Getting by with little musical training

[Saragon]

I've discovered -- much too late in life, really -- that the idea of making new music is far too entrancing to leave alone. Having had no real musical training aside from a couple years of middle school band classes and some very musical friends, however, I'm having trouble making the transition from "humming tunes and tracking them as best I can for my own amusement" to "writing out all the parts of a song and making a finished production." I've taught myself some music theory from online sources, which has helped a little bit, but I've hit a bit of a wall.

The hardest part for me right now is trying to put down into writing a melody I've heard someplace else. Without formal training, I can't listen to a measure and say to myself "Oh, that went E-G-F-F#". If I hope to start contributing to OC Remix, this obviously has to change, and that leads nicely into my questions:

1) Are there any good websites or other sources that offer good ear-training lessons for free or at a relatively low cost?

2) Is there a way to import an existing game soundtrack into a tracker (staff or scroll is fine) or FL Studio so that I can see the music laid out note by note? It really helps me to have it written down -- I'm very visual and see patterns well, and that might help to initially compensate for my lack of ear training.

EDIT:

3) To expand on question #2 a bit: Any sites, lessons or (gasp!) books on arrangement that you might recommend? I'm guessing that that's where my next problems will come from; again, up `til now I've just jotted down what sounds good, but I'm sure that I'm breaking a lot of the "rules" of music composition -- techniques to add emphasis or inspire a particular emotion.

4) Most of my friends were actually in one of our college's 'a capella' groups and sang together (they even have a CD that they've said I could sample from.) I'm currently only working with a PC; but if one or more of them agreed to do some voice work for a track, what kind of investment would I be looking at to get an acceptable recording? Bear in mind that I'd be asking for long, sustained vocal sounds for backgrounds or part of an ambient melody, not lyrics. (Think Brian Eno's "Music For Airports".)

5) I've somehow been unable to find a tutorial on synthesizers that's proved useful. I've read things like Zircon's guides, but I can't really find a tutorial or guide that says "If you're looking for a sound like X, try a square wave and some settings like A+B+C". Suggestions?

[Kanthos]

Unless you've got an absolutely incredible ear and natural ability with music, expect to have to learn a lot about basic theory. There's really no way to get around it; even if you can make something that sounds kind of good, knowing *why* it works makes a difference and will help you achieve what you want faster than just throwing some notes down in FL Studio and trying to figure out what sounds right (likely arriving at the same thing theory would've told you anyway).

1) I don't know about websites, but one thing you could do is get a free music notation program like Finale Notepad. Listen to a song, write the notes out into Finale, and play them back to see if you're right. You could do the same thing in FL studio; it just depends whether you're comfortable with music notation or would rather think in terms of a piano roll.

2) As far as I know, we don't yet have the technology to convert an audio file into notation. However, there are websites that contain fan-made MIDI versions of game soundtracks (they'd have to be done by ear, using a tool like Finale or FL Studio).

3) Don't try and tackle arrangement, except by ear, unless you understand harmony and basic theory first. Expect to put at least a year into learning this stuff, and that's if you already are comfortable with basic notation and if you put in a lot of work. As for books, I used Music in Theory and in Practice by Bruce Benward and Marilyn Saker for a theory course at school. The first volume is likely all you'd need; I'm not sure if you can buy them separately or not. If you want to work in a more classical style, you'll probably want to consider volume two, as well as getting at least one book on counterpoint (Study of Counterpoint by Johann Fux should be fine, but you'll have to know the theory first). To move into orchestral arrangement, consider Principles of Orchestration by Rimsky-Korsakov or Study of Orchestration by Samuel Adler.

If you're not interested in classical or orchestral music, you'll still probably want to know the theory. What other resources you use depend on the genre. I can recommend some books for jazz (although you'll definitely want to be familiar with jazz and work through volume two of Benward), perhaps others can speak to other genres.

In all honesty, a lot of the stuff that people mix here isn't done out of any kind of training, besides basic theory and harmony. It's done by understanding the genre they want to make music in and by having a good ear for what works and what doesn't.

4) All you'd really need to get a good-quality recording is a computer and software good enough to do the processing and mixing, a decent audio interface/sound card with a mic input (probably $200-$300) and a half-decent mic like the Shure SM-58, which runs around $100. That's assuming that you don't mind doing the vocal parts one at a time. To record a group of singers at once will cost much more; as a hobbyist, you'd be better off booking studio time than trying to get the gear yourself.

