forums : Producing

can you read sheet music?

im tring to learn. everyone ive asked so far that works on tunes cant. haha

Re: can you read sheet music?

Used to read quite a bit while in Jazz ensemble and to write tunes for my former bands.. Haven't had to read for a gig in a while now, so a bit out of practice.. Why Benj, you taking on a musical instument?

Re: can you read sheet music?

trying new stuff, sucks being stuck in the same rut forever.
while i love chopping breaks and all that, it would be ncie to add chords and nice stuff over it from time to time ; D

ive been noticing most dnb guys i knwo cant read music though : /

Re: can you read sheet music?

i can read music just really slowly

Re: can you read sheet music?

sheet what?

Kidding. I used to be able to read, but now I just look at chord charts and go from there when composing.

Re: can you read sheet music?

Talk to Jeff (devoe) he can read sheet music. I can read percussion sheet music.

Re: can you read sheet music?

i can slowly read sheet music as well.. it's fun!!

Re: can you read sheet music?

yes, It s a really good thing to know...can come in handy...
I need to go back and freshen up though.

Used to be to "sight read" (on the fly) jazz charts...but i haven't kept that up.

It kind of fun, if your albe to read, like say, 4-part harmony and you can see the 'voice leading' and chord progressions & chord voiceings and see how they work and why. (but that also takes knowin a bit o' music theory)

Re: can you read sheet music?

i can, slowly. after my songcraft class i know a lot more about theory in a more concrete way than i did when i was playing guitar on a regular basis.

once you learn a couple shortcuts it's actually very easy, or at least the part about figuring out what notes are what is... when you get into slurs and more complex notation is when it gets to be a f**king hassle. but well worth it, i must say.

Re: can you read sheet music?

I can read sheet music. I've played sax since I was a weeee tike. Hit me up if you've got questions

[ devoe - 12 Dec 2005 16:18 ]

Re: can you read sheet music?

Im in the same boat as Mr. Devoe. Played saxophone for years. I also play piano so that helps too. Sheet music is easy once you get the hang of things.

Re: can you read sheet music?

You dont need to read sheet music to play an instrument. Easily 90% of rock musicians can't read or write sheet music. That's including many of them who play piano as well. And they have no problem making music.

Unless u have plans to play in a symphony or some other area where u would need to read sheet music its a waste of time. It may be cool to say that you can read or write sheet music but in the long scheme of things, ESPECIALLY being a DnB producer, you would be wasting your time.

Just learn your chord positions and names and you are good to go. I can't read for s**t, but i can play a C minor to an A minor all day long. Get a book of chords from your local music shop.

Look at all these replies, all of them said they used to know how and forgot, blah blah blah. If it was that important to making music they all would be doing it and they wouldnt have forgotten.

And the only reason Devoe knows how to read, is because he was a band geek. LOL. And after you are a band geek there is only 1 way to save yourself. Join a Ska band. Huh Jeff? LOL. Just kidding man. You know ur my boy. Band Geek Mafia!

_adam

[ djaware - 13 Dec 2005 10:38 ]

Re: can you read sheet music?

I've played Brass my whole life.... lot's of Jazz, as well. Sounds like we should get a Junglescene Jazz Band going on...

Re: can you read sheet music?

dj shadow - in tune and on time, but what key is it in?

does knowing what key a certain track is good to know for a set, plus does reading sheet music have to do with anything of that?

Re: can you read sheet music?

its not to go nuts on a dnb track, im just noticing most people who work w/music cant.

its pretty intresting.
and i'd like to learn because i dont wanna be just choping and slicing samples the rest of my life.. ..

Re: can you read sheet music?

reminds me of a joke i heard while working in a music store...

How do you get a rock guitarist to turn down?
-You can't.
How do you get him to turn off?
-Put some sheet music in front of him.

And yes I can read music. There was a time I organized my records by what key they were in. But I smoke too much pot to keep that goin.

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According to djaware ...

You dont need to read sheet music to play an instrument. Easily 90% of rock musicians can't read or write sheet music. That's including many of them who play piano as well. And they have no problem making music.

Unless u have plans to play in a symphony or some other area where u would need to read sheet music its a waste of time. It may be cool to say that you can read or write sheet music but in the long scheme of things, ESPECIALLY being a DnB producer, you would be wasting your time.

Just learn your chord positions and names and you are good to go. I can't read for s**t, but i can play a C minor to an A minor all day long. Get a book of chords from your local music shop.

