Music terminology really hard to ..

[MatrixGravity]

Music terminology is mind boggling to understand. For example, check out this link.

http://www.digitalhymnal.org/glossary_a-l.html

How am I supposed to learn more about music, if everything is written so technically and is so hard to understand? :/

[deadlyfishes]

At 1/3/13 01:13 AM, MatrixGravity wrote: Music terminology is mind boggling to understand. For example, check out this link.

http://www.digitalhymnal.org/glossary_a-l.html

How am I supposed to learn more about music, if everything is written so technically and is so hard to understand? :/

That's mostly audio engineering stuff there, not really "music" terminology.

Are you interested in learning music technology more so than theory? Both have some pretty colorful vocabulary. Some studying, practice and application will be involved if you want to fully understand these terms/concepts.

If you want to learn some of the stuff that you posted, try to see if you can get a hold of the basics of sound acoustics and synthesis.

Things like; Waveforms, amplitude, frequency etc...

[MatrixGravity]

At 1/3/13 01:23 AM, deadlyfishes wrote:

At 1/3/13 01:13 AM, MatrixGravity wrote: Music terminology is mind boggling to understand. For example, check out this link.

http://www.digitalhymnal.org/glossary_a-l.html

How am I supposed to learn more about music, if everything is written so technically and is so hard to understand? :/

That's mostly audio engineering stuff there, not really "music" terminology.

Are you interested in learning music technology more so than theory?

I have no idea. Is there a difference? The stuff I want to learn is mostly.. terminology that is associated with music production. Stuff like "LFO,Envelope,Cutoff,EQ,Compression,Resonance,Reverb,Mixing,
Mastering,Midi,etc."

That's the kind of stuff I'm trying to learn more about. What category does that fall in?

[Lachi]

At 1/3/13 01:54 AM, MatrixGravity wrote: I have no idea. Is there a difference? The stuff I want to learn is mostly.. terminology that is associated with music production. Stuff like "LFO,Envelope,Cutoff,EQ,Compression,Resonance,Reverb,Mixing,
Mastering,Midi,etc."

That's the kind of stuff I'm trying to learn more about. What category does that fall in?

LFO: Low frequency oscillator; it is used to modifiy dynamically the attributes of a sound (in FL Studio you can use it as an automation clip too)
Envelope I guess you mean ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release).
ecc. ecc.

I was in your same boat. What I did was pretty simple: I kept playing with the DAW and every term I didn't know I went to search it on the internet or on my book. Reverb and delay are two of the most used effects, mastering and mixing are two operations that are part of "doing a song"; I still don't know exactly what a knob labeled "resonance" does but I know it changes the sound makin it more spikey lol.

When I was learning english I didn't take the vocabulary and read it all lol, that's what you want to do with music, imo wrong. Go a few terms per once.

If you've got FL Studio or Sytrus check out these little tutorials on dA (http://blackhole12.deviantart.com/art/Sytrus-Synth-Creation -Part-1-75704794), somethings are explained very good.

Good luck hope I helped

[MetalRenard]

Put really simply, to "resonate" is to vibrate at a frequency in response to a sound. The materials in your guitar or your piano resonate when you play a note.
In a synth, resonance makes a part of the spectrum... resonate more. It accentuates how much you here that area of the sound and can create some awesome effects.

[Ectohelix]

See the terms used practically (like day to day discussion and/or on forums), and they'll start to make sense to you.

[MatrixGravity]

At 1/3/13 06:23 AM, MetalRenard wrote: Put really simply, to "resonate" is to vibrate at a frequency in response to a sound. The materials in your guitar or your piano resonate when you play a note.
In a synth, resonance makes a part of the spectrum... resonate more. It accentuates how much you here that area of the sound and can create some awesome effects.

No. I'm not asking what it means, I'm just asking what those words are classified as.

[MatrixGravity]

At 1/3/13 09:53 AM, Ectohelix wrote: See the terms used practically (like day to day discussion and/or on forums), and they'll start to make sense to you.

I guess.. Just wish it wasn't so hard.

[MetalRenard]

At 1/3/13 12:25 PM, MatrixGravity wrote: No. I'm not asking what it means, I'm just asking what those words are classified as.

Well then rephrase your question. It's obvious all you have to do is spend time learning stuff, nothing happens over night.

[Biggyzoom]

I studied music technology in school and been practicing it ever since so I ended up learning it without too much difficulty. If you're on your own, try picking up a music technology magazine like Sound On Sound or FutureMusic. I think FutureMusic is more beginner friendly but it's a shorter magazine so you might feel like you're not getting quite as much value for your money. It's the same as when I was starting to learn guitar. I would read Total Guitar magazine and I also had a teacher who would go through it all with me and made it fun. I'm not sure if these magazines are available where you're from (I'm from the UK) but there will be local alternatives.

