Why is it so hard to make quality dance music?

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loulou
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Why is it so hard to make quality dance music?

Post by loulou »

Am i the only one who thinks its way harder to produce f.ex. house and techno than other genres like dubstep etc?? When i used to make hiphop and dubstep i got pretty good at it in a short amount of time, but when i turned to dance music i kinda got stuck and having a hard time especially with arrangement.

Anyone feels the same way?
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Re: Why is it so hard to make quality dance music?

Post by steevio »

i knd of think its very difficult to make quality music in any genre, thats why there's so little of it about, and why only a few succeed.

i dont have a problem with arrangement, i just dont do it.

if you are finding arrangement diffucult, set off on a course of improvisation. much of the quality house and techno made in the early days was done with very little arrangement using simple machines. i think people get bogged down in arrangement because of computers. if i was using a computer still to make techno, i would have as many control surfaces as possible, to modulate as many parameters as possible and jam everything live.
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Re: Why is it so hard to make quality dance music?

Post by Opuswerk »

live recording really is what it's about imo. Gives a much more natural flow to tracks, and it's more fun :)
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livecollective
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Re: Why is it so hard to make quality dance music?

Post by livecollective »

Gotta agree with Opus and Steevio, jamming/improv/recording live is the best way to capture moments of human emotion... which in turns translates to the audience better than sterile arrangement (at least in my eyes).


I have taken to recording jams directly to tape recently and the results are amazing, it feels like a return to my jazz roots.
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Re: Why is it so hard to make quality dance music?

Post by tone-def »

I don't think techno is any easier than dubstep. Hip hop can be easy if you have a talented MC with something interesting to say. Just make a loop and let him do his thing.
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Re: Why is it so hard to make quality dance music?

Post by NoAffiliation »

are dubstep and hip-hop not considered dance music?

i kind of know what you mean, i think it has something to do with broke beat styles being more glitchy/cut+edit so you can get away with really sharp drops and edits. techno and house are more smooth flowing.

i think it also has something to do with if you just put a 4x4 kick as you beats there is never any breakup of the beat where hip-hop and dubstep kind of naturally force you to place the kicks in places that keeps the beat moving. i don't think it's easier, i think people neglect the power of varying the kick in straight dance tracks
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Re: Why is it so hard to make quality dance music?

Post by AK »

One of my biggest issues came about when the complexity of sequencers increased. I think it's easy to get bogged down by details and editing thinking you are making improvements when sometimes, you can end up with something that feels a little contrived for example.

Anyway, recrding as much live stuff/jams as possible is the way forward imo, you can always disgard bits, cut/paste if necessary afterwards and tidy up 'rough edges' if need be but you are capturing a performance rather than trying to build via a stop/start procedure. It's that stop/start thing that kills music for me, at least in the way I like to make it. Music should be fun and creative and using a method to make it that incorporates that will shine through.
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Re: Why is it so hard to make quality dance music?

Post by bkm1978 »

Yes yes, what they said for sure.

Plus you gotta remember, especially Techno is usually 4/4 and monotonous by nature. Keeping it interesting is hard work.
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