a good book to get me started on music production
I have seen a couple of threads about the essential books and stuff but im looking for a book to educate me on the whole production side. something thats tells me about everything, i know im not going to learn everything from one book but im looking for a book to start me off something with little information on every aspect of the production. a complete begginers guide bassicly but theres so many out there so can you guys give me options,thanks
Assuming you’re looking to do house/club stuff, Dance Music Manual would be the best overall IMO, followed by The Secrets of House Music Production.
other then books you could also check out looptv.net part of loopmasters.
Ok thanks, yea I’m into house. House will one of the main genres I would want to produce and Garage ,dnb and hip hop
Not sure if I’m allowed to post links in this forum. But this is the best book. (you’re not so we fixed this for you: - SmiTTTen))
The book is “Dance Music Manual” by Rick Snoman.
Good looking book but probably remove your link … Just naming the book would do the job.
The book is “Dance Music Manual” by Rick Snoman.
It’s not only for EDM producers, but also hip-hop and rap.
I wouldn’t worry about genre. Just learn the basics about sound engineering and production. Invest time into learning fundamentals of audio(What are sound waves etc.), Signal flow, general analog audio gear for recording, digital audio, midi production, sampling, and synthesis. I have tons of books about this stuff but the internet has a huge amount of information on these topics,not always the most accurate.
I recommend Steve de furia has some good books about synthesis and midi if you’re interested.
I found that online tutorials helped a lot. There’s also a Coursera free online course starting today (I think) that will almost certainly be really helpful for beginners - I recommend you take a look at that.
Edit: The course is called “Introduction to Music Production” if you’re interested.
Lynda.com is amazing!
Pick a DAW (Logic or Ableton) and do a course on it Audio and Music Online Training Courses | LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.com
Cheap as chips
Heres a freebie Audio and Music Production Careers: First Steps Online Class | LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.com
I just had a look at Lynda.com and it struck me that they do monthly or yearly billing rather than per-course… is there enough killer content to warrant paying month after month?
Well you could just pay for one month and cram in one course… they are normally around 10hours long or something per course.
You can cram in as much as you like with that one month subscription including other DAWS or even website coding / photoshop / whatever.
I think it’s a massive bargain personally and you can keep going as long as there are courses you are interested in diving into but if you just want to do one course in one month you can
I do the yearly content being an architect and using Adobe products… I’ve done some of the music equipment/software courses as well. I’d venture to say that you could do a month and get what you need, wait for new courses and then resub.
All things considered, it’s inexpensive and you can chart our what you want to view prior to subscribing. They let you view the first 4-5 videos (typical) for free from each course.
There are hundreds of very well made free video courses on YouTube. Why do people pay for this? Are those courses so much better? I can not even image something better than the sadowick YouTube course when starting out with Ableton. It’s 50 videos - all free. Straight forward, informational, but not too overwhelming etc. Also there are tons of “how to do this sound” or “how to compress vocasl” etc. What makes this paid material worth its price?
Yes. They’re organized, well presented and thorough.
I’ve gone through some of the videos for Sadowick Production and they are decent. That said, it’s one series for one item. The Lynda.com site has hundreds of courses and all of them are indexed and easy to navigate. A couple other items that may help some more than others… the text scrolls next to the video (not closed caption, but a separate box) so you can catch up or clarify without stopping. There is also an integrated note-taking tab with many features.
As mentioned previously, I use it for much more than music production tutorials. YMMV
Some background on music theory would be REALLY helpful for production. There are a LOT of books, coursera.org classes, and in person classes at community colleges.
The “For Dummies” books are well written, easy to read, and cover the topic well enough for the total beginner. For the most part, you need a “vocabulary lesson” as much as you need anything else…and the Dummies books are inexpensive and cover the vocabulary as well as any.
Some class in “music appreciation” or “critical listening” would be helpful. While breaking down music by ear is not the most difficult thing in the world, but like any skill some instruction and practice is helpful.
Whatever book you pick on Music Theory, get one with an audio CD with listening examples.
Aside from a book on the DAW you pick, I would avoid any books that approach music theory or composition “…on a computer.” The material in books like “Music composition for computer musicians” ages REALLY quickly…and books that are even a few years old are likely dated in their presentation of the digital tools.
I’ll also add that the Dance Music Manual, while I’ve not read it cover to cover, is a good introduction and applies to a wide range of styles. It’s from 2004, so some of the references are not current, but that shouldn’t matter for what you want to learn. 500+ pages… lots to see there.
It’s also got some basics on music theory if I remember correctly. I didn’t read through that section since I figured I’d already have known most of what was in it, but for someone with no music theory background, it may cover some decent ground.