How did you guys learn?

[Badgers in Basra]

I too dabbled, (quite heavily in the latter case), with Music and Music 2000 on the old PS / PS2. Trying to capture my creations on a minidisc using a crappy PS2 mic and recorded out the tv speaker never worked out well. But I loved it. And then I got an XBox and the old PS2 became dead weight.

Never actually used my old pc's for music making for some reason since those days, I kind of lost interest I think, until I saw a Kaossilator on YouTube and just had to have one.

Now a Kaossilator is all fun and stuff, but incredibly limited on it's own. So I needed a sampler. Now, being extremely drawn to shiny, flashy things and having slightly more money than sense, instead of getting some sort of sampling software and being sensible in what was still just a mild divertion from the XBox (360 by then), I decided on a Korg KP3. Shiny.

Fortunately, around this time, Korg also released DS10 for the NDS (which was imported from Jp for about £20), so I had an awesome, but really really complicated synth / drum machine and a fun but limited sequencer. I was set.
Except, me being a complete virgin to synthesis and DS10 being an exceptionally decent replica of the original MS10, well, you can see where this is going. I stuck at it for a while and managed to get some decent sounds out of it but the appeal was fading.

Then my girlfriend bought me FL Studio 8 and I was back in Music 2000 piano roll land. Made about 5 full length tunes using various different synths and the same few drum sounds (percussion was generally just to have a beat and very little time was spent on it for my shame) and I completely overlooked the mixer. Did I learn anything during this short forage in musical obscurity? Yes. I learned I know nothing about synthesis, but if you twiddle enough knobs enough times, chances are you'll eventually get something you like. Do it enough times and you'll start to know how to get what you want.

Last year I took the plunge into hardware and bought a Korg Electribe EMX-1. It's great for just jumping on and jamming but it has also taught me a hell of a lot about synthesis as well as the use of effects to add the cool stuff.

I'm currently running FL S10 (have 6 tracks done or almost done) and thanks to the EMX (about 8 full tracks done but not recorded yet), have a much greater understanding of what I'm doing, but if I was to put a scale to my current knowledge, I'd say I was about half way through week 1, year 1 of a 3 year course.

Also got a bit of Gear Lust going on and am looking at a Novation Mininova in the next few weeks. I like the sound from it more than the MicroKorg XL, but still plenty of time to make up my mind. (Opinions welcome if we can avoid turning it into a pissing match).


Jesus, sorry for the essay, the film on SyFy is really bad, but to answer your question, as has already been said, I would say hands on with hardware is a fantastic way of getting to know your enemy.

TL/DR? Hands on hardware.

[Dean Aka Nekro]

dont "get more" do more!

took you 7 years to get where you are with the guitar, similar time for a comparable skill level i guess.

as you already have the equipment, just do some bits and make some mistakes.
then post a bit with questions, then fix the mistakes repeat as infinitum!
but the more you do the more you will learn than rading technical manuals.
honestly.
once you have a reasonable level of understanding the manuals are worthwhile.

give it time, it will all fall into place

Sound advice, Laying out money on more gear plus every 'the definitive guide to...' as vurt points out well is not going to get you where you would to be the way I see it and from personal experience also. Its just putting in the hours getting your hands dirty, Same as any instrument where you improve with practice then hit a wall of seemingly not being to go any further and then all of a sudden it all is or at least seems/feels easy, Then the cycle repeats

All the best and to all as always

Dean

[metalifuxx]

Determination and creativity, but its best when they work together. Having a musical ear and actually playing an instrument by ear doesn't hurt either.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

i was lucky to have started off with very few tools (a fostex 4-track, boss rum machine and yamaha effects rack)...this forced me to learn a bit more about what i was using, but to also concentrate more on the music rather than the tools...less distraction was good

now with even just the tools i have in logic i'm overwhelmed..then add in the 3rd party shit

reality is you aren't going to end up learning it all, and there will come a point where time spent learning tech shit will equate to time lost making music...

work out what is important for you...