Look at all these replies, all of them said they used to know how and forgot, blah blah blah. If it was that important to making music they all would be doing it and they wouldnt have forgotten.

And the only reason Devoe knows how to read, is because he was a band geek. LOL. And after you are a band geek there is only 1 way to save yourself. Join a Ska band. Huh Jeff? LOL. Just kidding man. You know ur my boy. Band Geek Mafia!

_adam

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Re: can you read sheet music?

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According to devoe ...

I can read sheet music. I've played sax since I was a weeee tike. Hit me up if you've got questions
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^Exactly.. And he's a math teacher, what have you got to lose.

Re: can you read sheet music?

Damn straight hahaha



oooo junglescene band...that would be a band geek mafia haha

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According to djaware ...

You dont need to read sheet music to play an instrument. Easily 90% of rock musicians can't read or write sheet music. That's including many of them who play piano as well. And they have no problem making music.

Unless u have plans to play in a symphony or some other area where u would need to read sheet music its a waste of time. It may be cool to say that you can read or write sheet music but in the long scheme of things, ESPECIALLY being a DnB producer, you would be wasting your time.

Just learn your chord positions and names and you are good to go. I can't read for s**t, but i can play a C minor to an A minor all day long. Get a book of chords from your local music shop.

Look at all these replies, all of them said they used to know how and forgot, blah blah blah. If it was that important to making music they all would be doing it and they wouldnt have forgotten.

And the only reason Devoe knows how to read, is because he was a band geek. LOL. And after you are a band geek there is only 1 way to save yourself. Join a Ska band. Huh Jeff? LOL. Just kidding man. You know ur my boy. Band Geek Mafia!

_adam

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Re: can you read sheet music?

Hey I was in marching band, concert band, jazz band and orchestra in high school... i was a band geek... with a mohawk...

Re: can you read sheet music?

yea i read, play drum charts and all that and read sheet music, write quite a bit as well for instruments particularly soprano, percussion, strings, piano. What its really all about is the vocal tradition of learning world music - north n south indian. and sargam indian vocal stylings.

Dha Te Re Ki Te ta Ke Te Re Ki Te,

TeTe Kut Ta Ga De Ge Ne

Dha Treke Dhet tete Kut ta ga de Ghe ne.

Tabla Bowls!!

Western notation suits a few contexts but it's all about that s**t!!!


p'z


www.musicv2.com/artist/metaphase

go buy Winter In May, my vinyl first release just dropped!!

FoulPlay Recordings/FPR006!

Available @ Brealbeatscience.com

Temple and GrooveRiders

Re: can you read sheet music?

band since the 4th grade... i can read a bit but i am out of pratice... what i forget are the fingerings for all the sharps and flats... but i remember all the written notes...i think.
there are tricks that help.

Re: can you read sheet music?

I disagree that learning how to read music is a waste of time...
obviously i see your point - in electronic music it isn't so necessary... More you need a good ear to bring out your ideas - The "tools" now make it possible for anyone with some musical creativity to express themselves - with out having to go to Juliard or somethin....Which is great..thats a good thing...

But not knowing could limit you as a musicain...
i actually do plan on writing for say a quartet or something along those lines...
Or like i have this on Afro-funk influenced tune I'm working on that I'm thinking of writing charts for a afrobeat group (like Antibales)... and have them play it...that would be cool...

Knowing how to do this stuff can open doors to other posibility as far as music making....and making a living...

Plus i trip out on someone like Beethoven, dude was nearly completely deaf when he wrote his 9th Symphony....

He was so well trained he could hear all that s**t in his head...write it down and still hundreds years later, have people play it - and its considered a masterpiece of (Western style) Classical music...
amazing

Re: can you read sheet music?

Here's a couple of tricks my piano teacher taught me..........hope it helps

If the symbol at the front of the bar looks like this: (trebel clef) then the notes on the LINES (from bottom to top) go as follows........ Every Good Boy Does Fine - as in the start of each word is the letter of the note (E G B D F)

The notes in the SPACES (from bottom to top spell out the word F A C E

If the symbol at the front of the measure looks like this...
(bass clef) then the notes on the LINES from bottom to top are.... Good Boys Do Fine Always

and the notes in the spaces are...... All Cars Eat Gas


and if you see this symbol: # before a note that means that note is raised a half-step (sharp)

and if you see a symbol that looks like a small "b" before a note then that note is lowered a half-step (flat)

(those are called accidentals)


Hope this helps you out and it didn't sound like a bunch of gibberish if you want me to explain it better hit me up



good luck



[ allykat - 15 Dec 2005 20:00 ][ allykat - 15 Dec 2005 19:53 ][ allykat - 15 Dec 2005 19:52 ]

Re: can you read sheet music?

here are some resources on reading sheet music.


