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today i had 6 hours of Music Theory and Introductory Acoustics lectures....

 

im sittin there (trying to) listening to wat he was saying, its all very interesting, and i am interested in it all....but im thinking, none - or very little - applies to wat I actually do wen making music...

 

we learn about musical notation, basic audio priciples (decibels, voltage, etc....), wave lengths, and various other topics......now a lot of people in my classes already seem to know a fair bit about notation, and some know about there audio systems.......am i the only one there sitting thinking ("what the hell does this all mean????")

 

i make music mainly by ear, what sounds go with other sounds. beats, drums, and the overall feeling of the track, where i want it to, changes in the track and so on......and i dont like it wen things get too technical, i kind of takes all the fun out of it for me!

like wen peeps go into "OH DONT YOU KNOW HOW TO DO A DOUBLE CLICK-BLAH-BLAH-BLAH........." half the time in dont know wat im doing!! i just do it!

 

hmmm.....

 

 

 

im off to hand in some coursework!!!

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today i had 6 hours of Music Theory and Introductory Acoustics lectures....

 

im sittin there (trying to) listening to wat he was saying, its all very interesting, and i am interested in it all....but im thinking, none - or very little - applies to wat I actually do wen making music...

 

we learn about musical notation, basic audio priciples (decibels, voltage, etc....), wave lengths, and various other topics......now a lot of people in my classes already seem to know a fair bit about notation, and some know about there audio systems.......am i the only one there sitting thinking ("what the hell does this all mean????")

 

i make music mainly by ear, what sounds go with other sounds. beats, drums, and the overall feeling of the track, where i want it to, changes in the track and so on......and i dont like it wen things get too technical, i kind of takes all the fun out of it for me!

like wen peeps go into "OH DONT YOU KNOW HOW TO DO A DOUBLE CLICK-BLAH-BLAH-BLAH........." half the time in dont know wat im doing!! i just do it!

 

hmmm.....

 

I'm exactly the same. I've never had musical education and i've learned turntables and am learning guitar by trial and error by listening. as soon as anyone mentions key i havn't got a clue.

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today i had 6 hours of Music Theory and Introductory Acoustics lectures....

 

im sittin there (trying to) listening to wat he was saying, its all very interesting, and i am interested in it all....but im thinking, none - or very little - applies to wat I actually do wen making music...

 

we learn about musical notation, basic audio priciples (decibels, voltage, etc....), wave lengths, and various other topics......now a lot of people in my classes already seem to know a fair bit about notation, and some know about there audio systems.......am i the only one there sitting thinking ("what the hell does this all mean????")

 

i make music mainly by ear, what sounds go with other sounds. beats, drums, and the overall feeling of the track, where i want it to, changes in the track and so on......and i dont like it wen things get too technical, i kind of takes all the fun out of it for me!

like wen peeps go into "OH DONT YOU KNOW HOW TO DO A DOUBLE CLICK-BLAH-BLAH-BLAH........." half the time in dont know wat im doing!! i just do it!

 

hmmm.....

 

 

 

im off to hand in some coursework!!!

 

Technicality is all about communication with others. If your making music by yourself and you dont need to communicate your ideas to others you dont need to understand the technicalities. If you plan on working with other artists, you have to communicate with a standard language. I know this from working with bands. I can say lets make this part build up and explode then bring it back down, or I can describe it like whatever I can to get my point across about what I am trying to do...OR...I can say crescendo to decrescendo (technical terms) and everyone knows. I can say play a note that sounds like this and humm a note and let them feel around until they find it or I can say play an "A."

 

If your working with other scratch musicians to create composistions you'll have to communicate breakdowns and verses and chorus, not to mention rudement patterns. Without standard technicality, your re-inventing the wheel everytime.

 

I also play and create by ear when woring by myself. But when it is time to bring a song I wrote to the band to play, I have to prepar my technical mumbo jumbo so I can explain to everyone with one sheet of paper. Or we actually use a dry erase board in the jam room. But you have to communicate on a standard. PLUS...If your going for a jumbo and someone else is going for the same job and they have the technical skills that you dont...They will get the job!

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At the end of the day a degree is an academic qualification not a vocational one and so most of the subject is going to be theoretical.

That's why it's a degree and not a BTEC or whatever. If you want a degree the same as someone doing Maths, Physics, Chemistry etc you need to earn it somehow and the technical side of Music tech is how you do it. You can't expect to piss around having a jam session every day and be awarded a degree.

 

Dextrous BSc (Hons) Music Technology ;)

 

Kali - the Beatles couldn't read music either and if you want a modern day example Jay Kay doesn't read music and has (had) very little technical skills and still managed to write some cracking pop songs. Of course you can get away with it nowadays if you've got talent.

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