Producing for beginners
Producing for beginners Posted on: 04.10.2012 by Iluminada Vandevoort Hope everyone's had a beneficial and positive week so far! I've recently started spinning, bought my first piece of gear last week and am currently in the process of finishing "How to DJ right, the art and science of playing records" and other materials aimed at beginners for DJing. However, my main goal is to produce music, as the reason I've started spinning is to hopefully one day reach the festival level. That being said, how essential is learning how to mix when it comes to producing music? From my understanding, producing music is divided into 3 steps; 1) producing the beats 2) mixing the beats/samples into an actual song 3) mastering the final track I'm interested in producing house/progressive house and progressive trance music, will Ableton provide the necessary mechanics to successfully produce house/trance music? What I mean is, are there any additional software you would recommend that would work with Ableton, such as an external beat maker or synth etc. Last question, how did most of you start off producing? Did you start messing around with Ableton to figure it all out? Watch tons of youtube videos then start pouring in your creativity onto the track? I feel rather lost in how I should proceed. | |
| Linda Chavda 18.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by alchemy
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| Asuncion Yeakel 17.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by Tarekith
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| Monserrate Rupnow 17.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by Skyline
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| Nikole Resende 12.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by alchemy
Great video! Have seen it before but completely forgot about it... |
| Monserrate Rupnow 10.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by DemiAlex
http://www.worldofbryan.com/rsg2mt.pdf |
| Benjamin Sieh 06.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by ksandvik
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| Meaghan Machold 18.10.2012 | i would also like to point out that getting involved in diff KINDS/GENRES of music is every eye opening, and stimulating. Dont look for inspiration thru other electronic/edm producers. listen to hip hop producers, rock bands, anything involving music and gain inspiration from other sources of art |
| Luciano Hyppolite 18.10.2012 | also, i dont also mean, you have to become a master and read all the books behind composition and theory. a good exercise is to start analyzing tracks and their sections, in a notebook write name of the song, draw a timeline with the duration and listen to the song, in the timeline roughly mark the different sections of the song, what elements are introduced, taken out variations etc. |
| Linda Chavda 18.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by alchemy
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| Luciano Hyppolite 18.10.2012 | the so called progressive house in beatport nowadays,(not the best name for this music) doesnt need much knowledge on music theory, if you break down all the sections in the songs they all follow the same pattern of intro, an uprising lift and a dirty bassline with a kick behind. not that interesting musically but it does the trick for some people and maybe fun to listen sometimes. unfortunately, this music is just CLUB dance music it is no intended to endure through time, most of it will pass in six months and it will become old. The difference with music with interesting sections not revolting always on the same pattern, use of different musical elements and all sorts of things is that maybe nott much people will listen to it, but I believe it will endure more during time and it will be less likely to become boring after six months. just my opinion on the matter check out The M Machine for mastery of the use of different musical elements |
| Asuncion Yeakel 17.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by Tarekith
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| Linda Chavda 17.10.2012 | Any tutorials for any DAW can be applied to others ones unless its like your first day of producing. |
| Monserrate Rupnow 17.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by Skyline
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| Asuncion Yeakel 16.10.2012 | Theres not a lot of videos on youtube for Logic atleast not that many tuts |
| Nikole Resende 12.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by alchemy
Great video! Have seen it before but completely forgot about it... |
| Luciano Hyppolite 11.10.2012 | one of the best advices |
| Luciano Hyppolite 11.10.2012 | music theory-->Interesting music |
| Monserrate Rupnow 10.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by DemiAlex
http://www.worldofbryan.com/rsg2mt.pdf |
| Linda Chavda 09.10.2012 | Music theory for computer musicians Worth every penny |
| Ervin Calvery 09.10.2012 | Walter Piston - Harmony Kent Kennan - Counterpoint |
| Iluminada Vandevoort 09.10.2012 | Can anyone recommend me any good books about music theory? |
| Shaina Sulick 09.10.2012 | This is really a good post. Thanks for sharing this information. I am sure lot of people will benefit from it. |
| Benjamin Sieh 06.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by ksandvik
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| Linda Chavda 06.10.2012 | You do realise that you have went from basic chords to basic theory to tonics, chords, intervals and scales? I never once said that being "well-versed" in theory was a necessity, but what you expanded on from chords is a lot more adequate than just chords, and my point is that he might as well read the rest of the theory book from there on anyways. Nothing is a necessity, but every thing you learn is a step forward. You have one original besides that one which has being realised as far as I can see. This would save you 5 minutes on your soundcloud, and as far as branding and marketing goes, I'm pretty sure it would be better to have all of your social media outlets pointing to your beatport as opposed to just beatport, plenty of people like to listen to a full track before they buy it anyways. |
| Cindie Brodskaya 06.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by elliot1106
I have other originals that have been released as well, however in the interest of saving space and branding (which is a whole different ballgame if you want to talk about reaching the festival level) I have chosen to leave them off of my SoundCloud currently, however you can find another one of them on Beatport |
| Linda Chavda 06.10.2012 | Nope, I found an original, one original in at least 9 month and it was a collab. I can't imagine a remix needing anywhere near the same amount as composition since the main melodic elements are already composed? Just to put it out there, my original comment said that Remixes don't require as much theory, and you don't have any originals on your page... which isn't exactly a personal attack, more of an observation. |
