An impressive combination of ignorance and arrogance, congratulations!

But you're wrong.

I started producing way back in the mid 90s, before there were many resources to figure out about software or how a sampler worked etc.
I had to experiment and push every last bit of gear that I bought to stretch its limits and capabilities. Now the internet is an incredible resource to learn about anything, but kids who have been brought up with it expect those resources to do it all for them.

I came into producing through DJ'ing, sampling old records, chopping them up, programming in software without a controller keyboard etc, if people ask me what instrument I play I tell them I'm a knob twiddler rather than a musician because I still feel like a bit of a fraud compared with 'proper' musicians. I'm not a snob about music, some of my favourite records have been made without traditional instruments, but what those instruments teach you is fundamental to all those good records.

Every bit of music theory and musicianship I have learned has been because it helped me fix a problem; I couldn't get samples in tune so I learned about keys and chords, needed a Ukulele part on a project and found it couldn't be faked with a vst so I bought a Uke and learned it enough to play that one part etc.

Now I write music in a fairly traditional way, a midi keyboard and I play the parts in. If I'm on my way to a job on the train etc I can make a track with the piano roll, but its a limited tool compared with a proper keyboard.

I've tried to take every short cut that I can to save me the time and effort of properly learning to play an instrument because I'm lazy and impatient...20 years later I make my (shitty) living from writing music and I'm making a proper effort to improve my musicianship because that really is the shortest short cut to make the things in your head happen in your music.

 

Thing is, transposing a MIDI keyboard to C/Am turns out to be a more useful trick as you can play every key using the same (mainly) white notes in real time, using extensions and inversions, without thinking too much and not a lot of effort. And the best thing is your playing sounds real! An added bonus is the C position (in major key) is always the tonic and the G position is always the dominant, and it's the gateway to thinking in relative musical terms, e.g. I ii iii IV V vi or 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 etc.

As a guitar player, I would love to be a better keyboard player and I will be one day, but this is the halfway house that allows me to be sufficiently proficient when composing and tracking ideas.

 

Last edited: Feb 1, 2016

This post made me think of...

Welcome to McDonald's, this week we have music theory included with your Happy Meal.
...next week's Happy Meal includes developing you're ear.

Truth be told...the best way to analyze songs and chords progressions is be patiently dedicated and studious while developing your ear without the aid of anything that needs electricity, which learning at least one real instrument seems almost essential, and one magical day you will discover that you are able to do exactly which you ask on your own.

 

Sssshhhh! Don't give out the real secret! ;)

 

Transposing the keyboard is the ultimate "cheat", it really is child's play. I can only imagine that using a mouse must be some kind of Chuck Norris macho thing

C, something, G, C, something, C, something, something, G, something, G, C ... Feck me I'm a genius, I can play in all 12 keys with my eyes closed

 

Last edited: Feb 1, 2016

It doesn't matter how easy you make things for some people though.

If you showed them the secret 'PRESS THIS TO AUTOMATICALLY MAKE A HUGE EDM HIT, GET RICH AND FAMOUS AND GET BLOWN BY VICTORIAS SECRET MODELS BUTTON'™ they'd still expect you to press it for them.

 

...And they will most likely say "I refuse to play buttons, dude. Don't force me into your game!" lol

 

If Jimi Hendrix were alive today he would have asked his parents to get him a mouse for Christmas ..

 

Learn an instrument, that worked for me.THe very first day i got my hands on a keyboard and watched some song tutorials on youtube i made a litlle song.Believe me this is the best way

 

That's true. By the way- wish he would not pick mistakenly the wrong, encrypted version of
Electri6ity.

 

Ok so can we just let this go.. I enjoy learning on the piano roll which is essentially a virtual piano. I enjoy producing remixes and electronic tracks and have no desire to play a physical instrument such as a guitar banjoo flute etc. I think people around here get bullied if they do not come from a musical background or played an instrument but I have news for you. Music is something free and anyone can do it and learn the theory behind it. If you watch the rock video above you can see all the velocity's changed and things to humanize, using your ear. I've had major radio play for my remixes and originals, using just my ear and my producer skills. The sad truth is most of you instrument players probably lack producton/mixing/mastering skills. And my challenge is open to take the name off one of my original tracks (with a vocalist yes) and put it up against one of these people trashing me because I use a piano roll to learn theory and make all my music on.

 

Failing to understand the difference between using an instrument and playing songs on one leads to that.

Many guitar players (who play songs) also use a midi keyboard when they are at the computer. Can they play at least one song on the keyboards? No.

If you can't figure this one out, at least drop the "people around here get bullied for not playing instruments" argument when someone tells you that having a real life piano roll is good for your musicality. No one told you to learn to play songs or even parts on a keyboard but you seem too stubborn to even try understanding the difference.

 

I would be very sad if I wrote a great track that could not be performed live.

Thank god for guitars, synths and drums, and the pioneers of electronic music

 

Last edited: Feb 1, 2016

What do you mean? Throwing cakes isn't considered a musical performance anymore?

http://giphy.com/gifs/cake-steve-aoki-JFfL9xUbd234s

 

One more ...

 

boris blank - mouse artist:

 

Last edited: Feb 1, 2016

Wait.. do you need a girl in order to have sex? I'm gonna kill my friends with my free hand!!!!!

 

Yevheniy, thank you so much (and others for providing their input) Please don't let lazy people discourage your knowledge sharing!
I've seen a lot of helpful sites, theory, etc. I always skim topics for gems, this hooktheory site is definitely one of them! I haven't heard of it before reading your post. So I wanted to make sure and take time to say thanks!

 

OK Mr Faoki, if you've followed everything I've mentioned in this thread so far, then here is my secret recipe. Say we want to use the Axis of Awesome chord progression? We just use this here formula I=(1,3,5) V=(2,5,7) vi=(1,3,6) IV=(1,4,6). Now study closely the relationships in the following data:



Got it mate? I've just shared with you how some people have made trillions of dollars in the music industry, and won countless Grammy Awards.

Just ask if you have any further questions.

PS Don't forget to ditch that mouse dude, only use it for editing

 

Last edited: Feb 1, 2016

This one has changed my mind completely about the instruments and of course my dear friends here too:
https://audiosex.pro/threads/industrial-music-ebooks-tutorials.22703/#post-166161

And I love to learn them more than ever. I think one of the reasons of escaping people from learning instruments is not having listening habits on instrumental music or not being tired of EDM like musics.

Of course you would choose electronic musics for all of your life that would need piano roll more than an instrument. I am talking about the production not learning.

I like both of them (instrument and piano roll). One completes the other like a man and a woman. I want to learn both of them. Both of them would help on learning the music. One concept better dealt with the instrument and the other one with the piano roll.

Was the penis thrown away by inventing the f**king machines. Both of them give pleasure to the women.

Every thing depends on our enjoyment. When eg. the piano was invented for the first time, I'm sure there were lots of resistances on accepting it as an instrument. DAWs nowadays play the same role. Each of them are the creatures of human. Each of them are just the tools. Each of them have their own capabilities. Both of them are legitimate. Just use one of them or use both of them simultaneously. There are some things that are better dealt with instrument and some with piano roll. They would not take each other places.

Instead of believing in something, let's suppose them like a knife or a gun. Both of them are good at killing. It depends on how you want to kill. ISIS chooses the knife for beheading and US chooses the gun for being clean.

As my signature says let's our ears get accustomed to different genres before refusing them unconsciously. No one urges you to produce some thing.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Feb 1, 2016