When i was in school studying theory and ear training i had this one ear training teacher that would curse at us and scream "You want to be a musician? How can you be a musician if you can't do ear training" and equating it to a writer that can read and such. He also said we should sing scales in the shower every day and how he was singing microtones and whatnot.

Craziness aside, he's write about the ear training being neccesary to being a musician. Having a well tuned ear makes writing music less guesswork and more like a trained skill. Being able to go from a tune in your head to something in the sequencer, note wise at least, with minimal effort is invaluable. Not saying you can't make a wicked tune without ear training, but its more likely to be something you stumble upon rather than something more readily calculated.