I want to learn how to write melodies and work on how to arrange a track, so I am trying to come up with an exercise I can do every day to help me get better. This is my idea:
1) Take a midi file/arrangement of a song I know/like
2) Use Korg M01 to recreate the song by ear
Why this? Well the Korg M01 is a game for the Nintendo 3DS. It's a very basic emulation of the Korg M1 but with a small pool of instruments and very limited sound manipulation.
My thinking is that it would be perfect for recreating basic MIDI because it is a closed environment with not many options, so in this way I can listen to the simple MIDI arrangement first, then try to rebuild it by ear. Hopefully teaching me how melodies are created and also fundamentals of arranging a track and listening to where each instruments normally go.
Plus I can refer back to the MIDI file if I get really stuck and learn from my mistakes.
Is this a good exercise or can someone recommend better? I want something I can do once a day to get lots of experience and practice in writing a song.
