You can learn anything if you really want to

[Natura Sonoris]

Hi guys

I opened this topic to share some of my opinions and achievements that will serve most of the people here if they are confused about what step should they take in life. This will not be wishy washy bs topic, no law of attractions or anything like that.  Now, to share my story : 

When i went to college, i was completely lost because i was studying rather complicating and unknown subject to me. I studied Audio Engineer..in nutshell, the guy who record you, edit your recordings and make you a pop star or something. The guys who you saw that sit in front of those huge consoles with millions of buttons or maybe you hear in the movies that made those sci fi sounds for new Star Wars movie.... Rather fun and artistic skill but takes years and years to master and really ungrateful  to grasp what you are listening to (in other words, what sounds good and how you can achieve that). It is mixture of art and science to its core. 

Anyway, i was in class with a guy who is from Japan and he was top of the class. The first reason he was the most experienced in the field with 15 years of experience and second how he tackled everything. His first step to assume he does not know anything we learned in class and doing same steps to really build his own knowledge about that matter (knowledge is not pure information, knowledge is change of behavior..just to point out). All others, including me, took with everything we knew in class and we did not take those baby steps because it is darn obvious we ''know''...In the end, we were asking him for help   So first point : Always prove something to yourself if you are interested to learn. The person who did that and told you how to do it yourself figured out by doing it.  So dont be f***ing lazy (pardon my french) and just do that stupid little step.  You can brain masturbate whole day about it... it is most simple thing to do..... it makes no difference if you are thinking about what kind of donuts should i eat.... you are blinded by audio visual phenomena (thoughts)  in your head for the real thing. The reasons why we are so bombarded with information so in the end, we take it as real thing thing. 

Second thing he said and we were drinking coffee in front of the university.. In age of internet education, you can learn mostly everything. You can't achieve certain things but hey, you can achieve more than average person.  Learning one more language at basic level of communication can serve you great and it shows dedication. Now..there is catch.. you can learn anything if you really want to and put your ass to work. I kept learning and re learning the stuff i ''knew'' at uni....At uni time, i thought that was 80% of the stuff that i need to know... Later i realized and that was only after 1,2 years of relearning that was 10,20%... it is just a good basis to start with. And that shit i learned from internet education.... if you know how to find proper ones and pay a little money to invest in your self.

 

Now, after 5 years from uni, following the advices of that person, i learned music theory and my own unique way how to learn it, hack it so you can actually use that stuff because you can know all the scales or maybe you can play that new song to impress some girls or w/e.... But when it comes to compose something with specific purpose...that is hard.  I have learned on basic level Python programming but i  keep grinding on it ; Arduino and electrical engineering (my plan is to build my own synthesizer and to start exploring into smart home systems with Arduino micro controller for automatization of whole home  and automatization of home indoor garden) I have prepared my spot and some equipment for garden and now i need to work on code . On top that, i relearning chemistry, physics and math to cement my knowledge of electrical engineering and to design my own circuits.    

 

So basically , you dont have excuse if you are 20-30 years old. If you have a kid..i am sorry for you and i think that is unwise decision because you are gonna probably brain wash your kid with your untapped life.  Sooner or later, it will kick in and you are not going to be aware of it.  I am not here to judge you because i dont know anything about your life but i have seen enough patterns in those persons to know. My point is here that education is nearly free..You dont need that courses that promise jobs and exploit you on your very very very basic level and cost 20,30 x more than some introductory course that you can get a taste for what that skill is all about and then decide what to build on (and you can get return). Use this as you please... maybe it will provoke you in learning something new and useful (and that is my goal). Dont post ''i cant do it because this and that''' ''this is not possible for me'' because this is whining wall and i could not care less.  I had cancer 4 times and i dont whine and i will not whine if i get new one (i am 25 btw). Most of you in age 20-30 have a lot lot lot more time than someone who is grown up and have family. Use it wisely. Cheers

[NoSelfSelf]

You go to the university for sound engineer? My problem is that i want to learn everything but dont know that 1 thing to comit to....

