Composing music

[Giff]

Anyone here good at writing lyrics, play inrument and/ or good at composing melodies?

I've played piano since I was 6 years or something, not so much anymore though, and I have I come up with quite some good melodies.

Would be fun to see if anyone on this forum have the same interest and perhaps could do something together.

[Edwardo Piet]

I just make loops on a cheap £20 music program called Techno 5 - and I make songs out of them...

I lost my older equipment. I used to have a £300 program called Ableton Live, a relatively small £70 keyboard, a software sampler + synth called Proteus X and Cubase.

Oddly though because everything moves on so quickly these days - new cheap stuff can be kind of on par (but in a different way) with older but more expensive it seems..

With hardware vintage retro synths - whether they are expensive because they're hard to get hold of, or if you find a cheap one either way they can be very nice. Well at least for me. I love 303 TB Roland basses and 909 TR Drum machines

I make kind of experimental Electronica or whatever you call it.
I have 4 tracks up at my Myspace atm: http://www.myspace.com/zealotsoulmusic.

My newest and I think favourite of my tracks is 'Space-Fort'. Since then I have been working on a track but experimenting rather a lot with (software) mixing desks and the like. They're interesting but if you use scratchy or DJ loops effects off some kind too much then the track lacks melody and is a bit repetitive - so I'm going to have to incorporate the DJ stuff with balance of course.

I often have what I think I should do musically that I already know how to do in the back of my mind but I often go against it deliberately to explore new areas. I sometimes do a bit of what I think I shouldn't do and then try and make it work. See if I can make stuff work that I wouldn't normally try.

That was I get to experiment to explore new areas, etc.

I frigging love music - and I find making it dead fun whether others like it (or even whether I like it) or not.

I can't play instruments - I just used to pick a musical scale and use the keyboard to record 1, 2, 4 or 8 bar loops and quantize them by 8th or 16th notes. It's all about the composition, the structure of the sound and the sound itself for me...

But mostly I love the structuring. I used to use Ableton Live to play my musical loops live on the keyboard so it was all spontaneous and organic when I recorded songs. And then IF anyone ever wanted me to perform my songs live for them then I could - and I could also change it up a bit and change the order or the loops and the size of the song - keep it going it people like it or make it shorter if they're not bothered and want to hear something else, etc.

EvF

[Giff]

I have a very variated music style and taste. I like almost everything, except heavy metal and such. I like a good song no matter what genre.

Here is some example of my music taste

MGMT-Kids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIEOZCcaXzE

Swingfly- Singing that melody: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pG_-dd58Ew

Colplay- Viva La vida: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvgZkm1xWPE

The ting tings- That not my name: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX-7u9OzH9o

I have for an example made a song with the accords from Canon, nothing that hasven't done before. But I have not made an cover on Canon, I've just taken the accords and made something diffrent with it.

Don't really like techno, some tunes are ok, but I prefer more variated kind of music.

EVS, sounds like you are very familiar of music programs and such. Maybe I could probide you with some material sometime, if you would like.

[leo-rcc]

I like "Time to pretend" from MGMT a lot.

[Edwardo Piet]

My favourite band is Orbital.
I also like Long Range, Underworld, Paul Hartnoll, Leftfield, Plaid, Royksopp, some Moby and I also like Muse and Radiohead quite a lot.

I like some Coldplay and am very fond of viva la vida - I think that In My Place might be one of my favourite - depends on my mood. I also like Trouble a lot.

I also like some Alicia keys and Lenny Kravtiz too.
I haven't heard the Ting Tings much but I do quite like what I've heard by them...in a different sort of way - it's likeable for me, not deep but likeable.

I don't like mainstream stuff - I don't like really mainstream techno either really. I like more of the acid house/techno that came out of detroit techno - with the Roland 303 and 909 etc- I like electronica and I like a lot of t he prog/house/trance of whatever that Underworld do.

What I think is cool about Orbital and Underworld is there are similarities there and it was around the same era - but there are a lot of differences too.

I could go on and on about music but I'll stop here now..
Orbital are my fav tho.

EvF

[athoughtfulman]

Yeah, I play guitar and absolutely love playing/making music, both by myself and with friends. Done a few gigs with a band I'm in at the moment (http://www.myspace.com/asparablue very basic recordings) but everyone's gotten busy all of a sudden so we haven't been doing much lately. I've got plenty of time due to not having a job so I'm always keen to play more.

I'm trying to start an 80s rock band with a friend, though it's proving hard to find other members.

As for my influences, I'd probably list Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith, Motley Crue as my biggest influences. I generally appreciate old music much more than the new - I find most new stuff is written purely just to make money, or at least predominantly. Radio songs get boring after a few plays I find, yet I can put Pink Floyd on and listen for hours on end. I wish music would return to those days.

I'm not a fan of all the electro around today either, whether it's in clubs or on the radio. I'll dance to it, but I don't really like it. I think it's harder to write a song with traditional instruments. That being said, I'm a sucker for muckin' around with software programs to make music. Haven't had the diligence to write a full song; at the moment I just have lots of little songs.

Another few bands I'm liking lately are: The Who, The Beatles and Van Halen. AC/DC is great. And been listening to an Aust band called Airbourne. They sound ALOT like AC/DC.

[Edwardo Piet]

I'm not a fan of all the electro around today either

(my bolding obviously)

--Yeah I'm pretty much with you there...I personally think that electronica, techno, electro dance-trance etc has been best between 1989-99
I liked the interesting change of style around the millennium - but it seemed to go down hill after that for me.

My favourite bands seemed to form about around the time I was born funnily enough--when Acid House was around, etc - coming out of Detroit Techno.
I think 1989-1999 is my favourite period.

Orbital, Underworld, Leftfield, Moby, etc - they all started around late-very late 80s.
I personally think in comparison that elecronic music tends to suck a lot today - it's all kind of the same and very cheesy and doesn't seem to have much thought into it. Seems to be very shallow and at times - pretty mindless.

I quite like Royksopp that started at 2001 - but they still can't hold ground with Orbital and Underworld, etc - for me.
My favourite band around at the moment is definitely Long Range - the experimental electronica band with Phil Harnoll from Orbital and Nick Smith - who does quite clubby music I think I heard.
Nick also did the music to the opening credits to the movie Hannibal.

Anyway I think Long Range are absolutely superb - it's newer but Phil Hartnoll is from Orbital and he started in 1989 - and it's not exactly commercial - I hate that commercial dance shit! - No, it's very experimental - and electronica covers very wide areas in music.

EvF

[Giff]

Have you not used piano sounds or anything like that?

It's quite beutiful and sometimes paino mixed with some techno beats and such can be quite good. But I prefer usual drums . But it depends on what kind of beat it is, but that traditional hard techno drums are not so pleasant.

I would like to show what I can do on a piano, but I no longer have any way to record on a computer.

Anyway, you both seem to be very good at composing and making music. Seems good.

[Edwardo Piet]

Piano is my 2nd favourite instrument after the Synthesizer and drums - truly beautiful, pure and awesome instrument...awesome.

Not including keyboards - overall keyboard is my favourite because you can get all 3 of those sounds (and then some) out of it.

EvF

P.S: On the techno music program I have I haven't actually got any pure piano sounds I believe, all the instruments are kind of synth versions - I used to have all the instruments under the sun in sample form in a program called Proteus X, no more.