for me, as much as i'd like to be able to program patches from scratch, i have no time to reinvent the wheel (and there are no lack of presets for a distinct non-lack of synths(...for me, it is enough to know how to tweak existing presets to shape them more to my uses (and i still barely know how to do that)

i also think the best way to learn an instrument is to be as far away from a computer as possible...sitting at a piano, or with a guitar, and just playing without the temptation to try adding this or that etc etc

as for learning your d.a.w, it depends....i'm a pretty bad student..i aspire to be better, but really i prefer learning 'on the job'...there was a period a few years ago when i became frustrated at how little i knew about the daw i was using, and resolved to not compose anything for a while, just learn...t didn't work...every time i fired up logic i started to write a new tune...it got to the point where i realised i'd rather be composing more music, with less tech learnt than the other way around

these days all i learn is project-focused...i learn what i need to achieve a desired result in the context of the projects i'm working on...this months music cafe contest has had me learning how to mix incorporating logic's surround 'down mixer', how to speed stuff up with flex and curved tempo changes, and how to turn a crappily recorded voice using a laptop internal mic into a robot voice

don't get too frustrated with it...remember, in days gone by (not too many), these different roles that you are trying to learn were handled by different specialists...if you are the composer, the programmer, the performer, the engineer, and mastering house it is no wonder that it gets overwhelming...

i would suggest that the tech always be in service of the music/musician...save the study for when you are having creative downtime, and even then make sure to learn those things that will help YOU in what YOU do

[Burillo]

i was playing piano since i was like 6 years old. my brother had a friend who was playing with midi stuff on a PC with cakewalk software, so that's where i first got exposed to computer music. then, said brother was also briefly DJ'ing and had Fruity Loops 3 or 4 installed on his PC, so when i renewed my interest in this whole PC music thing, i started with FL. then one day i decided that i quit music professionally (i was playing piano for like 10 years by then, but never really liked it as i'm more of a rock'n'roll guy and never cared for Mozart and his folk), but decided to use my acquired knowledge and skills to do music that i personally enjoy. so then i got electric guitar, found REAPER and it all went downhill ever since.

and yes, i too came to realization that a few tools you know well are better than boatload of stuff you'll never gonna use.

[The_Hidden_Goose]

Little-by-little...Ohhh-ohhh...Little-by-little...bit-by-bit.

Keep doing the do and eventually, as vurt said, it'll somehow just fall into place. This is the gradual accumulation of experience in action. It's mostly subconscious - or it was with me.

Every time I tried to learn EVERYTHING I leartned very little. When I came across a specific application or trick I needed to figure out, then the online tutorials/forums/youtube/etc.. really came into it's own.

If you're planning to use a lot of synthesis, I would recommend spending time messing around with each 'module' (i.e...oscs, filters, lfos, envelopes, etc) and become comfortable and familiar enough so that it doesn't matter what synth you play with you know the basics without trainign on that particular synth. I frees your brainspace up for learning all the ins-and-outs that are specific to that synth.

If you're using a lot of real instruments and recording performances then you'll only be happy when your playing is as good as you need it. Practice is the only thing that'll help that along, although I wish I could download a cello-playing application for my mind-body-system that would save me the years of practice that always puts me off trying!

And as another person mentioned earlier, I would worry about mastering and final production skills last. The closest you can get your sound how you want it before all that the better, IMO.

I found it helpful to have friends that also had an interest in music, which sparked a bit of friendly competition, shared experiences and shared tips and tricks. If you haven't got friends close to home, then you can always call on your friendly co-kvr-ers about a specific question. You'll no doubt get a plethora of conflicting opinions and ideas, but that is also a good thing IMO.

Good luck!

[CocaineAudio]

be more picky with the sounds you choose.. you have to really train your ears and know what is a dope sound and what isn't feel me.. I learned that and am still learning and experimenting and I'm definitely getting bettter.

[robogone]

Started learnging guitar at about 16, bass at 17, could drum passably by about 18. Throughout that time I learned keyboards to some extent. Played in various bands between about 17 and 20, and also worked in a recording studio for a while, then pretty much gave up playing for about 5 years due to work, inebriation and drug intake.

Worked in theater while inebriated, mostly touring and worked with a lot of musicians. Mostly drinking with them rather than playing though.

At 25 I started playing guitar again (acoustic rather than electric) and learned harmonica (diatonic - chromatic came later). Picked up sax for a while but didn't get that good at it.

Just as I got into my 30s I started playing around with various software and programming stuff with a friend who had Cubase, Rebirth and some cheap mics.

