Advice/Guides on Learning to Produce
Advice/Guides on Learning to Produce Posted on: 04.04.2009 by Hertha Fang Ed. Produce music, ex. compose sorry forgot to add music to the titleI know everyone has their own methods but does anyone have any links/tips to general production stuff (and if more specific then perhaps w/ ableton or something similar)? I really want to start making music as well as playing it. Ed.2 Essentially is there a DJTT for production lol? | |
| Ryan Konarski 06.04.2009 |
Originally Posted by Rumblejazz
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| Ashirumatic DJ 06.04.2009 |
Originally Posted by Rumblejazz
Soon to be replaced though! |
| Amada Brierley 06.04.2009 |
Originally Posted by Andrew Loay
IDD = indeed (pretty obscure id say ) I believe he was referring to monitors being the greatest investment? and yes APC40 surely is not the greatest control surface for production! MONITORS MONITORS maybe an AKAI MPK49 |
| Paul Davison 06.04.2009 |
Originally Posted by Tekki
Wouldn't the APC40 be more towards performance? |
| Irwin Ney 06.04.2009 |
Originally Posted by Gueen
A very good program to do some basic stuff is the Image-Line Fruitty Loops Studio 8. It's awsome to make Psytrance even though I'm not very experienced at it. |
| Xavier Emanuels 05.04.2009 |
Originally Posted by Tekki
Its good to try a few programs over time, learning multiple programs can actually help you learn some other things that you might not have otherwise have learnt otherwise using just sticking with the one DAW all the time. Then again sticking with the one tool can be important within itself, because then you are learning that tool inside out and becoming very fluent which in turn decreases the amount of time your spent trying to getting ideas out of your head. Once you have learnt one DAW inside out you will find it alot easier learning other DAW's. Ableton is looking to be a good choice to i have to say. If you want to learn how to produce and learn a good program that you can also play live with - this would be killing 2 birds with one stone. Also if you choose to learn how to code in max msp over the long term you would be able to make your own\download max code to add new features that dont already exist inside Ableton. That just is not possible with any other DAW other than Reaktor and other similar kinds of visual programming enviroments - these other programs are another kettle of fish and are not really recommended for someone who hasnt spent alot of time using a DAW in the past. Ableton will alllow you to get you started, learn a program you can also perform live with. It will also give you the room to grow over the long term into learning how to use visual programming enviroment for both your live performance and audio productions. That in itself makes Ableton pretty hard to beat if you ask me. Fruity loops contains a similar sort of program called SynthMaker but it is not as feature rich as what is being promised by Ableton in their marketing blurb. Lets just hope it lives up to what they say they is possible with it ! |
| Paul Davison 06.04.2009 | luigi, it's sold for like $500 canadian. it's not expensive at all considering all that stuff you get jammed into it. |
| Ryan Konarski 06.04.2009 |
Originally Posted by Rumblejazz
|
| Ashirumatic DJ 06.04.2009 |
Originally Posted by Rumblejazz
Soon to be replaced though! |
| Virginia Ortiz 06.04.2009 | if it hasnt been said yet, a great place to learn production is www.cosm.co.nz that guy is a pro |
| Paul Davison 06.04.2009 | I rented the MPK49. Love it. |
| Amada Brierley 06.04.2009 |
Originally Posted by Andrew Loay
IDD = indeed (pretty obscure id say ) I believe he was referring to monitors being the greatest investment? and yes APC40 surely is not the greatest control surface for production! MONITORS MONITORS maybe an AKAI MPK49 |
| Paul Davison 06.04.2009 |
Originally Posted by Tekki
Wouldn't the APC40 be more towards performance? |
| Ryan Konarski 06.04.2009 | Hey guys after doinf my research and visiting store I already know what's gonna be my basic gear for now im picking up the akai mpk25,korg nano kontrol and im gonna use my current soundcard the native instrument audio dj 8...............im gonna start making song with that and learn the program after im gonna look for harware for live perfornce like a good all in one setup (xone 3d or zero 8 for example) |
| Random X 07.04.2009 | IDD a great, if not the greatest, investment! |
| Amada Brierley 07.04.2009 | please buy some decent monitors. such a great investment. wish id bought them before all software, intrefaces, mics, instruments, midi intrefaces. lol |
