Writing music based on refs

[jbucklin]

I would like to hear from you all about writing music based on the refs. Especially writing an instrumental tune using a vocal tune as a reference. How do you go about it? Any ideas would help. Thanks!

[prizzi]

Hi,

I have only had a handful of forwards but....I have taken cosmicdolphins suggestions. Copy the reference track into your DAW and see what the instrumentation and style is. Make some notes mental or otherwise. I like to add notes right into my DAW session in the timeline (I use Abelton for this). Sometimes this can be a bit challenging because certain reference tracks are small YouTube clips with dialogue. I also keep a journal in a spreadsheet on my feedback for each of my submissions.

Now for me sometimes I think that I am implementing the feedback and reference ideas and it doesn't always work so there is that too. ahhhhh! This forum is great about having people listen to your track also if you leave a link.


Here is what cosmicdolphin said in a recent post:

"I've listened to them all often several times over, made notes , I've checked the key / tempo, listed the instruments , how they're played , the FX they've used, the chords , how they are structured etc.

I grab the reference tracks and load them into my DAW for A/B comparison and only then do bring up an instrument and start playing. No inspiration needed, I have a map"

Hope that helps a bit.

Phil

[jbucklin]

Thanks, Phil! Great suggestions. My problem is finding a balance between outright plagiarism and following my muse to the point where it sounds nothing like the ref. I need to find that middle ground where it’s in the general wheelhouse stylistically but still sounds like a different composition. My tendency is to follow my muse and hope that the screener hears how “brilliant” I am!

[AlanHall]

In many Taxi TV episodes Michael Laskow mentions analyzing all the references to 'triangulate' and find the common features of all the refs. Others have discussed their methods; usually boiling down to a list very much like:

instrumental makeup (ensemble or orchestration)
tempo
meter
pulse (1/8ths, 1/16ths, triplets...)
key and mode
harmonies and harmonic motion (how often in beats/bars the functional harmony changes)
rhythmic motivs
melodic shape and rhythm
instrumental timbre (clean vs distorted, light vs dark...)
overall mood of the track

That's what comes to mind when I think of analyzing the ref tracks. YMMV

[kjckjc]

Great suggestions... One Question... Can anyone explain HOW to upload a ref track into my DAW?? I am having trouble even uploading my own - older made tunes (mp3's) into my DAW to edit and re-mix them... That would be super helpful!! I am using Presonus Studio 1 + (Pro) if it matters... Thanks in advance!!!

[AlanHall]

Great suggestions... One Question... Can anyone explain HOW to upload a ref track into my DAW?? I am having trouble even uploading my own - older made tunes (mp3's) into my DAW to edit and re-mix them... That would be super helpful!! I am using Presonus Studio 1 + (Pro) if it matters... Thanks in advance!!!

My DAW - and I'm assuming any - will need uncompressed .WAV ( or .AIFF or... ) loaded into the project. For the conversions, I use Audacity. An oldie but a goodie!

[cosmicdolphin]

Great suggestions... One Question... Can anyone explain HOW to upload a ref track into my DAW?? I am having trouble even uploading my own - older made tunes (mp3's) into my DAW to edit and re-mix them... That would be super helpful!! I am using Presonus Studio 1 + (Pro) if it matters... Thanks in advance!!!

Use Metric AB plugin

[cosmicdolphin]

Thanks, Phil! Great suggestions. My problem is finding a balance between outright plagiarism and following my muse to the point where it sounds nothing like the ref. I need to find that middle ground where it’s in the general wheelhouse stylistically but still sounds like a different composition. My tendency is to follow my muse and hope that the screener hears how “brilliant” I am!

When I started out I often remade an 8 bar section of a ref track to see how close I could get and figure out what they were doing. After that , tweaking it into something new was fairly easy..change the key, the chords , maybe change a sound here, move the melody notes around until I'd come up with a new one but kept the vibe.

[jbucklin]

I have actually thought about trying that. I guess my fear was that mine would sound to close to the ref. So this is something that you were able to eventually abandon?

[cosmicdolphin]

I have actually thought about trying that. I guess my fear was that mine would sound to close to the ref. So this is something that you were able to eventually abandon?

Yeah mostly I don't need to now, but I might do it now and again if I get a brief for a style of music I've not done before so I wouldn't say I have totally abandoned it as it's a good modelling technique I think. Here is an example from a couple of years ago when they wanted ' magical ' dramedy. I'm not really a Dramedy guy but I've done maybe a handful including this one, but the library were asking so I had a go at it using this technique.

Ref track : https://on.soundcloud.com/8wssz

My version of a section of it : https://on.soundcloud.com/qYjEa

My own track I: https://on.soundcloud.com/uyZeM