Author Topic: No Music Background...Thoughts?  (Read 31547 times)

Heymac

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Re: No Music Background...Thoughts?
« Reply #15 on: February 04, 2016, 06:18:08 pm »
I don't know any music theory personally and while you can't go wrong knowing theory. I like that I don't put myself into boxes creatively. If it sounds good it sounds good to me. I do make sure that i'm following some basic rules (keep within the key, chord progressions that work better etc). but its definitely not impossible. You just have to keep working at it.

Lydian

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Re: No Music Background...Thoughts?
« Reply #16 on: February 04, 2016, 08:09:26 pm »
Music theory doesn't put yourself into a box. You put yourself into a box. Learning music theory helps you put yourself OUTSIDE of the box. If you can recognize which chord progressions are cliche and overused then it's easier to avoid them within your own music.

Learn your scales, chords, and arpeggios then forget all that shit and just play.
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Re: No Music Background...Thoughts?
« Reply #17 on: February 04, 2016, 11:44:42 pm »
How many of you edm producers or any producer for that matter, who does not have any music background whatsoever?

I have no musical background at all...

Thoughts? Opinions?

It's not required of you. Even greats like Eric Prydz don't know music theory but look at what they create.

But hey, if you get stuck -- learn music theory! I started in September and it isn't hard if you're dedicated!

greek_steve

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Re: No Music Background...Thoughts?
« Reply #18 on: February 05, 2016, 09:20:45 pm »
Many (if not most) lack fluency in music theory. Thats advantageous to you because most producers dont have that avenue of tools.

Its easier to make melodies, rhythmic patterns, and chord progressions with theory. It took me roughly 30 mins(not including sound design and mixing) to make this piece of song:

https://soundcloud.com/user28006564/toids-pt6


(disclaimer: im a better musician than I am a producer.)

 That song is not possible without music theory.



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Re: No Music Background...Thoughts?
« Reply #19 on: February 05, 2016, 09:23:04 pm »
Many (if not most) lack fluency in music theory. Thats advantageous to you because most producers dont have that avenue of tools.

Its easier to make melodies, rhythmic patterns, and chord progressions with theory. It took me roughly 30 mins(not including sound design and mixing) to make this piece of song:

https://soundcloud.com/user28006564/toids-pt6


(disclaimer: im a better musician than I am a producer.)

 That song is not possible without music theory.

Why is this not possible without music theory? I would be inclined to disagree with you

greek_steve

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Re: No Music Background...Thoughts?
« Reply #20 on: February 05, 2016, 09:39:12 pm »
Many (if not most) lack fluency in music theory. Thats advantageous to you because most producers dont have that avenue of tools.

Its easier to make melodies, rhythmic patterns, and chord progressions with theory. It took me roughly 30 mins(not including sound design and mixing) to make this piece of song:

https://soundcloud.com/user28006564/toids-pt6


(disclaimer: im a better musician than I am a producer.)

 That song is not possible without music theory.

Why is this not possible without music theory? I would be inclined to disagree with you

Its uses power chords, chord extensions, and counterpoint. The chances of you hitting those same exact notes without knowing music theory is little. You might get the rhythm part right. Thats easy.  However, you wont get the tone or mood right. Tension and release also becomes difficult without music theory.


« Last Edit: February 05, 2016, 10:11:45 pm by greek_steve »

manducator

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Re: No Music Background...Thoughts?
« Reply #21 on: February 06, 2016, 09:30:28 am »
Funny topic. Lots of forums have a topic like this.

Many people say they feel limited when they would be familiar with music theory. That's the same like saying that they will be terrible drivers after getting their driver's license. To me it seems just an excuse to evade the learning curve.

You can still give in random notes in a piano roll when you know music theory.

Everybody can name people who write beautiful chord progressions and melodies without knowing music theory. I know these people too. Usually they know basic chords (on piano or guitar) but can't name them. So no, the don't know scales, augmented fifths and all that, but chords are the basics of music theory too. :)

And if somebody without knowledge writes good music, that's fine! But somebody with knowledge of music theory can do it faster.

Learning the basics of music theory is the best thing I have ever done.
« Last Edit: February 06, 2016, 11:53:23 am by manducator »

Cosmic Fugue

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Re: No Music Background...Thoughts?
« Reply #22 on: February 06, 2016, 11:34:42 am »
Agreed. I spent 20 years making music without knowing any music theory, and then I took guitar lessons (including theory) for a few years. I came up with some good melodies before, and some good ones after. The cool thing about knowing some theory, though, is that I can tell why something sounds good or bad. Before I would struggle with chords for weeks, knowing (because I listen to lots of music) that something was wrong with one of them. Now I take one look and say "That third chord has a minor 7th in it when the scale should have a major 7th."

I can also do way more complicated things now. I used to stick to 2 chords per song, now I can make a good 8-chord sequence and change it up sometimes.

I can still break the rules when I want to.  I can promise you learning theory didn't make me less creative...
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Re: No Music Background...Thoughts?
« Reply #23 on: February 06, 2016, 04:27:19 pm »
Many people say they feel limited when they would be familiar with music theory.