| Hertha Fang 06.04.2009 | Wow this thread has been great tweakheads is massive! I haven't even been able to look at some of the other links, though I will read em all eventually. Right now I have decided to get a feel for production with just garageband. I have the ableton demo and would like to buy ableton eventually but I feel like starting with garageband will make for a very nice learning curve and then I can learn stuff gradually on the technical side while being able to practice composition almost immediately. I have a nanopad and a vci-100, I am using the nanopad just fine and believeing that due to my budget I will have to stick with this setup for a bit (trying to buy some speakers first). Does anyone know of any mappings for the vci for production? I know it isn't ideal but I figure that since I have it I might as well use it. |
| Ashirumatic DJ 06.04.2009 | I started with Fl.Studio way back when it was version 1.5. I did not stick with it and dropped it and picked it back up off and on over the years. Never focused on production more then just dj'n. Now today though I am a little more focused in producing. I start all my tracks inside Fl just because for loading VST's, Samples, and Sequencing them I find the work flow is rather easy and efficient (IMO). As well there is a slew of tutorials on youtube/net. You cannot kick on free upgrades for life either! The only gripe I have is the in-ability to get precise values out of some settings. For that I use Ableton for final mix down of my tracks and to play them live. This works great to mash them up with other songs when I am performing out. I also find bringing the final mix down into Ableton easier to make different versions of the song. While producing the tracks within Fl.Studio I use: Behringer UMX-25 Midi Keyboard ($120.00 Can) and M-Audio X-Sessions Pro ($111.00 Can) to control various aspects of the program (filters, volumes, note/sample sequences etc..) that I later send to automation. and for playing out with Ableton I use: M-Audio Trigger Finger ($180.00 Can) and Vestax VCI-100 (A gift from a wonderful friend) Everyone is right here though in saying it all comes down to what you become comfortable in using. I know people who hate Fl.Studio, others who love it or that Swear by reason and a Motif / Tritan or just hardware in general. Some who use no controllers, others who have the latest and greatest in gear. It does absolutely come down to what you find works for you, makes your work flow easy, efficient and fun. For sure you will want to get your head wrapped around music theory and learn your keys, Chords, Scales etc.. ( I am wishing I paid more attention in Music Class during school ). Have Fun!! |
| Roberto Viccione 06.04.2009 | When I first started producing music a few years ago I was using Reason and had an inherent hatred for FLStudio, and I don't know why. My girlfriend at the time used it and I did some work on it. Got some really good synth sounds really quick, and enjoyed using the different filters to just destroy sounds. As I moved to other DAW suites (tried Sonar, Cubase, and Project 2.5) I found myself wanting to go back to FL Studio for the workflow. But I still love Reason |
| Irwin Ney 06.04.2009 | I believe that the easyest program is the one that has more infos, tutorials, manuals, youtube videos on the web... Search a lot and find one that has a lot of stuff to help you, once you have learn the basics by these vids you can do it in any program. |
| Irwin Ney 06.04.2009 |
Originally Posted by Gueen
A very good program to do some basic stuff is the Image-Line Fruitty Loops Studio 8. It's awsome to make Psytrance even though I'm not very experienced at it. |
| Xavier Emanuels 05.04.2009 |
Originally Posted by Tekki
Its good to try a few programs over time, learning multiple programs can actually help you learn some other things that you might not have otherwise have learnt otherwise using just sticking with the one DAW all the time. Then again sticking with the one tool can be important within itself, because then you are learning that tool inside out and becoming very fluent which in turn decreases the amount of time your spent trying to getting ideas out of your head. Once you have learnt one DAW inside out you will find it alot easier learning other DAW's. Ableton is looking to be a good choice to i have to say. If you want to learn how to produce and learn a good program that you can also play live with - this would be killing 2 birds with one stone. Also if you choose to learn how to code in max msp over the long term you would be able to make your own\download max code to add new features that dont already exist inside Ableton. That just is not possible with any other DAW other than Reaktor and other similar kinds of visual programming enviroments - these other programs are another kettle of fish and are not really recommended for someone who hasnt spent alot of time using a DAW in the past. Ableton will alllow you to get you started, learn a program you can also perform live with. It will also give you the room to grow over the long term into learning how to use visual programming enviroment for both your live performance and audio productions. That in itself makes Ableton pretty hard to beat if you ask me. Fruity loops contains a similar sort of program called SynthMaker but it is not as feature rich as what is being promised by Ableton in their marketing blurb. Lets just hope it lives up to what they say they is possible with it ! |