I think I was about 35 when I started learning flute and maybe 38 when I started playing mandolin. About this time I got an 88 key workstation and started buying software (Ableton Live, Komplete, etc.)

Stuck with those for a while then a few years ago I got a violin (which I'm still not very good at), then another sax (moved from tenor to alto though), and then more recently 5 string banjo then trumpet.

In addition I expanded on the original instruments by getting variations, like a relatively wide range of different kinds of flutes.

I just play anything that I feel like playing and record sometimes and not others. I've listened to a lot of music, listened to a lot of people's opinions and in general tried to be a sponge and see what I can pick up.

It worked for me.

[leggie]

how do I make my self better?

I keep experimenting

You already have the answer. Also my tip would be try to record every thing, even half heartedly tinkering about, you may find something interesting later on.

It's a lonely life in the music lab

[Sendy]

how do I make my self better?

I keep experimenting

You already have the answer. Also my tip would be try to record every thing, even half heartedly tinkering about, you may find something interesting later on.

It's a lonely life in the music lab

I'm seriously thinking of setting up a tape machine and recording everything that happens in my studio. I have a lot of special moments that just slip through my fingers. Sometimes Retrospective Record helps me out, other times my DAW wasn't even loaded.

A friend of mine records every single band practice session on a crappy tape deck. It can certainly come in handy (especially in a band where there's arguments about who said they'd be doing what and when )

[VitaminD]

16 years ago with Impulse Tracker and a 60mhz computer. Then an Alesis QS6 Keyboard which I sold when I found Jeskola Buzz Tracker.

My musical history is about the same... minus the Alesis QS6 which I didn't have (but oddly really wanted way back)


I also moved from IT2 to Buzz.. then on to Orion.. I've been using Orion largely since then..


But basically, to answer the question.. many many many many many many years of trial and error. I did this the hard way.

It would benefit you, if you have no/very little muscial knowledge, to buy an approachable book on music theory.. it isn't enough to buy synths and expect them to do the work of performing for you.. if you know how to form chords.. learn which chords project different emotions.. and then map those into progressions.. you'll be on your way.


unless, of course, your genre isn't largely melodic.. then you'll need to learn more about rhythmic topics.. or the sort..

but that is simply the composition side.. we also commonly wear synthesist, mixing engineer, producer, and various other hats..

The more you know about each, the better off you will likely be.. simply because, even if you don't choose to wear all of the hats, you will know how your role fits into the larger scheme of things.. and thus how to relate to the others involved in the music of which you're a part.

Sort of like way back in Physics class.. we had a mini peashooter and had to determine the angle and force required to hit a target on the ground. We could have fired a ton of rounds based on different angles and force until we got it right.. or we could have determined the weight of the round, the level of force applied to it, resistances, etc and given a more accurate result (which is what was required in the end ). The point being, knowledge is power! (musical topics included)

[ghettosynth]

i was lucky to have started off with very few tools (a fostex 4-track, boss rum machine and yamaha effects rack)

No better way to productivity, too bad they're out of production. Although it stifles creativity a little bit, you can go a little bit longer before passing out if you couple them with a mixer.

[skipkent]

I spent a lot of time trying to 'learn java' for test automation over the past year. I learned enough to get started, but it wasn't until a friend needed help with a real project for a real client that the rubber really started to hit the road. Suddenly it wasn't 'theoretical' any more, but rather a moment-to-moment need to address problems as they arose in order to give the client the results they wanted. There were some scary moments where I thought, "S**T! I can't do this!" But I stuck with it because (in my mind at least) I HAD to, and the answers kept coming even if they weren't always the most elegant solutions that the 'pros' might use!

I never thought I could learn so much, and it's utterly changed the way I view software development and testing. So yes, study a bit, but then get involved and write something. Make some music for a friend, your kids or a contest or whatever.

If you know enough to be reading KVR, you know enough to get started. Get busy, and the learning will happen. As others have said, when you run into specific problem, research that and then apply it as quickly as possible. Don't spin your wheels and try to learn 'everything' first. Doesn't work that way!

[debra1rlo]

all I can say is there were many beatings. but i learned.

[Tricky-Loops]

Here's my favorite quote by Rick Sno(w)man from the "Dance Music Manual" about how to create new sounds:

It's a mix of experience and serendipity. As always, experimentation is the real key.