Does this make any sense, I need help!

[Deflect]

Yea, I don't know what I'm doing, but uhm. How does it sound?

http://soundcloud.com/deflect/another-night

[JonR]

Originally Posted by Deflect

Yea, I don't know what I'm doing, but uhm. How does it sound?

http://soundcloud.com/deflect/another-night

Sounds OK. Sounds like you know what you're doing in most respects.
I can't say if it's successful or not because I don't know what you're aim is.

I guess the one area where I might think you don't know what you're doing is the chord sequence. As I said, it sounds fine - no obvious bad changes - but it also sounds formless somehow, as if there is no guiding idea. You're not doing anything wrong. Just somehow not doing anything brilliantly right either... (sorry that's not much help!)

It's like you're putting stuff together as an exercise, according to a rule book (which you've understood, but only read part of). It doesn't sound like you imagined it, as an original inspiration, and then tried to express that idea.

The real question is: do YOU think it's OK? Anything you don't like about it? You need to be really critical of yourself (far more than anyone else will). If you can narrow down some aspect you feel is not working as you wish, then we can help more. Otherwise you're going to get the kind of vague and unhelpful responses you're getting from me!

In terms of "making sense" - to pursue the language metaphor - it sounds grammatically correct, spelled right, etc, but I don't really get what it is you're trying to say... what (musical) point are you making?

[fingerpikingood]

i don't "know what you're doing" but it sounds like what it sounds. if you know what i mean. not much criticism there. but it also depends on what you intend it for. it sounds to me like it could be for a video game or something.

you could use with reading a book about mixing as well. i don't know all DAWs but my guess is you used FL Studio to make this. your mix is not that bad though, but seriously there's probably alot more to it than you think and it can make a big difference.

i think the main reason it soudns kind of like a game is because you used digital sounds, a kind of dreamy background that's all flowy and doesn't loop quickly.

so you don't get into a rhythm, it's kind of like long and dreamy. your kick sounds alot like house music would be, but you give it more like a hip hop kind of beat, meaning it's not just on the 1/4 beats. another thing you should pay attention to for your kick is when you have quickly successive kicks you might want to change the level of the first one a little lower. this makes it sound more natural.

another thing contributing to the dreaminess is that you used very "sine" sounds, very soft round ones.

it's hard for me to comment on it because i'm not sure what you were trying to do. if you are trying to do something and it's not sounding that way, maybe i could help you get there.

but i hear the same thing you hear. if that's what you wanted, then mission complete. if not, then in order to get what you wanted i would need to know what it is that you wanted.

it's strange but often people think that knowing how to do is the tough part. but honestly knowing what it is you're trying to do is the tough. achieveing what you're trying is the easy part. it's trying the right thing that's tough.

being critical of yourself is tough. you need to know what you want to hear and find what needs to change. you can always ask for help with that too. but another thing you can do is listen to the kind of music you like or want to make, and listen and try to see why it is good, what parts of that you've achieved and what parts you are missing.

also, like i said, if you want to make electronic music a good mixing book would be helpful.

what you did there is quite basic. but that's ok. everybody starts off basic. and anyways simple is good.

[bluesking]

Sounds tuneful, however I get the impression its the kind of thing that belongs in the background of a promotional video for an international engineering company. Its very.... ambient.... I think thats the term that electronica guys use. Maybe thats the intention.

Sounds a lot better than a lot of the stuff I've written in the past though, so I'd say you are on the right track.

[Deflect]

Okay, I'll try to explain myself as well as I can.

I really don't know ANYTHING. I'm going by what sounds good to my ear.

I usually start off with the chords, I put in chords that sound nice together and what I think progresses nicely. I have no goal, I'm not aiming for anything in particular. I'm just putting notes that harmonize nicely to my ears. After I have a chord progression, I find it easier to put the melody on top of that after. This is where I screw up...

I can't seem to make a melody that makes sense or sounds good. And if I do, I don't know what to do after! If I change the pattern of the melody and use the same chord progression the melody almost always sounds the same. It sounds boring, I don't know where to go. I just don't want my music sounding boring, I have ideas, but I can't output them. For some reason I think it has to due with the chord progressions I use. I don't know what the names of the chords are, I just know they sound good together.

Another problem is getting the correct snyths and getting them how I want them to sound.

Would you like examples of what I'm trying to go for?

[Chim_Chim]

It sounds like a pretty good backing track. Sounds like it switches between D Ionian and D Aeolian.

[Deflect]

Originally Posted by Chim_Chim

It sounds like a pretty good backing track. Sounds like it switches between D Ionian and D Aeolian.

Whatever that is, lol.

[Chim_Chim]

D Ionian is the D Major Scale: D E F# G A B C#

D Aeolian is the D Natural Minor Scale: D E F G A Bb C

^(same notes as the F Major Scale: F G A Bb C D E, but arranged around the note "D")

[Deflect]

Should a song be in 1 scale most of the time?

[Chim_Chim]

Doesn't have to be, no.

[JonR]

Originally Posted by Deflect

Okay, I'll try to explain myself as well as I can.

I really don't know ANYTHING. I'm going by what sounds good to my ear.

In fact you DO know plenty, or you wouldn't be able to find those sounds. You know it the same way any non-musician does. You know what sounds right and wrong.
You just don't know the terminology, or the way music theory organises sounds. You don't know how to choose between all the "right-ish" sounds there are!

Originally Posted by Deflect

I usually start off with the chords, I put in chords that sound nice together and what I think progresses nicely. I have no goal, I'm not aiming for anything in particular. I'm just putting notes that harmonize nicely to my ears. After I have a chord progression, I find it easier to put the melody on top of that after. This is where I screw up...

I can't seem to make a melody that makes sense or sounds good. And if I do, I don't know what to do after! If I change the pattern of the melody and use the same chord progression the melody almost always sounds the same. It sounds boring, I don't know where to go. I just don't want my music sounding boring, I have ideas, but I can't output them. For some reason I think it has to due with the chord progressions I use. I don't know what the names of the chords are, I just know they sound good together.

Another problem is getting the correct snyths and getting them how I want them to sound.

Would you like examples of what I'm trying to go for?

Yes!
There's two ways you can go:
1. Start reading up on theory. http://www.musictheory.net/
is one of the best sites.
2. Start analysing songs or tunes you like, the kind you want to emulate. (You may need some ear training for this - see above site. You may also need transcription or slowdown software. Or if you're lucky the songs will exist in published form.)

The more existing tunes you learn and can play, the more you will find new ideas suggesting themselves. "Original" compositions tend to come from new combinations of old ideas.