I can read some, though it's been a long timie.

Here: http://www.notationmachine.com/how_to_read_sheetmusic/basics_of_counting_rhythms.htm


http://www.musicmasterworks.com/ReadingSheetMusic.htm



Good reading, especialy the first link. Contains a lot of rhythm sheet music reading.

Go for it mang.

Re: can you read sheet music?

#1. Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra OWNS!!! Liberation Afro Beat Vol. 1 is great album.

#2. This should start a good argument.

Sooooooo many of the drum n bass heads i know tend to think as if DnB is the only music in the world. Not realizing that DnB only exisits because of all the other music in the world. One thing i find very sad about many drum n bass enthusiasts is their lack of appreciation/respect for the many many different styles of music there are. That was actually one of a few reasons why i couldnt hang out in the scene anymore.

Having said that, most of the DnB producers i know will never write a quartet to be played by other musicians. Nor a piece of music to be played by an entire orchestra.

In your case joeyh0405 thats ovbviously not the case. Even knowing the Antibalas Orchestra shows you have a wide appreciation and respect for the numerous types of music that are out there. My statement was geared toward the "average" DnB hardcore head.

Having played guitar for over 11 years, i can hear a song, have a pretty good idea what key its in, and pick up my guitar and virtually play the song. Of course learning the subtlties of the song is a different matter.

On top of that, i can write a song in my head and then pick up my guitar and play that as well. I'm not saying its always perfect, nor am i saying that i am a virtuoso when it comes to music. But my point comes down to, i can't read music for s**t. At least not well enough to play it as i read it, but i can still translate things i hear in my head to notes on my guitar just from playing an intstrument for so long.

Knowing how to read music wont help you to identify notes you hear in your head and being able to know what note it is on paper. The only thing that can do that is experience. It will help you know how the quarter note on the E line should be played and for how long. My advice, if you want to be a better musician/producer or whatever, learn to play piano. Which contradictory to everything i have just said would tend to lend itself to learning to read sheet music as well. But not always. I find from knowing guitar as well as i do, its quite simple to start playing piano, at least being able to put things together. Having already known chord structures and progressions makes things easier. And knowing many piano players they have said it works the opposite way as well.


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According to joeyh0405 ...

I disagree that learning how to read music is a waste of time...
obviously i see your point - in electronic music it isn't so necessary... More you need a good ear to bring out your ideas - The "tools" now make it possible for anyone with some musical creativity to express themselves - with out having to go to Juliard or somethin....Which is great..thats a good thing...

But not knowing could limit you as a musicain...
i actually do plan on writing for say a quartet or something along those lines...
Or like i have this on Afro-funk influenced tune I'm working on that I'm thinking of writing charts for a afrobeat group (like Antibales)... and have them play it...that would be cool...

Knowing how to do this stuff can open doors to other posibility as far as music making....and making a living...

Plus i trip out on someone like Beethoven, dude was nearly completely deaf when he wrote his 9th Symphony....

He was so well trained he could hear all that s**t in his head...write it down and still hundreds years later, have people play it - and its considered a masterpiece of (Western style) Classical music...
amazing
**********

[ djaware - 16 Dec 2005 17:44 ]

Re: can you read sheet music?

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According to world.renowned ...

i can read music just really slowly
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that sums up my response up perfectly.

Re: can you read sheet music?

no

origin

Re: can you read sheet music?

There's a very big difference between being able to read sheet music and knowing music theory.

Like was previously posted above, you can know theory incredibly well without reading sheet music at all, and vice versa.

Written music was created as a way to communicate musical ideas. Its a language. Lots of people can speak a language but may not be able to read and write.

And I agree that most DnB heads are closed minded when it comes to other musical styles, but I don;t think this is something that only happens with DnB fans. We grow up in a society where what kind of music you listen to dictates the people you socialize with, the clothes you wear and even the way that you act. People are always trying to fit into a "scene" and in most "scenes" its looked down upon to listen to another style of music. If you were all G'ed out in the Hip Hop scene, your "friends" would freak out when you put on your Debbie Gibson record withthem inthe car....

Re: can you read sheet music?

antibalas is so sick i saw them @ coachella 2 yrs ago. great sound!

