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 Forum index » Discussion » Composition
Composing 'electro"
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laura woodswalker



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PostPosted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 4:00 am    Post subject: Composing 'electro" Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Greetings! composition is my main interest when I turn on my rig. It doesn't matter if you have 100 oscillators and 200 LFOs or just a piano. My interest is in composing music that is unusual, interestiing and emotionally evocative.

Are there any "rules" in creating electronica? I think there must be, because "I know it when I hear it."

I think one of the rules is "it shouldn't sound like any other style (rock, folk)". That is easier said than done because our brain has heard so much of those styles all our lives, that it just naturally falls into those patterns. I constantly find myself playing what I think are original tunes in my head, then realizing "oh, that sounds just like [whatever pop song from the 60s.]"

Laura

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Antimon



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PostPosted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 9:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

One way to find out these kinds of rules is to try to imitate the stuff that you're interested in, and see how that works out.
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elektro80
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 5:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Electronica is a difficult term to use. This entry in the Wikipedia makes it even more diffuse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronica

Basically this means you can make polka, rock, plain 1940s british pop, space rock, whatever in the style of Jacques Brel or what have you.. and call it electronica if you throw in a few odd electronic sounds and flavor it with a "contemporary" sounding "something".

Interestingly, electronica used as a term probably started around 1980, and we even had the british electronica festival. The music played there is best described as a blend of german berlin school stuff tinted with new age and 80s neo space pop. Several of the acts that played there are members here at electro-music.com. Very Happy

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[Q]



Joined: Sep 09, 2010
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 4:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Laura wrote:
My interest is in composing music that is unusual, interestiing and emotionally evocative.

Are there any "rules" in creating electronica? I


Hi Laura, you could always have a go at making your own rules...
I experimented with a Constraint Framework...
it was was an interesting experience Smile

http://electro-music.com/forum/topic-50489.html

Just pick a few things you want your composition to be/do..
and pick a few that you don't want it be/do.
and remember.. ..

-----------------------------------------
Rules can be added, removed and broken Smile

have fun,
john.
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Acoustic Interloper



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PostPosted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 7:26 pm    Post subject: Re: Composing 'electro" Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

laura woodswalker wrote:

I think one of the rules is "it shouldn't sound like any other style (rock, folk)". That is easier said than done because our brain has heard so much of those styles all our lives, that it just naturally falls into those patterns. I constantly find myself playing what I think are original tunes in my head, then realizing "oh, that sounds just like [whatever pop song from the 60s.]"
Laura

Not sure why that rule should hold. There's a subgenre called folktronica, and if there weren't, I don't see why it shouldn't be. Is this proposed rule about genre purity, or is it just about avoiding getting stuck in one's cliches?

I can see that latter point. To me the way out is to listen to an expanding variety of musics and integrate them into listening and then into playing. Not to deny the old, but to integrate with the new as it fits. I found that modal Appalachian harmonies and modal jazz shared a lot of fusable ground. I found that out when I started listening to a lot of modal jazz. A few years later I discovered that cyclic phasing of rhythm a la Reilly, Reich, Glass etc integrated nicely with up picking patterns on the banjo combined with electronic delay FX. I am still using techniques that I learned 40 years ago, fusing them with stuff I am learning right now. I like using intonation and articulation that took 40 years to develop. I like exploration and expansion way better than genre-oriented restriction.

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Inventor
Stream Operator


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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 12:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I just create and let them call it what they will.

Les

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shanemorris
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 3:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Listen to everything... and then listen some more. All music has something to learn from Very Happy
Learn the rules, then shatter them. Originality and uniqueness are high at the top of the list for me. If you just follow the rules, you will likely be making derivative music. Don't let a lack of anything stop you from being original in your music.
Take your time and make sure its always FUN! Laughing

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