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My Song

Discussion in 'Music' started by Doctor CPU, Feb 9, 2020.

  1. Doctor CPU
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    Doctor CPU Senior Member
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    I'm not that expirenced in music making so i dicided to open up a midi player and make one.

    Please give feedback, even critisism.

    Link
     
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  2. Jingle Jangles
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    Jingle Jangles Senior Member
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    I have some experience here.. It's decent nice beat at the start and some cool synth sounds.. you just need to make sure it's in key, it sounds out. So pick a key like C minor or D major etc.. Google the scale and play only those notes in the midi inputs. Trust me it will sound much better.. unless you intended it to sound out of key that is.. So this is basic music theory.

    You can find the notes for any major or minor scale by follow the tone/semitone rule.

    Here is major: https://www.piano-keyboard-guide.co...5/05/tones-and-semitones-in-a-major-scale.png so Tone (T) Semitone (S) Major is TTS TTTS. One tone is two notes up, one semitone is one note up.. these include black notes.
    Minor is similar, TS TT STT.

    So for example, pick your root note: D.. for D minor it's going to be D->Tone(E)->Semitone(F)->Tone(G)->Tone(A)->Semitone(A#/sharp)->Tone(C)->Tone(D). This is called natural minor, the most common type of minor scale. AKA just minor.

    Have fun with scales and pick one you like. My favourite is C minor :)

    I can give you more tips if you like.. I use FL Studio and Ableton so I can advise in these and some music theories.

    Make sure you also fill each frequency.. So low freq = bass (bass guitar, subby synth etc..).. Mids = vocals, piano, High = high notes, snares, hi hats etc..

    Let me know if you need more advice.
    --- Double Post Merged, Feb 9, 2020, Original Post Date: Feb 9, 2020 ---
    Hey man so I just want to show you what can be done in simply half an hour if you have the right knowledge..

    Here: https://mega.nz/#!3GBgCCRA!LItLGxNVyIG0fomCGY2FmfiaRF4jlKJ4BYjJM_j67Tw

    Every song has/relies upon a basic structure.. Here like most you have an intro, verse, bridge (sometimes) then chorus. then repeat once essentially with outro (no intro again). This is just intro, verse, bridge, chorus because I didn't intend to make a full track, just for fun to show you :)

    In this track the intro is just drums. This lets the listener know the tempo, and genre etc. of the song pretty quickly. Then the verse kicks in with a piano ("filter" applied and then let off slowly) and a chopped (cut) vocal. Then the 2nd part of the verse or I guess a "bridge", where the drums drop out, the bass comes in and there is some build up with a snare and a riser (woosh sound). When the chorus hits I bring in my lead, which is a piano and chime sound. Then I change up for the second part of the chorus with a squeaky vocal lead and cut out my other lead, this is because you can only have one lead at a time. Like, one bass, one vocal, one lead instrument, one backing instrument.. any more than one of each and you have clutter.

    Some important side notes:
    - EQ everything. Frequencies of the track should only be occupied by that instrument, if things start overlapping in frequencies you don't fully hear each instrument. Notice how in this track every instrument sounds pretty much separate. I've EQd it. I also added some stereo separation (where the sound switches between left and right of your earphones more in a more spread out way so it sounds like in a room) to the vocals to separate it from the other similar frequencies. The bass is completely separate so nothing interferes with it. EXCEPT for the kick drum which is side-chained (advanced, basically means the bass becomes quieter whenever the kick drum hits).. Every frequency is filled and it sounds professional.
    - Notice how everything is in harmony and fits into your ears nicely? That's because it's all in one key: D Minor. Every single note played, including the pitch of the kick drum and snare would you believe it, are in the D minor scale. You can hear a lot of notes being played so one scale doesn't limit you. But if you feel it does, you can change the key half way through or something, just make sure to change the key for every single instrument. A lot of 80s music does this like ballads and stuff, you've probably heard. Elton John does it a lot for example.
    - Your workspace. You need a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) this ranges from Bandcamp (free) to FL studio, Logic, ableton, pro tools, cubase and some others. FL Studio has a free version but you can't save projects. Ableton has a free trial and I don't know about the rest. Are you using a DAW?
    - Your samples. Download samples from the internet but make sure to pay for all of them at their original source. Some websites compile samples like splice.com and has a handy search function too. (I'm not affiliated with spice..). If you DL your samples separately be sure to organise them. Don't rely heavily on samples because it will prevent you from making a more unique sound like with midi and Virtual Instruments (VSTs), and synths/wavetables (Serum, Massive etc.).