| Cindie Brodskaya 06.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by elliot1106
http://soundcloud.com/ryandubay/theme-evening -ryan-dubay-aquila http://soundcloud.com/ryandubay/hardwell-spaceman-ryan-dubay-remix Not sure if serious about that last comment? EDIT: You deleted the personal attack, how kind of you |
| Linda Chavda 06.10.2012 | If you want to get to festival level you should leave a minimum chance. Not every single person can write 'beautiful melodies and chord progressions' without a knowledge of theory... are you believeing of avicii here because he doesn't seem to know much about anything. |
| Maricruz Mouw 06.10.2012 | music theory = over rated.... saying that i do know a good amount of theory |
| Cindie Brodskaya 06.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by elliot1106
More important than this is understanding what sounds good and achieving a professional sound. I have been very successful producing EDM with only basic knowledge of theory, and I can speak to the fact that many producers even more successful than myself would fall under the same category of having basic theory knowledge. Will being well-versed in music theory hurt you? Not at all. But you can write beautiful melodies and chord progressions and it will mean nothing if you lack skills in sound design, mixing, mastering, EQing, etc... agreed? The OP said he would like to reach the festival level, to do so the most important thing to do is produce tracks of a professional quality so that current festival-level DJ's feel comfortable playing them alongside their own productions and other tracks in their sets. I can cite several examples of tracks in the genres of progressive house, electro house, and trances, that have had huge Beatport chart success as well as being staples in many a festival set over the past several years. I am not telling OP to NOT learn music theory, as every producer must understand at the very least the basics of theory, like I said tonics, chords, intervals, scales. I am simply emphasizing the fact that to reach the level he desires, it is not necessary to become incredibly well-versed in theory, but he would be better suited understanding that to play at the festival level, it is most important to produce festival quality sound. |
| Linda Chavda 07.10.2012 | I can't really see that as a positive attitude. I personally believe that if you want to produce and actually produce something that isn't utter garbage you should spend a hell of a lot of time researching and experimenting. Saying that you only need to learn basic theory is like saying you only have to learn the very basics of every technique, you'll be left with a basic sounding track. If you want to do this I'd recommend learning as much as you can about everything possible! |
| Cindie Brodskaya 06.10.2012 | Well, let me rephrase that to "basic theory" then. I saw someone say in another thread that regarding the production of Electronic Dance Music, the result is very musical, but the process is not. Couldn't really agree more. Apologize for the mistake in saying only basic chords, it is important to understand the basics of music theory, however it is not at all necessary for you to be a skilled pianist or a classically trained musician to successfully produce electronic music. |
| Linda Chavda 06.10.2012 | You only said basic chords, which was terrible advice. Taking a day out to read a book on theory isn't a big sacrifice and it's one of the most beneficial things you can do. |
| Cindie Brodskaya 05.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by ksandvik
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| Celine Surico 05.10.2012 | Lack of music theory means boring music. |
| Linda Chavda 05.10.2012 | You do need music theory. I mean you could drive a car without zero knowledge of why it works, but then when you break down you won't have a clue how to improve stuff and make sense of it. |
| Cindie Brodskaya 05.10.2012 | Realistically, you don't need much music theory outside of writing very basic chords. For Progressive House/Trance the best synth out there is Sylenth1 in my opinion. Nexus and Nexus2 are also fantastic though they aren't necessarily synthesizers but rather are ROMplers. NI Massive will also be a very good thing to have in your arsenal. It is important that the sounds you synthesize are very good, because no amount of effects or processing or mastering will make bad sounds good. Drums are very important, all of the Vengeance Sample Packs come with VERY good kick drum samples in comparison to the rest of the sample packs out there. Drums, while often over looked are arguably the most important part of electronic music, they must be powerful and cut through the mix. A lot of people will suggest heavy sidechain compression (google this) for this, however I have found that using gentle sidechaining and parallel compression (google it) on layered drums produces much better results. Reverb and delay are your two best friends in terms of effects, learn them inside and out and how to manipulate them. Once you have mastered all of this, you should be producing solid tracks with solid sounds, then you can start believeing about mixing and mastering. Learn to precisely EQ each element of your track so that all elements cut through the mix and frequencies do not clash. Limiters and compression are also important. As far as mastering, there is no better mastering plug than Ozone 5 Advanced in my opinion, it does however come at a very steep price ($1000USD). Does it sound like a lot to learn? Good, it should. Producing is not easy, and can be compared to advanced calculus where as DJing as like learning to add and subtract. Above all, put in the time, take no shortcuts, and don't be afraid to experiment. I have been producing with Ableton for just over 2 years after messing about with FL Studio for about 4. The results will begin to speak for themselves, I have had Beatport releases and track's supported by huge artists such as Hardwell. If you put in the time, you will see the results. Hope that was helpful |
| Elisha Keat 05.10.2012 | I agree with ksandvik. Youtube is a good place to start if your looking for tutorials and beginning instructions. But most important is just sitting down and doing it. Start with the basics and make a couple of generic house beats, then you can start to play around with different synths and effects, but keep it simple. Create your own sound. Don't follow others that you see on youtube. To reach the festival level, you really need to create your own sound. Its like listening to afrojak, kaskade, avicii...you can recongnize their sounds. |
| Ervin Calvery 04.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by elliot1106
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| Iluminada Vandevoort 04.10.2012 |
Originally Posted by ksandvik
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