanagle myself into a happy accident I can run with, whether guitar, piano, or program, than refer to some theory along the way. But thank god there's theory for us who need it!

I don't understand this attitude. Do you feel the same way about maths, languages and sports? That it's better to probe around for results, rather than actually learning the.. well, theory behind it, and then better know how to achieve them?