((HELP!)) SO....MANY....UNFINISHED TRACKS...

Share and discuss your LMMS music projects here, and see what people think!
So, for the past two years I've been cursed with the "2 minute" curse. I have tons of great projects and melodies and ideas but whenever I try to turn this into more than just catchy loops and tunes it turns into a quick 2 minute blurb and nothing more. I've been trying so hard to expand these tracks into something more and it's quite literally driving me nuts. I don't know if I need a helping hand or someone to collaborate with to help push past that two minute threshold or if I just need a better strategy when it comes to approaching my tracks.

I'm willing to share my project files with you guys, if you wanna take a look. Seriously, I need all the help I can get right now. I have so many good ideas and songs that just need to be converted from a loop into a full fledged song I just have no clue how to get to that point. My project folder is filled with half-complete, half baked songs that could be pretty great if completed but for some reason I've hit a wall. I've got literally dozens of melodies floating around in my projects folders just ready to go, but I have no idea what to do with 'em. Any ideas?

Side note: I've even tried genre hopping recently to see if converting a song to a different speed with a different drum style or something would help draw out some inspiration.
i am cursed with the 30 second curse :P how can i achieve the 2 minutes curse?

jokes out, i'm still working in my first track, so...
Before I ever started posting music on the internet I had in mind that a track should be at least 3 minutes long or something. It was one of the reasons preventing from posting tracks. Since then I changed my thoughts on that. Nowadays all I really care about is finding the sweet spot of fully exploring an idea (a melody, a bass-line, a drum loop, etc.) and not letting it overstay its welcome and become repetitive and pointless for the sole purpose of being 'x' minutes long, you know. So, my advice is, if you feel like you did what you wanted with a track and anything else would be filler, let it be. There's no rule to how long tracks should be. Some can be shorter, some can be much longer.

In terms of finishing tracks, having a tangible deadline in mind helped me improve a lot. Because if I didn't have that I'd mess with tracks forever and never finish them. Because I know I have a deadline it forces me to focus and when I post tracks I know I can move on. Listening to my old tracks I'm not fully satisfied with them, they all have something I know I could have done better. But I see some progress and I know I've learned a lot.

Having said all that, here are some of the things I do when I think a track can be a bit longer: variations with drum patterns, chord changes, drum breaks, bass breaks, have a melody be played again with a different instrument/synth, change the melody, have a section that changes it all up (this one's tricky, doesn't always work because it's drastic)... That's all all I can think of now, but I'm sure the others will give you some more examples.

Anyway, I hope this was useful.
Kirbic wrote:
Wed Jul 18, 2018 2:58 pm
So,
I also have full of WIP whose duration does not exceed two minutes.
Sometimes it's wanted but sometimes not (and yes, it's very frustrating :x).
Generally these are fully developed sequences, but lacking a beginning and an end.

It is by working the structure that I exceed the two minutes.
The idea is to define the length of each section (e.g. intro = 16 bar/measures), that is to say to find the right proportions that allow to link the different sequences (even if these sequences are not yet written).
Of course, you can transgress the rules that you give yourself (e.g. add a bar to the intro), but to be able to transgress the rules, you must first define them, define this binding framework in which you will be able to develop your ideas. It is you who sets the rules of your game.
By giving you rules and constraints (like the time constraint evoked by Insonico), it will help you move forward.

About the structure, if it can help you, you can look at the projects that are published on the LSP.

For example a GDD71 project: https://lmms.io/lsp/?action=browse&user=gdd71
How is this project structured?
In other words, how many parts does it have?
Can you name each part according to its function in the whole project (introduction, verse, chorus, solo, break, bridge, outro, etc.)?
Is there an intro? How many bars does it measure? Is there a proportional relation between the length of the intro and the length of the next part? Does this relation seem to you harmonious? Etc.

Idk what to say ...
Kirbic wrote:
Wed Jul 18, 2018 2:58 pm
So, for the past two years I've been cursed with the "2 minute" curse. I have tons of great projects and
Gasp! In the name of the pirate Captain Barnacle Bills, ye got the dreaded 2 minute curse! :|

Not to worry. :lol:
Alot of people go through that same problem.
I have a handful of tracks, and I'm still trying to figure out, how to complete them
or what synth sounds to add in.

Here's what to do: If you want,........
Just upload the tracks on soundcloud, or youtube or other etc, so we could listen
to these tracks. If you put them on soundcloud, you can set them to private if you want.
Yeah, I used to get bogged down about time as well, although my problem was more that I "had too much to say" and didn't know how to (sometimes) keep it brief (still have that problem with talking sometimes). These days, I just go with my "artistic" heart and just worry more about "saying what I wanted to say" without really worrying about the time. For me, it'll take as long as it takes...

I know that it probably wasn't the concrete, technical answer that you might have been looking for but, I'm afraid I'm far too much of a hippy for that :D
Hope it still helps you in some way tho...

~#mFQ#~
[/quote]

Here's what to do: If you want,........
Just upload the tracks on soundcloud, or youtube or other etc, so we could listen
to these tracks. If you put them on soundcloud, you can set them to private if you want.
[/quote]

That's actually what I've started doing. I think it might be a good idea to just keep pushing out the things I like and go from there. I did just make a post for my newest song from a few days ago. Here's the link if you guys wanna take a look .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQmO0GxWu-c&t=3s
ektod wrote:
Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:05 pm
i am cursed with the 30 second curse :P how can i achieve the 2 minutes curse?

jokes out, i'm still working in my first track, so...
Aha! Ha! Ha! :mrgreen:
Nice.

(But this one lasts 4 minutes! :P )

Your track calld Hallucinations sounds great!

Otherwise, I appreciate the advice of Insonico.
I recommend Progressive house pluck. I had a lot of success with that. I recommend an beginning with an arpeggio pad or a base instrument (Automate those for the beginning) Then leave one bar of silence after the beginning then add your pluck. If you don't have any notes Ideas I recommend finding a song on LMMS's sharing platform with a pluck and copying the notes from that track too your pluck track. keep in mind to automate the frequenz knob to make it like a progressive house pluck. If you want more ideas here is something that ought to halp u!: https://lmms.io/lsp/?content=update&file=13738 It requires a few VSTS and one sample but if you explore the instruments it should help you a bit :P.