5) As an alternative to a synthesizer guide, try playing with synthesizer presets. Find a preset that's similar to a sound you want, and tweak knobs until you get a better idea of what each one does and how it affects the sound.

Good luck to you!

[avaris]

You don't need a huge expansive knowledge of music theory to be a good musician. Learning basic music theory and SATB part writing can really help though and make things much easier and more enjoyable.

I agree with Kanthos about the synths. Pick one synth and learn how to use it. Then learn another, and another and so on. When you play around with a synth try to get a sense for the characteristics of the generic wav types. (saw, sine, tri, square)

While making music is fun it takes a lot of time and effort to see results. It can be a slow process at times, so patience is key.

If I was starting out from the beggining I'd take 1 of 2 ways to learn to make music.

1. Learn the basics and try to do everything right. Keep things simple and build slowly. Slowly build your knowledge base and skills.

2. Experiment like crazy. Just do crazy shite. You'll create some cool new ways of doing things and prob develop your own style faster. The problem with this is you might have to unlearn some of the bad habits you pick up.

I went with option #2. Don't ever be afraid to try crazy shite you can come with some amazing sounds this way.

Here is a friggin awesome website for learning a lot of the basics. It's a long read but you might find alot of your answers here.

http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

As for ear training I heard people say Golden Ears Ear Training is suppose to be really good.

http://www.midi-classics.com/b/b3654.htm

[Saragon]

Wow. Kanthos, Avaris -- that was both very quick and very helpful. Many thanks.

I'm working my way through the TweakHeadz guide now; since I'm 100% software right now (excepting my PC, of course) I hadn't thought Tweak's focus on hardware would be too terribly helpful, but not only has this helped address my recording question, but I think I understand the flow of the software I'm using a bit better. So thanks again for that link, Avaris -- yeah, it's a long read, but that's no bad thing when you need something to read at work.

Kanthos: The book recommendations look especially useful. I admit I'm not interested (yet!) in purely classical compositions, but knowing it as well as orchestral arrangement seems invaluable. Besides, I'm sure that as I learn it I'll become more comfortable with it and want to do more with those influences.

[Kanthos]

I agree with Avaris: you don't need to know a ton, but the basics of theory and harmony will make a huge difference. I added the books just for completeness and because I wasn't sure what exactly you wanted to do with your music. If you're more into electronic stuff at the moment, skip all of them except for the first Benward book (or equivalent; if you find something you think you might like or something that is cheaper than volume 1 of Benward and aren't sure if the material is the same, I'll be happy to take a look at it for you).

[Sole Signal]

Just chiming in to say that you don't necessarily need musical training or production training to write good stuff.

I had never taken a single music lesson, musical or otherwise, until last semester when I took Music Theory 161. It helped a little, but I can't say it was necessary. For me it was just having somewhat of an ear for music and a year or two of experimentation and practice.

Then again, reading up on some stuff like on the Tweakheadz site probably would have helped me get going faster, so definitely keep that up. Nothing can beat actually digging into the program itself and learning that way, though. Good luck.

[Villainelle]

Yeah, same as Avaris and Miszou here. Learning some really basic stuff like the circle of fifths, how to make simple chords and some typical chord progressions etc. was enough to get me going. There are programs and plugins out there that can assist you in learning too. One plug that I love as a chord reference is Tonespace.

VGMusic has tons of game MIDIs you can look at to see notation (though keep in mind, it's done by fans, so it's not always 100% accurate).

Like Avaris said, just get in there and get your hands dirty. When you get stuck, ask questions! I run into stuff I don't understand all the time, but a good friend of mine is in school for jazz performance/theory and answers my silly questions.

[SnappleMan]

Hah, you don't need any training to submit to OCR. Check out the Judges pannel... BUt yeah, "formal" training doesn't really matter. You can pay a teacher for all kinds of lessons but it wont do you any good unless you want to learn. The best thing do to is learn how to teach yourself. You have the internet at your fingertips, spend a week or two researching websites and gathering all the information you can, then set up a daily plan that you will follow.

The most important thing you need to do is ditch FL studio. Get rid of all software except maybe a simple tracker, and get yourself access to a keyboard. The easiest way to make music theory stick is to play what you learn and hear how it sounds. Never move on to the next lesson until you can understand the previous one musically. Once you know the concept of scales, chords, melody and harmony, you should get your hands on something like Sonar which works much more naturally than loop based FLStudio and Reason.

