Im only 17 years old and i dont think producers my age know this kinda things. I just wanna be able to control and know ableton at its fullest, to know how to control my vst’s, and to know what sounds mellodically acceptable.
If you really have dreams of making it “big” you do need to know it, because the technical aspect of music production is what really makes the songs you hear by famous artists sound “professional”. But also don’t use your age as an excuse, if you have the desire and the work ethics you can do it. Madeon is only 17, and if you read his twitter he really knows the production side of music. It’s what sets you apart.
Also what do you mean you want to know ableton to its fullest? I’ve seen this statement come up a lot but i’ve been unsure as to what people mean. For most music production, if you can add audio and midi tracks in timeline view, and import vst’s (both synths and effects processors like compressors, limiters etc.) you should have enough to get you started. Everything else becomes important in the mixing and mastering stage of production. If you spend a lot of time panning audio, limiting, etc.. it will take you a long time to complete a song.
Then you’ll have some problems with Filters, EQ etc. Don’t choose what you’ll learn and what you give up on. Just open your DAW, YouTube, follow tutorials and replicate. It helps me alot.
Then when you feel a bit comfortable with the tools (I don’t say mastering the VST and stuff, but just a basic knowledge of what does what), you can start working on a track.
I don’t always follow that rule but : Try to finish all your tracks, that’s what’s help you improve alot. Finish your tracks.
Yeah. This. This is the least frustrating way because at the end of the tutorial you have something that sounds pretty good (though it isnt really your own). And by following the tutorials you’ll learn a lot of things through osmosis. Tom Cosm has done some great stuff with spectrums and he just puts it in with the flow of the tutorial.
Bottom line is, there’s no easy way. I mean you can’t make a good mix without learning all that tech-y stuff. You can make some songs and whatnot, but its the techie stuff that makes it sound good. I think you’re doing the right thing by just trying to remix or edit a song at first.
The other way… is to use pre-packaged loops… The great thing about that is, a lot of the Techie stuff to make them sound good has already been done and then its just about arrangement.. Kind of.
You’ll need to know about music then. Luckily, you can learn as you go along, so just start producing
When I started reading this thread I thought it was a joke. Some of the replies just boggles my mind. It also says somethig about the state of music today compared to music 20, 30, or even 40 years ago. If you think you can just get a music production program, a keyboard and a bunch of synthsizers and sit down and bang out a song without having some basic knowledge of music theory, scales, chords…I have a bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you. Again reading the responses on here was really excruciating to realize the level of fanstasy that you are gonna “make something that sounds good” but not even wanting to learn the basics of music to make music? Just typing it out it doesn’t even make any kind of sense. Are there exceptions, of course. There are people with perfect pitch hearing that hear something once and be able to play it but the majority of music producers actually know…now get ready…this is a shocker…they actually know HOW TO PLAY AN INSTRUMENT!! You guys seem to all want the fame of being a “producer” but want to do absolutely nothing in actually learning the craft and studying actual music and honestly its sad and disgusting.
I think you are scaring people off with all this music theory mumbo jumbo, the essentials are eq, compressor, reverb and echo… sidechaining your bass is always handy at making room for your main kick, start with good sounding drums and always compress your drum rack together. That’s all you should really focus on when starting, when you have that down you will have beter ears for hearing what is needed in a mix… the next level is really just making sure you have a dynamic sound that leaves room (about 3-5db) for a professional to master… lesson 3 never master your own tracks, your ears are tired by this stage! The rest you can pick up along the way.
P.S. dont make melodies in C major, this is a happy key, make them in A minor (all the white keys from A) this is a mellancholy building then awesome key…
Sadly, that’s pretty much the state of pop music today in America. That’s why there’s so much “crap” out there.
I have to agree with a lot of DJ Matt Blaze’s sentiment. I think it’s somewhat ridiculous to expect to make great music - or great anything - and know nothing about it.
JulianVeloso- You are mistaken. Many people learn fundamentals of music theory from a very early age. 17 is about the time that high school kids might take the music theory AP test, which is still basic knowledge compared to what a composer/producer ought to know.
By ‘‘ableton at it’s fullest’’ i mean knowing all the tricky tricky’s that ableton holds to itself. By this i mean return-send effects in a single drum rack, grouping effects into multiple instruments, shit like that, which doesn’t really affect your mix, but helps you keep it organized.