On a related note, something that I found very interesting is how there are even established Hollywood composers who reject the "constraints" of music theory.  One of my music professors told a story about either Danny Elfman or Randy Newman purposefully refusing to use traditional theory way because he felt that it inhibited his creativity.

However, when someone who was working under him referenced a certain scale or mode, the composer scolded them because they're supposed to refer to it as the "cartoon" scale. So it's not that he doesn't know music theory, it's that he does not embrace music theory.

The Dog

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Re: No Music Background...Thoughts?
« Reply #24 on: February 07, 2016, 05:04:57 am »
I don't think having a musical background that important. I mean if you're classically trained or schooled, it does help but if you really have a thing for music you'll get there by yourself more or less the same as any other professionally trained artist. It might take more time but you'll be having a solid and honest way of making your own music if you learn everything on your own rather than getting trained by someone who'll only tell you to do things in their way and not your own!!!

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Re: No Music Background...Thoughts?
« Reply #25 on: February 07, 2016, 02:55:25 pm »
I don't think having a musical background that important. I mean if you're classically trained or schooled, it does help but if you really have a thing for music you'll get there by yourself more or less the same as any other professionally trained artist. It might take more time but you'll be having a solid and honest way of making your own music if you learn everything on your own rather than getting trained by someone who'll only tell you to do things in their way and not your own!!!

You're talking about the difference between reading sheet music and actually creating the sheet music.

there's a reason why these things have been mapped and charted through science and math, it's because there's  a pattern to them that can be charted and mapped.

that's all what music theory is, is the understanding of your entire tool box and knowing how to use your tools.

I get what you're saying, but after studying various subjects. I can't stress the value of education and understanding, the last part being the key word here.

Listening to an instructor, who is the master of their domain and rightfully so, will only help if you're teachable. Other wise, why are you wasting your time if you can't park you ego at the door?

If you're inclined to do things on your own, you can still do so with a new understanding of how you're doing works, through the studying of the minds of the past.

But, you have to want to learn to be taught.
« Last Edit: February 07, 2016, 05:59:10 pm by Marrow Machines »
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Mussar

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Re: No Music Background...Thoughts?
« Reply #26 on: February 07, 2016, 04:34:56 pm »
rather than getting trained by someone who'll only tell you to do things in their way and not your own!!!

Okay, this is the biggest misconception that I have heard from people who refuse to learn music theory. This is an incorrect and potentially dangerous assumption, as it can only hurt you as a musician.

Music theory is not a rigid rule structure. Music theory is a codified set of descriptive labels - explanations of things that were already occurring without our interventions. The history of music theory (at least the western theory we're referring to right now) comes from old church choirs, where the reverberation time meant dissonance was very obvious. A tritone feels disconcerting, and that gets amplified when you have six or eight dudes all shooting out sound waves into a cathedral with 3 or 4 seconds of decay time. The tritone was considered a "devil's sound", because of how unpleasant that clashing became. At the same time, dissonance became a creative tool with things like a diminished chord.

Music theory doesn't tell you how to do things in one specific way. It just takes a couple centuries of trial and error and goes "you know all those sounds in your head? here's why they sound the way they do, and a few potential routes you could take to get there."

But, you have to want to learn to be taught.

Exactly. If you go into it thinking "they're just oppressing me and stifling my creativity" or just not interested in learning new things at all, you'll just be wasting your time and the instructor's time.

If you really don't want to learn any music theory, do yourself a favor and master the scale and chord MIDI effects that your daw has.
« Last Edit: February 07, 2016, 08:32:41 pm by Mussar »

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Re: No Music Background...Thoughts?
« Reply #27 on: February 07, 2016, 08:30:18 pm »
Just learn some scales, or have them open in chrome. Make chords that sound good with notes that are in scale. Eventually you'll memorize the scales.
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birdwork

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Re: No Music Background...Thoughts?
« Reply #28 on: February 14, 2016, 04:40:31 am »
You can make any sort of music that focuses on groove and/or evolving textures instead of melody and harmony. Depending on your tastes, you can make techno, sample based dub or glitch, tech house, or other stuff.

If you're eager to get started making melodic stuff that sounds good while still working on your understanding of music theory, you can take the MIDI from an existing track you like, and cut it up, flip it, reverse it. You'll have fun and get some good results. Just google for MIDI files. Then you can get hands-on experience with what does or doesn't work and why.

Marrow Machines

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Re: No Music Background...Thoughts?
« Reply #29 on: February 15, 2016, 10:01:51 pm »
You can make any sort of music that focuses on groove and/or evolving textures instead of melody and harmony. Depending on your tastes, you can make techno, sample based dub or glitch, tech house, or other stuff.

Depending on how you write the groove and in what sonic context, would depend the need of music theory or not.

You can make all the bleeps and blops you want, and still make it groove. But if you really want to write down a bass line, you'll need to at least understand some basic concepts of music.

"yea music is just organized sound", not when you're just bleeping and bloping. that is in a sense the truth to the organized sound, but music comes from the organization that has been set through music theory.

Besides, it not like it hurts.
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