Energy

[dope]

Hey,

School year is over, and recently I had a ton of spare time so I worked alot on production.
I've been trying to craft stuff for few months, and I keep learning.

Even though a lot of progress has to be made overall (and especially on percussions) there is ONE thing I never manage to create, and I wasn't able to find any tutorial or stuff about it, hence the topic.

How do you bring energy in your tracks ? How do you manage to create that thing that makes your head move ?

I'm trying to produce dubstep/brostep (whatever) and even through I manage to pull out some cool loops, it sounds like music you only listen to, and not you dance to. What am I missing, what's the secret ingredient that makes you want to headbang so hard that your neck ache the day after.

[seitz]

bass and drum groove= energy

[Maven]

Level riding.

[Zac Kyoti]

Energy is all about push and pull at different strata of the track. Tension and release. Lack of dynamism equals boredom equals lack of dancing and head banging. So... where does the dynamism happen? Lots of places:

Volume levels - differences in parts of the track, between instruments, and even within the riffs of a single instrument.
Negative space - this is huge. Really it's a rhythmic component. Silence bangs as hard as the baddest bass when used right. The drop in a track is a typical example. More subtle creates tons of suspense and energy.
Harmonic relationships - Music theory is good. The energy you get from tension and release between frequencies is pretty much the fundamental core of music, along with percussion. This goes for frequencies that are closer to one another, like melody, as well as contrast between ranges, ie bass/body frequencies and high/head frequencies.
The Rhythm - Change it up!! Static rhythms put people to sleep. Vary those patterns at the end of 4, 8, 16 bars (turnaround/fill). Change the whole pattern, and all the instruments, in different sections. Human beings respond to drums on a deep, subconscious level.
Groove - the swing, shuffle and location of "the pocket" inside the rhythm is where the real head-bobbin' comes in. Hard to describe, but so important. Lots of EDM producers are guilty of making completely grid-locked, quantized music with no groove. But hey, that's a valid exploration too.

Just my 2 cents. If I had to sum it up in a phrase, it'd be "Contrast and Variation"

[dope]

Thank you

[3heads]

Groove - the swing, shuffle and location of "the pocket" inside the rhythm is where the real head-bobbin' comes in. Hard to describe, but so important. Lots of EDM producers are guilty of making completely grid-locked, quantized music with no groove. But hey, that's a valid exploration too.

I'm not entirely sure that groove only comes from the programming and the tiny variation in the placement of individual hits. At least it's not the only important factor, sound design also plays quite a role to make things groovy. It's an observation I made when playing around with my Electribe on which the swing setting only influences the even steps - which are not even used in a stereo-typical 4tothefloor-beat. It's incredible how much influence sound design has on the perception of grooviness. (I think the magic somehow lies in the correlation between the snare sound and the hat sound)

[liam1895]

Energy is all about push and pull at different strata of the track. Tension and release. Lack of dynamism equals boredom equals lack of dancing and head banging. So... where does the dynamism happen? Lots of places:

Volume levels - differences in parts of the track, between instruments, and even within the riffs of a single instrument.
Negative space - this is huge. Really it's a rhythmic component. Silence bangs as hard as the baddest bass when used right. The drop in a track is a typical example. More subtle creates tons of suspense and energy.
Harmonic relationships - Music theory is good. The energy you get from tension and release between frequencies is pretty much the fundamental core of music, along with percussion. This goes for frequencies that are closer to one another, like melody, as well as contrast between ranges, ie bass/body frequencies and high/head frequencies.
The Rhythm - Change it up!! Static rhythms put people to sleep. Vary those patterns at the end of 4, 8, 16 bars (turnaround/fill). Change the whole pattern, and all the instruments, in different sections. Human beings respond to drums on a deep, subconscious level.
Groove - the swing, shuffle and location of "the pocket" inside the rhythm is where the real head-bobbin' comes in. Hard to describe, but so important. Lots of EDM producers are guilty of making completely grid-locked, quantized music with no groove. But hey, that's a valid exploration too.

Just my 2 cents. If I had to sum it up in a phrase, it'd be "Contrast and Variation"

What this guy said.

Make sure your stuff isnt repetitive and you throw in a few rises or offbeat percussion which brings the user enticed to the track. Try to get your percussion right aswell, it can make all the difference.

Layering sounds can be really helpful in making a tune that gets the user feeling like they are attached to it.

My top tip I can give to you aswell is make sure that your not thinking your track ain't bouncing when its not. I made the mistake so much of thinking all my tracks were rubbish when I first made them because I had heard everything 100 times in a day so get a fresh pair of ears listening and get them to help you out in some area's, this doesn't even have to be someone with musical talent.

[ThinkAboutIt]

My top tip I can give to you aswell is make sure that your not thinking your track ain't bouncing when its not. I made the mistake so much of thinking all my tracks were rubbish when I first made them because I had heard everything 100 times in a day so get a fresh pair of ears listening and get them to help you out in some area's, this doesn't even have to be someone with musical talent.

This happens a lot to me lately. My solution is to take a breakday and listen with my own fresh pair of ears.

[SafeandSound]

This is about a number of things, drum groove, dynamics, captivating melody, sometimes increasing complexity and those little musical moments that make you hair stand up on your forearms. This is one of the most esoteric aspects of music and a life long challenge for many.

cheers

SafeandSound Mastering
online mastering studio

[GeorgeJD]

Sidechain everything