The Swedish DJ producer Tim Bergling – aka Avicii – was one of those musicians whose careers were cut far too short. But he’ll always be remembered for crafting unforgettable melodies.
A lot can be learned by studying Avicii’s melodies and using his composition ideas in your own tracks. From his interviews, it seems he started with the melodic line first and crafted the rest of the production around the melody. This type of approach differs from the typical electronic music process of beginning with the rhythmic components. He would often use one melody and repeat it, and add variations or short stutter notes. He worked with melody forms like AAAA (one melody is repeated four times), AAAB (repeated three times then varied) and more.
Listen to Avicii’s melodies and see how many different melodic structures you can hear. Here, we’ll look at how to create the types of melodies and sounds Avicii used in SOS and Heaven.
Sara Simms is an acclaimed DJ and producer from Toronto who’s played some of the world’s most prestigious venues and festivals alongside artists like Carl Craig, Victor Ruiz and more. She owns her own record label, Simmetry Sounds, which releases cuttingedge techno and house tracks crafted by the next generation of electronic music producers
