Tag Archives: Books

冬の。。。読書？

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日本に帰ると一つの嬉しいところはやはり出版されている面白い本の数。。。

私から見れば特に音楽に関して海外より多く出ている気がする。

そして、数だけでなく、書き方も優しいし、分かりやすく色々細かいことを解説してくれる本が盛りだくさん。

昔から（アメリカに住んでいたころも）我が家のインターネットショッピンの大黒柱とも言えるアマゾンからついつい注文してしまう。

そのもう一つの理由とは：スウェーデンと比べて（またアマゾンのない国。。。）配達は安く、早く、丁寧に家まで運んでくれるのでとても便利。。。

今回は特に音楽理論に関連する本を多く買っています。私はDTMとこのブログを始めたのは2012年。それから曲をたくさん頑張って作ってみたけど、やはり最近強く感じるのは理論的な基礎知識が足りていないこと。

耳でなんとなくごまかせるところは多いかもしれないけど、やっぱり作曲とかトラックを作るところで（何故？どうして？どうやって？）という様な質問に納得出来る答えが出ないと壁感じる。

やっぱり、音楽に基礎、基本となっている理論をもっと把握したい！

と、そんな気持ちを含め今回（ここまで）購入したのは以下：

まだまだスウェーデンに戻るまで一週間以上あるので、おそらくリストが増えると思うけど。。。　：）

Learning Logic Pro X (for real)

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I mentioned before that I’m using the down time in Japan to study. It’s turning into a mixture of music theory, composition and software techniques, and I wanted to particularly highlight a book (Logic Pro X – Professional Music Production) that I found used on the Japanese Amazon store:

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This book is part of Apple’s Pro Training Series, and is certified by Apple as part of their official certification program. This is important because it means you can expect a certain level of quality and accuracy in the material, and the book certainly does not let you down.

It takes the form of a series of lessons which all work out like tutorials complete with all the necessary content. The book starts off with a tour of the UI and leads you through all the major ‘features’ and workflows (think mixing, arranging, editing, working with Midi and Audio files, setting up instruments and so on).

It’s a beautiful, full color book with a very well paced and pedagogical language that requires basically no prior knowledge of Logic, though it does assume you are familiar with the basic concepts of audio editing and production.

I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the depths and capabilities of Logic Pro X, and especially to anyone making the jump from another DAW to Logic.

The lessons are just about long enough (60 to 90 min )to check off one a day, which means you’ll work through the entire book in about 10 days.

Read more about why I decided to move over to Logic here.

Day 14 – 17 in Japan

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Lots of new material being worked on right now, but the most exciting piece for me is in the more dance oriented bucket. I can’t say too much at the moment but I’m working on something that I think you will find quite different from what I’ve put out so far. As always, expanding into new territories is extremely exciting and full or learnings.

I’ve sampled some new environments as well, including a really nice airport atmosphere that I hope to be able to use at some point. I have some ideas. As I’ve said before, all the environment sampling that I do now will be made available for download and free use once I’ve polished it up and cut it to appropriate format.

I found two great books at amazon that I’ve begun to sink my teeth into. The first is called ‘The Audio Expert’, a thick tome on most of the common engineering aspects of sound and audio. I have only flipped through it so far but it looks really interesting.

PowerToolsCoverThe second is called ‘Power tools for Synthesizer Programming’. This is an older book (2004) but it is a great introduction to sound programming and design with synthesizers. I have read through most of it and have to say I really recommend it as a starting point for learning the fundamentals of synthesis (including both styles such as additive, subtractive, granular, … and the components such as Oscillators, LFO, Filters, …). If you are like me mostly self taught, you’ll be surprised at all the little stuff in the knowledge gaps that really make things ‘click’ when you understand them.

RIght now I’m back in Tokyo for work for a week, during which there probably won’t be much music made, but I hope to find the time to stop by some interesting instrument/music stores. More on that in later posts.