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I've noticed that most of my stuff gets rather repetitive and boring after the second drop.

Simply adding more stuff doesn't work as I just end up making a muddy over complicated mess and/or lose the original vibe.

I don't really use the "lfo to cut off" wobble bass/synths so just adding more synths with various lfo rates isn't really an option

How do you keep your music interesting?

Change drum patterns?
Change melodies?
?
?
Profit?

Cheers.

you just need to keep changing things. Perhaps change the key. maybe change the note pattern. It could be anything really.

Maybe you could post one of your tunes that you find repetitive and people could give specific suggestions. It's hard to say 'in general' what would make a tune interesting.

dbGlitch on the master channel.

wub wrote:dbGlitch on the master channel.

Bounce the audio and insert in places in your track.

makerowner wrote:Maybe you could post one of your tunes that you find repetitive and people could give specific suggestions. It's hard to say 'in general' what would make a tune interesting.

Soundcloud

Maybe just a lack of creativity?

I find that changing the bass sound goes a long way (ie. change a few parameters on the synth or resample differently the 2nd drop). Making small rhythmic changes such as a different swing, different note pattern or different LFO speed/pattern. Also, layering another bass sound after the 2nd drop to make it sound louder. Improvise!

Bounce parts to audio, and then chop them up! some effects and basses an only be achieved with just manually cutting and pasting interesting bits together. tip: watch out for zero crossing points ware you cut, or add a tiny fade so you dont get clicking between the samples.

I've been having this problem myself (i.e. the track "not going" anywhere)
Try and add a contrasting melody line, (think poyphonic music); by contrasting I mean something different than octave, fifth or third...

I love changing the "intensity" of the bass. I usually make some hype datsick/excision style bass and lowpass it heavily and open it up a bit in some sections of my tunes. I also love "dropping a beat" edits where you don't play anything for a beat, maybe just letting a reverb die out for a while.

I also like writing actual melodies as opposed to riff and changing up the melody/harmony/counter point over the course of a tune.

personally, I find that I'm way harder on my self when it comes to repetition than most other listeners. That is to say, I feel like it's too repetitive, but they think it's great. Mostly, I just try and keep a structure going. If one section get's tiresome, or if the change between two sections get's old, throw in a bridge or a break down.

Eradicouture wrote:personally, I find that I'm way harder on my self when it comes to repetition than most other listeners. That is to say, I feel like it's too repetitive, but they think it's great. Mostly, I just try and keep a structure going. If one section get's tiresome, or if the change between two sections get's old, throw in a bridge or a break down.

This!
Although it may be repetitive, it might go well but everyone is critical of their own work.

Go for an epic breaks/drumstep finale.

dubmatters wrote:

makerowner wrote:Maybe you could post one of your tunes that you find repetitive and people could give specific suggestions. It's hard to say 'in general' what would make a tune interesting.

Soundcloud

Maybe just a lack of creativity?

I like the vibes, not too many dubstep tunes in a major key (Pinch's Qawwali is the only one I can think of atm). But yeah, it feels like it needs something else. I actually started humming a piano melody that would fit over this perfectly. I could send it to you if you want. Most tunes I hear on this forum have the opposite problem, of trying to put too many different things into one tune, but in this case I do think it needs more parts, not just switching up the sounds like some other people have suggested. (Though of course you could do both.)

dubmatters wrote:

makerowner wrote:Maybe you could post one of your tunes that you find repetitive and people could give specific suggestions. It's hard to say 'in general' what would make a tune interesting.

Soundcloud

Maybe just a lack of creativity?

I just now actually listened to this. I have to say, I like it, but it goes no where. That static style of songwriting is a slippery slope because you basically have to make it totally awesome, or it's boring. What you have here is a really solid little lick, but to break it up, you should at least put a second, totally different lick in there somewhere. Add a transition in the middle that leads to something in a different key or just with a totally different feel, then smoothly bring it back to the starting lick by the end to wrap the whole thing together. I spent a lot of years writing music with vocals before I started doing stuff like this, and with vocals, people notice a lot faster if you're song never changes, so you have to have verse sections, chorus sections, bridge sections, etc. etc. otherwise people get bored. Try thinking of your stuff the same way. Even if there's no words, make "verses" and make a "chorus" and a "bridge" etc.

Sometimes, I will write a lick that I really like, and I'll want to have the whole song just be done because I like that one lick so much. So I copy and paste it a bunch of times and change a little bit over the tune, and try to call it done. It's an easy temptation to fall into when you're in the throes of elation from discovery of an awesome tune, but it's a red herring, because when you go back to listen to it, that awesome lick loses all effectiveness after 3 minutes.

No matter how hard it is, try just cutting a swath out of the middle of this tune and writing something completely different in there.

aside from actually making musical changes-- adding a harmony, modulating, etc-- jump things up or down an octave, add or remove a percussive element, change the level of repetition (an element that comes in once every 4 bars now comes in every 2 or every 1 bar), change the space things take up via reverb, etc, etc.

Little incidentals and variations help a lot too. Having tiny modulations and fx on things so they are almost imperceptibly different helps if you are making more loopey music, I think people unconsciously pick up on it. Also if you do something different it can change the focus of the listener, eg put a little skippy hat at the end of a few bar section and notice how the hats seem more prominent for the next bit. Bringing shit in early/late can keep it interesting - if you are leading up to a new section with a melody or keys or whatever try putting a few notes leading up to the new section. You might be able to tease the listener by having those notes as an incidental bar-end thing earlier in the track to play with there expectations. drop the first kick or snare of a loop or modulate the fx on something. Turn something into call-and-response (have two lines that "talk" to each other and alternate) etc

don't forget to put some oomph in there.

seriously, though, build energy throughout the track. build towards a drop, hold that energy, then release somewhat, start building again, big romance explosion, vamp out.

my sig track is an example. you don't even have to listen to it, just look at the waveform, the gradual builds, the climax, the release. dubstep is generally more hit and retreat, but good progression builds intensity resulting in a (potentially) interesting track.