    You seem like you have already selected a genre, (House/ disco or something?). I personally think this is important. You can master a genre if you stick with one although it's good to dabble. I make Liquid Drum & Bass pretty much exclusively.

    I hope some of this is useful to you. Making music is a tonne of fun and just so you know it's possible to pursue it as a career, if you're not sure what you want to do later you could think about music.. I wish I did at your stage!!

    Good luck man.
     
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  3. Doctor CPU
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    Doctor CPU Senior Member
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    I use garageband on am mac. Is this a DAW. This program also has some instrement samples. Cheers for the help Jingle.
     
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  4. Jingle Jangles
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    Jingle Jangles Senior Member
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    Yeah Garageband is a free DAW.. Haven't used it myself! When I said Bandcamp I meant Garageband :p Bandcamp is a site to buy music.
    No problem.
     
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  5. Sebastian
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    Sebastian Junior Member

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    Get FL Studio, best start-up program to learn, not too complex not too simple, I find it gives the right balance. Also Jingle Jangle seems like a music nerd so abuse his knowledge for your gain buddy! Lucky to have him.
     
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  6. Bobbymans
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    Bobbymans Member

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    I've always thought that FL Studio was impossible for me to use because of how hard it was, i've tried it sometimes in 2019 and gave up the hope when i realised that it was just too complex for me (maybe i'm just too stupid), and came back to FL sometime later, tried it, and gave up again, but i've always liked Garageband in a way that any other music-making app never comes close to, all the interfaces of other music-making apps are just too messy for me, Garageband is so simple even toddlers can make use of it, but i've heard that Garageband is hated by music "producers". And i've never understood why.
     
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  7. Aitor
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    Aitor Junior Member

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    I cant really talk about other DAWs, but even I would definetly say FL Studio is really rewarding if you get the hang of it, at least at creating beats. Although it definetly lacks at the time of recording, specially comparing it with other DAWs, the workflow you can get on FL Studio is honestly surprising. I cant say if its harder than others to learn but if you just want to make some hip hop or EDM its probably worth it to learn.

    Talking about Garageband I dont think its really hated, probably just ignored because there are other better options on macOS.
     
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  8. Bobbymans
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    Bobbymans Member

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    Do you have to like download plugins (instruments etc) to actually play something, or are they already in the app? Because i've never even made 1 note in FL xD..

    And it may be because i'm just too lazy to figure out those kinds of apps (like Unity where i once wanted to create a game but i just gave up because the interface was too vague for me) ... So i'm just sticking to Garageband, or simply a "real-life keyboard" because i'm not really interested in producing songs for everyone to hear, becuase as far as i'm concerned, hip-hop and EDM (as you stated) are more popular genres, as for "experimental music" and "DSBM" are way less known, I don't use Garageband anymore too btw, i don't have any knowledge of music theory and that kind of stuff, i just like experimenting.

    I don't want this to transform into my story about music and stuff but i think it's just relevant, but, by "experimenting" i really mean experimenting, I use everything possible to make music with, for music, (like an egg-slicer) LOL, one tip for the guitar users among us here, if you have a multi-pedal like me and activate resonance and/or any other effect and slow it down or tweak it to make weird *ss sounds, if you not pluck a string but use a pick and smack a string, it'll make funny sounds.. You can use a bow too, like a violin-bow, it'll sound dope.
     
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  9. Jacob ™
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    Jacob ™ Senior Member
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    Just gonna chime in and say ABLETON 4 LIFE!!! Fuck the FL studio Heathens!!!

    Jokes aside, I do agree FL is a great DAW to start with!
    Jingles has summed up keys perfectly.

