Melody techniques

Teasing in a melody line by using fragments of it before unleashing the full tune can prove to be hugely effective

In the ongoing quest to make your tracks as memorable, dynamic and exciting as they can possibly be, understanding what makes a great melody is as essential as knowing how to program beats, sit a vocal properly in the mix or effectively negotiate any other part of the overall production process.

Step 1: We start with a fully supported melody line. We’ve got a tune, supporting chords and a whole beat structure, and everything’s playing at once. But this certainly doesn’t sound like the start of a track. Let’s build an introduction to work up to this point.

Step 2: We move the track back a few bars and copy only the elements playing the hook to the start. The first of these is a house piano sound, and we start with this, stripping out the syncopated notes between the melody note completely, to produce something much more sparse.