The struggle of Gps learning music and sheetmusic

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516 posts
You've got the idea there. Probably the best reason for using inversions is because you want the bottom and top notes of the chords to make nice little melodies as they go along. The middle notes are less important. And as you say, sometimes sticking to first inversion chords means you get big ugly jumps in the top and bottom notes and it sounds wrong. Usually fiddling with some different inversions can sort that without losing the flow of the chords.

The technique is actually well-known and is called "voice leading" but I wouldn't worry about that because that's another of those technical music things that can get very complicated very quickly. Just stick to "The top chord notes and preferably the bottom notes too should make a nice melodic flow".

Steve
When I listen to that latest track of mine, I hear two things.

I hear a possible hit, and a chord progression that does not make me happy at all.

Lets see if I can fix it with my new knowledge.
Gps wrote:
Wed Nov 15, 2017 3:53 pm
Another problem I seem to have, while trying to create trance. As soon as I have any chord progression, I seem to kill the trance feel. Am I doing something wrong ?

https://soundcloud.com/user586365033/trancearptest2
at 3m24 though, it suddenly seems to turn into trance when I kill all originality ? ( that's at-least how it feels to me :P )

HELP !

( on a side note, if I making house instead of trance, I can totally live with it. )

Made this after watching a vid, of a person with lmms making trance.
He starts with the bassline, and then the melody notes play, when bassline notes are silent.
The bass you used, sounds very neat and i like the bass melody too.
Especially from 0 to 1:22 secs, something about it, reminds me of an 80's band
my parents listened to, called the Pointer Sisters and another singer called Shannon.

I also noticed that, certain parts of this track, sound like trance and other parts, sound like a mix of
trance and early 80's music. Interesting. :o

Strangely, I see what you mean.
From 3:24 secs, it strangely sounds more like trance music.
Due to the way, it was arranged and the build ups you made there, in combination with the
bass melody and main melody, has made that possible.
I think that small part there, might be your key, to making a full trance track. :D
I tried my new chord knowledge, and that made me happy. I finally can place the chords were I want to, instead of the scale and chord forcing me to do it different.

I still have to come up with a nice progression though, but I don't feel limited any more by the rules. :D

@ Brandy.

Lol at shannon, which is in my mp3 playlist. Give me tonite for example.

I love the syncopation in the track. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXuWh4TrXeE
Youre reply also makes me smile because we agree about how it sounds.
To me it sounds like somebody of my age made it. ( phun intended, I am 50 plus ) So 80 ties sounds right.

Maybe I should give up on trying to figure out the difference between disco house and trance.
The more I listen to those three genres, the more I get convinced , there is no real difference.
All three share the what I call, a boom clap pattern.

About trance, it seems to be extremely tied to certain sounds.

The track starts to sound more trance, when this vst joins.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1C64Ky5rso ( works fine on Linux too )

Then when I make it more repetitive, at 3.23 is really turns in to trance.
The bassline is also played by this synth.

Now I only need to do what musicbear showed me. He turned a track I had made into a trance track.
While typing this, I realise I still need to release that track.
Give me tonight was the Shannon track I was gonna post a link too.
But I couldn't remember, if that was the correct name of the song.
Now I know, I was right all along. Ha! Ha! :)

You're 50 plus? I thought you were in your 40's. Lol! :P :lol:

Okay, so you used T Force Alpha for the bass? Good choice to use that synth.
Also, that T Force Alpha vid, you linked was fun to watch.
I remember watching that vid a few months ago.

Concerning the fact that musikbear, turned one of your tracks into a trance track,....
I'm curious to hear it too. :D
I might be making progress.

About the chord progression braking the trance.

I might have found a solution. I now have my melody jump to another note. (the progression)
I can make the melody more fluently go to the next note.

I am also using diminished chords now, and the effect that it gives, I instantly recognize.

( going from a minor chord to a a diminished chord )
brandystarbrite wrote:
Sat Nov 18, 2017 3:58 am
Give me tonight was the Shannon track I was gonna post a link too.
But I couldn't remember, if that was the correct name of the song.
Now I know, I was right all along. Ha! Ha! :)

You're 50 plus? I thought you were in your 40's. Lol! :P :lol:

Okay, so you used T Force Alpha for the bass? Good choice to use that synth.
Also, that T Force Alpha vid, you linked was fun to watch.
I remember watching that vid a few months ago.

