Having fun...

[Heather]

...with this sequencer.

Learning a little here and a little there as I stumble around in this playground of sound.


And I want to thank whoever is in charge of making and maintaining this amusement park for musicians and wannabes.

Also, would like any helpful hints that a newbie could use to make her time frolicking here even more glorious.

[MysticSwe]

Welcome ...How is it going?

[Heather]

Eh. Okay. Not enough time in the day to do everything I want. But hopefully we all try to do the best we can with what we have, right?

[MysticSwe]

Ok

[LucentTear]

Sorry for the late response, I've been lazy to reply on forums lately. I'm aware you've read my tutorial already but I'll rant because I know how unhelpful it is at the moment.

As for hints on how to enhance your experience on the site, do interact with the people in the chat often. The highest window of activity usually comes in at 8/9 PM to 1 AM EST, although there have been plenty of people who frequent on the chat midday/evening as well. Being someone who always keep a tab of the chat on open makes it easy for me to predict which people get on at which times, and most people seem to cluster late at night than during the daytime. I'm pretty much guaranteed to be here from 6/7 AM - 11 PM EST if you need me in particular (on weekdays, I'll be on in-between classes and more active after 4:30 PM, on weekends I'll usually be tabbed out the entire day but I check back on 30 minute intervals).

Now this might be a no brainer, but always listen to the music you aim towards to composing. Not only it gives you ideas from just listening to them, but from the practice of listening to music on a frequent basis you will obtain an unconscious mindset of placing notes based on what you listen to. This makes the music making process much faster, and the ear training will definitely help you in the long run. Envision your own song in your head and pay attention to all the minor details the notes imply. If you've taken music theory before there are a lot of patterns to music in which it becomes much easier to identify once you start noticing the little things.

That being said, you should only use music theory for identifying kinds of chords in songs than to actually compose with music theory in mind. I actually don't even know what chord progression numbers are, because I've never had to (consciously) restrict myself to such a pattern. The best way to learn how to use OS is to not compose with your staff, letters, lines and circles, but with your ear. Hearing the music is music. Reading the music and treating it like math is just schoolwork. OS simply provides an interface that doesn't discourage you to use complicated stuff which is why I am in love with the site. No need to worry about changing key signatures, articulation, dynamics, note length, etc. They will only distract you from the composition as a whole.