Music Theory

Synth programming is definitely the new music theory. That's why tons of techno and drum and bass is very monotonic and dull.
 
music theory is a very handy tool, you might be able to make a tune ok without knwoing any, yeah of course. but if you knew theory as well as, you could come up with so many more interesting ideas, making the tunage better

obviously taste is subjective tho, not everyone likes a full orchestrated dnb tune lol:)
 
I bet Raiden needs music theory. :O
His few tracks are offkey/note ? and that is kinda annoying.
But he is talented for sure.

Pyrolysis.
 
I think most of the people saying you don't need theory, or that there are no rules, are lazy, unable or afraid of learning. They tend to hang out on forums and reinforce their own beliefs by jumping on theory threads and denouncing the value of theory.
I think you only need certain music theories when they justify the means of the music you want to make, whatever they are. these are subjective and won't necessarily make producers incapable of learning these if they think (classical) music theory can be dismissed in creating their sound. However, any knowledge of music will help creating it like I said before.
 
obviously taste is subjective tho, not everyone likes a full orchestrated dnb tune lol:)


Hah like Twisted Individual - Swan Cake?

It's a classic mate. But not really orchestrated is it, just sampled... I'll have to dig that up though.

I made musically more interesting pieces years ago but production wise they were shit. With better technical skills I've lost some of the musical originality. That's what I've been trying to regain lately by learning more music theory. And to justify the cost of my new midi keyboard :D!

I had a link to a good self-help music theory guide made by some house producer, so it was aimed at the electronic music scene but the link seems to be down :|

edit: found a mirror for the guide : http://www.scribd.com/doc/5220863/Ravenspiral-Guide-to-Music-Theory-06
 
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I made musically more interesting pieces years ago but production wise they were shit. With better technical skills I've lost some of the musical originality. That's what I've been trying to regain lately by learning more music theory. And to justify the cost of my new midi keyboard :D!

i know precisely what you mean, you and me both bro
 
yeah get that feeling sometimes too. I guess it's basically more work now since you take more time to get tunes sounding good instead of working out it's musical depth to the bone. back in the day the latter was all I did since all I had was basically a wave editor and a tracker :rinsed:
 
i don't know fuck all tbh! paul mcartney couldn't read music though, look where he got :lol:

divorced! haha!
 
I don't think understanding notation and stuff is that important. I reckon knowin some music theory will give you a good handle on where your tunes are going, and staying what keys to modulate etc to will probably speed up the process possibly. If you use a midi keyboard then its cool cos all the notes are laid out in front of you so if you learn the keys (or two A minor and C major and use the transpose buttons!) easily.

Like all rule though there meant to broken. the best tunes in any genre don't follow the rules properly
 
Someone on this thread said that producers who make shallow dnb lack on knowledge of musical theory. I'd say it's rather that a lot of producers should listen to more diverse music other than just dnb to get more inspired. More musical stuff like jazz or classical. In other words, you got to know what serious musical depth is to do it proper.
 
Hah like Twisted Individual - Swan Cake?

It's a classic mate. But not really orchestrated is it, just sampled... I'll have to dig that up though.

I made musically more interesting pieces years ago but production wise they were shit. With better technical skills I've lost some of the musical originality. That's what I've been trying to regain lately by learning more music theory. And to justify the cost of my new midi keyboard :D!

I had a link to a good self-help music theory guide made by some house producer, so it was aimed at the electronic music scene but the link seems to be down :|

edit: found a mirror for the guide : http://www.scribd.com/doc/5220863/Ravenspiral-Guide-to-Music-Theory-06

Good site, I also find this pretty useful http://www.musictheory.net/ I'd say knowing things like circle of fifths etc however you can hear a key clash (for example) cos it sounds off you don't need to know what keys they are or have perfect pitch, just like you don't need to know about counting beats or time signatures to mix - you can tell just by listening.
 
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