Producing music from the soul?

[gkmusic]

How to write music from the soul:

Think big, make something of your life, get a girlfriend - shop in ikea together for throw rugs, own a car, get a great job, flirt innocently with the receptionist, get a dog - call him Moonbeam and walk him every day, enjoy a drink every now and then, work out regularly.

Then...

Destroy it all, use your new physique to seduce the receptionist, have sex with her on the throw rug you bought in ikea, video it and send it to your girlfriend, quit your job and drive your car into a wall, drink ALL the time, get involved in dog fights to earn money to subsidize your new lifestyle - watch as Moonbeam the cuddly Yorkshire Terrier fights a badger... and die a little inside.

When your life is subsequently ruined, and Moonbeam - you're only friend left - has been taken away from you by an animal rights organization, you'll have plenty of time to sit alone and think back over the all mistakes you made and indeed all the mistakes you regret not making, while pensively strumming your guitar like a burned out country singer. Maybe, just maybe, one day when you've come to terms with it all you'll write something great about it... something from the soul...


Note, don't do any of this.

Good God that was awsome

[brettheaslewood]

Think big, make something of your life, get a girlfriend - shop in ikea together for throw rugs, own a car, get a great job, flirt innocently with the receptionist, get a dog - call him Moonbeam and walk him every day, enjoy a drink every now and then, work out regularly.

this reminds me of that film with owen wilson and that dog and he (wilson) becomes a writer - and speeds through everything he's done in 6 months in 6 minutes.
now thats soul

[jaydot]

I'm not a more experience producer in the sense that I'm one of the better ones on here BUT I don't think you can premeditate soulful music if you try; same goes for any vibe... you can gnaw away at the style you want but one day you'll sit down at the DAW and BAM!- I did that with my track "Solitude". Play with strings and pads (and percs if you must) make some garage, can be pretty soulful. Play a long extended note of a pad or a string and just immerse yourself in that sound. Write a simple piano melody and play it over the top of the strings and pads. I like to produce "filth"| when I feel in the mood but at heart I am a chillstep producer... I love how you can evoke a range of emotions and connatations from a more chilled track-and always will prefer to make chill over any other style.

[rachtiiibam]

Thats just it. Write sounds about something that you feel for. Love, hate, anxiety..

And if you need to create feelings to write about. As Kaiori described; Live! Do something stupid... or fantastic. Both..

[brettheaslewood]

How to write music from the soul:

Think big, make something of your life, get a girlfriend - shop in ikea together for throw rugs, own a car, get a great job, flirt innocently with the receptionist, get a dog - call him Moonbeam and walk him every day, enjoy a drink every now and then, work out regularly.

Then...

Destroy it all, use your new physique to seduce the receptionist, have sex with her on the throw rug you bought in ikea, video it and send it to your girlfriend, quit your job and drive your car into a wall, drink ALL the time, get involved in dog fights to earn money to subsidize your new lifestyle - watch as Moonbeam the cuddly Yorkshire Terrier fights a badger... and die a little inside.

When your life is subsequently ruined, and Moonbeam - you're only friend left - has been taken away from you by an animal rights organization, you'll have plenty of time to sit alone and think back over the all mistakes you made and indeed all the mistakes you regret not making, while pensively strumming your guitar like a burned out country singer. Maybe, just maybe, one day when you've come to terms with it all you'll write something great about it... something from the soul...


Note, don't do any of this.

I just read over this again, best read of the day.

[Manic Harmonic]

i think you should listen to some electronic music that has soul. soul is all about human interaction, imo. listen to ratatat. some of the most human sounding electronic music ever. also, if you listen to some rock songs, that are overproduced, then listen to the original demos, you can hear they ripped the soul out of a lot of those songs, so try listening to some stuff like that and discover what's different about it. i can't think of any examples right now.

[Cubicle]

pick a subject matter, and write about it... Some of my most popular tunes are ones I write to portray a certain vibe...

Like, think of your favorite natural scenic landscape, everyone has those spots they sort of feel an emotional connection to, ask yourself what vibe it puts off, and try to write a tune that puts you in a similar feeling...

IDK you gender or sexual preference, but some of my best tunes/most popular are written when im thinking about my girl. Think about the vibe you get hanging out with someone you admire, love, ect. And try to write a chord progression that portrays it.

The only way your going to be able to write from the heart is if you start writing ABOUT stuff instead of just plain writing for the hell of writing. Im not you, so I cant really throw topic suggestions at you like I just tried too, but you should know what pulls your heartstrings and sets a vibe. Everytime you listen to a song it should take you somewhere, set a mood, ect. The key to writing from your heart, is making the mood your tunes set a mood thats close to you.

One last tip... Fuck technical production rights and wrongs... noones arguing the beatles dont have soul, and noones arguing that the stuff they did was technically CORRECT all the time either.

This.

I made Power when I was thinking about a subject matter.
Also "Describing My Love For You Would Be An Endless Task" is quite obvious.

I often start out with my drums, getting good 'neutral' sounding and relaxing snares/hits. And after that I usually just make an instance of a Concert Piano and play on the midi untill I find an emotion that fits my subject.