How to make good music is what this is all about. In making such, one has to fathom skill, relevance, choice, interest, and his audience. It may also be best to have an eye to, and for, latest trends, technologies, and equipment.
While music, as raw as it is, is still music, nowadays, good sounds are best exemplified by best technologies and equipment at hand, besides the substance, influence, and effect to people.
By creating beautiful melodies, the creator knows fully well that it is a case to case basis appreciation when it comes to the type, kind, genre, and the music’s relative classifications. Hence, good music will really be a nice masterpiece, depending on individuals’ recognition of its beauty.
Good, better, or best for one may be bad for the others.
Now, therefore, is there really good music for everyone? The writer thinks that, apart from the common ground of “nice, generic, and lovable melody”, good music will dwell on sound quality, for most, thus, the consideration of contemporary musical tools, whether software and/or hardware, and the technical aspect of it, are in place.
How to make music | The Basics and Common Grounds
The writer, first, wants to emphasize that he is not a song writer. He only creates sounds, melodies, and tunes to match his style and creativity.
While he is not a writer, the author of this post believes that music in general follows the same common techniques when it comes to its initial creation. Thus, sounds, bereft of words, are also music.
Try to achieve good sound structure
In starting your piece, having a nice, organized, and coordinated skeletal sound framework is a must. Every project has to have a work flow.
The latter, in turn, must have coordinated structural architect or design to solidify its holistic finished product.
The same is true with musical sound piece. It must be taken as a whole. Yet, while creating it, such starts into bits and pieces.
These bits and pieces are musical or sound blocks composed of chords and notes, which for guitar music masterpiece mainly starts with chords, as inceptive melody.
Of course, in chords, there are notes. To be technical, a major chord, for example, is composed primarily of three [3] notes: “do”, “mi”, and “so”.
In this instance of creation, the patterns of musical blocks must be in harmony with each other creating consistency and unanimity as a whole musical project.
Get Inspiration
We believe that we all start our endeavor from an inspiration. It triggers our initiative to do and embark on something. Surprisingly, yet we anticipate, that we will finish the same, again, with an inspiration.
Creating music or melodic sound is no different. It proceeds from an intense desire to produce, do, and have something. One example is “love”. We create music because of love, either platonic or otherwise.
When you are inspired, you are driven and motivated. Consequently, most, if not all, musical artists will say that they create their sounds because they are encouraged.
That is why, the writer is convinced that part and parcel of producing great sound is inspiration. Apart from spontaneity, one not so secret tip, thus, is get or dive into something to be steered.
Input your Personality | Manifest it through Sound
Music, melody, or sound stands out because it is unique in itself or peculiar to its creator. In the same way that no two or more individuals are the same, personalities are too. Although there may be semblances, yet no absolute and total similarities.
In every music, there are different presentations. While others may see similarities in sound or melody, they are still distinct in depiction.
This will show, even in little ways, the uniqueness in each respective piece. Nonetheless, it is advised that music must be noticeable from each other to manifestly reveal the personality of its creator.
Harness your Talent
When you make your own music, you are showcasing your talent, not just to you, but to the world. You are creating sound because you want to express something within you. Wittingly or unwittingly, you want your expression to reach someone or somebody.
As you go along, your potential talent becomes you, and you become your expression, and your expression now will be your manifest talent.
Instantly, you will want to express more as you become better at your newfound flair. In this way, you are continuously harnessing your talent and making better your musical creativity.
Thus, you should discover your potential in music, if there is an interest on your part. Express it and do it over and over, refining it in the process. Then, savviness will eventually realize.
Knowing your genre means knowing what you want to produce
Going for every ton, you will become a master of none. While it is best to have a variety of skills, however, in music, genre is always a category of belonginess.
Of course, a genre may have diverse categories; nonetheless, they are most likely similar in holistic approach and musical orientation. Their respective musical tones are coordinated and connected, to say the least.
Consequently, in music, it is best to be a specialist rather be a generalist. Your music has to belong in a certain category so you will know what to create and produce and your listeners will anticipate what to expect from you.
