I have recently become interested in Chiptune, and have already bought LSDJ and a Original Gameboy on its way! But up to this point, I have experimented with LSDJ, learning the basics, but have no idea about music theory. How did you learn how to make music and what would you recommend?
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NC in the US of America
My dad's A Capella group used to practice at our house when I was a child, I had piano lessons from my grandmother, and then gleaned any other knowledge from wherever I could: choir, hymnals, radio, music books, internet, analyzing midi files, experimenting with various things (Acid Xpress, sndrec.exe [lol], Yamaha keyboard with 5 track recording) etc, etc.
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Holland
Started playing guitar when I was 11-12 years old. Started several bands which I did music for more instruments than just guitar. Made a bit of hiphop/ragga for a while and started chiptunes.
Tracking got me in to more theory though, I just knew guitar chords and stuff by heart so wasn't really focused on notes. When I started tracking I suddenly had to buildup chords by putting notes together. One follows the other and that's it.
Learning piano/keyboard is a good way to start, you'll dive right in to notes and combining stuff.
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México, DF.
I dropped school and started to read the music theory books I had.
Then I got into school again and choose Audio Engineering as a career.
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Austin, TX
I bought an electric guitar when I was 15, and taught myself how to play using tutorials on the interwebz. I later learned the bass, and a couple of years ago got really into playing the keyboard. I never had any formal education for learning those instruments, you really can teach yourself whatever you need to know using all of the resources available on the net. I did have some formal training for audio production at an art school, and in my music theory courses the professor introduced me to musictheory.net, and that really helped me with understanding how music theory works. I would suggest using that site or something similar, and perhaps start playing a simple keyboard since you seem to be more interested in the electronic side of music. Xylo has a good point about being able to learn how to compose melodies, learning chords, etc. by starting with the keyboard. When I use LSDJ, I usually have a small keyboard set up nearby so I can play something on that first and then put it into LSDJ.
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ohgodno, Indiana
Kubbi wrote:
You learn music by listening to music
well said
Last edited by b4by f4c3 (Jan 15, 2013 8:09 pm)
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Italy
I used to mess up on my sister's Yamaha keyboard, then when I turned 12 I started guitar. I also learned a bit of theory, but I guess exploring chiptune also gave me a lot of knowledge I didn't have before!
I'd recommend you to search on the internet to learn things like scales, it's all about the scales! Then you'll learn easily by yourself things like arpeggios and using octaves or stuff like that, LSDJ is really intuitive when you experiment with it.
Last edited by Merutochan (Jan 15, 2013 8:28 pm)
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Chicago, IL
I loved music my whole life. It started out with guitar and bass which my dad always had laying around the house. I learned by copying what I heard in other songs, and then figuring out how to put things together, after that getting mario paint lead me into composing...rest of story here. 
I don't really know music theory or how to read it, I mostly learned by recreating songs I liked as practice and then trying to put down what I hear in my head into tracks...
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Engerlander
Started playing bass at 11 years old at a time when my arms couldn't actually reach the tuning pegs. Did Music Tech for a year at 16-17 which included a music theory crash course. Most of the theory I know relates directly to bass guitar (scales, arps etc), but doing chiptune, listening to all kinds of music and just learning experientially has helped me get a better understanding of what goes best together.
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KC
anywhere and everywhere.
here and there.
read books.
take lessons on an instrument.
it is and always will be an ongoing process for me.
I played guitar when I was younger then started on keyboards/piano and now am experimenting with electronic music.
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England
a guitar, books and much later some jazz guitar lessons
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IL, US
self-taught (works best if you arent sober during the process, learning to play guitar by improv jamming with a guy who had been playing for 10+ years and drinking heavily was fun as hell)
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I took some basic guitar lessons, and then just self-taught/trial and error.
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Westfield, NJ