Complete songs, no not me :(

This, for sure. To take it a bit further, where can you get it?

Brian Eno mentioned in a recent interview that he has thousands (!) of unfinished works sitting around, and the only time he finishes any of them is when he has a deadline to meet. I smiled when I heard that. I earn my living as a writer and I’m constantly on deadline. It teaches me to set a goal for every session I spend with my gear. Sometimes it’s sound design or improv; others it’s sketching or polishing a composition. The more you practice any of these, the better you get.

Once you’ve got your focus, how do you learn to structure?

A few good ideas above already (Tarekith’s guide etc.) … but as it depends on what kind of music you want to make (which may not be the clubby stuff I do, for example), try developing an active critical ear. Spend a good amount of time listening to music in the styles you want to write in. And do it actively: listen to one piece repeatedly, identify what you’d consider its sections, and describe to yourself how they are distinct from one another and how they flow from one to the next. You’ll probably notice some common tricks different composers have used and you can try your hand at them. After awhile you’ll likely get bored of painting by numbers and your imagination will kick in.

Keep listening this way though. Try to get something out of every track you hear – even if you don’t “like” it per se. You can turn on your analytical side even if you’re not engaging with the music emotionally … it might even be better that way. You can start saying to yourself “Now if I had written a track like this…” and then you can go do it properly. :wink:

Back in the computer music making days, I had my song structure written out on paper. I had perhaps 6 different templates, songs usually around 112 to 160 (16 step) measures long, and I knew where the breakdown was, where the build was, when the peak was, when the bridge was etc… so… the songs had much structure to them, the caveat of this method is I knew exactly where everything was supposed to be, and you didn’t get those happy accidents. So when I listen to my older tracks, more polished they may be, I don’t find little moments that weren’t expected.
Fast forward to 2012… I picked up a machinedrum and over the next 2 years the machinedrum stayed and other gear came & went.
During this time, I would flirt with different live compositional tactics and I am still experimenting. I play everything out live, and don’t overdub or post processes. I literally just record the take. If the take is really bad, I’ll redo it, if it worked, I post the track and erase the pattern to clean the palette. What I like about this method is you will always find little gems that weren’t planned. Making live mistakes causes live corrections. Although my newest tracks are not nearly as polished as my older ones, there’s a raw/improv element, and this brings a lot of energy you wouldn’t have if everything was planned out on paper first.

Thought about all you kind helpful advices and rethought my workflow.
I came up with something very basic but important finding for me:
I was a little stuck in the sequencer-type composing mode, damn Elektron Virus :slight_smile:
What i really need is a Keyboard with immediate “composing” and “structural” Feedback.
Sometimes i feel a bit haunted by those 64Steps…

Now guess what:
My future rig will be : AR, OT aaaaaaand A-KEYS!!! :slight_smile:
Maybe it sounds strange to you guys but i hadn’t use synth-keys anymore since i got my first elektron. (MD) it was to rewarding regarding pattern music, i got lost…

HAHAHA HAHHAAHHAAH HAHAHAHA ROFL lmfao !!! so funny!

Energy levels were mentioned above and I think it is really important to me. If I’m not getting enough sleep and my day job is tearing into me silly when I sit down at my desk I just have no motivation or inspiration at all and I end up ditching music within half an hour and play Footy Manager for the evening (requires little intense concentration, plus Im awesome at it…).

Being well rested/fresh certainly helps with the whole creative flow.

I also liked the comment above about, if applicable, forgetting about finishing songs and just enjoying fannying around with music and ideas! I’m mostly crap at music but I don’t mind. I’m sure there is something pretty decent inside my mind that will emerge one day but I should have fun in the mean time.

All I can say is to give song mode a chance.

+1
Song Mode is surprisingly flexible and powerful for experimenting with muting parts, transposing parts, figuring out arrangements, and “chopping” patterns.

Song mode is great for keeping things from getting too loopy. You can uncover a lot in your patterns.

I think my only complaints are that you can’t use tempo multipliers per row, or less than two beats in a row. You could make some wicked fills if that were implemented.