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A place to sit back, hang out, and make monkey noises about anything you'd like.

I've Got A Question.

9 years ago

I know that my other thread isn't that old, but it's kind of lost its buzz. Does anyone here know how to make instrumentals, or maybe someone can teach me? I've decided to get serious about this music thing.

I've Got A Question.

9 years ago

I've made a few of my own. (ex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dugns4EEosM) I've made 2 other instrumentals since (with 3 more in the making). Just haven't had the means of recording/posting it.

I've never researched how to do it, so maybe it's different for other people. Mainly what I do is I mess around with the notes, suffering through the nail-on-a-chalkboard sound of keys that don't fit together right, until I stumble across something I like. Rinse and repeat a couple times (Careful with this stage though. Been yelled at several times to 'Stop that horrid noise!'.) Then I figure out a way to string them together in a fluid way, usually by flourishing it with arpeggios and figuring out the common key most of them have and scrapping the pieces that aren't in said key - or at least saving them for a different song. (I think the funniest thing about this is that I can't read piano music past basic elementary school level. XD)

Experiment with it. If you use a piano, try having a melody in a non-dominate hand for a bit. Or a violin, try out different tempos one right after another. Something like that.

I've Got A Question.

9 years ago

Get a real job, first. Your singing isn't anywhere near where it needs to be for you to do this professionally. 

I've Got A Question.

9 years ago

Doesn't instrumental mean no voice to it?

But yeah, I agree with you there. It's best to get a stable job to keep yourself afloat where music can't.

I've Got A Question.

9 years ago

Well of course I will have a job on the side. I'm also going to college, this is more of a hobby that I want to make into a career eventually.

I've Got A Question.

9 years ago

A few tips, maybe?

Find a DAW that you like. (Again, I'd recommend PreSonus Studio One if it weren't for the price, but I've heard that Cockos REAPER has a fully functional free trial that only becomes nagware when it runs out.) Definitely get something with VST and MIDI support.

Unless you're going to be hiring players or learning the instruments yourself, build a library of those aforementioned VST instruments and effects—stuff like drums, synths, pianos, reverbs, limiters, et cetera. There are a lot of decent free ones out there. Be mindful of disk space, though.

If you're going to be doing MIDI sequencing (essentially digital sheet music) invest in a MIDI keyboard. Makes writing infinitely easier.

I've Got A Question.

9 years ago

I'd love to attempt this, but it seems a bit... complicated for a beginner.

I've Got A Question.

9 years ago

How about giving the free trial of Acoustica Mixcraft a go, then? It's in some ways the GarageBand of Windows, at least in the sense that it's got a good, built-in library of virtual instruments and even multi-bar audio samples that you can simply drag and drop to get a feel for mixing.