Working on transcribing a track. Am I on key, or completely off ?

[psy_commando]

So yeah, I've been trying to work on improving my musical ear and transcribing some simpler tracks than the SF2 beta track, but honestly, I can't tell if my transcription makes sense/sounds ok..

I mean, some things sounds different than the original, but I can't tell if it just because of the sound of the instrument used being different than the samples in the original, or if I don't have the right chords, I'm in the wrong key or something..

Its still pretty rough right now, but I don't want to wait until the last moment like last time XD
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/13343993/MyMidis/Kecleons_Shop_ear_6.mp3

And here's the midi:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nv96z6bqp81vjd8/Kecleons_Shop_ear_6_midid.mid

This is the original:

[Dr. Orange]

I believe the MP3 player plug is broken. I can't get anything out of it.

[DZComposer]

Dropbox doesn't work with the built-in player due to the redirects. Though I did download it.

Bassline sounds right.

I think you're hearing the melody and the harmony as an instrument with harmonics. They're not. Your MIDI shows your melody starting on A. That's where the harmony starts. The melody starts on F#. Sounds like it's in D. There is a C natural in the melody, but you can tell by the sound (dominant 7th) that it's an accidental note.

I'll show you the first phrase of the melody:

It's actually an octave higher, but I transposed it down so you don't have to read ledger lines. Hopefully this will cue you into what voice to listen to.

When the melody changes at the end of your transcription, it really sounds like you lost the tonal center. Melody was right for the most part, but the chord progression collapsed.

Also, your MIDI imported in a strange time signature. Unsure if that is because Finale derped or what. The time signature should be 6/8.

I would advise doing some ear training. You're missing some things. Also take a go through musictheory.net. If you want to be successful in your musical endeavors you need to develop an understanding of tonal center. Yes, that stuff is boring, but you gotta chop the wood before you can build the house.

Also practice transcribing simpler music. This piece has a complex chord progression.

[psy_commando]

I believe the MP3 player plug is broken. I can't get anything out of it.

Dropbox doesn't work with the built-in player due to the redirects. Though I did download it.

Woops.. I derped and linked the file from the non public dir... But now it works. The public folder has no redirect, so it works like a charm People even make simple websites in that folder XD

 

Bassline sounds right.

Well at least I got that one XD

But to be honest, it seems people keep recommending finding what key the bass is in, but then, you find out there were accidentals and in the end knowing the key didn't help out much

Well, either that, or I'm doing it wrong..

 

I think you're hearing the melody and the harmony as an instrument with harmonics. They're not. Your MIDI shows your melody starting on A. That's where the harmony starts. The melody starts on F#. Sounds like it's in D. There is a C natural in the melody, but you can tell by the sound (dominant 7th) that it's an accidental note.

I'll be direct here. I got a hint of what those terms mean, but I still don't understand what you mean xD

What do you mean by instrument with harmonics ?

Isn't the harmony strings that accompany the melody ?

And, from what I hear there are 3 instruments playing 3 different notes at the same time.

A synth of some kind, a music box kind of thing, and a flute / pan flute / recorder / calliope that plays the lower notes.

Which one is the Harmony ? And more importantly, what makes it the harmony over the others ?

How can you tell which one is the melody ?

By C natural, you mean a bunch of notes in the C natural minor scale ? And by accidental, you mean that the C is a C# ?

I've read a lot of stuff on music theory I could find around, in books or on the web, and they never go in details about anything.. And basically just throw musical jargon at you, or just charts, and expect you to understand. Not to mention I got learning disabilities, and it takes me longer than most to learn things from books and course and etc..

I'll admit, I'm having a harder time with this than mathematics!

For example, this is a great example of what I mean by help resources throwing musical jargon at you xD : http://www.jazzguitarstartingright.com/Blues%20in%20D%20Minor.pdf

 

I'll show you the first phrase of the melody:

It's actually an octave higher, but I transposed it down so you don't have to read ledger lines. Hopefully this will cue you into what voice to listen to.

When the melody changes at the end of your transcription, it really sounds like you lost the tonal center. Melody was right for the most part, but the chord progression collapsed.

That's another thing XD

Chord progression..

Some people keep telling me many songs are I-IV-V.. But, that didn't sound right. And just trying to play along the music seemed to be a better idea than trying every single chord progressions..

So what I basically did in order to get all those notes to sound right together, and maybe hit the right chord progression, is having the three instruments play a note from a major triad that sounded close to the actual track.

But I'm guessing I just got lucky there..

 

Also, I looked up a few things when writing this message. Would I be correct to assume that the song is in Dorian mode ? Because the key signature looks exactly the same as the one for the Dorian mode.

When the melody changes, I thought the key changed as well given the bass seemed to have gone up. So I kinda assumed the melody changed key as well. But yeah, there was something odd about that part.. I just wasn't sure if it was my bass line, or the melody or what, or even the percussions given they seem to change pitch much more than real xD

 

Also, your MIDI imported in a strange time signature. Unsure if that is because Finale derped or what. The time signature should be 6/8.

I would advise doing some ear training. You're missing some things. Also take a go through musictheory.net. If you want to be successful in your musical endeavors you need to develop an understanding of tonal center. Yes, that stuff is boring, but you gotta chop the wood before you can build the house.

Also practice transcribing simpler music. This piece has a complex chord progression and you're not quite ready for it.

What was the time signature in the file ? I set it to 8/8 at 120 bpm, and I was in perfect sync with the track when playing both alongside. I counted the loudest shaker as a single beat.

But its entirely possible it was 6/8 now that I think about it..

It would explain why I had to give the notes a weird length

Actually, FL Studio completely derped, and the midi clock was going insane when I exported the midi. It kicked the tempo to 480 in the file, and in the DAW after the export as well.. Changing the midi PPQ to something else then back to 96 fixed the issue within the DAW, but it would come back everytimes I'd export the midi..

So I had to use Anvil studio to fix it manually.

I guess I might have found a bug..

 

And I did go through musictheory.net, all their lessons actually.. And, I fail all their exercises.. Well, I mean eventually I select the right answer.. But I find that the way they just make to wait to pick the right answer is a little dumb.. It should just keep going with the questions after giving out the answer and playing whatever answer you picked to judge how off you were! But that's just me.

I also, use GNU Solfege sometimes for ear training: http://sourceforge.net/projects/solfege/

 

And, I'd really want to understand tonal center, chords and etc.. But its not because I find music theory boring that I don't make much progress.. I find it interesting unlike a lot of people xD

Its just that I can't find anything elaborate, written in layman's terms !

 

Also, did you have any tracks that you'd suggest I attempt to do ?

I find that, doing tracks I love is much easier for motivation, and I thought this track sounded simple enough. Just a bass, some percussion and a relatively obvious melody.

 

I guess I could try one of those gameboy tracks ? They sounds simple enough :

 

Anyways, thanks for the feedback ! Its very appreciated !

 

EDIT:

Oh, and I actually forgot to mention that in the latest 3ds game they re-arranged that very same track, and its a little easier to figure out everything this time :

Edited June 28, 2014 by psy_commando

[DZComposer]

Honestly, I think I can help you better if we have a conversation over Skype or Steam. A lot of this needs to be taken one thing at a time.

[psy_commando]

Honestly, I think I can help you better if we have a conversation over Skype or Steam. A lot of this needs to be taken one thing at a time.

Well, alright, but the last time I think my message weren't getting to you.

 

I just thought the forums seemed to work better in general. But I guess I can try again with Skype.