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VG Opinion Poll #13 - Has OCR helped you musically?


glasfen
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It's been a while...

VG Opinion Poll #13

Prior to finding OCR, I have to admit that the extent of musical styles which I enjoyed was somewhat limited. I think it was the melding of familiar themes with different genres, some new to me, which has broadened my auditory palette. For example, I believe the only reasons I now appreciate electronic music are OCR and the Appleseed soundtrack (which I encountered at about the same time). In addition to expanding my musical preferences, I've also learned a lot about music from OCR: structure, improvisation, arrangement, etc.

So, quite simply, has OCR taught you anything?

a. Yes, indeed.

b. Maybe...

b. Nope.

Vote and be heard. Have a safe and fun holiday weekend, especially those of you who are Stateside.

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A.

I had quit band in middle school for two years, was forgetting how to read sheet music, and forgot how to play an instrument. I knew next to nothing about making music when I found OCR while in the middle of high school 8-ish years ago. Thought the idea of remixing my own favorite game tracks was a cool idea, so I taught myself a few programs after spelunking the OCR Forums. I'm no expert or anything, but OCR has been my central music hub. Not only in regards to production, but to interesting genres and artists I wasn't hip to.

The community is responsible for my interest in music as well as showing me new ways to create (and refine) my music...

...which is why I stick around. haha.

EDIT: I also seem to get good answers from people no matter how silly, strange, or noobish my questions are.

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A.

I've always thought up random musical ideas in my head at times, but was far too lazy to execute them (and I forget them after five minutes :x). Then I start browsing OCR. I hear about Reaper and FruityLoops. Download them both. Too lazy to learn how to use them. I find a Reaper tutorial in the tutorials forum. I read it.

Been learning more and more each day since. I hope to be a great Metal/Rock remixer soon :)

also this

Everything I know about the technological side of music I have learned via ocr.
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C. nope, not in the least

it probably doesn't help that I'm incapable of supplying a decent recording of either my violin playing or my singing

edit: reading the desciption again, I'll have to change that to B. maybe

musically, it hasn't done a thing for me, but my musical preferences have broadened somewhat since I first came to OCR, like the OP himself

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Yes, definitely.

Being around and working with so many people who take music very seriously has taught me techniques I might not have been exposed to otherwise, broadened my musical understanding, encouraged me to actually practice (as opposed to just banging on things for fun), encouraged me to actually finish songs that I start (instead of just banging on things for fun then clicking "no, don't save"), and made me a little more humble. No, I don't rock as much as I thought I did...but with a little practice...

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My current answer is C: Both.

Why? Well, hell yeah, it's helped me massively. Listen to my older stuff, then listen to my newer stuff, I'll say no more. NOWADAYS, though, between posting mixes, coordinating events, and developing the site itself, I hardly get to make any music. It sucks. I've got like 12 WIPs from different games, in different genres, and I haven't been able to make progress on any of them lately. Suckage. With any luck, some of these will come out late this year or early next, after we're done with our big site development phase.

I really miss making music.

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A.

Glad to see so many A's here too.

Just entering in to PRC's a fair bit back in the day (I should really do that again) was enough to challenge me to make a bunch of unique tracks which taught me plenty about different genres and how they're composed.

ie:

-what makes some rap more enjoyable/less cliche than other rap.

-how to fake guitar, how not to fake guitar...

-my range/abilities in general

-how to annoy people with sounds

ALSO; Doug, what the hell is with the bloom in your headshot?

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A.

Glad to see so many A's here too.

Just entering in to PRC's a fair bit back in the day (I should really do that again) was enough to challenge me to make a bunch of unique tracks which taught me plenty about different genres and how they're composed.

ie:

-what makes some rap more enjoyable/less cliche than other rap.

-how to fake guitar, how not to fake guitar...

-my range/abilities in general

-how to annoy people with sounds

ALSO; Doug, what the hell is with the bloom in your headshot?

just trying to make it look like it's straight out of a korean love drama

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-what makes some rap more enjoyable/less cliche than other rap.

Lyrics (subject, skill, depth, meaning, symbolism, uniqueness) * rhythm * (notation/orchestration (including vocals, especially rap-singing, and more especially if it's actual singing) *style aka "swag") * (arrangement = purpose + abstraction) = arrangement(x) = duration) * uniqueness = quality

That's the musical part. The rest are gimmicks, which the media uses to promote certain styles, sometimes making others less cliche. It's all about profit and easy ways to do it; more business-oriented and deceitful than real. Why not be real and fervent in business? It takes more energy; something that only a lover of art would or could contribute.

how to fake guitar, how not to fake guitar...

Dynamics of the sound of the guitar (+/-/0) * rhythm (impossible techniques and speeds make the guitar sound either fake or like a unison of multiple players in one band, possibly doing it wrong) * octaves/chords/notation suitable to a guitar (a million bass notes w/ a million high notes will not reciprocate properly, nor will it sound natural, even if there are a million people playing; the mathematics must work in law of reciprocity) * physics of guitar playing (strums, power chords, regular chords, solo strings, bass-acoustic-electric relationships) * quality of sound (bit rate/sample rate/interpolation/etc) [+/*( more if necessary or applicable)] = overall quality and actual effect, since realism plays a role, though the electronic and digital can enhance that nature.

my range/abilities in general
Only you know this. We all can make calculations of limitations for ourselves and find ways to raise those limits, which of course, have a given maximum that we may not know.
how to annoy people with sounds
It's wonderful to know what NOT to do.
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Anything that you choose to listen to repeatedly and over a longer timespan must be inspiring in some way, and anything that's inspiring musically probably helps you as a musician.

One might claim that his own inspiration is hermetically sealed from the stuff he listens to, but one would probably be wrong :)

It's really impossible to track all the subtle nuances in your work that were inspired by another tune or dozens of them.

Well, actually, I don't really know if OCR has literally 'helped' me become a better musician, but it definitely made me become a different musician in one way or another. It introduced me to some deep, intricate and tremendously fun music of the kind I'd never heard before, from people like Mazedude, Protricity, Shnabubula, and others. There's no way that this kind of exposure didn't change my music at least in some way, and sometimes I can hear it explicitly.

So yeah, I think any musician on here that picks 'B - not at all' would possibly have to change his mind if he really thinks it through.

Technical advancement, dealing with feedback and all the other stuff are a different story though, of course.

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Umm... how many people didn't chose A?

By the way... A - My skills in production has skyrocketed since I've become a member. Now, whether that's because it has encouraged me to remix more, thus forcing me to use my programs more and such or from the helpful advice on my mixes... I think it's a nice mix of both things happening :).

Yeah, I'd say this site has helped quite a bit, either way :<.

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A - Yes

OCR has helped me a great deal, musically of course, but also on a more personal level.

I've learned more about the music making process in 3-4 months, than ever before.

And I'm happy to create a piece for a project, or to enter a compo and share with others.

Having fun while making music is something that I had lost somewhere along the way.

So yes, I definitely have to thank OCremix, and by extention ThaSauce & the remixing community for that.

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