

And finally it is a good idea to put the notes not directly on the beat, but also on the other sixteenth positions between them. A second trick: Keep your notes close together, because faster melodies will also sound more happy than slower ones. This will build up a "happy" feeling instantly. It is very common for tropical house melodies to do some larger jumps from one octave to the other. This will make sure that the lead instrument can stand out from the background instruments and sound more interesting.

It is absolutely OK to use the chord notes for your melodies as well, but it might be an even better idea to use all the notes that the scale provides here. To be honest: I have been overly simplistic in my tutorial video ). This way your listeners won't get confused by chaotic rhythm changes, but the rhythm won't feel too simple either. The yellow circles mark gaps between the notes that all have the same size. Only the positions 01 and 13 are directly on the beat. But there are two simple tricks that will give you good results instantly:ġ) Make sure that you don't put too much weight on the beat.Ģ) Don't use too many different gap distances between the notes. Of course it is possible to use any rhythm that you like here. This way the chord progression provides for some variety while the rhythm keeps everybody dancing. In many cases this type of triad will fit better to the genre.Ī quite common concept in tropical house songs is the idea to take some 16 step rhythmic patterns that are applied to piano chords, plucks, and bass lines then. The second chord will sound brighter / more open. In the example above the two chords share the first and the second note. While the main chords consist of notes that lie close together, the inverted chords have a more "open" sound, because the notes cover a wider range. The main chords of the major scale - I, ii, iii, IV etc (Sundog: The yellow buttons) - are quite nice, but I highly recommend to take a look at inverted chords as well (Sundog: Dark brown buttons). Example: A C4-E4-G4 triad will become C3-C4-E4-G4 then. This way the chords sounds fuller while maintaining their characteristic mood. To get a fuller sound I recommend to take the root note of the triad and add it one octave below as well. Four note chords are nice as well, but most of the time they may sound too jazzy. The most interesting chords for this genre can be found among the commonly used triads of the major scale. C, E, or B), so if you work with a vocalist or a saxophone player you may first want to find out what works best for her and then stick to that. It doesn't matter which root note you use (e.g. Tropical house is different here: Many tracks will use the major scale to create a more happy, upbeat sound. Most EDM styles prefer to use the minor scale. While quite a few producers don't use swing at all, a little bit of groove can't hurt either. Most tropical house tracks will play in the range of 100 to 120 BPM.
Tropical music keys download#
You can download it here: (Windows, macOS)Ī quickstart tutorial is available at (7 minutes and you will know everything you need) Sundog is used in this video to create the different chords and melodies. Convincing saxophone melodies can be a challenge, pluck melodies are easier to do. Saxophones, flutes, and plucks are common lead instruments.Reverb + sidechain compression are typical as well.

Many tracks use a high amount of reverb for snips, claps, and lead instruments.Sidechain compression is very common, especially for the background pianos / plucks, and the bass.So do bongos and other percussion instruments.Tambourines will create a tropical feeling instantly.
Tropical music keys for free#
You can get a nice pack for free at 99sounds. Guitars are also good for background chords.They usually play just chords, no melodies. Pianos and pluck sounds are commonly used to build a nice background atmosphere.This tutorial concentrates on chords and melodies, because there are already quite a few tutorials available on YouTube that will tell you more about tropical house sound design, mixing, and instrument choices.
