Looking to create music

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Pegasus Fantasy
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Looking to create music

#1 Post by Pegasus Fantasy »

Well I'm a guitarist and bassist and I want to start making music that sounds closer to the music you hear in visual novels and anime. Turned 15 like 11 days ago so i'm not expecting to do this in like a month. I'm willing to put in the time. Any help?

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Tsukumo Yuma
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Re: Looking to create music

#2 Post by Tsukumo Yuma »

Well first, the type of music you use depends on the story and setting.
Like in some anime for a fight scene if it is noir or super robot or gothic in a sense, they have rock or metal for the back round music.
Sometimes fight scenes also have orchistra music as well.
But the music usualy have a fast pace or constant tempo for fighting.

When they have someone confessing there love, they have soft and sweet music.

It depends on the scene.

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Re: Looking to create music

#3 Post by PurpleMind »

As someone who has also started their musical journey with the guitar, I'm gonna give you this one advice: Create. Just make something. Record a riff in Audacity. Put some effects into it. Make a track. Make a lot of tracks. And you don't need to start with doing music specifically in a visual novel manner. Just come up with something. As one of Pink Floyd song's title says "Any Color You Like". So pick a color... And start painting.

Good luck and see ya in the recruitment section... ;)

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Re: Looking to create music

#4 Post by Tempus »

I started out as a guitarist and I know there's a certain subset of guitarists who, for whatever reason, value not knowing any music theory or/and don't care to learn it. That's a bad approach to take and will limit you. So listen to a lot of different styles of music (reggae, baroque, ragtime, jazz, salsa, etc.) and learn music theory. JVNs and JRPGs tend to have eclectic soundtracks, so that's why a broad range of influences is important to draw on. The music theory is important because it makes it a lot easier to figure out why certain music sounds the way it does.
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Shoko
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Re: Looking to create music

#5 Post by Shoko »

Tempus wrote:I started out as a guitarist and I know there's a certain subset of guitarists who, for whatever reason, value not knowing any music theory or/and don't care to learn it. That's a bad approach to take and will limit you. So listen to a lot of different styles of music (reggae, baroque, ragtime, jazz, salsa, etc.) and learn music theory. JVNs and JRPGs tend to have eclectic soundtracks, so that's why a broad range of influences is important to draw on. The music theory is important because it makes it a lot easier to figure out why certain music sounds the way it does.
Not true. There are a lot of critically acclaimed musicians who don't study/care for theory. You can discover a lot of the elements of theory in your own way by simply playing and experimenting with music - trying out different genres, listening closely to percussion, ect. For some that may be much easier than taking theory classes/studying.

Not that studying theory's a bad idea. It's great to figure out how music's put together in that sense. But it's not the same as actually composing something, which can be done regardless.

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Re: Looking to create music

#6 Post by Tempus »

Shoko wrote:
Tempus wrote:I started out as a guitarist and I know there's a certain subset of guitarists who, for whatever reason, value not knowing any music theory or/and don't care to learn it. That's a bad approach to take and will limit you. So listen to a lot of different styles of music (reggae, baroque, ragtime, jazz, salsa, etc.) and learn music theory. JVNs and JRPGs tend to have eclectic soundtracks, so that's why a broad range of influences is important to draw on. The music theory is important because it makes it a lot easier to figure out why certain music sounds the way it does.
Not true. There are a lot of critically acclaimed musicians who don't study/care for theory.
I didn't say there weren't, I said it will limit you. And it will. I also didn't suggest learning theory to the exclusion of composing things or listening to things. You'll have trouble penetrating certain genres -- some forms of jazz come to mind -- without a grounding in music theory. Music theory is important in the same way computer science or art theory is: it allows you to abstract things so you don't need to memorise a load of specific cases. It also gives you a way to discuss things with other composers. If you have no idea what a time signature is, syncopation, what key you're writing in, what chord you're using, etc. you're not even going to be able to formulate questions or understand explanations without reference to specific examples which would, again, be limiting.
Shoko wrote:You can discover a lot of the elements of theory in your own way by simply playing and experimenting with music - trying out different genres, listening closely to percussion, ect.
By stubbornly reinventing the wheel, in other words. I'm not putting down listening to music and experimenting with it, but reconstructing music theory that way is wasteful. It's already been discovered and thoroughly documented. This would be like writing a put-together furniture manual after trying to put it together instead of consulting it.

