Uplifting but not cheesy

Thespa · 2023-10-08T09:30:37.002Z

I like techno and I like it on the harder, industrial side of things. However, I do love it when there is a hint of melody or euphoria in there, but not too much. In my own productions I have never succeeded in this, it always falls over into the cheesy side of things and then I hit the delete button. Any tips?

Zijnvolt · 2023-10-08T09:51:57.142Z

Honestly hard to say as cheesy is mostly subjective. I’d say try experimenting with making the sound less present in the mix and see how that works? Sometimes a little less emphasis does wonders.

ki_cz3d · 2023-10-08T09:54:03.311Z

Anything along the lines of Teebs that you like?

hausland · 2023-10-08T10:30:27.127Z

Try not deleting it but instead save it, close it, forget about it. Then in 2-3-4 weeks time open it again, close your eyes and listen. If it still sounds cheesy you should feel exactly where the cheese comes in and work your way out of it from there.

Bitsnbobs · 2023-10-08T11:11:55.354Z

Listen Barker, he has an album or two of uplifting stuff that still hits pretty hard

w-lf · 2023-10-08T11:45:56.547Z

I’d say that this is one of the hardest things to achieve in electronic music: To evoke certain emotions without being on-the-nose. Ideally it’s not even happy or sad, but an ambiguous mix of both.

I recently heard this track on a party and thought it was incredible:

I think the key is to not overdo it. Just have a few chords or samples working together and rely on the power of repetition.

Malmal · 2023-10-08T15:13:46.688Z

thats what I instantly thought of as well

also I think the advice of waiting a couple weeks before opening up something you deem “cheesy” is definitely a good idea. often its just perception, also everyone has a different treshold of cheesyness. I don’t think theres a secret to it, just keep experimenting until you found your own sweet spot

Bunker · 2023-10-08T15:52:20.667Z

There is no cheese…

Bitsnbobs · 2023-10-08T17:57:54.989Z

I just made a dub jam and shortened a vocal saying ‘happiness’ to ‘piness’ - I hope it’s not cheesy

DavidL · 2023-10-08T18:28:58.831Z

I’m almost always better creating melodies in pianoroll with a midi keyboard or launchpad funnily enough, as i’m better at grooving and such on dawless

Started connecting a midi keyboard to my dawless setup, jam things out, then step by step inputting into sequencer with help from keyboard trying to reproduce my jams in sequences. has helped me a lot

plragde · 2023-10-08T18:37:48.002Z

Bunker:

There is no cheese…

Who moved my cheese?

Bunker · 2023-10-08T18:47:54.547Z

Ala Voodoo Ray

error.eyes · 2023-10-08T19:22:49.202Z

Hot take, but I don’t know if this is possible to learn without fully embracing cheese. Making emotional music involves emotional intelligence, and I think emotional intelligence involves being in tune with all kinds of emotions, knowing how they feel, and being able to express them through music. It’s about empathy and vulnerability.

Enrico_Pallazzo · 2023-10-08T23:26:28.507Z

I love cheesy techno:

johnbitwig · 2023-10-09T00:33:32.813Z

Juan Atkins hits it right on the spot! Uplifting, but not cheesy. Flash Food is a good example

Perhaps experiment with melodic basslines, add groove and do some Juno strings on top. In Flash Food he literally “lifts up” the chord/strings sound with a bend.
It’s a good track.

J3RK · 2023-10-09T03:53:03.335Z

Maybe try some Oliver Klein.

gekkonier · 2023-10-09T04:51:09.936Z

Don‘t delete, instead do it! There is nothing wrong to do what you’re unconsciously do (as long you do no harm to people who don’t like it)

chaocrator · 2023-10-09T05:19:19.096Z

upcheesing

jiffybox · 2023-10-09T05:30:04.936Z

image736×668 114 KB

Matoshi · 2023-10-09T07:45:43.028Z

Embrace the cheese!

Some of my stuff is Full Solid Cheddar!