Did you know that everyone's hearing is unique and different due to factors such as the size and shape of our ears, age, health and exposure to noise? This can lead to other preferences for bass or treble.
As a music producer, developing a sharp ear is crucial for creating exceptional mixes, identifying imperfections in your tracks, and refining your musical skills. However, how can you train your ear to achieve this?
Well, there are many ways to do it, but one of the most convenient and effective ones is using ear training apps.
Ear training apps are software applications designed to improve listening skills through exercises, feedback, and gamification. They can help you practice various aspects of hearing, such as pitch, rhythm, frequency, intervals, chords, scales, and more.
Some are even tailored for audio engineers and music producers who need to master specific skills like EQ, compression, reverb, panning, and more.
There are numerous ear training apps available, both free and paid, that cater to different levels and needs. Here are some of the best ones that I suggest you check out:
Are you looking for a fun and effective way to improve your listening skills, train your ears, and sharpen your production techniques? If so, you might want to check out the SoundGym app, a web-based audio ear training platform that helps you develop your sonic abilities with interactive games and exercises.
SoundGym is not just another boring tutorial or course. It’s a gamified learning experience that makes ear training enjoyable and rewarding. You can choose from different skill levels, genres, and topics, such as frequency detection, compression, reverb, EQ, distortion, and more. You can also compete with other users, earn badges, and track your progress.
SoundGym is designed by audio professionals and educators who know what it takes to master the art of sound. Whether a beginner or an expert, you will find something new and challenging to learn on SoundGym. You will also get feedback and tips to help you improve your results.
SoundGym is free to join and use, but if you want to access more features and content, you can upgrade to a Pro membership for a reasonable price. As a Pro member, you can access all games and exercises, personalized workouts, premium sounds and courses, and more.
Here are some of the exercise options users have when using SoundGym:
EQ Trainer is a practical ear-training tool for EQ that allows you to practice using different EQ settings and filters on different sounds and genres. You can modify the frequency, gain, and Q of each band to hear how it impacts the sound. Additionally, you can compare your EQ curve with the original sound and receive feedback on your precision.
EQ Games offers seven ear-training games to identify and match EQ curves, filters, and frequencies on various sounds. The games include EQ Match, Filter Match, Frequency Sweep, and more.
Compression Games - include ear-training games to test your ability to detect and apply compression settings, such as threshold, ratio, attack, release, and gain. There are six games to choose from, including Compressor Match, Compressor Detective, and Gain Reduction.
Reverb Games - These games are designed to train your ears in recognizing and adjusting different reverb parameters. You can choose from five games, including Reverb Match, Reverb Time, and Room Size, among others. These games will help you improve your skills in manipulating decay time, pre-delay, room size, and wet/dry mix.
Distortion Games - is a series of ear-training games that help you identify and control various types of distortion, including levels and harmonics. There are four games to choose from, including Distortion Match, Distortion Level, Harmonic Distortion, and more.
Other Games - These ear-training games cover various topics and skills, including panning, delay, phase, loudness, and sound location. There are eight games to choose from: Pan Mania, Delay Match, Phase Invader, and more.
These are just some of the exercise options you have on SoundGym. There are also personalized workouts, premium sounds and courses, weekly contests, and more.
If you are ready to take your music production skills to the next level, don’t miss this opportunity to join SoundGym today. You will be amazed by how much you can learn and improve in a short time. Plus, you will have a lot of fun along the way!
Visit their website to learn more about SoundGym and sign up for a free account. You can also watch this video to see how it works.
Are you looking for a way to improve your musical skills and become a better musician? Do you want to train your ears, sing better, and master rhythm and music theory? If so, you’re in luck because I have just the app for you: EarMaster!
EarMaster is the ultimate app for ear training, sight-singing and rhythm training at all skill levels. It’s available on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Chromebook. It’s the easy, motivating and efficient way to become a better musician.
EarMaster has over 2500 music theory exercises for all levels, covering ear training, sight-singing, rhythm, scales, chords, cadences, and melodies. It’s the most complete app for musical skills training that you can get.
But don’t take my word for it. EarMaster is used by some of the world's best music schools and universities and developed in close partnership with music educators. It will help you reach your goals with progressive, well-structured courses from beginner to advanced levels.
EarMaster will train you to hear and recognize melodies, scales, intervals, chords, chord inversions, chord progressions, rhythm and cadences. You will be better at playing by ear, transcribing and improvising in no time!
EarMaster will also help you improve your sight-singing skills and intonation. You can sing musical scores and obtain an instant evaluation of your pitch and rhythmic accuracy. You will make much faster progress than by training on your own without any clue whether you’re on the pitch.
EarMaster will also boost your rhythmic skills and timing. You can perform rhythms by tapping your device or tapping your hands into a microphone. EarMaster’s rhythmic workshops for all levels will help you improve your timing with motivating sight-reading, clap-back, dictation and error-detection exercises.