I always sound rude on the internet. I don't mean to come off that way. People don't have to learn music theory if they don't want to. But it's damn helpful if you do.
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Shoko
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Re: Looking to create music

#7 Post by Shoko »

Tempus wrote:
Shoko wrote:
Tempus wrote:I started out as a guitarist and I know there's a certain subset of guitarists who, for whatever reason, value not knowing any music theory or/and don't care to learn it. That's a bad approach to take and will limit you. So listen to a lot of different styles of music (reggae, baroque, ragtime, jazz, salsa, etc.) and learn music theory. JVNs and JRPGs tend to have eclectic soundtracks, so that's why a broad range of influences is important to draw on. The music theory is important because it makes it a lot easier to figure out why certain music sounds the way it does.
Not true. There are a lot of critically acclaimed musicians who don't study/care for theory.
I didn't say there weren't, I said it will limit you. And it will. I also didn't suggest learning theory to the exclusion of composing things or listening to things. You'll have trouble penetrating certain genres -- some forms of jazz come to mind -- without a grounding in music theory. Music theory is important in the same way computer science or art theory is: it allows you to abstract things so you don't need to memorise a load of specific cases. It also gives you a way to discuss things with other composers. If you have no idea what a time signature is, syncopation, what key you're writing in, what chord you're using, etc. you're not even going to be able to formulate questions or understand explanations without reference to specific examples which would, again, be limiting.
Theoretically limiting, that is. If someone's making good music their own way, via their own abstractions of music, and don't care to penetrate some forms of jazz /learn theory then they aren't functionally being held back.
Shoko wrote:You can discover a lot of the elements of theory in your own way by simply playing and experimenting with music - trying out different genres, listening closely to percussion, ect.
By stubbornly reinventing the wheel, in other words. I'm not putting down listening to music and experimenting with it, but reconstructing music theory that way is wasteful. It's already been discovered and thoroughly documented. This would be like writing a put-together furniture manual after trying to put it together instead of consulting it.

I always sound rude on the internet. I don't mean to come off that way. People don't have to learn music theory if they don't want to. But it's damn helpful if you do.
None of that's necessarily something you can't discover the more you learn music. But for some people, they don't want to read a manual when they want to make music. They make music instead, and perhaps discover the details once they feel more comfortable. I'm not suggesting an entire musical lifestyle here, just that if someone is getting into composing they don't necessarily need to jump into the massive pool of music theory first thing to get started.

I agree. But I don't think there's one optimal route for everyone. Some people are just not gonna learn theory and still make good music. And that's probably all that matters.

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Re: Looking to create music

#8 Post by trooper6 »

Music Theory is important because it let's you understand the shared grammar of music. Some music theory texts are...a bit arcane, however...and a bit too focused on 19th Western Art Music. So, I recommend Edly's Music Theory for Practical People. It is a good book that is accessible and will get you what you need to know quickly.

I also recommend finding some public domain silent film shorts...you might be able to find some at archive.org and then composing scores for them for practice.
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Re: Looking to create music

#9 Post by PurpleMind »

trooper6 wrote:I also recommend finding some public domain silent film shorts...you might be able to find some at archive.org and then composing scores for them for practice.
Nice idea. I will check this out sooner or later. Strange I haven't thought of that yet, though I kind of kept the possibility of doing that in the back of my head.

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Re: Looking to create music

#10 Post by Graff »

I agree that music study would be helpful, but not required. I woke up one morning and decided to make music. Learning musical notes and things like scale would have made my compositions a lot easier, I just neglect to study. I just go by ear.

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Re: Looking to create music

#11 Post by PurpleMind »

Graff wrote:I just go by ear.
Ear training comes a long way, though not without a proper boost, which theory is. While the ability to read sheet music and analize it is definitely valuable and helpful, I'd say the best we can do to improve the craftsmanship is by observing/analizing through listening, not reading. Aside from excercising the composing itself, obviously.

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