getting better at producing?

**Chocoslayer** · 09-26-2012, 09:37 AM

i have seen alot of posts about people asking things like "how come my music doesnt sound very professional?" or "any tips with this or that?" and most people answer with "you need to practice" and then i wonder what about a music course or music school? would that help? cause i have been producing for a while now and i did make some progress but i lack knowledge in example understanding VST's or why things happen when for example i tweek a knob things like that how did you guys learn that?

**epikeddie** · 09-26-2012, 10:03 AM

A lot of it is trial and error.....just like DJing. The real fun part is when you get that sound just right and what you had envisioned.

Try deconstructing some of your favorite producer's songs and see how they use effects and other techniques to get their signature sounds. That's how I first got into it and I'm really starting to finally have a little bit of fun with creating sounds!

**elliot1106** · 09-26-2012, 10:55 AM

I've being producing for about four/five month and all I can say is think of it as something academic, in relation to sounding professional as opposed to musicality. If you were doing a maths course you wouldnt try and try to figure out how to do calculus by yourself that would just be crazy! We live in a time when anything can be found online, if google is already your friend then make it your partner. Youtube is your son. Google the genres you like and hate followed by 'production tips'- they all can be applied in someway. Subscribe to point blank and other music schools youtube channels. Instead of twisting a knob and hoping for the best search for a youtube tutorial on a sound, watch what they do and most importantly listen to what they do. Synths aren't THAT complicated in their most basic form. Watch shit on mastering. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, if you have a tendency to over compress your stuff you'll realise in a track or two and you'll have learn from that. Try to dissect tracks every now and then. Use tracks for inspiration... steal the layout if you're shitty at arranging. Recreate their drum beat and make it yours. You're just starting out you can't just conjure up 'your style.' However, most importantly instead of asking people for advice, go and search for advice yourself. Production isn't really for lazy people, however I'll be nice because nothing makes me happier than well produced music. Enjoy your day.

**crakbot** · 09-26-2012, 04:52 PM

Some people disagree with me, but modern production is very tedious and not very musical. The result is musical, but the process isn't.

If you aren't into the the tedious stuff, your stuff will not sound "pro". Of course, different genres vary regarding this.

But decide if you like the tedious software manipulation in order to get the sound you want. If you like that, then really the whole trick is researching and trial and error. A formal school would be far to slow. A few searches on google and some trial and error can teach you a ton of new tricks since you can skip over stuff and follow your own path.

Don't get too bogged down is specifics until you find out exactly what it is you want to learn. Also, a lot of guys get lost in their own tweaking and don't realize they aren't even producing anything good anymore. You hear a lot of guys on producing boards talking about frequencies and getting all technical, but they forget that's not the reason nobody likes their music. They sound like engineers, not producers. You need the knowledge, but you also need to produce stuff that sounds cool. If your stuff sounds cool, you can get away with a lot of mistakes or imperfections.

Just like any other skill, the trick is to learn it all, then forget it and just start doing it.

But I would say, focus on making stuff that SOUNDS COOL before you get worried about the super technical stuff. You can make an awesome synth line or beat with very little technical knowledge.

In the old days, a producer and an engineer were separate jobs. Now they are sort of the same jobs and some producers fall into the trap that being a great engineer will lead to great music.

**elliot1106** · 09-26-2012, 05:07 PM

+1 ^^

**ksandvik** · 09-26-2012, 06:05 PM

It's a life-long learning experience to acquire musical taste.

**Tarekith** · 09-26-2012, 10:08 PM

I think just doing it over and over and over is the key. Some might call it practice, but practice doesn't have to be so well defined and goal oriented. If you want to get good at ANYTHING, you need to do it a lot, there's no short cuts or secrets that will bypass that.

Can school help? Sure, if you're the kind of person who enjoys learning like that. Personally I always found classrooms tend to be paced at the level of the slowest students, so for me it's a waste of my time and money. Everything you need to know to spend a lifetime learning about music and audio production is out there free online, but you have to enjoy the process of hunting for it, or you're going to get frustrated. Some people don't have the patience or desire, so for them a rigid classroom curriculum is well worth it.

Personally I always tell people to be honest with themselves about how much they enjoyed learning their favorite subject in a high school setting. If you enjoy the interaction and discussions, and never got bored by the pace, then by all means look into one of the many schools out there. If you struggled to pay attention or got easily annoyed by fellow students or your teachers, then likely it's not going to be that much different for audio production. School is school, no matter the subject IMVHO.

**grazz16** · 09-27-2012, 12:14 AM

Originally Posted by crakbot

Some people disagree with me, but modern production is very tedious and not very musical. The result is musical, but the process isn't.

If you aren't into the the tedious stuff, your stuff will not sound "pro". Of course, different genres vary regarding this.

We live in a time when anything can be found online, if google is already your friend then make it your partner. Youtube is your son.

Amen to that, brothers.

a) Unless you've been doing this for years and years this shit is VERY tedious, but thats to be expected starting out. Like anything else, the only way it becomes not tedious is because you've done it a 1000 times before and its second nature.

b) Youtube is the best thing ever for various techniques etc. providing you know how to phrase your question. Imo, that IS your school. You can do it formally if u have the time and money but there is a lot of good stuff on there already. I've spent hours and hours watching youtube clips on everything from side chain compression (which i now have to go back and add to my first track because that makes a HUGE difference) to the theory behind how a synth works, and I'm in no way even close to finished. There are still a ton of tracks i listen to and say "how the hell did he get that sound?"

Personally, what i've been really digging lately is the youtube series "In the studio with" by future music magazine. Some really, really great insights by top producers on how they do things in the studio, and what they use, check em out.