[Buoy]

At 1/3/13 01:13 AM, MatrixGravity wrote: How am I supposed to learn more about music, if everything is written so technically and is so hard to understand? :/

You're supposed to learn it by reading definitions of various nonrelated jargon listed alphabetically. Just like how you learn English by reading through the dictionary, word by word.

but really, just google or youtube some tutorials and shit

[samulis]

At 1/3/13 01:10 PM, Buoy wrote:

At 1/3/13 01:13 AM, MatrixGravity wrote: How am I supposed to learn more about music, if everything is written so technically and is so hard to understand? :/

You're supposed to learn it by reading definitions of various nonrelated jargon listed alphabetically. Just like how you learn English by reading through the dictionary, word by word.

but really, just google or youtube some tutorials and shit

Best way to learn is definitely just get out there and learn by experience. I picked up LMMS before I knew what a chord even was and look ma, I wrote music! :D

Just follow your ear and turn knobs to your liking.

[stunkel]

Just follow your ear and turn knobs to your liking.

Quote of the year by Samulis

[MatrixGravity]

At 1/3/13 08:25 PM, stunkel wrote:

Just follow your ear and turn knobs to your liking.

Quote of the year by Samulis

Not really.. I don't want to simply turn a knob. I want to know what it is the knob is doing. I want to have technical knowledge of what is happening when I "turn a knob." I have been "turning knobs" for 3 years of producing music, and it hasn't taught me anything. That's why whenever I use an EQ for example, I'm just "turning knobs" but I don't know what the hell the EQ is actually doing and If someone asked me, "what does an EQ" do, I wouldn't even be able to explain it to them because I only understand it by ear. I'm trying to understand things from a technical aspect. So that's why I'm trying to learn all of this terminology because I know it will help me understand what I'm actually doing. Only problem is, all the music terminology is explained in a very technical manner and very hard to understand, so I don't really know what approach to take at this point.

[Adam-Beilgard]

At 1/3/13 10:53 PM, MatrixGravity wrote:

At 1/3/13 08:25 PM, stunkel wrote:

Just follow your ear and turn knobs to your liking.

Quote of the year by Samulis

Not really.. I don't want to simply turn a knob. I want to know what it is the knob is doing. I want to have technical knowledge of what is happening when I "turn a knob." I have been "turning knobs" for 3 years of producing music, and it hasn't taught me anything. That's why whenever I use an EQ for example, I'm just "turning knobs" but I don't know what the hell the EQ is actually doing and If someone asked me, "what does an EQ" do, I wouldn't even be able to explain it to them because I only understand it by ear. I'm trying to understand things from a technical aspect. So that's why I'm trying to learn all of this terminology because I know it will help me understand what I'm actually doing. Only problem is, all the music terminology is explained in a very technical manner and very hard to understand, so I don't really know what approach to take at this point.

EQ stands for Equalizer. It levels out the frequencies of a sound. Deep bass sounds have a low frequency (measured in hertz (Hz) a bass will range from 80Hz to 250Hz) mids cover 250Hz to 4,000Hz, upper goes from 4kHz to 20kHz.

When you play with those knobs (snicker, snicker) you raise and lower their presence, or how loud they sound. So if you have a singer, for example, it does no good to have a bunch of bass, or high tones present; you want the good stuff from about 4,000 to 6,000HZ louder and everything else quieter.

Of course, everything in moderation, and while there is a bit of math (physics of sound) involved, really the sole determining factor is your ear, as was stated earlier.

[MatrixGravity]

At 1/3/13 11:11 PM, Adam-Beilgard wrote:

At 1/3/13 10:53 PM, MatrixGravity wrote:

At 1/3/13 08:25 PM, stunkel wrote:

Just follow your ear and turn knobs to your liking.

Quote of the year by Samulis

Not really.. I don't want to simply turn a knob. I want to know what it is the knob is doing. I want to have technical knowledge of what is happening when I "turn a knob." I have been "turning knobs" for 3 years of producing music, and it hasn't taught me anything. That's why whenever I use an EQ for example, I'm just "turning knobs" but I don't know what the hell the EQ is actually doing and If someone asked me, "what does an EQ" do, I wouldn't even be able to explain it to them because I only understand it by ear. I'm trying to understand things from a technical aspect. So that's why I'm trying to learn all of this terminology because I know it will help me understand what I'm actually doing. Only problem is, all the music terminology is explained in a very technical manner and very hard to understand, so I don't really know what approach to take at this point.

