Melody/bassnotes/chords. question(s)

[Shiver]

Hello,

I have a few question that are giving me a headache lately!

So, first off melodies.. I did my research about that, saw alot of youtube movies on how to, i know it's best to stick on a scale mostly minor, but you can use major also, at the end of the story they told me it doesn't matter as long as it sounds good. Making melodies is going very well, but now the first issue the bass notes.. I first thought that if for example the first note of my melody is a G then i need to put 4 bassnotes on G every beat in one bar and if my first note on the second bar in this case is also a G i put 4 bassnotes on G on one bar and so on.. (below is an example)..

Example:
upload pictures

Now on my second example i'll take the midi of 'Coone - Beat on my drum'. You can see that his first note starts on a B and the bassnote starts on a Fs or Gb whatever you wanna call it, so that's my first question is there some theoretic answer for this? I can't figure it out why it's placed on the Fs/Gb and not on the B.. like in my example.

Example 2:
upload picture

Now my second question is 'Do i need to put my kicks on those bass notes? Cause sometimes my bass notes go almost one octave higher and i can imagine that pitching a kick one octave up is gonna sounds good?

And for my last question, I really can't make chordprogressions for a melody that i created, are there some chords that sticks with a scale so that if i use for example a b Minor scale i atleast know wich chords i need to use to puzzle with ?

I've started to take music lessons and playing the piano but this year just has been started so it's gonna take a while before we are at the chords and stuff.

Anyways, i hope someone can help me out a little.

Friendly regards!

[Markove]

Use this for help with melodies and figuring out the proper chords for them.

http://www.pianoworld.com/fun/vpc/piano_chords.htm

Beyond that, I have my bass notes match the chords and I haven't experienced anything that sounds bad. I'm not sure if this is the rule to go by or not. Someone else probably knows more about that I do. I'm still learning about this area of production.

Personally, I think that the "if it sounds good" methodology is very dangerous. The reason why hardstyle is known for minor scales is because minor scales traditionally are a darker nature than major scales.

[Digital Shifter]

Hmm let me explain what i think about this:

I will begin with question 2: The bassline is always your kick line, so what i always do is making a bassline like what you seen in the first picture. When i think that the bassline is nice i go on with the notes above it and make a nice story on top of the bassline. You CAN'T make a bassline that changes your kick, so: When you make a bassline like 4x G 4x C etc. You can't put your kick on F when your bassline says G.

The kick needs to be on the bassline.

Now you first question: You say: ''Melody's is going very well'' But why do you ask this anyway? I mean isn't creating a midi or melody just a source of inspiration? When i make a melody, i first do the bassline and then something is coming inside my head and than make the melody. Sometimes i change some stuff. Next thing is that you can't always expect to get a very nice melody.

Just make a bassline and look what you can do on the bassline, sometimes its nothing but sometimes its great!

I hope i helped you a little

[ljk32]

@Shiver
Ok, the bassnotes do not need to follow the notes of the melody, so you could start a melody with A, and have the bassnote on G or something, it doesn't matter as long as it sounds good. But yeah, like it's been mentioned, the kick should generally follow the bassnotes, however, there are exceptions. With chords, I'm not sure how to explain why they work, and how to get them working with the melody. All I can say is that you should always keep the chords in the same scale as the melody. I'm not sure if you know about scales though, and admittedly, I kinda rushed through your post, which I shouldn't have done.

Personally, I think that the "if it sounds good" methodology is very dangerous.

Why's that? I honestly think it's one of the most important 'rules' to follow.

[Shiver]

Ok, guys there are already things that makes sense now, thanks for that. Yet, i still struggle with the thing when for example my bassnotes are on G and the next bassnotes are on G 1 octave higher and i pitch my kick 1 octave up it doesnt really sounds good when i do that, are the bassnotes that are one octave higher on the wrong position then?, even though i have the feeling it sounds good? And if i listen to the more proffesional tracks i dont have the feeling i ever heard a track where there is a kick that got pitched an octave up?

Anyways thanks in advance!

[ljk32]

Ok, guys there are already things that makes sense now, thanks for that. Yet, i still struggle with the thing when for example my bassnotes are on G and the next bassnotes are on G 1 octave higher and i pitch my kick 1 octave up it doesnt really sounds good when i do that, are the bassnotes that are one octave higher on the wrong position then?, even though i have the feeling it sounds good? And if i listen to the more proffesional tracks i dont have the feeling i ever heard a track where there is a kick that got pitched an octave up?

Anyways thanks in advance!

Hmm, I don't think I've heard a melody where the bass notes on the melody pitch exactly an octave up. But, in that case, if it is still on G, you don't need to pitch the kick up an octave. The kick doesn't have to be on the same octave as the bass notes, just the same note. I hope that makes sense. Also, unless a kick is really nicely made, it won't sound good at all being pitched up a whole octave. So, I assume your kicks wouldn't be very good atm, no way near good enough to pitch them that high while maintaining a nice sound.

[Shiver]

Okay, very usefull information mate, thank you!

[Markove]

Personally, I think that the "if it sounds good" methodology is very dangerous.

Why's that? I honestly think it's one of the most important 'rules' to follow.

My thought process behind that statement centers around those in the learning stage. If you're learning about music theory on day one, for example, I think it's best to keep everything fairly simple and standard. After a few months studying the theory, I think the "if it sounds good" method is dandy.

That being said, plenty of great ideas come through via experimentation.