[Natura Sonoris]

16 minutes ago, NoSelfSelf said:

You go to the university for sound engineer? My problem is that i want to learn everything but dont know that 1 thing to comit to....

Yes.. sound/audio engineering is great field that covers many stuff. It is a science about sound and all its applications. Even playing synthesizers (not keyboards and other ''simple'' stuff, synthesizer builds sound from its core) uses a lot audio engineering. Like 95% ...rest it is music and art factor to it. 

Pick one thing that you kinda know that maybe you are good at. Dedicate 6 months of doing that and you will see if it for you. If you continue, you need 2 years in my experience to grasp what exactly are you doing and then master on that. And then let that grow into other fields BUT dedicate your time 70-30 % ratio (30% are other stuff ) or maybe, if dont need to do your main stuff too much, dedicate couple days off ... also helps a bit for clearing your head. 

I was interested in electronics because i use them in audio engineering. You are manipulating electrical signals with equipment  to get certain results with sound. That signal than moves your magnet in speaker and if you have accurate speaker and converter, you can make better judgment.   Then engineering led to programming, programming led to Arduino that combines both and then it will lead to soldering and making my own stuff, both sound and smart home/gardening equipment. Also , acoustics which i learned about at uni and on internet helped me to build my studio at its basics.... That i used to design my home threate... All that  felt natural to me...certain drive in me wanted to know to its core how certain stuff works. And it does not consume a lot of time when you know how to do it. You just gonna keep doing it for couple years and everything becomes easier.... Learning other stuff becomes easier because now you know most important skill .... You know how to learn stuff. And path is important not the goal....goal will come one day and you get bored with it. It is natural so you learn in time, stuff just happen and you need to flow with it. I always take a look back 4,5 years ago what i knew then and i want know now and how i was thinking about that time and realised... stuff will always come very slowly but it comes. Took my 2 years to hack music thoery because i know there is the way. I knew for the fact that composers dont compose out of blue. They know stuff.

Second example Is that i  wanted to know how certain sound is being synthesized from my fav. tracks. I just kept visualizing it in head and did not even touch synthesizer. My buddy was talking about it and said something how he thinks that sound is created (which was utterly wrong) and i said : nah, it is like that , i constructed 95% same sound in 10 secs. 

So just think about one thing and do it. Even 20 mins a day doing that is worth for the time period of 1 year. We are all lazy but we can also be productive and falling asleep and feeling that we did something useful today. 

 

[NoSelfSelf]

@Natura Sonoris This sounds interesting to me because im creative person where did you start with it so i can see if that is something i could do in the future?

[Natura Sonoris]

1 hour ago, NoSelfSelf said:

@Natura Sonoris This sounds interesting to me because im creative person where did you start with it so i can see if that is something i could do in the future?

What exactly ?

[Durka_Durka]

@Natura Sonoris Bookmarked. 

[NoSelfSelf]

@Natura Sonoris Sound engineering or how do you call it

[Natura Sonoris]

@Durka_Durka  ??

@NoSelfSelf  First you ask yourself what are you going be doing ? You can be your own producer, producer for someone else, mixing engineer, mastering engineer, live engineer. Producing requires music theory and sound design... not using samples and loops. Making your sound from ground up. Mixing engineer requires listening and understanding of audio gear. Mixing engineer is someone who takes others people work and making it shine...and mastering engineer does finishing touch. Producer can start with as little as no budget, you need speakers and pc. Mixing engineer requires studio monitor speakers and acousticly treated room (foam that people use and egg cartoon is not acoustical treatment ). Mastering engineer requires same as mixing but we are talking 20k minimum gear. Thats the bare minimum.. So mostly mixing engineers go into mastering when they got some money and exp. Education is everywhere but you need to find valid sources. Some free some paid. Tools are free or paid, depending how you are resourceful. I dont wanna go offtopic so send me a Pm. Think about this what i have written...i am both producer and mixing engineer. I can point you in directions where to find stuff and give you tips (free of course) but i can also tutor you to save you time.  Cheers ?