Accept Technology | Technical Aspect also Matters
As generation progresses so as technology. While the substance of music remains constant, the quality of sound production evolves and develops.
What is technically advanced in yester years are more often than not thrown into oblivion already or to be more specific–obsolete.
Hence, musical creators must also adapt with changing tides. Astonishingly, because of technological advancement, sound quality is also the best recipient its consequential effects
It modernizes the strategies in creating sounds, taking into consideration the advent of new gadgets and equipment, even computer programs or software applications.
True enough, this helps the new breed of musical creators to professionally make melodies, sounds, and tones in an instant or even alone with himself, which would not otherwise possible back in the days.
My Own Brand | Novander
As for the author, he chooses to write his own. Nonetheless, he imbibes inspiration. It is a progressive learning through the years, finding really the sweet spot and the liking to certain sounds.
First, of course, there were the instant melodies, where beginners may start their musical journey. The easy to play ones.
As you go on playing, you are continuously, whether known or unintentional, harnessing your skills to play, and trying to get better as the days passed.
Starting to get more technical
Once the writer passed the initial stage of learning, he started to sip through new heights. Playing Metallica, Herman Li’s songs, Paul Gilbert, Cannon Rock Electric Guitar version, and lot others.
Still at this stage, he is finding his personality. He was 14 years old then.
He can play but not yet in the smooth level. Finding still the sweet spot.
Progressive Rock and Math Rock influenced sound
Then, he first heard Polyphia, the genre of math rock stumbled into the writer’s cerebral cortex. He has been inspired since then by the music and melodies.
While he obviously has gotten inspiration from these famous group, he chooses to create his own music, beautifully inspired by one of the pioneers in this musical classification.
The writer likes the influence it befalls into his musical creativity. Having now the technical know-how and savviness in horsing around on his guitar, he meticulously studies, even until now, the bits and pieces of such musical category–a masterpiece indeed for the author’s liking.
Creating Good Music
For the writer’s perspective, he prefers to author his own brand of sounds. While inspired by other’s, he only gets the idea, yet, propagating a different presentation, for the audience to scrape within the music itself the latter’s unique musical style.
He followed what he has stated above regarding his tips on how to create good music. They are his own personal experiences, so to speak.
When I make my own music, I try to take inspiration from as much genres as possible. Even though I create guitar centric tones, I like to derive melodies, rhythms, and textures from different pieces of sound.
I think it’s important to be open minded when it comes to music because there’s so much out there to take inspiration from.
I listen to a lot of different genres such as hip-hop, pop, electronic, indie, metal and all their experimental subgenres because I like to explore the possibilities of what you can do with sounds. Through this, I take all the things that I think make-up those categories. Then, I mix them to conceive it as my own.
What I think makes a good song is nice storytelling (through sound, not necessarily lyrics), great dynamics through tension and release, and good production or at least production that fits the theme.
I make sure that when I start a song, it has to have good structure. I usually begin with a main hook. From there, I build the song which revolves around that angle. Every part, that isn’t rolling within it, is then reconfigured to flow towards, and build up to, that primary hook.
But this is still very standard in all of music, yet, this idea is very crucial. Although, I’ll admit that I’m still not the best in, and at, structuring songs. All the songs that I have made retain those very simple pop music-like framework. However, it’s that formula that got me out of just making 4 bar loops.
I also make sure to have really good production behind my songs since I go for a maximalist sound that keeps me satisfied and the listener wanting more.
Obviously, it should depend on the theme of the song first but this is what I go for. I try to play with synthesizers and different noises for percussion and mix these with trap and hip hop influenced drums because that’s the sound that catches my ears right now.
What’s most important too is not to overthink what you create and don’t compare it to other people’s work. You should only take inspiration from, as what I’ve said.
What’s significant is that it’s your own music and you’re making the decisions that you think feels right for you. Surely, an audience will be there who will want it. Just keep making music and overtime you’ll get a better grasp of what works and what doesn’t.
—Novander