I think that will help you immensely. If you want to do this professionally, you need to speak and understand the language behind what you are doing. You are correct that it isn’t necessary to make music on your own, but if you want to collaborate with another musician, or work with a music supervisor, for example, it is essential. I wish you well in your musical endeavors though!
Thanks!
The album is doing really well so far. I’m seeing about a 50% increase in views. And my other recent release, “Seikilos Fugue” might become my #1 song overtaking “Until”. My ratio of saves on “Seikilos Fugue” is much higher than any of my other songs so far. Very interesting.
Nice to hear that it’s been succeeding! I like “Monday (Piano)” a lot more in its final version. It worked in it’s less expressive redition, but it works much better with the dynamics included.
As to what makes great composition, that’s going to be purely in the ear of the listener - and you’re the first listener. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from educating themselves about formal compositional styles, but always remember that no one is putting a gun to your head, and always remember that you can discard them or substitute them for your own made up rules at will. You’re only learning the rules so you know when it’s meaningful to yourself to use them to your will or break them when it is fitting. As someone who deals in computers all day long, that seems like a weird sentence to type - but art is (mostly) not like dealing with computers. The “rules” are helpful suggestions at best, and the system probably won’t crash if you violate them.
Heck, you might be rewarded if you do crash the system.
AND DAYUM! I finally bit the bullet and downloaded VCV Rack on a lark, and now I have a habit. It has its limitations (you can’t stack random input plugs, at least not easily), but you can basically build yourself a TONTO for free. I doubt if it it will wean me off my hardware synth addiction, but it’s at least a free supplemental addiction. Plus, you can SAVE FRIGGIN PATCHES! On most of my hardware synths, that’s best referred to as “take a picture”.
VCV Rack is awesome. I built a patch I call “Compositional Bot 9000” in it. It takes incoming MIDI notes and converts them in MIDI CC to control audio effects. I used it to create the SFX in the song “Wizard Duel”. In that song, the notes being played by the organ are controlling the SFX, so thematically the notes are the wizards’ spell chant (or verbal component for D&D geeks).
Even though a degree is not necessary to do music, I’m both academically and algorithmically minded. Having an understanding of what generally sounds nice to the human ear has been incredibly helpful. The “songs” I wrote prior to starting the degree all sounded odd, but I didn’t know why at the time. Now, I do. And I fully agree that knowing the rules allows us to break them in, but importantly break them in a way that makes sense sonically. I just finished up a couple of themes last night, and in one for an eccentric wizard I added in some quick dissonances, and it (to me) sounds great. I love that little bit of “chaos”.
Thanks for the positive feedback! 
Hehehe, Metal 
I would have thrown reverb on the instruments and echo on the sound effects, but that’s mostly because I’m a complete pervert for a good reverb or echo. 
Yeah probably. I figured there was so much effects already I didn’t want to add more.
I do tend to add reverb (even if slight) to almost everything.
I do too. especially to electronic instruments recorded directly. With electronic instruments, it’s often the difference between me thinking “this sounds like a video game” and “oooo, nice”, but that’s just my preferences showing. Sometimes I make a point of recording them all through the same reverb and echo setup to give them all a “room” to live in.
Other times I just go nuts with them on the original tracks and deal with it in the mix (I prefer this sound), or I add them in the DAW later (more controllable, but it’s hard to beat an actual spring reverb for some stuff).
The main problem with getting a degree in music is that it runs the risk of killing your enjoyment of the thing. Once something becomes homework, the fun is often gone.
Not for me, for whatever reason. The process of learning is very exciting for me. And that includes homework. In fact, “Wizard Duel” was the final project for one of my classes.
I’ve done that too, although I always find it never quite sounds right that way. Maybe I’m doing something wrong. So I tend to do it instrument by instrument until I get the desired mix.
I finished my first New Age piece but the original title doesn’t work anymore. Halfway through the piece I changed the mood of it because the original idea wasn’t working. I need a new title now. Maybe a nap will help?
I could call it “Original Idea Didn’t Work So It has a Changed Mood”. It would be a honest title at least.
As Kid 606 says,
just put in a little saturation, slow phaser, and echo; pitch shift, ring modulation, tremolo, compression, chorus, medium delay, overdrive, pitch shift, and reverb (and delay)
I did a remix for a class recently. I thought I had too many effects, but the instructors feedback was “Use more effects!” So it was like … oooooook then.
I think this is nowhere near complete (my collaborators often take the track to places I didn’t expect), but I really enjoy it in this state, anyway. It probably needs something else to really keep the listener’s interest, anyway.
The electric piano only has drive, phaser, tremolo, reverb and two different delays (one on-board to the piano, and my RE-20 Space Echo). Everything gets a good dose of compression in the DAW. So, I’m almost restrained next to you guys.
https://tunes.drawerdevils.com/tunes/Assache/Assache_inital.mp3
That’s super cool. It is both energetic and relaxing. The start reminds me a mad scientist’s lab, so I approve… not that I’m a mad scientist.
Recently, I wrote a solo flute piece about my cat playing called “My Cat’s A(Muse)ment”. The artwork cracks me up.
I released my cinematic piece “Fierce Ogre Battle”. That’s doing well so far among people who like RPG-themed stuff.
I have a nice little classical piano piece coming on on April 22nd called “Thief on the Rooftops”. Another classical piano piece on May 8th called “Fifty”. An album of fantasy RPG themes on May 1st, and I just today finished up my “Symphonic Album”, which tells a story through the album of humanity’s flight from a dying Earth to find a home among the stars.
I may not be good but I am prolific. 
Here’s “Fierce Ogre Battle”. Fierce Ogre Battle (Epic Cinematic Theme) - YouTube
I finished my Symphonic Story album. In all the excitement, I’ve not thought of a title for it. LOL
Hmm… how about “So long and thanks for all the fish?” I bet nobody ever thought of that line before!
My latest album has doubled my numbers of streams to a little over 1,000 a day. Very cool!
@scabpicker How hard is to learn how to use that visualizer? I’ve started making music visualizers but I’m using ones from websites like videobolt. I’d like to be able to make my own.
I’m also considering learning Unreal Engine and making videos to which I can make the music. Because my cinematic orchestral music is by far my most popular, but the problem is that it works better when it is tied to a visual. Has anybody played around with Unreal Engine? How hard is to make something good (not stellar, movie quality… but good enough to be worth watching)?
May I humbly suggest that everyone in this thread post the easiest means of hearing or seeing their work? I’d very much like to experience what everyone’s up to. (Hoping this isn’t a hijacking…)
I’ll start - there’s my YouTube channel - Doug MacNaughton - YouTube
Or my BandCamp - So Lost without You | Doug MacNaughton
Or my Spotify - Doug MacNaughton | Spotify
So far, that’s an awful lot of fuss for only one single, but there’s more coming. Next single will be released on May 19, and the one after that on June 24.
What about the rest of you?