Making Music, how do you do it? Options

[tacoboy]

There seems to be a lot of o topics about the technical side of music production. I'd like to know more about the methods.

What effects has it had on your life and way of thinking?

How did you start out?

How have you progressed and where you would like to see yourself in the future?

[Monsquaz]

My father is a music teacher, so you can tell he's a big aficionado. Thing is, he never really pushed me to get into music. So I never learned theory or how to play instruments.

4-5 years ago I started listening to music... mostly pop on the radio. But that all changed two years ago when I heard Motörhead- their killer, classic-style hard rock sound blew me away. I threw away my interests in the ever-parasitic and vile pop music that infects radio stations worldwide. I started listening to the kind of music my parents liked, as well: classical, jazz, classic rock, and bluegrass & traditional country (not contemporary, most of that is just real country that has been diseased with horrible pop influences). I kept getting deeper, and I found that the underground music scene goes farther than aspiring pop musicians.

I really liked the concepts that people like John Cage, Masami Akita, and Edgard Varése had (or in Akita's case, have, as he is not deceased). To actually appreciate the output, you'd have to listen long and hard through headphones or put it on during a road trip. But I'd always like the concepts. They'd sound silly, yet so intriguing.

Almost an entire year ago, I decided I wanted in on it, too. Thing is, I don't have expensive equipment and software like everyone else. My only available "equipment" besides my computer consists of a Casio SK-1 keyboard (with no cables to hook it up with anything else) and the recording function of my Nomad IIc MP3 player. I just can't afford anything else. I tried ProTools Free, but apparently you still need equipment for that- which, like I said, I am at a loss for. Fortunately, MacMusic's software section had lots of neat little programs (like MIDI Builder and Mac Audio Toolbox) that were easy enough for me to figure out, but no one else ever bothered with them, because they're too busy with their expensive and complicated high-end software like Cubase, Logic, and what have you (nothing against the people or their software, but I know stuff like Mac Audio Toolbox get neglected because they don't hold a candle to the professional stuff). Their trash was my treasure.

So I took my new toys, put them to work, and came out with two full-length albums. But I liked them. Earlier this year, I went to DMusic and put some songs up. To my delight, they were well-recieved.

Recently I've been working with an old copy of Cakewalk Overture that I found. Being absolutely clueless, I mashed notes on the sheets randomly. I was surprised how good it actually sounded ! I kept working, and finished up Opus #1, my first major classical composition.

I want to keep working with composition and music theory in general. Overture has helped me understand a bit more about it, so I think I'm on the right track.