How to make the music in my head come to life?

nashley · Post by **nashley** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 8:21 pm

Every song i make is never on par with what i hear in my head. It's always way less melodic and doesn't have that bump i am looking for. I can't figure it out what i hear in my head is straight dirty,\ but when i comes down to making it happen i just can't make it happen. Any tips?

Attila · Post by **Attila** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 8:28 pm

Work harder

mikeyp · Post by **mikeyp** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 8:31 pm

Attila wrote:Work harder

basically

if it were any easier than that well then everyone could make good music. we all have great stuff in our heads.

MassAphekt · Post by **MassAphekt** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 8:34 pm

Not too sure if this would help but, if you randomly thought up of a sick melody or melody arrangement but not trained enough in music theory then I suggest try recording yourself humming or whistling the very melodies you hear in your head that you like, I've done this multiple times and it works everytime for me, especially when Im away from my computer or some huge random inspiring lead comes in my mind for a certain song im making Ill just whip out my voice memo on the iphone and hum it lol

Triphosphate · Post by **Triphosphate** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 9:11 pm

Here you go, something to help you plow through the difficulties of being a musician:

Aprex wrote:I found this quote that I think will help those that are new like me to producing, because there's nothing worse than putting your all into a track then listening to something 100 times better, This will help.

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
― Ira Glass

I hope it helped you as much as it helped me

- Aprex

The truth is, we all face this very same problem you're describing, and the only way to close the gap between what's in our heads and what we're producing is dedicated practice.

nowaysj · Post by **nowaysj** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 9:34 pm

So true, Ira.

Here is a suggestion, if this doesn't resonate with you, go eat a ham sandwich, I don't want to hear it.

As closely as you can, reproduce pro tracks.

This will give you an objective target to work towards, rather than the somewhat nebulous target of something in your head. If you really push this, you will learn a great deal about production techniques and the necessary tools. If you get stumped, ask questions research. This process can take a long time, just get ready for that.

Once you learn how to make sounds, then you can actually have a shot at moving your thoughts from you mind into the real world, and addressing the artistic challenges of making good music.

ZankUSA · Post by **ZankUSA** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 9:39 pm

If I'm in school and I get a little melody going in my head, or something. I always seems to write it down and so It'll be there for me when I get home and such! ;P

Just work a bit harder, tweak around things and add little zoos and a zaps and just spice things up, work with a nice synth that you like and go from there.

Triphosphate · Post by **Triphosphate** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 10:18 pm

ZankUSA wrote:add little zoos and a zaps

nowaysj · Post by **nowaysj** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 10:22 pm

Lichee · Post by **Lichee** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 10:28 pm

just do it. I would think of some nutty bassline in my head and never even bother trying to make it, lately i've made some crazy basslines. Just think about it in steps, what notes are playing, what oscillators, what sort of filtering, glide on the note, reverb etc etc. And for melodies and stuff, just record you singing it on your phone, simple as that.

Also trying to reproduce pro tracks is the best idea. When I started learning to make tunes I tried to recreate a bunch of Benga and Skream tunes, it taught me so much about structuring. Then I found all of Burials original samples and tried to get the same style, that taught me loads about pitch, reverb and delay.

narcissus · Post by **narcissus** » Sat Apr 21, 2012 10:31 pm

seriously, i hated my music for YEARS. until i realized i was getting quite good.

i started making music on a computer when i was about 11 or 12. i'm 23. only in the last 3 years have i made anything that was any good. patience is SUCH a virtue.

ninjadog · Post by **ninjadog** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:11 am

nowaysj wrote:So true, Ira.

Here is a suggestion, if this doesn't resonate with you, go eat a ham sandwich, I don't want to hear it.

As closely as you can, reproduce pro tracks.

This will give you an objective target to work towards, rather than the somewhat nebulous target of something in your head. If you really push this, you will learn a great deal about production techniques and the necessary tools. If you get stumped, ask questions research. This process can take a long time, just get ready for that.

Once you learn how to make sounds, then you can actually have a shot at moving your thoughts from you mind into the real world, and addressing the artistic challenges of making good music.

Well said. I was gonna go on about the same thing but it would have sounded way less intelligent. And if you want the music in your head to come to life eat some LSD, the problem is making it stop.

nashley · Post by **nashley** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:35 am

thanks so much for all the responses guys it has been super motivational!

baseband · Post by **baseband** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 1:26 am

One thing I've been trying to force myself to do recently is try to reproduce a song that I like. This was mentioned by nowaysj, really good advice. It can get tedious, but even being able to mimic 8 bars learns ya some good stuff. Don't try to get the exact sample or synth patch used, just try to get close with similar sounding stuff.

it is really easy to get distracted when doing this, and try to make something of your own. but as great as it is to get new ideas and all that, it is also good to have the discipline to learn up your chops. so then you know how to transfer your ideas to actual sound more effectively. im still really bad at it, but it takes time I guess

hysteriaa · Post by **hysteriaa** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:28 am

as you get better you'll be able to recreate the sounds you hear in your mind much more accurately.

Mad_EP · Post by **Mad_EP** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 8:43 am

A lot of stuff has been mentioned about patience, hard work - etc... and that is all true.

There's also another very real element - not everything that is amazing in our heads *actually* is amazing. Sometimes it takes hearing it out loud to realize that.

A perfect example - how many of you had a joke in your head that was HILARIOUS - until you said it out loud and then found it was so unfunny, you didn't even get a sympathy laugh or chuckle? It's the same principle.

Ideas/inspiration are great, but not all are automatically great until they get refined and re-worked in the real world.

Divane · Post by **Divane** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:02 pm

Wasn't it Benga who said something like: If you want to become pro you need to sit down and practice until you can make every sound you want.

pesky · Post by **pesky** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:33 pm

i always sit down with a thought of a song inside my head which expands in to something totally different but better.

Isley · Post by **Isley** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 1:24 pm

narcissus wrote:seriously, i hated my music for YEARS. until i realized i was getting quite good.

i started making music on a computer when i was about 11 or 12. i'm 23. only in the last 3 years have i made anything that was any good. patience is SUCH a virtue.

The track in your sig is too ill dude

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