Jan 5, 2016 Been reading up random s--- tonight on the subject and was wondering what any of the producers (or h---, anyone on the forum who messes with music at all) knows about it/how important they feel it is to creating music (to them at least). Thoughts?
Jan 5, 2016 Very, very important. That being said, it depends on the style of music you're wanting to create. A lot of hip hop producers don't know, or know very minimal music theory, and get away with it. But for the type of music you create, I would suggest diving deeper into the subject. It'll only make you an even better producer, even though (tbh) you're doing fine without it
Jan 5, 2016 most likely because of sampling and primary focus being on stuff like drums, but i ain't knocking that... i can't sample at all. i've actually tried to dive deeper into it, but I think I need personal 1 on 1 help with something like that. reading up on it confuses the h--- out of me, and I have no understanding of stuff like sheet music or even basic names of notes/chords etc. outside of that stuff however, I'd like to think I have at least a little for what can be gained simply through doing what I've done over the past couple years/listening very closely to music/the few tutorials i've taken on the subject, most of it being I know by ear how to make my music, but I can't tell you what the chords are or anything like why/how it works. i think the biggest hurdle on this front for me is how limiting that makes collaborating with someone else, tho I can usually manage to figure other peoples stuff out now by ear and with a few FL tricks. but after all this time it's started to seem less and less important to me (personally), altho it would've been VERY helpful at the start. I'm torn on whether or not I'd ever bother to put in the effort to seriously learn more of it at this point
Jan 5, 2016 Honestly, you've developed a pretty d--- good ear. If you're finding ways to bypass the need to know a ton of theory, and it works, then by all means, do that. Its always best to do what works for you. Don't wanna risk messing with your workflow. I'm not HUGE into theory myself, but I know enough to get me by in a studio session. Try learning about the "Circle of fifths" (if you haven't already come across it). Once you learn it, and use it as a reference for a bit, you should have basic enough understanding to know what it is you're doing, as opposed to just hearing/feeling it... But at the end of the day, the feeling of the song is the most important part. Btw, If you ever do need help with basic theory, I'm always happy to pass on any resources I have! (Goes for everyone reading this)
Jan 6, 2016 i hadn't, but I just finished a video on it and I'm literally so lost rn. Don't think I processed any of that
Jan 6, 2016 s--- was hard af for me, lol. I was easily the slowest kid in my theory class, so I can definitely relate. Keep trying a little more everyday, and I'm 100% sure it'll click eventually
Jan 6, 2016 maybe i just know i've had years when i was younger of trying to learn something, anything about music theory type stuff with my dad and mom trying to get me to learn various instruments and nothing ever clicked for me
Jan 6, 2016 Throughout the years, up until recently my ear has been all over the place.. I have an experimental project I did in 2012, (unreleased) mixing electro & Jazz elements.. it wasn't until 2013, maybe late 2012 that I was making Noir Sounds.. That style stuck, mainly because of L'Orange's influence..but I also got inspiration from Exile. Here's the cover to that unreleased project.. I'm still on the fence about releasing..it's totally different than what people are used to from me..
Jan 6, 2016 It was one of our required courses for our first semester in Audio Production & Engineering It was the only class I failed (and have to retake for graduation). I really want to learn it, as I agree with @Purspective about it enhancing ourselves as producers and musicians. But it is an incredibly hard subject to learn and takes time to refine. It's very cryptic and theres little to no logic behind theory, which makes it even harder for most to grasp. It didn't help that our teacher was REALLY s-----y for teaching the subject. He explained it via an acoustic guitar (which doesnt work very well), His teaching style didn't work for almost everyone and the textbook was useless.. Most of us would form study groups and use the internet for answers. Probably 80-90% of the class was in my boat. Not to mention we learned a ton of useless s--- for being producers and engineers.. including conducting. Thankfully they are completely revamping the class after years and years of failure.
Jan 6, 2016 It's been relatively similar for me, in the sense that theory never really made sense when I was younger. I wanted to participate in the school band, but I couldn't play or read music for s---, so they stuck me on percussion, lol. I'm not amazing at theory at the moment, but I'm learning more and more every time I produce. It'll be a process, for sure. Wont be easy. But if you stick with it, I think you'll be fine
Jan 6, 2016 I've taken one music class at college and watched some of this Yale online course out of curiosity. I'm an expert and I don't see what harm it could do you.
Jan 6, 2016 oh yes, this is especially annoying i remember as a last ditch effort by my parents to teach me that stuff i got stock doing percussion for a minute too, I was f---ing terrible at it haha
