How to get started producing music

[MrBusiness]

Wassup everyone,

I'm a fair novice when it comes to producing music. I use Ableton and I've learned everything I know from Youtube videos. I'm extremely inspired to produce and "mimic" those tracks I love to hear or play in my DJ sets. I'm so far off making quality sounds, that I lose a lot of motivation to just keep playing around and learning things without someone there that can actually mentor me. I would love to take a class and learn how to, but those are waay too expensive. I know there's info out there that says to just 'learn your DAW', but there's so much more to it than that, like with plugins and VSTs. Then there's mastering your audio.

What are your suggestions as to how I can improve?

How should I approach this problem?

I've been stuck on this for about a year and a half now..

[Synchronix]

Hey Mr Business,

Welcome to the forum. Production is a complex science. Don't feel bad if you aren't getting to the level you want to be at quickly enough. To be honest, none of us do. We all throw things and swear and go through making a lot of bad tracks when we first learn.

Maybe you can elaborate a little bit on where your stuck. When you say "quality sounds", do you mean synthesized melodies? Drums? Or your tracks as a whole?

Maybe you can link something for feedback. I'm not a professional, but I've gone through your pain period, so I know how you feel.

Any questions you have, shoot them out.

https://soundcloud.com/synchronix

[MrBusiness]

Take for example, building a quality riser. This is one of my biggest setbacks, is creating shifts like this from scratch. I can take a melody and chromatically rise it in a piano roll, but there's way more to it than that from scratch. And I mean from scratch, not using samples.

Another big thing for me is mastering audio. I can use a limiter to make sure my channels don't chip, and there's waay more to it than EQing it.

There's all sorts of cool blips and fix I don't even know where to begin to implement and it sucks when you don't even know where to start to get to the bottom of it.

[mostapha]

You mentioned mastering, and here is a guide that's helped me at different points.

If you like it, here are some of his other guides that I like.

Dance music production is a tough thing. It's awesome that you can make music on a PC/Mac with not much money invested. But, it's really hard to learn everything you need to get from your head to a finished, polished-sounding song.

Just a few years ago (or in other worlds that follow a more old-school approach) every step might be done by a different person; one person designs the sounds (or builds the guitars/drums), you write the song, another several people play various instruments, someone else records it, either them or someone else mixes it, then someone else masters it so it sounds good wherever you play it.

I think the big problem people have now is learning all of those at once. Fortunately in dance music, the recording stage can be pretty much irrelevant. Tarekith's advice takes care of mastering (at least for a lot of the learning process). And the computer actually plays the instruments. So, it's down to sound design, songwriting, and mixing. But each of those are still pretty big things to learn. And, lacking in any one of them could hamper the "quality sounds" you want to make.

[ImNotDedYet]

One thing that helped me massively in learning sound synthesis was to create songs using only one synthesizer - no loops, no samples, everything comes from that one synth. You have to do some research on how to create certain drum sounds, but in so doing, you learn a boat load about synthesis. Plus, you get to know a synthesizer very well that way. I'll occasionally join competitions over at KVR where you have to write a song using only one synth and the effects that come with your DAW or are free - all within a month.

Melodies, etc. are tougher to learn and it really helps to have some music theory to produce them. Study some counterpoint, or at least learn what it is and how it's used.

Mixing/arranging are insanely difficult to grasp at the beginning. For arrangement, try to arrange things so that different sounds interact and play off each other, not at the same time. Mixing just comes down to learning how to listen and what adjustments do what. Do a lot of A/Bing of adjustments to EQ/Compressors to figure that kind of stuff out. It takes time. Be patient, and try having fun most of all.

[soundinmotiondj]

There is a moment....usually right before my set starts, or just as I'm about to send something to a client...when my inner critic (who is an a$$hole with a MASSIVE inferiority complex) tells me that it is going to sound EXACTLY like this:



Part of the reason is that my taste is MUCH better than my ability. But, at some point, you have to say "eff it" and actually put something into the world. Good, bad, in between....ship it and move on.

[atontheproton]

You are your own worst critic and you can only improve with time.

[feelthisproductions]

maybe have a look at our soundcloud page...

[Similian]

[sicnarf033]

i have been and still say i am in your position. i used to avoid spending money on expensive courses. but im very happy and excited to say that i finally put down some money for music classes at a community college. there i will learn the history of funk, hip hop and music after jimi hendrix. after history, i am taking on some music production and sound design classes. all this for a certificate in music tech. its going to cost me around $1200 and a year to finish but the value i will gain is far more greater than spending money. watching youtube videos IS FREE but taking classes will get feedback from someone who is experienced (professor,teacher).

i don't know how it is for most people but i get motivated when i talk about music and am surrounded by people who are too. it will help you progress quicker. i am fortunate to live near san francisco. DJtechtools hold meet events (Coffee & Controllers) every week that allows me to test out new products and network with fellow producers/djs. if you are not in the san francisco bay area, i suggest you look for something similar in yours (check meetup.com - try and see if people hold music meets in your area).

in my opinion, i think the best thing to do is invest in taking those courses. network with people and talk about your progress. get feedback from experienced producers. ableton and djtechtools forums have sections where you can start a thread and submit your work for constructive criticism.

just remember, it takes time. practice, practice, practice. also, sometimes you need a little break in order to get motivated again. i take suspensions from music all the time. every time i come back, i motivated to make mixes and find new sounds.