Help me with writing! Loopy frustration.

ThePrettyDamned

I've got tons of riffs and ideas and, when it comes to heavy stuff, I am quite comfortable putting together a song.

Today, however, I came up with a really nice sounding progression of sparsely fingered g major, d major and a minor chords. It sounds really pretty - 2 beats each of g and d, 4 beats of a minor.

Problem is, it's an endless loop. I've got a bass line to put under, and even a cool guitar part to sit on top, but I've tried stuff for an hour now, and I can't work out how to break this cycle in a way that makes sense!

I'll work it out, but I have frustrations like this far too often, which is a shame because some of the stuff I come up with occasionally sounds acceptable!

JDE

You need to decide whether what you have is a verse or a chorus. If it's a verse, I would go to D Maj and write a chorus. If it's a chorus, I would go to E Min or B Min and write a bridge. That's just how I write pop songs, though. Failing that, bust out the ring modulator.

ThePrettyDamned

It's definitely a verse.

I'm going to shower then try again. What's making it harder is I'm sick of pod farm sounding naff unless you spend hours tweaking the shite out of it, so until I have a mic I'm just not going to record. I think hearing it playback will give me a better feel for what would work alongside it.

vasselmeyer

A few ideas:

1. Play it on acoustic.
2. Play it to someone else and then ask them to sing along and then stop playing. See where they take it.
3. Take a chord book and pick some out at random and tag them on the end of what you've got and see how it sounds.
4. Play it in a different key or stick a capo on it and play it in a different position; sometimes your fingers will find the next chord without you having to think about it.

Just change wjat you're doing and womething else will come.

ThePrettyDamned

vasselmeyer;145703" said:

A few ideas:

Play it on acoustic.Play it to someone else and then ask them to sing along and then stop playing. See where they take it.Take a chord book and pick some out at random and tag them on the end of what you've got and see how it sounds.Play it in a different key or stick a capo on it and play it in a different position; sometimes your fingers will find the next chord without you having to think about it.Just change wjat you're doing and womething else will come.

What's an acoustic?

Okay, so I just tried something different - rather than going from sparse voicings to full bar chords, I've gone from sparse voicing on the a minor, then gone for that classic open d major shape an octave higher than normal. It works, slightly better, but I'm going to find more usable d major shapes I've not considered, then when I've got a mic, record it and let the bass fill in some power chords underneath - so the guitar stays pretty and sparse, while the bass gets the rhythm pumping more.

Fazer

you dont have to break the cycle, the song can be that loop, the arrangement could build progressively across the song from sparse to thicker and heavier, or using the instrumentation to have different sections of that same chord cycle

having the same chords cycle round and round is fine if it sounds right

ThePrettyDamned

Fazer;145759" said:

you dont have to break the cycle, the song can be that loop, the arrangement could build progressively across the song from sparse to thicker and heavier, or using the instrumentation to have different sections of that same chord cycle



having the same chords cycle round and round is fine if it sounds right

Hmm. That's an interesting take for sure. It'll need to be recorded, then I can try building on it with bass and perhaps a more angular guitar part.

Thanks for the help guys btw. Wisdoms awarded.

PolarityMan

same chords with distortion?

ThePrettyDamned

PolarityMan;148439" said:

same chords with distortion?

I've worked it out. Just a simple 3 chord ending before looping it again. With each loop, it gains 'density' - starts off just guitar and a hi hat, then bass joins with more full drums, then finally guitar, a fuzzed melody (actually just 2 notes over the whole thing). Then it can wind down to just the guitar and bass, and end.

Cliché, but it actually works as what it is.

DulcetJones

Lots of good suggestions so far, another is to leave it for a day or two.  I do this a lot and sometimes I think of things to try while I'm out and about and some of them actually work. 

octatonic

Sing.

Let the vocal lead you to the next part of the song.

thecolourbox

Some excellent wisdom above, for the current song and all others that may present themselves in the future. One further one I like to do is play the loop/riff/chord sequence backwards, then sing over the top of that to get a melody, then flip the sequence back around the right way and you usually get a pretty cool miss-matched tune which you can tweak so it's not too clashy

ThePrettyDamned

So I've not recorded it, properly (need mic) but it works really fine as just a loop. It could quite happily make a 3 minute tune, and maybe just have a small mid section where it breaks away.

I'll use dynamics and effects and drums to build tension rather than notes.

PolarityMan

ThePrettyDamned said:

PolarityMan;148439" said:

same chords with distortion?

I've worked it out. Just a simple 3 chord ending before looping it again. With each loop, it gains 'density' - starts off just guitar and a hi hat, then bass joins with more full drums, then finally guitar, a fuzzed melody (actually just 2 notes over the whole thing). Then it can wind down to just the guitar and bass, and end.

Cliché, but it actually works as what it is.

My next suggestion was going to be 7/8 section.

ThePrettyDamned

PolarityMan said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

PolarityMan;148439" said:

same chords with distortion?

I've worked it out. Just a simple 3 chord ending before looping it again. With each loop, it gains 'density' - starts off just guitar and a hi hat, then bass joins with more full drums, then finally guitar, a fuzzed melody (actually just 2 notes over the whole thing). Then it can wind down to just the guitar and bass, and end.

Cliché, but it actually works as what it is.

My next suggestion was going to be 7/8 section.

Hmm, a 7/8 section.  

As it is, I should add, it's in 2/4.  Well, that's how I think of it when I play.