Indulging in Sound

[Calintz]

recently a member of CP released his debut EP and it inspired me to see what may come of my own ambitions to create music (thank you subsonic), so i got my hands on FL Studio and began watching a few tutorials. i don't plan on taking on the music industry, but rather making a simple addition to my lists of personal hobbies. anyway, here is my very first concept with music. it is a 16-beat compilation of what's to come. the final copy will see these sounds re-organized and will see many more added before its completion. please leave any constructive criticism you may have.

Into Twilight:
http://soundcloud.com/dbchest/into-the-twilight-concept

Into Twilight: Revised Concept
http://soundcloud.com/dbchest/into-the-twilight-concept-02

Into Twilight: Final Concept
http://soundcloud.com/dbchest/into-the-twilight-concept-03

the revised concept only contains some added drum kits to the original concept, i did not master or add effects at that time; skip to the final concept if you're looking to see development in the piece.

[winkio]

Each individual instrument has different tonal motion, which is a bad thing.  Try having your higher instruments fit in better with the lower ones, it may help to break everything down into chords.

[Calintz]

i have NO idea what you're talking about!...haha.

[winkio]

Your notes are conflicting with each other.  There is no central chord or pitch.

[Calintz]

really? i wouldn't even know where to begin to fix that because i didn't even recognize that's happening...honestly, i can't tell. is it an experience thing? will i notice it more the longer i work with music or should i be able to tell now?...

[winkio]

It's an experience thing, although you can also get it from learning musical theory.  Just keep writing music and listening to instrumental music (classical, melodic electronica, etc.) and you will pick it up.

[Calintz]

i see. i will look into musical theory. i really don't know anything about music at it's core but it will come. thank you for your feedback.

[Blizzard]

I agree with winkio. The pad's notes and the main melody notes are off, they seem to be using different scales.

The best thing is that you learn some basic musical theory which should make you understand why music sounds good or bad. I could have cut down probably a year of my learning curve back then if I have had better understanding of that from the beginning. But back then I didn't have access to the Internet so the bit of stuff I learned in 5th/6th grade in school was all I really had to work with.

[Calintz]

i believe you use FL Studios personally, yes Blizzard? when you guys refer to the notes being off, are you implying the chords played on the piano roll? also, i read the definition of musical theory on wikipedia for a crash course in musical theory but took very little from it. were there any websites in particular that stood out to you during your early years as a good base of knowledge for music, Blizzard / Winkio?

[winkio]

Yes, we are referring to the notes on the piano roll.  I would look up specifically scales and major, minor, diminished, and augmented chords, and maybe the circle of fifths (not as important right now, but will become important once you get the hang of the other two).

[Calintz]

very cool. i opened up the piano roll to take a closer look at what i have going on right now and both of the tracks that are using the piano roll begin playing on the same chord (C5), so does that mean that there are certain chords that compliment C5 and i'm just not using those chords properly? is that what gives way to the interference that you guys might be referring to?

also, thank you for providing me with a direction to head in as far as research, Winkio.

i've updated the initial post with revisions. i didn't look to solve all of the problems that are in this piece so far, but rather to focus on the track's development. i plan on researching more with musical theory and keeping your guy's advice in the back of my mind as i work on future pieces.

[Subsonic_Noise]

I have to agree with the notes being off, but besides that, you're off to a good start - you seem to have some basic stuff down that others would take longer to get. In general, don't be scared to experiment. If you feel like trying out something new, just do it - it's a learning experience. Also, be your own "worst" critic. A musician who overestimates his work will never progress. A good example would be Futendra - he never really accepted critique for his music until recently, and that's when he started to actually make progress.. took him over a year to get there. If you try to see your work realistically, you're off to a head start. And don't get too frustrated - you won't make music that's better than "decent concidering how long he's been doing it" for quite a while. Nearly every artist has to go through that phase, and many give up. Don't, you'll get there.
I'm glad that I could inspire you, by the way. That's always a good thing :]

[Calintz]

thank you for your input Sub, it means a lot. i've always excelled at pretty much anything i've put considerable effort into. with time i hope to see the same gains with this new hobby. i realized quickly that i have a far length to travel before i can create concrete melodies, but that's the beauty of having a hobby.

have you any general advice?
which program do you use Sub?

[Subsonic_Noise]

Some more general advice: 1) Get a good ear for music. You can do this by listening to tracks by other artists and try to analyze it, by learning an instrument or by learning theory, and what this basically means is that you can, for example, hear a melody and instantly know where you should go next with it. 2) Don't stick to predefined rules, like genres. Go wild if you feel like it. Limiting yourself will only get you so far. 3) Don't underestimate the importance of any track. I know lots of people who make generally amazing music, and then but a bland and boring drumbeat to it, or a boring bass line, etc. You can put equal amounts of work into every part, and it's worth it for each of them.

The software I use is Logic Pro 9 with a small set of plugins. I used to have a huge library of different ones, but realized I don't need all of them, so now I use about 10. It's mac only though.

[Calintz]

got it. i've been watching some tutorials on youtube that begin with the basics in musical theory. i'm catching on quickly and things are falling into place. it makes sense.

[Subsonic_Noise]

Yeah, music theory is basically maths. Don't tell anyone though.