EarMaster also offers functional ear training, where you can use numbers (scale degrees), solfege syllables (Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti), or describe terms (Tonic, Supertonic, Mediant, etc.) to identify the function of each note within a key. This is a great way to develop your musical understanding and creativity.
EarMaster also lets you monitor your progress with detailed result monitoring. You can review your progress lesson by lesson daily and identify your strengths and weaknesses. You can also customize your exercises to focus on your choice's intervals, chords, scales or rhythms.
EarMaster is the perfect choice for music students, hobbyists and professionals who want to improve their musical skills. It’s easy to use, motivating and highly efficient. You can download it now from their website.
So what are you waiting for? Give EarMaster a try today and see how it can transform your musical abilities. You won’t regret it!
Are you looking for a fun and effective way to improve your ear training skills? Do you want to learn how to recognize chords, intervals, scales, and more by ear? Do you want to challenge yourself and compete with other producers worldwide?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you must check out ToneGym, the ultimate app for ear training and music production. ToneGym is a web-based app that offers a variety of exercises and games to help you train your ears and enhance your musical abilities.
With ToneGym, you can:
Practice identifying different musical elements by ear, such as chords, intervals, scales, melodies, harmonies, and more.
Learn music theory concepts and apply them to your own productions.
Track your progress and see how much you improve over time.
Earn badges and achievements as you complete exercises and challenges.
Join a community of music producers who share your passion and goals.
Compete with other users on leaderboards and tournaments.
ToneGym is designed to make ear training fun and engaging. You can choose from different difficulty levels, customize your settings, and play with different instruments and sounds. You can also access ToneGym from any device, whether it’s your laptop, tablet, or smartphone.
ToneGym is more than just an app. It’s a gym for your ears. It’s a way to sharpen your musical skills and unleash your creativity. It’s a tool that will help you become a better music producer.
So what are you waiting for? Sign up for ToneGym today and prepare to take your ear training to the next level. You’ll be amazed by how much you can learn and achieve with ToneGym.
To get started, visit [ToneGym] and create your free account. You’ll get access to hundreds of exercises and games that will challenge and inspire you. You’ll also get a 14-day trial of the Pro membership, which gives you unlimited access to all the features and content.
Don’t miss this opportunity to join the best ear training app for music producers. Sign up for ToneGym now and start your musical journey.
These are just some of my favorite many ear-training apps that you can use to train your hearing. I hope you find them useful and enjoyable.
Remember that ear training benefits your music production and personal growth and enjoyment. So don't hesitate to try it and see how it can transform your ears and your music.
As a music producer, there are some additional tips and exercises you can try to improve your listening skills.
Firstly, it's recommended that you use a high-quality audio system to hear every detail of the music more clearly. Additionally, closing your eyes can help you focus on the sound without any distractions from visuals.
As you listen to music, taking notes will also help you remember what you heard and learn from it.
Another great way to test your skills and learn new tricks is to try remaking beats from your favourite songs or genres. This involves using your ears to identify the sounds, instruments, rhythms, and effects used in the original track and trying to replicate them as closely as possible.
This will improve your ear for music production, sound selection, and arrangement skills.
Practicing music theory is an excellent way to understand the logic and structure behind music. You can learn about scales, chords, harmony, melody, rhythm, and more, and apply what you learn by composing or analyzing existing songs. This will help you improve your musical knowledge and creativity.
Creating unique sounds from scratch is known as sound design. This involves experimenting with various synthesis techniques and tools, such as parameters, waveforms, filters, envelopes, modulators, and effects.
Improving your sonic palette and originality can be achieved by recreating sounds heard in other songs or in nature.
Transforming existing sounds using various processing techniques and tools is called sound manipulation. This can be practiced using effects such as reverb, delay, distortion, pitch shift, chorus, flanger, phaser, and more to make a different loop sound.
You can also change the mood, genre, or style of the loop by altering its tempo, key, or groove, thus improving your mixing and editing skills.
Cover songs or remixing are also fun ways to learn from other artists and genres by performing their songs in your way. You can practice reproducing a song as accurately as possible or adding your twist.
Changing the song's instrumentation, arrangement, or production style to suit your taste is another way to improve your performance and arrangement skills.
Active listening involves paying close attention to what you hear and analyzing it critically. This skill can be practised by listening to a song with headphones with full concentration.
Drawing a map of what you hear or playing it backwards to understand it better is also helpful. Analyzing the song using your DAW software and looking at its waveform, spectrum, metering, and more can improve your perception and analysis skills.
Critical listening exercises help you sharpen your listening skills by analyzing different aspects of a sound or a mix, such as balance, panorama, frequency range, dimension, dynamics, and interest.
You can use your favourite music or your own recordings as the source material for these exercises.
To improve your hearing, start with simple exercises and gradually work your way up to more challenging ones. It would help if you were patient and consistent with your training, as improving your hearing takes time and effort.
Hello! My name is Marcus, and I am a music enthusiast who runs a mixing and mastering business. I also write enlightening articles for my blog and produce music as a member of the techno duo Agravik.