| Carina Kosmo 05.04.2009 | http://audio.tutsplus.com hf |
| Random X 05.04.2009 | True that. You could also wait a little and go for the Akai APC40? (And opt for a soundcard later?) |
| Ryan Konarski 05.04.2009 |
Originally Posted by Tekki
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| Random X 05.04.2009 |
Originally Posted by Kaon
That's sweet too bro'! |
| Lamonica Rockholt 05.04.2009 | fruityloops rewired with reason is the killZ. add komplete 5 to that and you have a base for creating a professional sounding song. that, of course, needs a lot of experimenting and trying. |
| Virginia Ortiz 05.04.2009 | im plannin on the axiom 49 |
| Random X 05.04.2009 | Well, first start of with Ableton. You will be able to handle it by means of laptop keyboard and mouse at first. (Laptop keyboard can be set to send out MIDI messages within Ableton.(Well not entirely true, but you will be able to play VSTs(sound) with your laptop keyboard)). From this point you can look at what kind of MIDI controller you'd want to have. Most popular Ableton controllers: - Akai APC40 - Evolution UC33e - Behringer BCR 2000 - Behringer BCF 2000 - Novation Remote Zero Ofcourse you know my two preferred options here. |
| Ryan Konarski 05.04.2009 | thanks for all the response guys i really appreciate that now thie is my other question im buying a apple pro from my friend it has already logic and ableton installed so for that im good...now in harware what u guys believe i should buy kepp in mind about that i want to use ableton for live performance later on so....what gear s would do the job for both |
| Random X 05.04.2009 | Dude, first try some software demos, just to make sure what app supports your creative workflow best. From here on go. I have given the advice here quite some times, but for you, I will type it out once more. If you're a complete control freak, and like to "code" more or less every bleep in your track, than go for a so called 'tracker'. (Fast Tracker II, Mad tracker or for the nowadays tracker app Renoise) If you're into 19 inch racks, mixers and sequencers and don't want to bother too much with finding your own sound, opt for Reason. (MIDI keys needed) If you're into heavy clicking and sequencing, you might want to go for apps like Cubase and Logic. You will have to find your own VSTs (sounds or effects), but it adds to the charm. If you're more into the intuitive stuff and that has quite some nice VSTs included, but also want to be open for importing new VSTs into your app, than go for Ableton or Fruity Loops. Ableton works for me. Bento is, I believe still, more partial to Fruity Loops. For me Ableton was slight more intuitive, once I came to Ableton, I never looked back to all the others I mentioned earlier. |
| Angelica Sinegal 05.04.2009 | Check out Reason 4.0..with that and a midi control you can create and sequence everything right in the program, or another option is using a software sequencer that supports vsti's and get native instruments komplete( http://www.native-instruments.com/in...p?id=komplete5 ) or any of their sound banks, this would be a better option because you can load a acapella in one track and build the instrumental around it from drums to bass to synths or any instrument possible around it...if thats the production style you're looking to do |
| Ryan Konarski 06.04.2009 | hey guys i really love djing but i can be stock here i want to go to the next level and start producting my own tracks the only thing is that idk what exactly do i need to achieve my goal....can any of u guys would give a ny advice of what should be a perfect beggining setup for production...what u guys recommend me of what should i get and please guys say stuff that they are affortable i want to start everything slow at least the basic for start production thanks guys |
| Verona Fashbaugh 05.04.2009 |
Originally Posted by djhipnotikk
I couldn't agree more. Coming from playing guitar, studying music theory, learning key signatures, etc. It helps tremendously to be familiar with all of these things. Even if you don't obsess over staying in key all the time with what you make, at least you have the musical intelligence to put together a well thought-out track. And what really bothers me is that with a lot of production software, people learn how to use it, and once they learn how to use it they assume they can make quality music. Unfortunately, just because you have the know-how, that does not mean you have the inspiration or the musical fortitude to put together something great. In short, learn how to use the software. But always keep in mind it is music that you're making. |
