Song Structure

D

DirtySpleen

Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2012
Location
Pennsylvania, United States
I have been lurking around the forum for quite a while, and have picked up a TON of tricks and wisdom on everything from percussion to mixing/mastering techniques. One thing that above all has eluded my hunt is song structure. By this I mean the lengths of each section, the separate sections in the song, and just any tips and tricks you guys may care to enlighten me with! I know pretty in depth of Ableton, so don't be afraid of a little tech-talk :D Thanks!
 
I pretty much just listened to a shit tone of music. listen to your favorite track and analyze when the breakdowns and build ups are.


Dump a track into ableton and look at the soundwaves to see how it develops. Then just copy your track with the same layout ;)
 
Scrapped said:
I pretty much just listened to a shit tone of music. listen to your favorite track and analyze when the breakdowns and build ups are.


Dump a track into ableton and look at the soundwaves to see how it develops. Then just copy your track with the same layout ;)
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^^^^this. Dnb is pretty much strictly 16bar phrases to help the DJ. So as long as your variations and progression stay within 16bar multiples your on the right track (excuse the pun)
 
If you bothered to check any of the gazillion other threads on this you'd find that you need to:

- listen to music all the time and make mental and physical notes of shit that's going on
- use the force, Luke, trust your instincts
 
Try to think of each song as a story. You will need some form of introduction and ending- and in the middle make sure there are plenty of twists and turns to keep your audience hooked
 
Turn your computer monitor OFF. Turn the volume up loud, and dance around your studio to your track. Sounds stupid, but trust me you'll immediately identify a whole bunch of arrangement problems.
 
Innovine said:
Turn your computer monitor OFF. Turn the volume up loud, and dance around your studio to your track. Sounds stupid, but trust me you'll immediately identify a whole bunch of arrangement problems.
Click to expand...

This... I have started to do this. If you can't move (at least a bit of head bobbing) to it then it ain't gonna do the trick (if that's what your aiming for).

Song structure has no rules. Do what you want. Making a track mix/dj friendly is a different thing though I guess.
 
Sometimes I will take a track that I think is really nicely structured and load this into my DAW
Then just analyze how long they made certain parts and this could be used as a guideline to give yourself an idea
 
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