Translating the sound in your head

[jaydot]

to the sound you make...

In theory it can't be THAT hard if you hum a melody, or beatbox a beat in your head, to replicate it on your DAW?

Therefore in theory production is simple.

We know in practice it's different though, what stops me is lack of theory knowledge... but then throw in some experimentation in between translation and the two will sound totally different, right? (for the better)

[Pedro Sánchez]

to the sound you make...

In theory it can't be THAT hard if you hum a melody, or beatbox a beat in your head, to replicate it on your DAW?

Therefore in theory production is simple.

We know in practice it's different though, what stops me is lack of theory knowledge... but then throw in some experimentation in between translation and the two will sound totally different, right? (for the better)

If it's a melodic element, get it recorded into a DAW via a hum and break it down with the aid of a midi keyboard or piano roll and figure out some chords and notes. If it's a sound, then learn more about sound and synthesis, helping you to break down sounds into their structural components and try things out trial'n'error style until it starts getting closer to what is in your head.

[e-motion]

Melodies: I "hum" or "whistle" the melodies and record them in an audio track in cubase. This allows me to put the notes in the exact position I sing them and if you're a good singer (i'm a terrible bad one) you can even get the notes instantly. It's a very good replacement to a MIDI keyboard (mine's got screwed, have to buy a new one).

Sound Design: This requires a hell lot of experience in sound design. Imagining a sound and synthesizing it from the head is a pretty high level of production, but it's possible with years. Would love to be able to do that now

[jaydot]

to the sound you make...

In theory it can't be THAT hard if you hum a melody, or beatbox a beat in your head, to replicate it on your DAW?

Therefore in theory production is simple.

We know in practice it's different though, what stops me is lack of theory knowledge... but then throw in some experimentation in between translation and the two will sound totally different, right? (for the better)

If it's a melodic element, get it recorded into a DAW via a hum and break it down with the aid of a midi keyboard or piano roll and figure out some chords and notes. If it's a sound, then learn more about sound and synthesis, helping you to break down sounds into their structural components and try things out trial'n'error style until it starts getting closer to what is in your head.

So what, you can record "vox" ie yourself humming and it will come out as MIDI? Or am I missing the point?

[atticuh]

Using something like Melodyne with a recorded clip of you humming or singing a melody would work as well. Of course, this still might not a hundred percent what you envisioned, but it definitely makes the process of figuring out what the chord progression of your melody is, especially if you aren't ear trained.

[Pedro Sánchez]

to the sound you make...

In theory it can't be THAT hard if you hum a melody, or beatbox a beat in your head, to replicate it on your DAW?

Therefore in theory production is simple.

We know in practice it's different though, what stops me is lack of theory knowledge... but then throw in some experimentation in between translation and the two will sound totally different, right? (for the better)

If it's a melodic element, get it recorded into a DAW via a hum and break it down with the aid of a midi keyboard or piano roll and figure out some chords and notes. If it's a sound, then learn more about sound and synthesis, helping you to break down sounds into their structural components and try things out trial'n'error style until it starts getting closer to what is in your head.

So what, you can record "vox" ie yourself humming and it will come out as MIDI? Or am I missing the point?

No, use a mic, record yourself humming the melody as audio into a daw with the aid of a click or metronome, then select a piano patch or something on an instrument track, set your locators looping at a bar or 2 at a time and work out what note you hummed by playing over the top of it using your midi keyboard, so you are effectively translating it into midi by ear.

[efence]

autotune type plugin will tell you the notes

[Basic A]

In theory it can't be THAT hard if you hum a melody, or beatbox a beat in your head, to replicate it on your DAW?

Therefore in theory production is simple.

Nooo... therefore music is simple. Google define music producer...

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job it is to oversee and manage the recording (i.e. "production") of an artist's music

Get it straight, its a technical/engineering word, producer, yes, in the modern world, producers are often their own musicians as well, but no, production is very complicated, by definition.

[bassinine]

get iphone.
get cleartune app.
hum into said iphone.
write down the letters it shows you on the screen.

anyways, you're probably humming in c maj/a min. it's really the intervals between each note that matter.

and on that note, it's hard to imagine something you've never experienced (try to imagine a color you've never seen). that's why experimenting is so important.

[jaimelee]

Very true, hum into a tuner of some sort that will show what notes you are hitting.
Like an acoustic guitar tuner!

Just a pain if you don't also record the tune because you forget the time between note change.

[zeta]

For me I find the best method is sitting with a keyboard and working out the notes by humming them and playing then drawing them into the piano roll.

The hardest part is getting the timing perfectly right on the pause between the notes - sometimes I like to count by saying "one, two, three, four" to match the timing of what I've written down to what I have in my head.

It might be easiest just to figure out the melody on a keyboard, just record what you play straight in then quantize and fiddle round until they're right.

[nowaysj]

depending on your daw, there are tools that will convert melodic audio into midi. Hum to midi basically. Adjust from there.