So my college and life circumstances are fighting tooth and nail against me to enroll in music courses. What can I do to expand my knowledge outside of taking classes? I feel so stuck with music and not being able to take classes certainly isn't helping.
#What Can I Do to Expand my Knowledge and Output when I Don't Have the Opportunity to Take Classes?
swift berry
smoky birch
Books?
swift berry
I tried :/
I checked my local bookstores and all the books are +$100
I am taking piano lessons which is where every spare dollar is going right now
old walrus
Well, when I want to learn music techniques, I just find something on the Internet related to what I'm trying to learn. I guess the key is to find a topic that interests you. The question is, what exactly are you interested in learning?
keen marten
I checked my local bookstores and all the books are +$100
have you considered e-books or legal acquisition
swift berry
maybe melody writing
keen marten
I'm not sure what vgm you're into but here's an analysis you might be interested in
https://sheet.host/sheet/d67bMY
swift berry
I don't really play an instrument which is why piano is such a high priority for me right now
old walrus
Maybe study Koji Kondo's work more closely? He's known for a melody-first approach. Or maybe try writing a melody with no harmony at first, then add in harmony that makes sense for it. That's what I often do.
swift berry
I see
yeah that makes sense
I mean melody isn't just the only thing I struggle with
once I have a melody I'm lsot on what to do with it
which is why I usually write everything else first
old walrus
Disclaimer: I don't really have a formal music education. Most of what I do is based on learning off the Internet and instinct. How well it actually works is debatable.
swift berry
I'm not sure what vgm you're into but here's an analysis you might be interested...
I LOVE pokemon
but unfrtunately the website is being extremely fucky lol
old walrus
Sometimes the worst thing you can do is overthink what you're doing. When your thinking is too rigid, it can restrict what you create.
swift berry
yep 100%
I just don't know how to do anything staring at empty sheet music
and because like
I've never played music before either
well I have
tropic agate
go through yotj
swift berry
just not... goodly
tropic agate
it's like a third of what you learn in music theory courses
swift berry
...I tried
old walrus
It's important to note that usually, my best ideas come to me while I'm working. I have a pretty deadhead job, so my mind has time to wander. Maybe find something similar that lets your mind work in the background.
swift berry
I couldn't understand anything :/
swift berry
It's important to note that usually, my best ideas come to me while I'm working....
hm thats a good idea
tropic agate
you become so familiar with stuff that stuff that used to be more difficult is just second-nature
swift berry
all of my schoolwork is braindead easy
tropic agate
so I tried to make things as approachable as I could but you know
swift berry
yeah
tropic agate
most of it really is easy once you're more used to stuff
old walrus
Yeah, I remember a time when even basic harmony was tough for me. If someone told me 5 years ago that I could write the music I've been writing lately, I'd think they were crazy. Just give it some time. You'll get there.
tropic agate
and for realsies if you got questions about the yotj stuff I am super down to help
swift berry
theres like
tropic agate
don't listen to the anxiety part of your brain that thinks you'll be annoying me if you happen to, like me, have one of those
swift berry
an introduction to composition course
but it filled up before I could even register
same with analysis of video game music
:/
and they're both only offered in the spring so the next opportunity is literally a year and a half from now 😔
swift berry
don't listen to the anxiety part of your brain that thinks you'll be annoying me...
thank you <3
I'll try to pay as much attention as a can
to the stuff
tropic agate
the first three months are basically an appetizer
a get-writing-music-fast kind of thing
because one month is to take an existing piece and swap out the chords to still match the melody
half of the work is done for you
another month is to swap out the melody to still match the chords
again, half the work is done
month three was to do the other half of one of those previous months so you got an original composition
after that things get a bit more uh
rigorous, I guess is probably the best word?
swift berry
yeah lmao
tropic agate
not necessarily that much harder but definitely more academically focused
swift berry
ok so I see the reharm first thing
if I choose a standard how do I go about like
actually writing it out
tropic agate
what do you mean by that?
tropic agate
yeet
swift berry
I see
tropic agate
but more pragmatically, you could literally just replace the chords on the lead sheet
and then mock up maybe a piano backing or something
or cheat and use something like iRealPro
which will comp for you
tropic agate
weeeee
mystic merlin
Our community here is a helpful thing. We got some great tutors and teachers, a broad perspective and all of us do different things with music. If youd want to expand your knowledge in a specific field/area, im sure someone here can help.
general knowlegde can be (i say can be because theres a lot of ways and this is just one) obtained by doing. YotJ is a great start. The weeklies are a great application and 'testing ground'. Shamelessly plugging the upcoming Secret Santa which is a lot of fun!
I personally think having fun is very important 😛
swift berry
yeah I need to
do more
I used to do a lot
but I don't anymore because I'm busy with trying to scrape by :P
mystic merlin
Understandable
Asking a question every now and then can already lead to some expanded knowledge
swift berry
I've been trying to do the weeklies
but they haven't for a while been easy concepts to grasp at all
vital blaze
I checked my local bookstores and all the books are +$100
In #resources you can find pdfs of most of the good ones for beginners in academic music's google drive library.
In particular, The Complete Musician by Laitz is a good starting point to cover a lot of ground
tropic agate
but I don't anymore because I'm busy with trying to scrape by :P
college life be like
swift berry
yep 😔
even though my classes are piss easy, existing is not
Maybe getting off musescore could help
So I don't have to work with sheet music
Too bad I can't afford anything and the totally legal fl studio my cousin got me is gone 😔
tropic agate
So I don't have to work with sheet music
I am inclined to disagree, sheet music is incredibly useful particularly for communication
vital blaze
Too bad I can't afford anything and the totally legal fl studio my cousin got me...
