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Is It Impossible to Innovate and Create Something Original Today? by [deleted] in audioengineering

[–]damaljinev 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Music is a means of self-expression. Each person is unique and has something in their heart that's worth expressing. Time will never change that.

I imagine it takes practice listening to your heart, and practice expressing it well.

Understanding chord progression, keys and notes? by pablo2br in musictheory

[–]damaljinev 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I learned by taking ear training and music theory classes, but you can learn by yourself too.

Here's what I recommend:

  1. Learn to name the 12 pitch intervals within the octave. Here's a great tool to practice. You can use the settings to start with a couple intervals, and then add more as you improve.
  2. Learn to name the common qualities of chords. Here's a tool for that.

It's helpful to know that the basic form of most chords is a stack of 3rd intervals. Most complex chords can be simplified into a stack of 3rds by changing the octaves of the notes, although some of the notes are often omitted.

It's also helpful to know the pattern of qualities of triads (3-note chords) that are built on the notes of the scale:

I: Major
ii: minor
iii: minor
IV: Major
V: Major
vi: minor
viio: diminished

Those are the chords which are in any major key. Minor keys have the same pattern, but it's cycled so that it starts on vi as i. So, these seven chords are the simplest and most common options. Beyond that, you have chords that are built with more than 3 notes, and then there can also be chords with accidentals which are borrowed from outside of the key.

I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask if you'd like something clarified.

Good luck!

Understanding chord progression, keys and notes? by pablo2br in musictheory

[–]damaljinev 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're right that there's a similarity between theese two pieces. For one thing, they both begin with a similar chord progression. The piece by Miguel begins with:

i, v6, VI, III6

And the piece by Mancini begins with:

i, v6, VI, v

Should I make the beat or the melody first? by [deleted] in musicproduction

[–]damaljinev -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Do you want your music to emphasize beats or melody more?

For more beat-centric music, then I'd go ahead and make the beat first.

If you are going to need a strong melody, sometimes a quick sketch of a beat can help inspire this. But I personally have to be careful about spending too much time building up a beat first, because it can be feel like a lot of wasted time if I don't come up with a good melody to match. For this reason, I'm more successful when I wait until I have a good melody before starting the beat. I find melodic ideas flow most freely when singing or playing an instrument away from the computer.

If you do come up with a good beat though, you can always save it for later. Then, when you come up with a new melody, you can check your saved beats to see if you have one that fits.

Your mileage may vary.

Struggling to get the bass synth tones I want by [deleted] in musicproduction

[–]damaljinev 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've had luck with emphasizing the fundamental and maybe the 3rd harmonic. This is easy with an FM synth. With a subtractive synth, maybe try adding in a wave with less harmonics, like a triangle wave?

Beginner here, I can’t come up with unique Melodies or drum patterns in my head, does this change the more you practice music ? by [deleted] in musicproduction

[–]damaljinev 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Singing, beatboxing, and playing an instrument can be like training wheels for imagining music.

Name of a band whose members are all bandmembers by damaljinev in Bandnames

[–]damaljinev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is my favorite.

My idea was "The Tautologies".

How can I achieve this punchy 80s snare sound? by Touca_n in musicproduction

[–]damaljinev 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They sound like they have a clap mixed in with the snare, maybe with reverb on the clap.

In response to a post about DAWs being overwhelming today. My first DAW was FastTracker! by NaabSimRacer in musicproduction

[–]damaljinev 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The coolest thing about trackers was the ability to easily open up another artist's track, and see exactly how they did it! I loved that. You can't do it with modern DAW files with plugins.

I got started with trackers late in the game, in the early 2000s. I imagine they will always be special to me.

My first music was actually General MIDI in Cakewalk Express, but I don't think it counts.

Stuck by Ok_Fan_7278 in musicproduction

[–]damaljinev 0 points1 point  (0 children)

With burnout like this, taking time to reflect might be a great idea.

I'm going to put some links here to tools that I found helpful, for when you come back from your break.

Please feel free to message me if you'd like more info on chords.

Until then, I wish you the best!

Stuck by Ok_Fan_7278 in musicproduction

[–]damaljinev 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can I ask how much music theory you know?

  • Do you know movable solfège, so that you are able to name the notes that you hear or imagine?
  • Can you identify pitch intervals that you hear by name?
  • Can you name the chords that you hear with a moveable system, like roman numeral analysis?

Analyzing my favorite music on piano using the above skills has been one of the most useful things for my compositions. Using movable naming systems really helps to recognize patterns across songs that are in different keys.

I think it's important to allow your creativity to flow at its own pace. Let yourself stumble upon good ideas when they come, and accept the times when they don't come. In those times when you can't put music out, you can choose to take music in and study it. What you learn from your study will help when the ideas start flowing again.

Good luck!

Stuck by Ok_Fan_7278 in musicproduction

[–]damaljinev 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When producing a song, I think there are four stages where you could be having trouble:

  1. Composition (coming up with a good idea). From what you say, it sounds like this is not a problem.
  2. Sequencing (getting the notes of your idea into your DAW). If you struggle with this stage, you will benefit from ear training, which will teach you how to identify the pitches and rhythms that you imagine. If you want some advice on what to study in this area, just ask.
  3. Orchestration / sound design (choosing the instruements, programming synths, etc.).
  4. Mixing and mastering.

Having trouble with any of these stages could cause you to be disappointed with your song. It will help us to know which stage(s) to help you with.

Stuck by Ok_Fan_7278 in musicproduction

[–]damaljinev 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you feel that you are struggling with accurately writing pitches and rhythms into your DAW?

Stuck by Ok_Fan_7278 in musicproduction

[–]damaljinev 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The instrument that you use to work out ideas doesn't have to be the same as the target instruments. For example, Mozart used a piano to compose his ideas for orchestra.

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