So I'm new to using a sampler and in turn these forums... but this whole world of sampling and song design on a SP unit really has opened my mind to thinking of music and sounds in new ways. I've been looking at some of the beats you guys make and I have to say I'm really excited because I have the same tools at my fingertips to make the same sounds. My love of music started when I started playing the guitar a few years ago, but now that I'm into production as well the whole world of sound design blows my mind.

I'm curious though, who here has had formal musical training? Did any of you cats get a degree in audio engineering or sound design? Or if not formal musical training, who here has had a rigorous musical background? I would imagine someone that started with knowledge of the keys or drums first would have a really solid advantage when using an SP as opposed to a cat with a wad of cash and a desire to make sounds like he hears on the radio.

When you guys make a track, are you thinking in terms of a string of notes to make up a melody? Or is everything just based on what sounds good and feels right?

I'm sure everyone here understands measures and the different types of notes, but does anyone really employ theory when they produce? How much does your schooling come into play? Do you think you would be successful without your training?

I did a 2-year program for audio engineering back in 2002 here:
http://www.citrusarts.org/ra/studio.html

I went into it with some knowledge that was self-taught, but it made a real difference... learning signal flow in the studio environment gave me a huge headstart when I started sampling. i learned all about midi, analog recording, consoles/patchbays, mic placement, acoustics, mixing/eq, music business (back when there was such a thing)...
I learned a ton and held on to most of it, it was fuckin awesome

no real 'musical' background though... but I was really deep into step-programming midi songs before the SP changed my life

i used to play the saxophone in elementary and middle school band, neither rigorous nor formal training but the things i learned, basic musical theory and whatnot really helped me in all my future music endeavors. but i feel like good music can be made with training or even no training, sometimes people can come up with some pretty interesting things when they develop a sound themselves rather than being taught what is musically right. idk.. just my thoughts
peace!

None of that for me... although i know my way around a studio & audio electronics very well

I have absolutely zero musical talent at all, either learned or born with

I played guitar for 8 years as a kid, and i sucked. I just dont seem to 'get' music. But I love it, so i still try to make it ... frutsratingly

I got my certificate here http://www.audioinstitute.com/

I learned everything what Full Sail and all those Harvard-status schools will teach you for a fraction of the price.

The most valuable lesson I learned, was that all these methods used today in big budget studios are really just an engineer's experimentation and somehow ended up as a standard. Back in the 60's no one really knew what they were doing and recording schools didn't exist then, nor were there books on the subject, everyone learned from each other and passed it around. Later is when someone put all the ideas and best methods in a book. My professor said its best to know your equipment and know its limitations, get to know that power under your fingertips. And most of all, trust your ears and do whatever necessary to achieve your desired result, not everything they tell you in books is really the right way. In fact, he said there is no wrong way.

The first lessons will break your head with the math and science of sound travel, but after that, its all downhill. There's even a test of ears where you have to figure out what instruments are playing and what frequencies. There was one with an electric guitar and I had to figure out whether it was a single coil or a humbucker pick-up.

Best of all the teacher is the one and only Peter Miller!!! He worked with the Beatles and many psych garage bands, dude is legendary and wrote the lessons. And you can complete the course at home and at your own pace.

I played clarinet in elementary school, then onto alto sax, then onto baritone sax around 8th grade. In high school i kept alto going in my spare time and started playing drums with a band at school. I began playing guitar my senior year in high school, which eventually laid the foundation for playing bass guitar later, which is currently my main/favorite instrument. Freshman year of college was when i started Dj'ing and I did that proffesionally for about 3.5 years and that regularly lead me to platinum records on Capitol Hill in Seattle where I saw my first Boss Sp-303. I played with it every time I went in there and started saving. Right when I had enough, I saw a review in Scratch Magazine for the newly released Sp-404. The rest was history.
To answer your question better, my background in music mostly helped me to avoid what sounded dissonant. A buddy of mine (who is now a very good beatmaker) started out with zero musical background, not even a history of playing an instrument when he was younger. His early stuff was very musically innacurtate and I could tell that just getting used to the sound of scales and being able to tell what key the tune was in was something that he hadn't learned and was holding him back. About a year later, his stuff started coming together on its own and now he's a beast.
Long story short, a background in music can help you find what sounds "good" with other things, especially samples. With that said though, it definitely isn't needed if the drums are right or if you listen to music enough on your own so you soak up some informal training by default.

I played clarinet from elementary school till halfway through middle school. but i was really easily distracted and didn't practice enough, i can't remember how to read music and none of the early foundational music theory stuff stuck on a conscious level. I picked up bass near the end of high school. started playing bass and also screaming in hardcore bands. learned a lot of important foundational stuff about rhythm and timing, it's funny that i make beats now because rhythm and timing did not come naturally to me, i had to work at that pretty consciously.
all of these things obviously had an impact, at times playing bass in punk/hardcore can get really boring so i started trying to add little flourishes which is what taught me how to find notes that sound right that aren't the exact same note as the same melody. also helped me learn more about groove.
didn't do any music for a couple years after the last hardcore band i was in broke up then i finally started making beats.
so no i don't have any sort of formal music background. but any practiced music background will help you make better music, no matter how much theory you have it's always a matter of doing it with your hands yourself.

haha clarinet real popular in here. i played too in 5th grade but had to quit to study for my bar mitzvah (thanks, mom & dad).
went to institute of audio research around '06 and worked in a studio in manhattan for a couple years. honestly i would say for hip-hop none of this stuff matters. just use your ears and your brain and you should be good...

I learned to read music in school, and played the Oboe for seven years.

Once I left high school, I went straight to the guitar and never looked back!

Post Audio for vid games and moveez (visual media)
VFS

played the bass guitar for 1 year when I was 10... and then quit. I also had friends with drum kits..

I like to play with keyboards/synths/samplers~no formal teaching

Honors Degree In Audio Engineering over here. Best decision I've ever made was to go to school. I'm a better musician and have a fun job!