Music Degree... No idea what I'm doing!

teyoloky

New member
Hey guys!


Just want to introduce myself and say hello!

I'm actually a high school music teacher with a bachelors degree in music education and trumpet performance.

I've spent most of my life playing trumpet professionally solo and in bands of all kinds, and teaching music, but the funny thing... I have been wanting to get into electronic music and music production for a long time, but everytime I sit down with some software I'm instantly lost.

Anyone have any tips for getting started?

I've had plenty of music and theory education, so I'm pretty good on that front, but the hardware and software... I'm totally lost. lol

Thanks everyone!
 
Welcome to FP and I'm jealous of your music/theory background :)

What style(s) are you looking to produce? Research synths as electronic music is big on them.

Depending on your computer type e.g. Mac or PC start w/any DAW that has a free trial.
 
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Work with some younger people.

There are many electronic producers who would love to have someone with experience playing brass instruments to add realism to their music. They teach you the software and you provide them lessons or just replay melodies they are looking for.

Honestly, the software is pretty easy if you go into it with the mindset that it is a tool and not worry about perfection. If you can learn the trumpet, you can learn how to use a DAW. You just keep playing around with it and work out a way to make rhythm tracks to go along with the trumpet you play.
 
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hey, it's cool to meet you. And it's awesome to meet an experienced music teacher, and professional. I played trumpet, ..like in middle school, but took up the electronic path in high school and have been doing it all through hs, college, to now. (i have a bachelor degree too)

the DAW basically works like a virtual studio. A lot of the stuff from studios are now digital on a computer, so if you know a good deal about music production, and music theory, you can easily translate it over to the digital DAWs. You can record trumpet the same way that you do in a studio, but now with a microphone, an audio interface, and a DAW. A lot of the signal flow and treatment/effects, equalizers, limiters, etc. are digital now (as plugins in your software). They function like the analog hardware, but are all digital now.

This fusion of technology though does spark new styles of music, and if you want to learn how to create these new styles, you have to study them and apply techniques that require both music theory and a bit of ...computer skill. There are things like synthesis, frequency modulation, volume/effect automation, filters, etc. Synthesis will help you play around with the synth to develop really cool new sounds for your melodies. The filters allow certain frequencies to pass while blocking others, etc. and automation is basically is having the computer doing things without using your hands at all. So you can have the computer automate dynamics like crescendos and diminuendos, effects, etc.

I made free tutorials about FL Studio, if your decide to use that software: Epsilon-144 | FL Studio Lessons (there are other lesson topics too, but i focus a lot on FL Studio)

nice to meet you, and good luck. Hopefully you can help us with your knowledge of music theory!!
 
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