Hi everyone. For the past year I've had immense trouble writing music that I am proud of. I don't know what it is. I'm not calling it writers block just because its been going on for so much longer than writers block has ever gone on for me. The stuff I want to write is the fast but dark and foggy stuff, Doused by DIIV comes to mind, but I'm having so much trouble writing anything at all. Does anyone have any ideas or tips?
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Writing Dark Sounding Indie Basslines
- Thread starter christopantz
- Start date
Aeolian or Phrygian modes?
Minor chords... maybe hit the flat 5th tritone once in a while if you want to play the Devil note. Doesnt get much darker and dissonant than that.
Minor chords... maybe hit the flat 5th tritone once in a while if you want to play the Devil note. Doesnt get much darker and dissonant than that.
Yes one of the minor modes. Lets not forget about Locrian (R-b2-b3-4-b5-b6-b7) it gives a dark and tense sound so a one chord vamp - of your viidim chord - (R-b3-b5-b7) as a drone chord with the Locrian mode providing melody notes will give you what you want. Someone will have to play Locrian while you drone the R-b3-b5-b7 chord tones of the vamp chord.
Or someone pedals the chord as a vamp while you draw melody from the Locrian mode. Either way will work, i.e. harmony coming from the viidim chord's droning effect and the melody coming from the Locrian mode notes. Who plays what I leave to you.
Try that and see if it helps. Modes are played different than tonal center music. In a nut shell; modes drone on, they do not automatically resolve to the tonic I chord. Here is a short paper on using modes.
This page first Modal Harmony
Then go here Modes of the Major Scale
Then this page Modal Harmony
Good luck.
Or someone pedals the chord as a vamp while you draw melody from the Locrian mode. Either way will work, i.e. harmony coming from the viidim chord's droning effect and the melody coming from the Locrian mode notes. Who plays what I leave to you.
Try that and see if it helps. Modes are played different than tonal center music. In a nut shell; modes drone on, they do not automatically resolve to the tonic I chord. Here is a short paper on using modes.
This page first Modal Harmony
Then go here Modes of the Major Scale
Then this page Modal Harmony
Good luck.
Last edited:
Learn songs that sound like you want to sound.
I never heard of DIIV so I googled them
Sound very much like early 80's Cure
simple 8th note picked bass, lots of reverb on the guitars
Can you play the song you site?
If you want to sound like something, learn that something first.
Find many songs that exemplify what you want to song like, and get to learning.
Not just the bass line: learn the chords, learn the vocals.
For every 10 or so that you learn, try writing your own.
There are chords, scales, and theory that can be interpreted as "dark"
but pick them up as you go. The context is equally important.
Learn songs that sound like you want to sound.
I never heard of DIIV so I googled them
Sound very much like early 80's Cure
simple 8th note picked bass, lots of reverb on the guitars
Can you play the song you site?
If you want to sound like something, learn that something first.
Find many songs that exemplify what you want to song like, and get to learning.
Not just the bass line: learn the chords, learn the vocals.
For every 10 or so that you learn, try writing your own.
There are chords, scales, and theory that can be interpreted as "dark"
but pick them up as you go. The context is equally important.
Learn songs that sound like you want to sound.