EQ stands for Equalizer. It levels out the frequencies of a sound. Deep bass sounds have a low frequency (measured in hertz (Hz) a bass will range from 80Hz to 250Hz) mids cover 250Hz to 4,000Hz, upper goes from 4kHz to 20kHz.

When you play with those knobs (snicker, snicker) you raise and lower their presence, or how loud they sound. So if you have a singer, for example, it does no good to have a bunch of bass, or high tones present; you want the good stuff from about 4,000 to 6,000HZ louder and everything else quieter.

Of course, everything in moderation, and while there is a bit of math (physics of sound) involved, really the sole determining factor is your ear, as was stated earlier.

No, I mean, I wasn't asking for the definition of an EQ. I was just citing an example. My point is, I have already done all of the knob tweaking and all that good stuff for years now. It's just not working for me really. I just want to understand the technical stuff about music. I want to be able to jump into my DAW and be familiar with everything and be able to explain things. I know a few guys, everytime I ask them a music related question like "can you explain what a Reverb does?", they know this stuff immediately. They can explain it so effortlessly and I envy their level of knowledge. I just wish I could be that knowledgable about music. I just want to be able to understand the in's and outs and be able to explain them if needed. Maybe I just need to read books on this stuff I guess.. That's all I can do.

[Hyphellux]

Oi oi there!

I´ve been making music for three years now, and I´m still learning everyday.
A great help was this online guide by Tweak
This guide will explain the basics and the advanced techniques, and is fun to read.

I hope it will help you as much as it helped me ;)

[MetalRenard]

At 1/3/13 11:28 PM, MatrixGravity wrote: My point is, I have already done all of the knob tweaking and all that good stuff for years now. It's just not working for me really. I just want to understand the technical stuff about music. I want to be able to jump into my DAW and be familiar with everything and be able to explain things. I know a few guys, everytime I ask them a music related question like "can you explain what a Reverb does?", they know this stuff immediately. They can explain it so effortlessly and I envy their level of knowledge. I just wish I could be that knowledgable about music. I just want to be able to understand the in's and outs and be able to explain them if needed. Maybe I just need to read books on this stuff I guess.. That's all I can do.

... Maybe you're just not concentrating enough? Maybe you just need more time? Maybe you're taking wrong direction for your own way of learning?
To be completely honest, I don't personally find all this stuff that complex so I don't get what your problem is with all of this.
A does B which causes C, it's all cause and effect.

The complex stuff starts once you take it to a semi-pro or pro level when you have to start considering room acoustics when you mix, in-depth editing and comping, high quality mastering and all that.

[Adam-Beilgard]

At 1/3/13 11:28 PM, MatrixGravity wrote:

No, I mean, I wasn't asking for the definition of an EQ. "can you explain what a Reverb does?", they know this stuff immediately. They can explain it so effortlessly and I envy their level of knowledge. I just wish I could be that knowledgable about music.

You said you just turn knobs, and cite an example of people asking you what EQ does and you not knowing.

I help by defining EQ and telling you how it's used in music production.

You say you don't want to know what EQ is.

Then you use the example of knowing what reverb does.

I get the feeling that if I help you understand what reverb does and how music producers use it, you'll come back and say "I don't want to know the definition of reverb, but like, if someone asks me about delay, I would want to be knowledgeable about that". And so on, and so forth.

[Bosa]

At 1/4/13 10:12 PM, Adam-Beilgard wrote: I get the feeling that if I help you understand what reverb does and how music producers use it, you'll come back and say "I don't want to know the definition of reverb, but like, if someone asks me about delay, I would want to be knowledgeable about that". And so on, and so forth.

He only wants someone to talk to. You shouldn't rob him of social activity, Adam Beligard.

[Hyphellux]

Adam, he is just using common examples for better understanding, the EQ example was a rhetorical question.
As I said, there are a lot of good websites which will teach you everything.
Audiotuts has a good linklist, and is one of the sites I would recommend.

But there is no way around learning this new vocabular, because sound synthesis, modulation, and mastering are very technical subjects.

[Adam-Beilgard]

At 1/4/13 10:27 PM, Bosa wrote:

At 1/4/13 10:12 PM, Adam-Beilgard wrote: I get the feeling that if I help you understand what reverb does and how music producers use it, you'll come back and say "I don't want to know the definition of reverb, but like, if someone asks me about delay, I would want to be knowledgeable about that". And so on, and so forth.

He only wants someone to talk to. You shouldn't rob him of social activity, Adam Beligard.

I am absolutely not robbing him of that. I'm pointing out that every time he gives an example of something he doesn't know, we get shot down for explaining it, with him saying "that was just an example, I don't want to actually learn that".

Then he goes on to give another example of something he doesn't understand...