Make some noise

Discussion in 'Make It So' started by Exohedron, Nov 7, 2015.

  1. Exohedron

    Exohedron Doesn't like words

    Somehow we don't have a music making thread. We have various threads about music other people made, but what about us? A bunch of us play instruments or compose music or sing in the shower so why don't we have a thread?

    I play the drums (self-taught, don't practice enough) and make electronic stuff. My involvement in this thread will probably be primarily complaining about how I don't know enough about sound design. All of the synth patches I make fall into like three very narrow types and there's still a bunch of knobs and sliders that I'm scared to play around with. Also for some stupid reason I've decided to restrict myself to a single, very basic synth and only the prepackaged effects that come with FL Studio. I told myself years ago that I was doing it to get a better handle on the fundamentals of sound design, but nope. The only thing I've learned is that I overuse volume gating.
    I might also ask rhetorical questions when FL starts making sounds that I didn't intend it to and can't find the sources of. For instance, a few weeks ago I learned that vocoder behavior is more complex than I thought it was, and that I needed to either pay more attention to the filtering or dump less stuff into the modulator channel.

    Anyway, makin' noise.
     
    • Like x 2
  2. oph

    oph There was a user here, but it's gone now

    I am currently (like, right this moment but also for the past week or so) trying to write a song, even though I have very little knowledge of this "music" thing. But having something practical to immediately apply my learnings to helps motivate me to learn things, so here we are.

    I'm studying music theory online via musictheory.net and various youtube channels, am learning to sing via the internet and a local amateur choir group, am learning piano via a keyboard that happens to have piano lessons programmed into it, and am learning violin via internet and books. The internet is great.

    I've previously played drums, guitar, and clarinet, all in school band classes, though I have forgotten basically everything I ever knew about them.

    I'm super interested to hear what everyone else is doing musically.
     
    • Like x 1
  3. Kaylotta

    Kaylotta Writer Trash

    i am an opera singer. this is my youtube channel. my voice is changing like crazy though and i have no new recordings yet. :/

    i also mess around with electronic shiz. this is my soundcloud. i did a year of electroacoustic music classes in my undergrad and LOVED it, but don't have the money to invest in a Mac and Logic and stuff. tried Ableton for a trial period, liked it okay; currently working with LMMS (free program, Google), which is pretty good, but I really like the intuitive interface of Logic. maybe someday when I have oodles of money from singing opera. (ha)

    i played clarinet from age 12-18, played trombone from age 14-18, and took piano lessons from age 3-10 ish, then have played on my own since. would like to start lessons again and get at least my grade 8 piano. (left off about grade 5.)
     
    • Like x 2
  4. Emma

    Emma Your resident resident

    I had my first singing lesson on Friday :D It was fun. Although I now have to decide what I want to practice singing, and that's hard... :P Most of the things I like are apparently out of my league for now, so I need to find something easier. Which is difficult...
     
    • Like x 2
  5. rats

    rats 21 Bright Forge Shatters The Void

    [bodily throws self in] I PLAY BRASS INSTRUMENTS specifically the french horn but ive dabbled in trumpet!!!
    im also p good on the uke, and may be joining some sorta weird punk-indie girl band as a songwriter/bg noise person??
     
  6. Deresto

    Deresto Foolish Mortal

    does the kazoo count
     
    • Like x 3
  7. IvyLB

    IvyLB Hardcore Vigilante Gay Chicken Facilitator

    the kazoo always counts
     
    • Like x 3
  8. EulersBidentity

    EulersBidentity e^i*[bi] + 1

    You can use the kazoo to trick people who don't think they're able to sing into singing! Since that's the only way you can make a sound with it. So yes, the kazoo absolutely counts.
     
    • Like x 3
  9. Exohedron

    Exohedron Doesn't like words

    Of course the kazoo counts!
     