Theres several neat free daws, like Reaper
old walrus
If you're fine with SNES-style music, I've used Jummbox to make challenge entries before. It's completely free and the program it's based on is open-source. It's surprisingly useful
tropic agate
it's less of an issue if you still plan on reading sheet music
or writing it out if you have questions
swift berry
I am inclined to disagree, sheet music is *incredibly* useful particularly for c...
Definitely agree but notation software doesnt have good production value
tropic agate
there's just been enough times I've seen people go full "I'm only going to use a DAW" and then complain about how hard it is to learn music theory or to ask questions about stuff
because the only real way to communicate that particular stuff well is by straight up sending a midi file
old walrus
Musescore 3 or 4? I've heard 4 can actually make solid sound
old walrus
I think you just need to go to the musescore site and download it
mystic merlin
Musescore 4 is much better than 3 in terms of sound,, but it feel slightly clunkier and slower somehow. like its not as smooth running on my laptop
vital blaze
Jank is inescapable
earnest lion
I checked my local bookstores and all the books are +$100
Not sure where you are based, but have you tried a local library?
vital blaze
Library > book store
smoky birch
I checked my local bookstores and all the books are +$100
You can find them online plus there are PDFs- I’m taking notes on a book I’m reading rn that I can share when I’m done
smoky birch
I don't really play an instrument which is why piano is such a high priority for...
Are you playing piano?
smoky birch
Definitely agree but notation software doesnt have good production value
Does it matter what it sounds like on musescore though?
mystic merlin
Spoiler alert:
It matters what music sounds like.
smoky birch
LMAO no need to be condescending I just meant like
If I’m writing music for piano I care about how it sounds on the piano, not on musescore playback
Unless for some reason you’re using the playback but idk why you would do that
smoky birch
Well then I’m sorry for not catching all of the old messages
mystic merlin
Its fine
Youre kinda right too, because it should be easy to go from musescore to someplace that has better production value
But to me it isnt, so i kinda feel that 'stuck in musescore' vibe when i write in it
smoky birch
I live in the piano world so i literally know nothing about anything outside of writing piano scores
mystic merlin
Im a piano sir
Living in a piano world
smoky birch
If you’re writing for a string quartet or smith and you don’t have string players to play your stuff then yeah
mystic merlin
Yeah
smoky birch
But musescore should have a good enough playback for you to get a somewhat decent feel for what it would sound like
tropic agate
I can say that while production quality will increase the overall value of your composition, it is the icing on the cake
the quality of the composition is the cake itself
cart before horse and all that
mystic merlin
trme dat
keen marten
I can say that while production quality will increase the overall value of your ...
what about edm and other genres where the production is also the composition
tropic agate
what about edm and other genres where the production is also the composition
No such thing as the production also being the composition
You could swap out a good EDM track with an entirely different production chain with new synths and different weird sidechain effects and stuff
And it’ll still be good with changed production
In fact, a lot of EDM stuff does exactly that to indicate change of section within the piece
Oh actually wait I can be unhinged here
Versus
vital blaze
In fact, a lot of EDM stuff does exactly that to indicate change of section with...
No, thats part of why the production is part of the composition. I also think "Production" is also too vague and broad of a term to really strictly say things that fall outside of it and that maybe you mean something more specific
"Composition" is equally as vague and broad
Like
Who can say what falls outside of it
tropic agate
stuff like timbre changes don't feel like production to me
basically anything that was already possible pre-digital-era would not be production
vital blaze
That feels wrong
tropic agate
nah because you could already dovetail clarinets into flutes into violins and vary their timbre in various ways and also vary their volumes pre-mixers
music production is the modern stuff that goes beyond that
and then if not
writing pen directly to paper 300 years ago could arguably be production which feels much more wrong
vital blaze
I dont think it would feel more wrong bc of "production"s other meanings, like in theatre
vital blaze
And also because timbre is kinda innately part of 'production' the way its commonly used
Like a lot of sound design often gets done during "mixing"
tropic agate
even if you take issue with those things
like
bro
it's really easy to clearly apply what I'm saying to the definitions of what I'm saying
honestly I don't think we have words in english that correspond exactly 1:1 to the things I'm trying to say, just that composition vs production is as close as we can get
vital blaze
But terms like this are usually defined circularly
tropic agate
the main thing I want to combat here is that
you do not need a lot of mixing/mastering/sidechaining/EQing/whatever else
to get a good piece of music
vital blaze
Yea i agree with that
tropic agate
and in fact all of that stuff, even in EDM
is icing on the cake, not the cake itself
or the idiom
you can't polish a turd
vital blaze
Yeah, its just calling aspects of sound design thatre structurally insignificant the entirety of production excludes a lot of what is considered production (like probably half of production, or more)
vital blaze
In production, and even in arranging theres often also a sense that most of the polishing happened as the turd was shat so that it isnt just a turd its a small toy you ate and can clean off if its worth it
Maybe that stretches the analogy too far
Like counterpoint, as in the interaction of multiple voices, could be seen as a microcosm of orchestration right?
vital blaze
Wdym lean no
I know its a lot more of a stretch bc its more well defined stuff than production, but the kind of corresponding stuff in 'production' is a lot less of a stretch