Music production, do i need to actually now a lot about music?

[polybius]

it shortens your production time A LOT

[rt24]

I would like to get into production as well, and I am currently taking music theory and piano lessons from a friend. Currently about 4 lessons in, and let's just say thank god I started taking these before I started making music, or else I'd be completely clueless. Totally recommend it, and I haven't even started producing.

[JulianVeloso]

you really just need to be able to count to 4 and then in multiples of 4 up to 32, then just realize 32x4 is 128 and that is about all the theory you need to start, but im not sure learning all the music theory is benificial, maybe just learn the minor chords are structured like this, each key on the keyboard is considered a semitone or in that diagram 1/2. you can start a key from any key on the keyboard of "root note" just count the distance between the keys

root, 1, 1/2, 1, 1, 1/2, 1 1/2, 0.5

here is a pic to show you

Attachment 7750

****there is actually a couple of ways to do minor keys, you can raise 1 at the end instead of 1 1/2 at the end, or in the case of A - minor all the white keys****

an easy way to start a melody for a track is to make the melody in natural A - minor then move all the entire piano roll to a different root note for a different feeling to the sound...

I noticed in most of the youtube videos i've seen so far using ableton, they start on C3? and move around that...

[Deejaesnafu]

I noticed in most of the youtube videos i've seen so far using ableton, they start on C3? and move around that...

that is simply because
a) c3 is the most familliar note to most people
b)c3 would start a c major scale,c major allows people to play using only the white keys, which simplifies the tutorial.

[MyMotto]

I took piano lessons for about 8 years which really give me a better ear in general when mixing/transitioning or even hearing different notes being played. Also i would recommend taking a musical theory course or classes because once youve mastered that its just the technology you have to work out really.

[JulianVeloso]

that is simply because
a) c3 is the most familliar note to most people
b)c3 would start a c major scale,c major allows people to play using only the white keys, which simplifies the tutorial.

So it's actually to make things easier? but you can play your melodies/synths in any other notes?

[TheSpiral]

I'm actually very surprised that a more thorough response to this thread has not been given. So I will try a little bit here.

Knowing about music is more complex than just knowing music theory and structuring your songs into blocks of 4/16/32 bars. The music theory part alone is going to take some study yes, but even if you know how to make chords and write a melody in key you still have to go through the idea of tonal structure, Tonic/dominant relationships and chord progressions so that you know how to build and release tension through notes and chords.

The music theory stuff makes it easier and faster... but I wouldn't even say its the most important part of production. If you're using a DAW like ableton it is all the digital wizardry that will really go a long way in helping you sound professional. Learning how to tastefully and correctly apply effects, knowing your way around basic synthesizer theory, even something as simple as how to handle your mix levels takes study and time.

You need to know stuff like carving out frequency spectrums for your instruments, managing your low end, using compression, proper use of the stereo field, Signal flow, etc. Then you need a good monitoring environment, not headphones. You need studio monitors that will get you as close as you can to an accurate representation of your mix. And... there is a lot more. I'm not saying you need to learn all of this before you get started. This kind of stuff takes years. But just... manage your expectations and realize that your first couple of forays into production might be frustrating but like anything, if you keep at it, you will get a feel for it.

Now, there are some great tutorialists out there like Tom Cosm and boyinaband.com. You can achieve good results by just following their tutorials and sometimes they explain the theory behind what they're doing. But without obtaining your own knowledge, it will be difficult to deviate from what they're doing in the videos and actually do anything on your own.

[Samurai]

I'm surprised no one's said anything about harmony. I would think that's reason alone... I'm a beginning bedroom DJ who's started doing some music production in Logic but it all sounds elementary to me. Reading MUSIC THEORY FOR COMPUTER MUSICIANS has been helpful and there are a couple other dance music production books that have gone over my head but I'm trying to dig into them. Anyone have any advice for other resources?

Someone mentioned iPhone/iPad apps - any recommendations?

[Coldfuzion]

I'm actually very surprised that a more thorough response to this thread has not been given. So I will try a little bit here.

Knowing about music is more complex than just knowing music theory and structuring your songs into blocks of 4/16/32 bars. The music theory part alone is going to take some study yes, but even if you know how to make chords and write a melody in key you still have to go through the idea of tonal structure, Tonic/dominant relationships and chord progressions so that you know how to build and release tension through notes and chords.

The music theory stuff makes it easier and faster... but I wouldn't even say its the most important part of production. If you're using a DAW like ableton it is all the digital wizardry that will really go a long way in helping you sound professional. Learning how to tastefully and correctly apply effects, knowing your way around basic synthesizer theory, even something as simple as how to handle your mix levels takes study and time.

You need to know stuff like carving out frequency spectrums for your instruments, managing your low end, using compression, proper use of the stereo field, Signal flow, etc. Then you need a good monitoring environment, not headphones. You need studio monitors that will get you as close as you can to an accurate representation of your mix. And... there is a lot more. I'm not saying you need to learn all of this before you get started. This kind of stuff takes years. But just... manage your expectations and realize that your first couple of forays into production might be frustrating but like anything, if you keep at it, you will get a feel for it.

Now, there are some great tutorialists out there like Tom Cosm and boyinaband.com. You can achieve good results by just following their tutorials and sometimes they explain the theory behind what they're doing. But without obtaining your own knowledge, it will be difficult to deviate from what they're doing in the videos and actually do anything on your own.

I agree with this man completely. The part I bolded is for me one of the hardest things to teach yourself.

[JulianVeloso]

I'm actually very surprised that a more thorough response to this thread has not been given. So I will try a little bit here.

Knowing about music is more complex than just knowing music theory and structuring your songs into blocks of 4/16/32 bars. The music theory part alone is going to take some study yes, but even if you know how to make chords and write a melody in key you still have to go through the idea of tonal structure, Tonic/dominant relationships and chord progressions so that you know how to build and release tension through notes and chords.

The music theory stuff makes it easier and faster... but I wouldn't even say its the most important part of production. If you're using a DAW like ableton it is all the digital wizardry that will really go a long way in helping you sound professional. Learning how to tastefully and correctly apply effects, knowing your way around basic synthesizer theory, even something as simple as how to handle your mix levels takes study and time.

You need to know stuff like carving out frequency spectrums for your instruments, managing your low end, using compression, proper use of the stereo field, Signal flow, etc. Then you need a good monitoring environment, not headphones. You need studio monitors that will get you as close as you can to an accurate representation of your mix. And... there is a lot more. I'm not saying you need to learn all of this before you get started. This kind of stuff takes years. But just... manage your expectations and realize that your first couple of forays into production might be frustrating but like anything, if you keep at it, you will get a feel for it.

Now, there are some great tutorialists out there like Tom Cosm and boyinaband.com. You can achieve good results by just following their tutorials and sometimes they explain the theory behind what they're doing. But without obtaining your own knowledge, it will be difficult to deviate from what they're doing in the videos and actually do anything on your own.

It all seems so hard and tedious, i know that knowing all of these will make me a better producer, but yet i dont have the time to dive fully into this spectrum stuff.

The part that really caught my attention was building and releasing tention through notes and chords, as of right now, what i really wanna know is what tones go well with each other, scales and all that stuff, i dont wanna go deep into spectrum studies or signal flows or any techy-things.