    • Like x 2
  10. Emma

    Emma Your resident resident

    Does anyone have any tips for some pop music that's fairly easy to sing if you're just starting out? I'm currently working on All Of Me by John Legend, but it's not really doing anything. The last thing I picked myself was Photograph by Ed Sheeran, and it's still a bit too challenging for me. I feel like all the stuff I really want to sing is still too difficult :P
     
  11. IvyLB

    IvyLB Hardcore Vigilante Gay Chicken Facilitator

    maybe katy perry? i can't think of anything that's less challenging for soprano range at least though i have no idea if that's actually true or if its just that i think a lot of things are easy-ish
    marina and the diamonds? heartbreaker is pretty easy to sing :P
     
  12. Emma

    Emma Your resident resident

    Apparently I did a passable job on Someone Like You tonight :D I have a very hard time hearing differences, and also hearing what sounds good. I always thought I was out of tune when I got outside of a certain range.
    I don't think I am a soprano though, I have real trouble with higher notes (though I apparently can reach them? I can't remember and I can't read read music anyway). I think I am just going to suggest things to my new teacher (my old one has a voice injury and can't teach for a couple of months, I think I might like my new one better XD) and see what she says :)
     
    • Like x 1
  13. IvyLB

    IvyLB Hardcore Vigilante Gay Chicken Facilitator

    someone like you is hard as fuck though good job
    you should ask someone what your voice would be called it makes picking out songs easier!
    technically voice range can be trained on and isn't really the decisive factor for what thy call your voice. it's determined at least partially by voice coloration. plus there is the fact that an alto with a decent falsetto can technically sing soprano passages even if it sounds way different from a soprano singing it.
    basically ask someone who knows this kind of thing. you don't need to have a prima donna's range to technically be a soprano.
     
  14. Kaylotta

    Kaylotta Writer Trash

    @Emma: *raises hand* if you'd like to send me some recordings I can give you some thoughts.
     
  15. Emma

    Emma Your resident resident

    Thanks so much for the offer, @Kaylotta, but I've only had lessons for a month and I still feel really awkward and insecure about my voice. I'll keep it in mind for sometime later though :)

    @IvyLB Well, I didn't do the whole song, just up to the first chorus and we fiddled some with the part where you go really high :P But I did enjoy it a lot :)
     
    • Like x 2
  16. EulersBidentity

    EulersBidentity e^i*[bi] + 1

    How pop is pop? Some Beatles or Kinks songs might suit: Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da has a pretty straightforward melody in the verse especially, and Waterloo Sunset is really good practice for singing intervals.
     
  17. Kaylotta

    Kaylotta Writer Trash

    For sure! Offer remains open.
     
    • Like x 1
  18. EulersBidentity

    EulersBidentity e^i*[bi] + 1

    This doesn't really go here, but...

    I just listened to a disc on Spotify that I soloed on nearly two years ago. I've improved a lot in that time, and I was kind of expecting to feel embarrassed about the difference in sound. But I'm not. I'm full of fondness for the way I used to sing, even while I'm glad that I've made progress.

    Anyway I have warm fuzzies about expression and noise-making and I wanted to share.
     
    • Like x 3
  19. liminal

    liminal I'm gonna make it through this year if it kills me

    I play a little bit of drums and piano, but my motor skills aren't fantastic so I've never been super good at them or anything.

    dream instrument = a hang but they are pretty much impossible for me to get because they are so rare and expensive. Which is a shame because they make my fav sounds. There are other metal drums and such, but they don't have the same kind of tone that a hang has, even instruments that are remotely similar are also rare and expensive
    :(

    I really also like the alto kalimba which is a more reasonable goal as far as actually owning one goes. I would like to get back to playing music again, since I've been too depressed to do anything creative in a loong time
     
  20. Emma

    Emma Your resident resident

    I did Heartbreaker by Marina and the Diamonds on my last two singing lessons, and we had lots of fun with it :D My teacher said it was more upbeat than what most of the other people sing, and we danced in our chairs between the singing parts xD

    Also, I think I might like this teacher (who's a substitute) better than my original teacher. I feel like Jane (that's her name) actually thinks I can sing and I can sing things I like and I can sing them well. And when she wants me to try to do new stuff with my voice, she just goes: 'repeat after me' and we do voice exercises.
    Whereas I feel Milou (the original teacher) used her words too much, she was all: 'oh, try doing it like this' and not doing voice exercises really. Also, she was the one who was all: 'Oh, lets try something which is not as complex as that'.

    Yeah, I really like Jane better :P I hope I get to keep her as a teacher even if Milou returns.
     
    • Like x 2
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