Re: can you read sheet music?

there's even a big difference between being able to read music and being able to play by sight.

i can read music but my sight playing is way too slow

Re: can you read sheet music?

I can't even read

Re: can you read sheet music?

yep and i can also memorize tunes, it is easier than reading harry potter books. i like vibin out/improving as well!
-Shape THe Future
Abyss1

Re: can you read sheet music?

Very well put mang. Thats the main reason why i have never been a "scene kid". When i was spending every night in the DnB scene it was driving my crazy.

Closed mindedness is one of the many many things wrong with this world as a whole. Thats why the Holy Wars occured, why reglious terrorists exists and so on a so forth. Of course im not saying that people who only like 1 style of music are terrorists, but thats the line of thinking that some of the eccentric people start on and eventually cause them to go crazy.

In my opinion closed mindedness only hurts yourself...

This world is too big and has too many opportunities to limit one's self.


And Ryan (Origin) is great producer, we all know that. But many of you might not know that he is also an amazing guitarist as well. He actually taught me alot of things on guitar when we were about 16.

I am willing to bet that all the best DnB producers have a very open mind and wide range of musical tastes.

Some people need just need to not be too proud, or embarassed, to like other styles of music. I was the same way when i was younger. Now i listen to too many styles to list and that even includes country music.


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According to zawp ...
And I agree that most DnB heads are closed minded when it comes to other musical styles, but I don;t think this is something that only happens with DnB fans. We grow up in a society where what kind of music you listen to dictates the people you socialize with, the clothes you wear and even the way that you act. People are always trying to fit into a "scene" and in most "scenes" its looked down upon to listen to another style of music. If you were all G'ed out in the Hip Hop scene, your "friends" would freak out when you put on your Debbie Gibson record withthem inthe car....
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Re: can you read sheet music?

You know, having said all that....

I think I still would freak out a little if you put on a Debbie Gibson record when I was in the car!

Re: can you read sheet music?

LMAO!!!

I would too.. hahahaha

But the only reason you know you hate her, is because you have heard her music.

Many people will say they don't like a style of music or a particular artist before even hearing it, and/or giving it a chance.

On top of that. There are always gateway artists that got you into a style of music. For me and DnB it was Aphrodite's "Urban Jungle". I used to hate all electronic music as a whole untill i heard that album. But because i love Hip Hop that caught my ear and here i am talking s**t on a DnB message board.


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According to zawp ...

You know, having said all that....

I think I still would freak out a little if you put on a Debbie Gibson record when I was in the car!
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Re: can you read sheet music?

actually you read the intervals [not the notes themselves] i.e. if you're on a note on one line and the next note is a line above it, then you take a 'full step', inbetween the lines, a 'half step'. 'clefs' give you a starting note - the most common are the treble and bass clef but there are actually five more.. but yea modern recording equipment more or less nullifies the need to record music on paper..

Re: can you read sheet music?

music theory is real

the math the jungle... all real



ps I can read music

Re: can you read sheet music?

quite right... i can read music like a retard reads shakespear. if u gave me a sheet of music and a couple hours i might be able to play the song by the end. so im mos def not one to be explain or trying to explain how music is read.

you obviously know ur shiz evil. well done...

always remember

Every
Good
Boy
Does
Fine

lol. little sheet reading humor there. k ill shut up now.

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According to evil ...

actually you read the intervals [not the notes themselves] i.e. if you're on a note on one line and the next note is a line above it, then you take a 'full step', inbetween the lines, a 'half step'. 'clefs' give you a starting note - the most common are the treble and bass clef but there are actually five more.. but yea modern recording equipment more or less nullifies the need to record music on paper..
**********

Re: can you read sheet music?

I can sight read on most brass instruments... Can't sight read worth a damn on any other instrument... I mean, I can read the music and hum the line, but translating it into the motor coordination to play it on a piano keyboard eludes me.

When I started going full bore into sequencing, etc. I sure as hell kicked myself for not having piano as my first instrument. If only they made a REAL brass controller....

Re: can you read sheet music?

yup, my sight reading has diminished over the years though.

I love sitting in, jamming, and then reading the music afterwards to see how far I was off !

I play sax/guitar/drums/trumpet ... the sax is my principle instrument though ..

Re: can you read sheet music?

guitar was my first instrument - reading chords by sight is HARD unless you already know which ones they are

playing the notes or intervals is the easy part - its the rests, triplets, slides, hammer-ons, crescendos, etc. that make it difficult to play by sight for me...

i think having a grasp of the basics is the most important thing