| Harold Jaras 04.04.2009 | also, read up on some music theory if you aren't versed in it already. i really don't intend to sound mean, but just because you can mix in key does not mean you can create good music. i believe music comes from inside you, and some people don't have that. some people are meant to make music, some meant to warp it. but alas, everything can be learned (almost). learn about harmony, melody, keys, flats, sharps, etc. producing good music that doesn't sound like every other electronic 3 chord progression is a real talent, and def an art. one more thing, DON'T BE AFRAID TO BE CREATIVE. get out of that damn box and don't sound like everyone else. that's the key to standing apart from all the other self-styled producers. if music comes to you, put it to paper. you can't force it, though. |
| Ashirumatic DJ 04.04.2009 | I myself am working on the process of learning how to produce. A few places I have found useful are: on you tube search NFX MDL Productions Acephincter http://www.warbeats.com Mind you these ones are more aimed towards Fl.Studio but have aspects that are transferable to whatever DAW you find you like. Tarekith has a few great tutorials on Song Arrangments, Mixdowns, Mastering etc... available here: http://www.tarekith.com/misc.html If you are like me and have no previous background training in music and need a tool that would help while you are learning music theory (Chords, Scales) http://www.looknohands.com has a wonderful app. http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/ While I was in Chapters Indigo I picked up a cheap book The Remixer's Bible and have found it to be a great tool as well. Its not a guide on the A to B process to production. Rather the author writes about his experiences, trials, failures, solutions, tricks, and techniques. I find myself using it as a reference when I become stuck to help be pointed in the right direction. I had always thought I had a pretty good idea on the Compressor. However after reading this article helped me to understand the functions much clearer. Dogs on Acid Compressor 101 : The Basics After I read the Compression 101 : Basics I wanted to find some more tricks I could do with the device rather just shape the sound. I found this tutorial on New York Compression/Parallel Compression by Mutant Audio NY/Parallel Compression and a second article covering the same subject NY/Paralell Compression Primeloops.com have some videos, PDF files on Ableton / Fl.Studio / and Reason using an array of techniques. As well a great place to find information on or be pointed in the right direction for the questions you may have and meet of aspiring producers are the community s from the software vendor(s) you choose. dont forget youtube! Cheers and The Best of luck to you! im off to the tweakheads site now to read on... |
| Dj Fonzie Ciaco 03.04.2009 | I do believe that copying your favorite songs is a nice way to learn and give your first steps on producing electronic music. Its about the learning curve that you have to surpass in order to start being able to get your ideas on the computer. Of course there are other methods, but this one is pretty cool and you have fun when youre learning... C'mon, you all know how frustating it is when you have the song in you head and then you cant put that on the computer just because you cant use the software properly. The same thing with a kid that just got a new guitar. Hes going to play some well known songs that he likes in order to learn how to play, and afterwards maybe hes gonna create his own songs. At the moment Im using the Energy XT2.5, and even if its now one of the topnotch apps, its still ok and enough for sequencing. By the way, i love the interface. I recentelly bought a vintage drum machine (TR-707) and Im really having fun with this wonderfull piece of kit. Ok, its not a TR808 or a T909, but it costs 6 times less... Now Im saving some money for some synths (Mopho, SH-201) and some effects pedals. |
| Penni Rigor 03.04.2009 |
Originally Posted by DvlsAdvct
I agree that it doesn't matter what you use, as long as you're comfortable with it. Me...I'd rather use Adobe Audition(believe PC only) all day, for ease of use, but ProTools sounds better overall. Garageband is nice too. |
| Xavier Emanuels 03.04.2009 | Yeah find a program with a workflow that you like thats the most imporant thing - even if all its inbuilt fx are crap you can allways load up a ton of nice VST's to make up for that. Spend some time trying out some different demos and check out youtube clips of how to use the different programs until you find one that jives with you. Its not what your using, its how you use it |
| Ernie Stieglitz 03.04.2009 | I believe the most important thing would be to choose the program based on what you like the best. Justice claimed that they used Garageband to make their tracks. Mastering can be left for studios. Most important is to turn your ideas into tracks in the first place, with humming into your cell phone's recorder if you need to. |
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