The order of tracks on an album?

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The order of tracks on an album?

Postby dylanger » Tue Mar 27, 2012 8:35 pm

So I'm in the process of choosing songs for my first album. I have a lot of songs to choose from and I'm trying to choose them based on variety and the way it will make the entire product sound. My question is, how to do you choose the order of songs on an album? This will really help me know what I'm missing when it comes down to choosing the songs that make it.

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Re: The order of tracks on an album?

Postby Scott DeVarenne » Tue Mar 27, 2012 11:55 pm

I have never released a collection of songs. I have thrown together maybe 4 "mix-tapes". So hey, what do I know? But here are my thoughts-
Make a list of the songs. Beside each song write:
Tempo and time signature
Key/dominant chords
Instrumentation depth. Scale 1-5, with 1 being the most sparse, 5 being the full meal deal.
General mood or theme.

The list won't tell you how to sequence the songs but can help you become conscious of and keep track of commonalities.
I have no advice regarding where to place what you feel are your strongest songs. I will assume that all of the songs are recorded, rough mixed, or at least demoed. If not, do it. Do some normalizing, compressing, whatever, to get the songs in the same ballpark, volume-wise. Create a playlist. Start listening and shuffling the songs around. Spend some time just listening to the ends and beginnings, trying different combinations. You'll find some songs transition into the next in a very pleasing manner. Assuming that you aim to please, let those pleasant combinations influence your decisions regarding song sequence.

The list that I suggested making can help with choices regarding pairs or clusters of songs with similar attributes. If you find that you have several songs that are in G major @120 bpm, then you may not want all those songs together (even though they may transition nicely into each other). Same goes for songs in 3/4. Maybe you do want the album to start with 2 kickers and end with 2 tearjerkers, and everything in the middle alternating fast/slow, major/minor, happy/sad, sex/drugs. Maybe you want the album to have "parts", such as Pt1 love, Pt2 love lost, Pt3 television.
Maybe just alphabetical order.(?)
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Re: The order of tracks on an album?

Postby Malcolm Boyce » Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:00 am

Scott DeVarenne wrote:Maybe just alphabetical order.(?)
Some may laugh, but with people listening to their music on "shuffle" these days, many believe that's as good an idea as any. "Album" listeners are a dying breed. I recently had a conversation where we talked about how things changed when we went to a format without two "sides" to an album. ("Last song on side two....") Uhhhhhhh.... No. It was probably more fun when you could have a "track one... side two" but I haven't worked on much that went to anything in that format, at least not proper commercial releases.

Lyrical content matters least to me unless there is a "theme" that carries over between songs. I find it easiest to hear the "ends" or first and last and usually work my way in from those.... A great start and finish, and fill the flow in between those. Just the way my brain thinks about it.
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Re: The order of tracks on an album?

Postby macrae11 » Wed Mar 28, 2012 9:35 am

I put a ton of thought into song sequence, not just the order but the spacing as well. Perhaps this is because I'm still one of those "dying breed" as Malcolm said album listeners. A lot of the factors have been mentioned below, tempo and time signature, arrangement, key, themes or moods, lyrical content.

As a general starting point I usually try to envision the album like a live set. What's going to perk peoples interest, and keep them interested as we move along? Usually that means starting upbeat, working into a slower section somewhere in the middle, and then deciding how things should flow from there. Every project is different, but that's a vague general starting point. If when I'm creating the flow things aren't jiving because maybe one song fades out on a G major chord and I want to crossfade it into a song that opens with an Ab major chord, well somethings gotta give. So then I'll either try moving the order slightly, or the more space you put between songs the more time your brain has to reset and the dissonance won't be such an issue. It's really a feel thing based on all the above criteria and more.

For singles or hopeful hits, I'll usually try to get them near the top, although if it's the title track I find it has a little more flexibility and can go just about anywhere because people will usually look for the title track if it doesn't jump out at them. I've even put the title track last on the album. This doesn't apply if the album title isn't the same as one of the song titles.

Of course if people are buying singles off iTunes then most of this is irrelevant, but I like to try to keep the album alive for those who still enjoy listening that way.
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Re: The order of tracks on an album?

Postby Malcolm Boyce » Wed Mar 28, 2012 12:10 pm

macrae11 wrote:...but I like to try to keep the album alive for those who still enjoy listening that way.
This.
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Re: The order of tracks on an album?

Postby Christian LeBlanc » Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:51 pm

I like a first song that really feels like an intro - whether it be more laid back than the rest of the album, or more sparse, slower, shorter, what have you...something that eases you into it, which makes the next song rock that much more in comparison when it kicks in.

As for an ending song, something that begins with a soft air of finality that dynamically leads into more rocking out can be ideal.

As you go along, keep dynamics, momentum, rests and breaks in mind. I like having the more exciting stuff at the start, building up to around track 5 or so, which should just explode. Then start slowing things down some. Bury what you consider 'filler' towards the end.

You can 'cheat' a bit by slipping in a hidden track; all of a sudden you've got two final tracks!

I never considered doing this before, but thinking about what Scott said: why not make 10-second clips of all your songs? Each clip would contain the intro and the ending; it might make sequencing tracks a little easier when you can quickly hear how one song leads into another. It'll be a pain making the clips, but it might be worth it if it speeds up your selection process enough. Because really, the best way is to listen to how the songs transition and discover what sounds really cool.

Al mentioned spacing - sometimes if one song ends suddenly and another begins suddenly (ie, no fading), and the tempo is similar, having barely any space between the two tracks can sound amazing and help keep the adrenaline going.

Anyway, by the time you're done, you'll have found that one arrangement of songs so perfect that you won't be able to listen to the end of one single track anymore without anticipating the intro of the next song. That's when it's an album.
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Re: The order of tracks on an album?

Postby dylanger » Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:13 am

Thanks everybody! This helps me out a lot.
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Re: The order of tracks on an album?

Postby Scott DeVarenne » Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:33 am

Christian LeBlanc wrote: sometimes if one song ends suddenly and another begins suddenly (ie, no fading), and the tempo is similar, having barely any space between the two tracks can sound amazing and help keep the adrenaline going.
...you won't be able to listen to the end of one single track anymore without anticipating the intro of the next song.

Heartbreaker/Living Loving Maid
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Re: The order of tracks on an album?

Postby Malcolm Boyce » Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:41 am

Scott DeVarenne wrote:
Christian LeBlanc wrote: sometimes if one song ends suddenly and another begins suddenly (ie, no fading), and the tempo is similar, having barely any space between the two tracks can sound amazing and help keep the adrenaline going.
...you won't be able to listen to the end of one single track anymore without anticipating the intro of the next song.

Heartbreaker/Living Loving Maid
So many albums have great crossfade moments. Mad World/Pale Shelter
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