Hi Dmanx,
>Thanks to all for your tips.
>But I find learning to read and write music very complex,fustrating and restrictive.
Like most things that are learned, this is usually true in the early stages. As you learn more about the "rules," it be comes easier. If you've ever studied a foreign language, you probably know what I mean.
>I mean with all the soft synths/step sequencers,loop players and samplers etc is it really necessary to learn.
I guess it depends on your ultimate goals. These are tools that help automate certain aspects of music, but they do not provide all of the necessary elements. Loops and samples alone are not music.
>I mean some people play by ear like my self,is this normal.
Yes, I play mostly by ear these days, even though I had a few years of formal music training. I will say, however, that my training makes learning by ear much easier, because I have a good idea of where things are going BEFORE I hear them.
>I like ambient dance/trance and experimental electronics sounds.I like using an150/reaktor/reason.I just mess with sounds and create interesting noises and generate paterns/sequences and it into somthing interesting or may be an intrumental peace of music.But please advise if you think my approach is wrong.
Your approach isn't "wrong," but it is limited in scope. Using musical tools without understanding the musical "rules" sometimes creates music; other times, it only creates noise, or maybe, one memorable lick. Really memorable music -- of any genre, including ambient -- is a journey of sorts: it has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The tools you list are great at providing the "middle" of a song, but they don't do as well with the beginning and the end, unless you count happy accidents along the way. Understanding the theory behind music helps to make the journey quicker and more productive.
I liken knowledge of music theory to knowledge of any other art form. I could take a photo of something, scan it into PhotoShop or Paint Shop and adjust the colors, maybe even add a couple of digital effects. The result may be enjoyable, even terrific now and then. Completing this process doesn't make me a photographer (or a graphic artist), though, because I can't repeat my success, except by accident -- although continuing in this manner over a long period of time may eventually turn me into an artist of sorts. Ultimately, if I want to work in visual art, I should probably study things like perspective, color, shading, and composition. I can get by without this knowledge, but having it will allow me to reach farther in the medium.
I live in an area where the majority of musicians are self-taught, mostly 100% by ear. Most of these musicians are very good at what they do, and many of them even have better chops than I do. One interesting aside, though: I often get calls for fill-in work, and I regularly amaze many of these self-taught musicians by how quickly I learn their material. How do I do this? By understanding the rules that music follows, I have a head start. Sure, I could just learn the songs by rote, but it's much quicker when I know that a root chord is almost always followed by a 4th, 5th, minor 6th, or minor 2nd chord in popular music, or that descending minor chord patterns usually follow the same sequence. If I'm working with another theory-savvy player, I can even get my point across quickly: "It's just a I-IV-II-V song."
Regards,
-BW
--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions™
http://consult.ashbysolutions.com978.386.7389 voice/fax
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