Introduction making Music

Introduction making Music – Tutorial part 1

Here is a concise tutorial, consisting of seven parts and therefore divided over seven individual posts, about the composing, orchestrating, and recording/production process of music. It is intended for beginner composers, orchestrators, sound-engineers, home-studio owners. And it is not intended merely for making electronic music. It is intended as a good place to start with music and to learn a few tricks that will save time and help them along the learning music composition.

Overview individual posts of this tutorial

1. Introduction making Music
2. Instruments
3. Musical Synthesis
4. Learning about Instruments
5. Home Studio
6. Mixing and Editing
7. Really useful Links

Questions

1. Ever wanted to make music but didn’t know where to begin?
2. Ever tried to make music, but hated the sound?
3. Ever made music, but felt it was weak?

Here is a crash course on making music that works, sounds good, and brings people to the edge.

There are three elements to making music:

1. Melody
2. Harmony
3. Rhythm

To succeed in making music that works, you need to masterfully combine these 3 elements into a magical ‘soup’ of sound, also known as music. Let’s start with some theory. First, we need to understand the role of each of these elements.

Melody

This is the substance of the ‘soup’. If you were making Minestrone soup, this would be the vegies. If you were writing a persuasive essay, this would be the main arguments. If you were painting, this would be the subject matter. The Melody of a song is the part that you sell to your audience.

Not all songs have a melody, just like not all soups have meat (e.g. Minestrone) and not all persuasive essays have arguments (although it’d have to be a damn good essay to still be any good) and not all paintings have subject matter.

The point is, the melody is the substance. Also, a fact of little importance, melody is the only one of the three elements which alone constitutes intellectual property i.e. you can’t get sued for stealing just a harmony, or just a rhythm, but you can for stealing a melody.

Harmony

This is the color of the ‘musical soup’. If you were making Minestrone, this would be the flavors (garlic, celery). If you were writing a persuasive essay, this would be the tone. If you were painting, this would be the colors.

The Harmony of a song is what sets the mood and gives context to the melody. Not all songs have harmony, just like not all soups have added flavors, just like not all persuasive essays have a tone, just like not all paintings have color.

Well, at least not intentionally. Nevertheless, Harmony is a modifier and it makes melody better (or worse) and is meaningless on its own. Also, a fact of little importance, even if you don’t explicitly provide a harmony, in most cases, the melody of a piece will provide some sense of harmony on its own.

Rhythm

Musical rhythm is the groove of the ‘soup’. If you were making a Minestrone, it’d be the shape of the vegetables pieces and their texture. If you were writing a persuasive essay, it’d be the amount of words you use in a sentence which would thereby define the pace of the writing. If you were painting, it’d be the direction of the brush strokes on the canvas.

The rhythm of a song is what makes the listener move – from the tiniest bobbing of the head or tapping of the foot to all-out dancing. Not all songs have distinct rhythm, just like not all soups have a homogeneous texture, just like not all persuasive essays have a distinct pace, just like not all paintings have distinct brush strokes. Also, a fact of little importance, all melodies and most harmonies are partially defined by their rhythms.

Ross Unger, www.rossunger.com