How to get started producing music

[Tarekith]

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.

Thanks for passing those on. The ones on my Tarekith page are a bit outdated and only still active for legacy links, here's the newer ones that are always up to date:

http://innerportalstudio.com/guides/

[JZed]

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.

I think this is huge, and a great idea!
Less can often be more. We have so many choices, thousands of free samples, free VSTs and so on, but do we really need all of those? Narrowing down options can help a producer become a lot more creative. I'm not an accomplished producer in any way, but after simplifying I learned to get more complex by just hearing what all the knobs and buttons do. I think that makes sense.

[Unreallystic]

I've been producing since 96', but I'm not great and don't pretend to be. What I will say though is that I've been there, several times over. I'm primarily rap admittedly, but I have a very very very diverse sound palette, AND stylistic palette as well. With that said...oh yeah and I am a "Reason" user

1. Practice Practice Practice. Obvious first step.
2. Less is more. Never over do it. Start simple. Build the song out, then go ahead and 'those little things', but keep it simple. Don't layer filters, keep things simple, including melodies. As you get better, you'll get better equipped and have a better understanding of what to add as you'll know the pieces better
3. Limit yourself - as ImNotDeadYet mentioned - building everything from a single synth, its a bit overkill - but the concept is gold. The more tools you have and the more sounds you have, the more time is lost sorting through it all and figuring it out. Pick some basic drums that don't knock, pick a boring synth, and maybe add in a sampler for effects, with pretty basic samples (not for looping, but like vocal samples or horns). Build up a song from that, then use filters to get the sounds you already picked - to where you want them. You might struggle with getting a kick exactly where you want it, but you'll start to understand everything involved with adjusting kick sounds - and can then chase that down with google searches on how to fix that problem. Same thing with the synth. Master your tools, not your sounds.
4. Get good monitors. Easier said than done. It's something I need to do myself - I have a good setup that I've tuned as good as possible, but I need true monitors to help with mixing and mastering my own music as well as well as understanding the slight adjustments I make a bit more. The devils in the details.
5. Develop a producer's ear. Its one of the single greatest and worst things to have. It will warp your perception compared to the average individual, but pick a complex song with lots of parts and sounds, listen to it, but focus on ONE sound or section, like mentally eliminate everything that isn't 'just the drums'. then do that again until you know the drums. Rinse repeat with the main sample/synth, then start breaking down the little accents. With practice, you'll be able to listen to other artist/producers and understand 'what makes the song good'. The curse? Half-a$$ed music will sound REALLY bad to you as the mistakes stand out. It becomes a self-teaching tool though, you'll have a firmer grasp on 'putting the pieces together', you'll "see" how its really a bunch of simple sounds put layered together that make a complex one (the most complex machines are still based on basic machines).

I hope it helps. Improvement is forever, growth is forever, if you listen to a track from several months before and DON'T think "I could have done this better by doing X Y Z", then you are failing yourself.
- Unreall

[Genius Magnus]

Hey guys, I have just started to get into music production as well. I bought Sonar X3 Producer off steam when it was 60% off. Next time there is a sale I'll grab some more plugins <3. Anyways I'm loving the content of this thread already and since i'm fresh to the game, I was wondering what tips you guys have for learning the daw and buying gear.

I'm pretty much not going to have room for a studio, but I still want to create, mix, and sample music. I'm going to get a set of cans, most likely the Akai MPK mini, Scarlett 2i2, and a cheap vocal mic. Since my job doesn't pay much I'll be piecing this together over some period of time. Should I have an order of priority?

Thanks

[Nick V]

Should I have an order of priority?

If you want to do it the right way - start with your ears and work backwards, monitors/cans, then audio interface, then acoustic conditioning, then instruments/effects, then controllers because the most important thing is the sound and you can only work on sound when you can really hear it.

If you want to do it the way most people do it (myself included) - find shiny toy for sale, impulse buy shiny toy, play with shiny toy until shiny toy isn't shiny, repeat.

[ImNotDedYet]

If you want to do it the right way - start with your ears and work backwards, monitors/cans, then audio interface, then acoustic conditioning, then instruments/effects, then controllers because the most important thing is the sound and you can only work on sound when you can really hear it.

If you want to do it the way most people do it (myself included) - find shiny toy for sale, impulse buy shiny toy, play with shiny toy until shiny toy isn't shiny, repeat.

LOL, so true!

[ziaelektro]

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..

You need to be dedicated and you should spend a lot of time. if you have a day job then its really difficult to focus.

Learn the Basics and fundamentals. Like basic keys and chords.

Learn to program a Synth if you are planning to make your own sounds (optional)

Learn the Piano roll (for creating melodies)

To make a quick track open the track in arrangement view and then add markers on every transition or when a new sound is introduced. That way you can easily create a template for your song and start arranging sounds in the view quickly instead of counting bars and phrases (intro--main section - breakdown - main section - outro).

Just pick a genre and study the song. See what sounds are used and do the same..

Quick way to produce a song is to use samples and loops.

When you get a melody in your head record it instantly in your phone using voice recorder because you will forget it. I used to get melodies when i am lying in bed. I record them and next day i create them in piano roll.

I have produced a couple of trance and techno songs. Good luck.