this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2023
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It seems like a common problem that it's easy to come up with short ideas/loops but hard to develop them into full-length songs. Suddenly I'm wondering how much the step limits of most sequencers are contributing to that. For instance, every time I sketch out an idea on my SH-4D I'm limited to 64 steps... a short loop that I can't extend unless I recreate it in a DAW and continue from there.
Even with the MPC Live 2, which can create full length songs, the workflow seems designed for working on one loop at a time in isolation. Now that I think about it, that's why I don't get along with clip-based workflows in DAWs either. If I'm dealing in isolated units like that it seems harder to naturally transition and from one part to the next and arrange a coherent song.
I'm curious if anyone has noticed these things making it harder to get past that one first loop. Or maybe I'm just imagining problems that don't exist.
No I feel absolutely the same! I use Ableton Live as my primary daw but rarely ever touch session view. Straight to arrangement. In my case, a song evolves as I am writing it. And when you make changes in arrangement view you make a change in one place. It doesn’t change every copy-paste of a clip. This feel more like it inspires change to me.
Of course everyone has their own flow and I’m just a hobbyist but yeah. This is the reason I went back into the DAW. Hardware is a ton of fun but actually making music was harder for me.
I’m sure you can break through that block. It just takes more discipline and practice. Practicing small loops is quick. Only takes about 10 minutes to make a loop and if you repeat it long enough it’ll always sound right. That’s why ostinato have always been popular. To practice making songs you need to finish songs… takes a while.
@[email protected] I have an idea that might help people like us: a little bit of healthy pressure.
What if we host a weekly “song in a day” challenge. Once a week we’ll post a description of a vibe. Then everyone will have 24 hours to turn that vibe into a full song. This means no time for endless loops or tuning sound design. Just song composition.
I like the idea. I probably won't have time for it every week, but sometimes.
I actually find it easier. On the digitakt I just copy the pattern and start making small changes or mute some channels and straight away you have a variation. The transition can be difficult but if it's copied from the previous pattern it is usually a coherent change at least.