    It might be worth listening to music in the same style you plan to make, and find out what keys they tend to use.
    Different styles of music can sometimes sound better in certain keys than others. I know that in Ableton you can actually set it up to only accept inputs that are in your selected key. Not sure if FL does the same.
     
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  10. Doctor CPU
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    Doctor CPU Senior Member
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    I made this as an assesment to test creativity. We weren't able to base it of anything.
    Thanks for the help.
     
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  11. Bobbymans
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    Bobbymans Member

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    I always used to "try" to make music years ago when i got a mac for school, Garageband really blew my mind back then because of how easy it was, i made some "music" with it, but the thing was, it was off-beat, dissonant / off-key, and just ugly overall, the funny thing was.. I used to brag about how I made music and proud that I was, I let my friends hear it, and still cringe to this day, because it was just so bad it didn't even had a chorus, it were just random notes for 3 minutes lol xD, it was like The Shaggs but worse, and I was still so proud of it that i showed it to my friends and stuff, man that shit was cringy as hell..
    --- Double Post Merged, Mar 25, 2021, Original Post Date: Mar 25, 2021 ---
    Do you make music without knowing any theory about it? Someone in the store I used to buy my first guitar/keyboard at told me this: "Als je geen bladmuziek kent, en je eigenlijk wel wat muziek kan maken, zou ik het ook niet overwegen om ooit nog de moeite te doen om het (bladmuziek) te leren" translating to: "If you don't how to read sheet music, but you are creative enough to make music on your own, you shouldn't bother learning it anyway".

    And I agree with that completely, but the thing is, if you want to play a certain song and you can't read any sheet music, you just well.. Can't play it, except if you have perfect-pitch, (I used to play piano at 11, and funny enough I developed it) although not really perfect, the hardest pieces i've managed to play without knowing a single thing about sheetmusic is: 3rd movement of Moonlight Sonata, (took me 5 minutes or so) and Winter - Vivaldi, and I still haven't got a clue how I did it anyway.

    I am still not able to read sheetmusic btw.. And i'm not gonna learn it. I find it unnecessary.

    I recommend playing around a bit with appregio's and try to find not so "dissonant-sounding" ones (preferably keys that are far from eachother) and play them slowly first a couple of times and then fast, that is how I learned to play fast, sounds really simple ofcourse but it's something right? Haha, anyway, I am the kind of person who doesn't really mind having dissonant sounds in my piano sessions, i take some people as inspiration, such as Frank Zappa with Hot Rats, you should really check out his "Piano Music - Section 1" on that album.

    I used to listen to Pink Floyd too, and that's where my interest of "experimental" music came from, such as the album "Meddle" with "Echoes". Or more notably "Atom Heart Mother Suite" or "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast", or experimental music from other albums, such as "Ummagumma" with the song "Careful with that Axe Eugene".

    I know not alot of people can appreciate experimental music, but I am sure one of the people who love that kind of music, I can give you more examples to get a little more familiar with the genre, (I know this is completely irrelevant) but here's the list:

    - Meddle

    - Atom Heart Mother

    - Some of the music from "Cannibal Holocaust" such as "Massacre of the Troupe" and "Adulteress' Punishment"

    - Pete's Boogie - Eraserhead

    - Most of Jean-Michel Jarre's work

    - Tubular Bells 1 & 2 I find to be experimental, although you may correct me.

    - Frank Zappa's earlier work


    I find these experimental because at the time these were made, it was a completely new sound, take Jean-Michel Jarre for example, he was the pioneer of synths, if you are interested in synthesizer sounds, you should really check him out.

    About Frank Zappa, he used to have a certain instrument called "Synclavier". Which is such a beautiful instrument, but don't bother looking for it on Ebay, you may not like the price. Michael Jackson used it too as far as I know.

    So yeah, I know this is completely irrelevant to what is discussed here, but I hope it's interesting.
     
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  12. Doctor CPU
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    Doctor CPU Senior Member
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    This was right at the start of my first year to see what i could do. Much has changed scince then.
     
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    Last edited: Mar 25, 2021
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