One of the most important aspects of a killer track is something that is very simple to master but unless someone points it out to you chances are you will miss it completely...Track Structure. Soo read on and lets take a look at how your tracks can be better structured!

 

Structure Basics

Even a very simple idea with minimal sounds can be turned into great track with a well planned track structure...for proof of this all you need to is take a listen to the top 10 minimal tracks on beatport.com! So the question is, what is the best way to structure a track? what are the rules? Do the rules hinder your creativeness? What’s the easiest way to get a great structure? read on my friend...

One of the basic concepts of any genre is that in order to fit into it you must follow certain rules. If you want your music to be groundbreaking you can bend or even break some of them as long you can still categorise your tracks.I hear a lot of demo's from producers who ask me what their genre is, and to be frank unless you can tell me how can i fairly judge your music?

 

A genre shouldn’t be seen as a way to hinder your creativity, on the contrary showing your creativeness in the confines of a genre shows your level of skill! Choosing a genre will essentially give you an audience. I will talk more about genre rules in my next tutes, but one of the most important rules for the dance music genre (and all its sub genre's) is track structure.

 

What is track structure? simply put, it is the order of the repetitiveness patterns in your track... like a pop song as an intro, verse and chorus in various patterns.

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Dance Structure

There are many different ways you can structure your track, but the one rule of thumb that should never be broken is have in intro of 16-32 bars and an outtro of 16-32 bars where you slowly introduce elements of your track, and you slowly take away elements of your track.

 

This is essential if you ever want your track played by a DJ, how else would they mix it in or mix it out? A dance track can be anywhere between 5 to 12 mins long so don’t be afraid of a longer intro or outtro.

 

Elements of a Killer Track

 

Themes

When ever i am making a new track it starts with a theme. For me it is a catchy, trippy of party riff that makes you think... oh yeah... It is important to separate this from the rest of your track too much of anything is a bad thing no matter how cool it sounds

 

Breakdowns

A breakdown is a part of the track where you striped away a few elements.. it breaks the track up.. gives your dances a rest and helps to break things up to get your listeners interested in your main theme again. This can be anywhere between 1 bar, to 32 bars.

 

Build-ups

you know those times on a Smokey dance floor where you find yourself with your hands up pointing at a DJ screaming... well those are they build-ups and they can make or break a track.. they usually follow a breakdown but you can pretty much put them anywhere with a little careful placement.

Breaks

A break is important for a track to keep the listeners engaged... its like a breakdown but it is much smaller, maybe one note.. maybe one bar... take away some element and if you play electro or tech house/trance throw in some trippy glitchy effect

 

 

 

Formulating the elements

There is no magical formula to putting these elements in an order for a perfect track, but with practice you will learn what works and what doesn’t. I personally use a lot of breaks in areas of the track where i have the main theme playing. I like to put breaks at the end of build-ups, and sometimes throw in a build up instead of a break just to throw people off.. you can use these elements as tools to make your tracks more fun... remember this is dance music... it's meant to be fun!

If you take the time to break your track up into elements like these and think about placements you will always have a better track then you did before.

 

Formulating the Lazy way

Ok so we all want great results with minimal time right? so here's a cheat and another reason I love Ableton... grab three of your favourite tracks and throw them into Ableton, warp them and use the transpose button to make them all sound decent... now using the volume envelope start putting together the perfect structure for your next track... now you have a template, and a reference to use while you make your next track. Focus on how elements are introduces in each section, and how elements are taken away.