Your education will never end, but you should have some level of proficiency on the piano by about a years time. This doesn't mean being able to play Chopin and Bach, just knowing what every note is, being able to play a scale, chords, and playing on time. During that first year, you should aim to complete one original song, 5 minutes long, that uses everything you learned. If you can do this, then a year from now you will definetly be a very valuable musician to the OCR scene.

[Saragon]

It would appear that I owe all of you a resounding "Thank you!" -- you've been extremely helpful. A few more follow-up questions, if you don't mind, though:

6) This is directed mostly at Kanthos -- does the Benward book discuss percussion as well? I'm having the most trouble with good rhythm lines and drum loops.

7) SnappleMan, I'm curious about your "daily plan" suggestion. I've sorta spent the last few days focusing on individual parts of the process -- e.g. yesterday was spent one some mixing and effects tutorials and playing with some of the production details (panning, volume, clipping, etc.) I'll need to learn. However, I don't know that I've got a coherent plan on what to learn when and what process to follow. Do you have a broad outline that you might suggest?

(By the way, your 'start with a simple tracker' idea has been quite useful -- I already feel that I'm a bit better at getting down a melody as it's in my head. So thanks again for that.)

8.) I didn't see this on Tweak's site, and a couple of Google searches didn't turn up anything recognizable or free; so do any of you know of a good, in-depth discussion of how various types of filters work? (I'd prefer to err on the side of too much physics than too little.) I'm getting a lot of clipping when I work with low, resonant sounds like bells or deep ambient pads; and while I know in general terms what I should do, I don't yet know how to do it. EDIT: Scratch that -- http://www.tweakheadz.com/EQ_and_the_Limits_of_Audio.html has some great primers in the "Cool Links" section at the bottom. So there we go.

Again, thank you all for your help; I know these are rather basic questions, but I'm trying lay a good foundation I can build on at my own pace -- without, as Avaris suggested might happen, having to unlearn bad habits.

[Kanthos]

6) Not directly. Here is the table of contents for the book. It's oriented towards a beginning musician who knows little to nothing about theory and harmony. I don't recall there being much about rhythm, besides, perhaps, an introduction to the different rhythms. This book isn't intended to teach you how to make a piece, but more to understand the building blocks that you would use to make a piece. If you're having trouble with drum parts, you probably want to get yourself a beginner drummer book, or maybe even something a bit more advanced, that has patterns and fills. A caution though: the majority of beginner drum books are probably oriented towards basic technique (how to do rolls, flams, etc.) and styles like rock and pop. Rhythms and loops are something you'd be more likely to pick up by knowing a bit about basic drumming (have you ever tried to play a drum kit? If possible, try and sit down on one for half an hour with someone who can tell you how to play a basic rock beat) and by listening to a lot of music in your preferred genre and trying to emulate what you hear.

[SnappleMan]

By daily plan I mean setting aside time every day to study music. Break it up into a school schedule type routine where you divide all your time into chunks, each devoted to a certain thing. I do this with practicing instruments. Spending half an hour each on practicing scales, finger training, etc.

[Alexis]

If you want to transcribe well, a really helpful thing is to practice hearing intervals; this way if you aren't sure what the next note is, you can figure it out by listening to the note before and hearing the distance between the two. If you have a keyboard, try playing a note and picking an interval above or below it, and singing it, then play and check. (if you know where I can upload a pdf file, I can put up an interval cheat sheet that was posted on blackboard by my professor)

Something else that I found to be helpful was suggested by my Musicianship professor; rather than concentrating on individual notes, listen to the contour, and draw it. If you hear a an arpeggiated chord, just write out three ascending dots, and it you hear that it moves by thirds, you know what the other notes are. After you draw the contour of the melody, listen again, and try to get a few notes. Also, it's important to write down as much as you can. If you have something written down that you can take to a piano and play, it's easier to play through and fix the mistakes you made, rather than have a couple of the first notes down and nothing after it.

The only way to get really good at transcribing is to practice it a lot. I've been transcribing stuff for two years now, and I still have issues.

[DDRKirby(ISQ)]

The only way to get really good at transcribing is to practice it a lot. I've been transcribing stuff for two years now, and I still have issues.

I've got perfect pitch (albeit unrefined) and I've still got trouble transcribing stuff.

Granted, some of the stuff I try to listen to and pick out is virtually impossible to get at anyways. We're talking 5-note chords and whatnot.

man I =hate= transcriptions that are incorrect though.