Concerning the fact that musikbear, turned one of your tracks into a trance track,....
I'm curious to hear it too. :D
There are two tracks from Shannon that have about the same theme.
Here is that other one, Let the music play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-0sUuGufmw

That makes it easy to mix them up. Hearing music from that time always reminds of the pirate radio stations.
To listen to dance music, of that time ( and the rap music from that time) you were much better of with certain pirate stations.

There is even today a legal radio station with the same name, that has some roots in the pirate station, and also plays besides new hits, the hits from that time.

http://www.decibel.nl/

The high pitch sound although layered with another sound is T force alpha too.

If you want to make trance this synth is definitely a good choice.
I have 2 version at my pc. One is to make that typical trance gate sound, but too bad for me that one did not work right on Linux. I know it works on windows though. ( I should test it again with latest lmms version )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4Zh-LqPhYw

The color of the synth in the vid surprises me, on my system it was as green as the other one.
I am listening still to trance, and the project Music bear helped me with.

Trance is about a build up. I keep forgetting and ignoring that . :P

About the file Music bear helped me with:
Been messing with the bass and fixed it. I started over with the file, music bear had send back.
I remember he had improved it, but in the file I opened it seemed broken, so I started over by extracting the zip file.
Only messed a bit with the attack of a filter in synaddsubfx.

Now the big question, will I release it as it is ? Found some part that sounds a bit out of tune, and I think I know why.
Its not really out of tune, but a repetitive part , does not strictly follow the progression.

It seems I have become over sensitive to that . I see people do vids on music, going off scale saying it gives a nice effect, and I don't agree, about the nice part. ;)

About the track I uploaded last:
I think I am gonna redo the melody part, Do it different from the original idea inspired by a vid.
( melody is were bassline is not ) I do not like it, and it does not seem to give me the trance genre I am after.

The bassline as it is now, might stay unchanged. The T Force alpha one.

Then do some arpeggio like notes on the chord progression of the strings.

Something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_ocfDG1sNk

And this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prGvGWUGhkQ
I think I like the one at 3.48 m and 5.14

That seems to be the type of trance music I like.

That might be also were I go wrong in my lmms trance projects. I do have arpeggios, but not like the syncopated ones in those vids.
Never give up, never surrender. :)

I am not 100% sure if I made trance or house, but I am finally happy with it.
Its not finished yet though.

Although I turned it off for now, there is already one glame highpass filter in it.
( that will be used in the build up, around were the drums now stop for a second )

I might also work a bit more on the chord progression. ( I have to think about that )

I am so happy right now. The melody I had before, was from the start not something that really made me happy.

This melody does :D

I am having trouble to sit still listening to it. Exactly what I am after. It must make me wanna move to the beat, and it does that for me.

Serious question though, is it house or trance?
I think because of the syncopation and the drums its house ?

Should I add a poll on that ? :P

https://soundcloud.com/user586365033/trancearpexport3

Some parts of my chord progression remind me of something I really like, and what inspired Moby to make Go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khMlcTE7lw8
To share some thoughts, on my latest upload.

Although its debatable, if my last upload is 100% trance, I think I figured out trance finally.

Its all about a certain type of arpeggio's. Syncopated is probably the right word.
Chord progression is not any were as important for trance as I thought it was.

I should have maybe composed the piece in the mayor key instead of the minor key.


All trance seems to have this up down, or should we say stutter sound in it.

I am thinking about releasing two version of my last upload.

A trance version, and one I like myself more, that is more like the track is now.

I already have at my pc this track with a more standard drum pattern. A drum pattern more in line with what most trance tracks have. Four to the floor if I am not mistaken.

Then a little tweaking of the bassline, and the use of filters should turn it into a 100% trance track.

The more I understand trance, the more I wonder if trance is really a music genre I like.
There are always exceptions to the rule:

Darude sand storm ( but I like to argue if this really is 100% trance ? )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSYxT9GM0fQ

An example of a fellow country man. I do like it to some extent, but unlike house or hip hop, its not music I like to listen to for hours.
DJ Tiesto - Adagio For Strings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tIgN7eICn4

I love those strings, but this typical trance stutter sound in it, not so much.
The track takes a wrong turn for me at 1m50.
And as far as I understand it, that's exactly the part were it becomes trance :P

I must be more of a house fan. :o
Zenbi Feat. Rachael Starr - Mad World (Original Mix )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWn3OjjoaN8
516 posts