Song construction... ?

Diesse · Post by **Diesse** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 12:51 am

Hey guys,

I know this question has been asked probably a lot... but, I'm fairly new to production.. so I decided to give it a go.

I'm looking for a basic song construction of a minimal/minimal techno song...

I spent quite a long googlling for the proper website/forum, but only found stuff about trance/dance/house, and nothing about techno, which really surprised me.

So, since this is a specifically minimal music forum, my best bet is this is the best place to ask that question

I hope to get some helpful answers... would be really helpful!

for the record, I use Ableton Live, in case it makes any difference to you

kristofason · Post by **kristofason** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:03 am

U mean how many bars intro,before main parts come in etc?
thats all up to you and there arent any specific rules that i know of for minimal/techno/dance music in general. Some people do stick to their own formula though, which i'd be interested to hear too.

DirkD · Post by **DirkD** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:41 am

You really can't go wrong with 32 bar intro/build, bring in bass, have a breakdown at around 3-3:30 for 16-24-32 bars and then slowly start winding things down around 5:30-6:00 minutes to end the tune around 7-8 minutes.

Alot of songs seem to be structured this way.

Really a good way to get the hang of it is to import songs you like into your arrange window so you have it sitting there to look at while you arrange. Not to say you should copy people, but imitating is a great way to learn most forms of art.

omnipresence · Post by **omnipresence** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:58 am

Please do not try to build your structures based on formulae like this. I'm not saying you should avoid it at all costs if that's what comes naturally (I said "do not try to" not "try not to").

I think you're better off setting yourself goals or exercices such as "make a track without any breakdowns" or "make a track with only a kick drum, bassline and 1 other element" and see if you can still make it interesting. These are things I also want to work on myself.

tone-def · Post by **tone-def** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:45 am

There are no set rules in techno. Some tunes have breakdowns some don't, some have beginnings that are designed for a dj to mix some don't, some tracks are made just as an intro, most tracks use sections of 8, 16, 32 bars others don't, some tracks are just drums some tracks don't have any drums.

Rookas · Post by **Rookas** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 6:11 am

agree to the post above...
MAKE IT YOUR OWN WAY.
i have just started the producing thingie also, everytime i make some music everything turns out differently ... i myself dont even like to make breakdowns , because i think of a trancer every breakdown i hear:D

MINIMALTECHNOHOUSE · Post by **MINIMALTECHNOHOUSE** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 8:02 am

People who say there isnt a blatantly clear structure to pretty all dance music, is wrong.

To the O.P.; best advice on here is imitate, its not the structure thats hard, you could use a really rigid, cliche, trance structure, and it would still sound good if your parts fit together and are introduced naturally.

It all depends on what you like?

MagpieIndustries · Post by **MagpieIndustries** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 9:45 am

tone-def wrote:There are no set rules in techno.

Of course there are, that's what makes it techno. Don't be stupid.