And also, i need to learn how to use VST’s, by this i mean what does what? For example: i’m playing with massive, i find this tickable buttons : Unisono spread, monophone, monorotate , legato, legato thriller, shit i know nothing about, this scares me lol. Only thing i know is that if i knew how to control manage everything and know what stuff does what and how to recreate the sounds i think of, i’d be producing huge shitt
I know lots of people learn from a very early stage of life, unfortunately, i wasn’t a one of them, that and my school won’t teach us shit about art or music itself.
Thanks alot, i really wanted a post like this… Also what do you mean by leaving 3-5db? recording my master track on a volume level -5db?
I never said i didn’t wanna learn any music theory, infact it’s why i started this thread, i wanna learn the theory to produce good sounding melodies, chords, scales, rythms and whatever other music term you wanna add there.
I also wanna learn how to play the piano…I didn’t want this thread to become some kind of belief’s war.
Also if someone could share some guides on how to properly use VST’s like absynth, sylenth, massive or FM8 ( ones i have )
and other musical theory guides related to chord proggressions, melodies etc.
I’d be really greatful.
Keep in mind the Beatles couldn’t read a lick of sheet music and look what they accomplished.
Everyone learns differently, taking a theory class may or may not help you in the grand scheme of things. I learned this from my classical guitar instructor who has a doctorate in music. Some of the best musicians/artists in the world play by ear, he told us. You can’t teach creativity! However, if you are the type of person who can learn things by reading a book then a class might be a great tool. For me I know I don’t learn well this way. I learn by practice and trial and error not to mention listening to a ton of music everyday from different genres. Professional writers are also avid readers, that type of thing.
[QUOTE]Also if someone could share some guides on how to properly use VST’s like absynth, sylenth, massive or FM8 ( ones i have )
and other musical theory guides related to chord proggressions, [sic] melodies etc.
[/QUOTE]
I personally think that Loudon Stearns, who is currently at Berklee, is great at teaching on the subject of VSTs like Massive. I think that Berklee’s pedagogy (ecosystem of music teaching) is an interesting one because it balances textbook knowledge with instrument-in-your-hands practice. Loudon is an Ableton Certified Trainer in addition to a great musician. Check out any of his free videos, and maybe take a lesson or course with him. You’ll probably be “greatful” you did.
[QUOTE]i wanna learn the theory to produce good sounding melodies, chords, scales, rythms [sic] and whatever other music term you wanna add there.
[/QUOTE]
You definitely should!
Anyone has guides on music theory? scales? chord progression? preferably videos..
Music theory +9000 seriously as stated you can’t expect to bang out a complex pro track without basics.
Tracks take layers layers take knowing harmonies knowing what scales/keys work together. You need to know percussion theory. You need to know what multiband compression can do. How to isolate the sounds you want from a synth with a parametric eq: how to stay under your headroom. You need to know how to route sends.
Or just download Ableton and sample packs from your favorite torrent site buy a launch pad and call yourself an producer like so many people do today. Sample vocals from latest pop track throw a siren sample in every time you wanna change direction.
Like Fml saying it something you can’t be bothered with is like djs who don’t can’t beatmatch even with a bpm display so just beatgrid and use sync. It’ll get ya by a bit but eventually catch up to ya.
If you let monkeys bang on typewriters long enough, eventually they’ll write Shakespeare
Found myself 4 video guides about rythms, chords, scales and drums. I’ll watch all that.
rhythms!
You should seriously consider try this http://www.sibelius.com/products/musition/index.html
Don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to discourage anyone or hamper creativity and some of the best musicians play by ear (Hello, Stevie Wonder) but you have to know at least the basics of music theory.
Prince can’t read music.
Reading Music != Knowing anything about music theory
There is a balance to be struck. Theory is very important (I’m focusing more on melody and such since rhythm and beat is well established and genre specific). With theory, you can extend off of a seed of musical idea with a fraction of the effort it would take without that knowledge. You can create your harmony, you can have a starting point for different movements, and you can build around a motif with ease.
That said, theory is half the story. Ignoring production techniques, since composition is my focus here, music is about what sounds good. Theory can only get you so far and is mostly based on classical theory anyway (jazz improvisation really has influence over a lot of music today so is also worth some study). If something sounds good, go for it. Don’t just outright stop production to learn theory, but instead do it simultaneously.
In the end, theory is important. It teaches you the rules of what sounds good and what feelings certain musical motifs can create. With that in mind, knowing the rules is also important because you know how to break them. Learn theory, but also just create. Learn an instrument while you are at it. Just like sound design, mixing, and mastering, you will constantly learn. Just be willing to actually do the work. Its the ones that find this balance that become the success stories.