Production is something many want to delve into, but few know how. My question is where and how did you personally learn music production from? And how long before you considered yourself ‘good’?
Did you…
Have a mentor/friend teach you?
Pay for classes (ie. Sonic Academy)?
Trial and Error?
It seems like production is a lot of guess work and “one step forward, two steps back”.
ALSO, I was hoping everyone could post links to blogs/YouTube videos and offer resources to help other DJTT members.
Had bass and guitar lessons for about 4 years. Had a rock band during 6/7 years.
Started with production about 2 years ago taking it serious only since last year.
Well, I watched tons, and tons of videos in youtube, downloaded tutorials and read tons of internet articles. Lots of great free stuff on the internet, just need to find the right places.
Trial and error also.
I think knowing about music theory, arrangement and some other stuff I learned from playing an instrument really helped.
Self-taught through trial and error, internet and magazine articles, youtube, and having a background in music helped (played guitar and bass for 10 years in various bands and DJ’ed during some of those years too.)
No matter what any body says, if you are doing trial and error/experimenting and pick up bad habits… its going to take longer to unlearn them.
Having a friend who is better than you, to see maybe once a week/fortnight can keep you on track and fix your faults.
How do i know this works? I did it the hard way, my housemate is a very keen learner but it took a lot of “STOP, dont do that, let me show you where you are going wrong… continue” he is quite good now.
I always find it weird how everyone I know who produces are the same people who are into metal and alternative rock (among over things) and are all musicians (in the instrument sense )
I learn in my bedroom Experimentation, articles and youtube.
I was into rock/metal/blues and played guitar/bass/drums. I gradually became interested in electronic music. Sold a guitar, bought a synthesizer. Experimented in my bedroom.
I find that EDM has far fewer rules than rock, which makes EDM more experimentation friendly.
It’s always interesting to hear different viewpoints and the sheer abundance of free content has to be taken into consideration these days.
In my experience, a structured and musically relevant educational journey has the highest success route, but most music producers aren’t serious enough to invest in their musical careers. So hacking their ways through blogs, Youtube videos and forums has been the way to go so far. I don’t think there just aren’t enough hours in the day to go looking high and low for stuff that might help. Fragmented free content is what it is… free.
I have been teaching and managing at audio production technology at Sirius XM for five years and in the last three of those I have been teaching Audio Engineering and Production Skills (predominantly a electronic music on Logic Pro and Ableton). This year I have shifted into instructor led and online course development.
Spending over $3000 on an instructor led or online music production class might sound like a lot to some of you but trust me, it’s not. When you consider the amount of genre specific (and this is the key) content and instructor knowledge, plus example projects, alongside the fact that you get to be a part of an ecosystem that lives and breathes music… I think it’s too cheap. Production techniques can be learned, but the real value is in the modeling of an experienced producer/musician/mix engineering etc.
Instead hacking through dvds, blogs and forums, I suggest befriending an experienced/successful producer and try modeling them. Other route is joining a local class, then try online ones.
I started writing back in the late 90’s in DOS.
This old program called Impulse Tracker is the sequencer I cut my teeth on. Learnt mostly through trial and error about sample chopping, looping, ADSR envelopes, the nuances of inverting chords, programming counter melodies, etc ..
Sorry, getting ahead of myself a bit there.
Trial and error definately worked for me to begin with.
After about 2 years of teaching myself I took up studies in Jazz / Popular Music theory, which helped immensely.
I would focus on music theory if anything first, because when it comes down to all the programs they pretty much do the same thing, just with different interfaces and varying styles of detailed technical tweaking possible.
I personally find working with NI’s Maschine great for getting my ideas and a solid sound laid down, and then routing the tracks into Ableton for further automation and mastering.
I can’t think of any particular tutorials i’ve come accross lately that have really been a huge help, but i’ll offer you some tips
Start to critically listen to every song you hear. It doesn’t matter if it’s “not your style” it’s still music, and you are a student of the world of releases around you. Inspiration and education is there to be found if you switch on the radio, a tv ad, wherever - if you listen believe me you WILL pick things up. Even if you’re not sure how something was done, as your knowledge grows things will start to click and “oh, that’s how you do it” moments will come so regularly you’ll wonder what you were doing a week ago
Decide on a genre that interests you the most. It may sound limiting, but when starting out it can be easier to focus on one style, atleast just to begin with. Me, i was actually writing heavy metal / industrial tracks since most of what i listened to at the time was Pantera, Fear Factory, etc - so all i had to sample were Metal CD’s . Eventually that grew into Prodigy-esque chemical beats, eventually veering off in every direction from Psytrance, to Techno, to Drum&Bass, where i’ve finally settled into
Immerse yourself in an online production community. There are so many forums and blogs around nowdays, it’s overwhelming i know. If you’re into the jungle sound the dogs on acid forum is immensely helpful for beginners and seasoned producers alike. One good general resource though is the KVR Forums http://www.kvraudio.com/ You will find SO much info there, and SO SO many free VST Plugins.
And that there brings me to my final point. try every plugin you find
Seriously, do it. There are so many free ones out there, and you’d be amazed the quality of them! I mean it’s literally like you’re walking down the street and a store is giving away guitar effects pedals. You’d grab that up in a second if it was a physical effect unit, so don’t disregard the free VSTs
I could go on for hours here, i’ll leave it at that!
And they offer some free online courses at the moment! I just realised I didn’t mention dubspot yet even though I thought I would have done… Definitely a great resource for helpful information!
I started playing guitar at 16, but spent more time making it sound weird than playing it proper. Bought a keyboard next as that seemed easier for that sort of thing, and it had a built in sequencer so I started writing songs. From there it was just self taught over the years while I constantly looked for as much info as possible on audio production. Books, magazines, online, you name it. I never really set out to “get good at production” or anything like that, I was just having fun making noises and the more I did it the better I got I guess.
No matter which method you choose to use for learnign, at the end of the day it just comes down to putting that info into practice again and again until it becomes second nature. That just takes time, so make sure you remind yourself now and then that the process should be more fun than the end results
)
Experimentation, articles and youtube.
. Eventually that grew into Prodigy-esque chemical beats, eventually veering off in every direction from Psytrance, to Techno, to Drum&Bass, where i’ve finally settled into