ravendew Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Hey there OCR. I'm ravendew, and I'm a complete newb who wants to learn to make some music. I have Reason now and a keyboard I can work with, and I read most of the Guides section. I have some music theory experience and I know what everything on a synthesizer does from a theory standpoint. But I've never written music, and have certainly never done anything like this before. So I'm asking for any beginner tips anyone's willing to spare. A few particular questions I have are: Which is it better to start with as a beginner - video game remixes or original works? Does it matter? As a beginner, should I be looking to take the time to program the sounds I want in a synthesizer (even though it'll take me a while as I'm new) or should I start by just using the preset patches included with Reason? Any tips on how to structure one's workflow? I've listened to a lot of electronic music but am generally fairly ignorant as to song structures, and am finding it kind of difficult to structure my attempts so far. Any tips on this? Thanks in advance for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magellanic Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 hey Ravendew, I'm an OCR newb but I can definitely offer you tips for starting out as I've been playing and writing music most of my life and am currently studying for my masters in production and music engineering. I would say that the best place to start would be to try and cover a song you like using reason/the software you have. Once you feel comfortable with your software etc. you can be more creative and adventurous. Its always good to program your own sounds, but by no means a necessity. If you don't have a basis in programming your own sounds it can be a fruitless endeavour unless you have a reference point. Have a look at some online guides but use the presets for the time being. Find the sounds/timbres you like and see how they are made in your virtual synthesizer. Try and recreate a sound you like. As far as workflow goes, thats down to the invidual. I like to work around a chord progression myself or bassline. I write/produce stuff by refinement. I steadily write the musical arrangement then edit change synth sounds and motifs. When it comes to Remixing, I transcribe the music in its original state and cut little bits here and there to make something new. Depending on style, the musical strcuture will vary (as I'm sure you're aware). Listen to a song you like and try and break down the sections, even if its as simple as: Intro - section A - section B - Breadown etc. I'm just throwing suggestions but try writing sections in multiples of 8. Write a 16 bar intro followed by a 8 bar verse. In honesty though, start off doing a cover but adding a section with a solo or variation you've written yourself. I hope that is a little bit useful to you Apologies if anything is unclear, I really need to get some lunch!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanthos Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Which is it better to start with as a beginner - video game remixes or original works? Does it matter? Depends on your personality and creativity. Remixes might be easier because then you don't have to write original material from scratch, you just have to rearrange it. On the other hand, you might be the type who finds it confining to start with limits like that and original ideas might come more naturally. As a beginner, should I be looking to take the time to program the sounds I want in a synthesizer (even though it'll take me a while as I'm new) or should I start by just using the preset patches included with Reason? You should do whatever makes you happiest with the sound. Some people suggest that all synth patches should always be done from scratch and that presets are always bad, and those people are, frankly, idiots. On the other hand, only ever using factory presets places some limitations on your creativity and on your sound. As a complete beginner, it's probably easier to just use presets so that you can focus on trying to do less things at once, but if you can't quite find the sound you like, don't be afraid to take a preset and modify it to your liking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Which is it better to start with as a beginner - video game remixes or original works? Does it matter? As a beginner, should I be looking to take the time to program the sounds I want in a synthesizer (even though it'll take me a while as I'm new) or should I start by just using the preset patches included with Reason? Any tips on how to structure one's workflow? 1. Starting with original works teaches you how to write better music without using someone else's artwork. Remixing is like redrawing a painting with differences, it doesn't really teach you how to make your own painting from scratch. 2. Programming from an initial patch is a very great skill, but a lot of people just find a preset they like and tune it (tweak the parameters) to their liking. That's perfectly fine; presets are there to be used, either exactly as created or as a template for a new sound. 3. Everyone's different. A lot of artists who make rock or similar genre music in DAW's like Cubase write out basic parts for their songs and then fill it in with more instruments and produce it better later on. People like me tend to make the song in a pure linear fashion, once you make the beginning, it's done and polished, and you move on the next part, produce/polish it, move on to next part, etc. I can say as someone who started out with the latter it's pretty hard for me to just write a track unless I'm really getting good inspiration (because I won't know what the next part is when I'm done the current one). Outlining your track can make it easier to stay with it and not get bored of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Considering I got entirely into contemporary composition from arranging VG tracks, I take some offense to that, Neblix. It's a great way to dip your feet into the water when you're unsure of what you're doing, and if you have no previous experience in a DAW then it's quite a bit to ask someone to learn how to compose AND deal with the issues of a DAW at the same time. That's not to mention that you can learn a great deal about composing by really delving deep into another person's track (remixing a track throws you deeper into a piece of music than anything else possibly could). But to each his/her own - composing originals is perfectly fine, too. Reason presets will take you quite far, so I wouldn't worry too much about them yet. When the time comes that there is a particular sound that you want and it's not provided for you, then you'll branch out from them, but for simply learning the ropes they should be just fine. When it comes to learning the program, start getting used to the direction of flow from your synths & samplers (this is easy to see, by the way, by hitting 'TAB' on your mixer window). The sooner you understand how transitivity works in the program the sooner you'll really have fun with it. Other than that... yeah. Do what you want just to get something on the page - if you like VG music then making an arrangement might be a fun way to learn, and if you like improvising a tune that's perfectly acceptable, as well. There's no wrong way to do these things, so just be sure to have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravendew Posted July 9, 2011 Author Share Posted July 9, 2011 Thanks, again, for all the advice, guys. You're awesome. I'll keep at it, and if I ever end up with something not too horrible, I'll post it to the WIP forums Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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