Best way to learn music production

[Decibel 13]

I really want to learn music production so I can produce myself as an artist, but I’m not sure where to start. I’m in highschool right now and I’d rather not have to wait until college.

 

 

 

Usually when I want to learn something, I just find a good book about it. The program I use is FL Studio and I’ve already read and taken notes on the 80 page “Getting Started” guide. Does anyone know other books I should read to further my knowledge on this program and the subject itself?

If you think there’s another way I should learn besides reading or college then be my guest to let me know.

 

 

 

 

[Unikitty 1,212]

I'm no musician(though I dabble a little in FLS), so my advice just comes from a general point of view, and one as a digital artist.
Practice and practice often. Spend what free time you have, playing around in the program and getting a feel for it. learn where all the tools are, and what they do.
YouTube is probably your largest wealth of resources. Go on there and hunt down a few tutorials. Find a YouTube downloading program, so you can get the good tutorials and have them on your computer to turn back to on a whim.
If you haven't already, learn to sidechain, it's a very neat way for boosting your bassy sounds and producing clearer, quality work.

 

Simply; don't stop. Just keep at it, and you'll soon become better and better. Also: get feedback. If you know a music-savvy friend, perfect. If not, friends(both IRL and internet) are still really good sources for criticism. Find out your weak points, and work at them.

[Binary 14]

I do compose small pieces now and then, and I'm certainly no professional. But I can give a few tips.

 

First is to recognize the vocabulary of music. Like what types of drums there are, the difference between "bass", "synth", and "string". There are a couple dozen words to learn, but you'll better understand by looking at FLS's instrument library, read the instrument names, and listen to them. Before you know it, you'll already know what a snare, hihat, and a bass drum is. If you want to compose electronic music, a couple key words are "Attack", "Hold", "Decay", "Sustain", "Release" and your types of cutoffs, and lastly what kind of sound waves there are like "Sine", "Triangle", "Saw", "Square" etc.

,

Second is to listen to just listen to music. Whatever you prefer and what you want to produce. For example, I want to compose Dubstep, Industrial, and Glitch music. So I'll listen to artists like Knife Party, Alien Vampires, and The Glitch Mob.

When you listen to music, I suggest listening to all the parts of the track. Like the beat, melody, and trying to identify what they are. Be sure to listen carefully to some instruments as you might not notice their presence, for example I never knew Rainbow Factory had drums in the background until I listened closely.

 

Third is trying to compose small pieces (they don't have to be small, they can be larger if you like) of music you want of whatever genre every day. I would also suggest looking at FLS save files that other people made so you can get an idea of how they made their beat, melody, and so on. This will get you familiar with composing music.

 

When you compose your piece, and it doesn't sound right, try to keep modifying whatever part sounds out of tune until it sounds right to you. Never submit something you don't feel really confident about.

 

After all that is just practicing I guess. Then you can start learning more advanced techniques like the use of VST plugins and Automation.

[Decibel 13]

I'm no musician(though I dabble a little in FLS), so my advice just comes from a general point of view, and one as a digital artist.

Practice and practice often. Spend what free time you have, playing around in the program and getting a feel for it. learn where all the tools are, and what they do.

YouTube is probably your largest wealth of resources. Go on there and hunt down a few tutorials. Find a YouTube downloading program, so you can get the good tutorials and have them on your computer to turn back to on a whim.

If you haven't already, learn to sidechain, it's a very neat way for boosting your bassy sounds and producing clearer, quality work.

 

Simply; don't stop. Just keep at it, and you'll soon become better and better. Also: get feedback. If you know a music-savvy friend, perfect. If not, friends(both IRL and internet) are still really good sources for criticism. Find out your weak points, and work at them.

 

I spend almost two hours a day on learning and using the program, but I'll put even more time into it when summer comes(by the end of that I want to be a full fledged musician).

There's a music studio in my town and I think I'll ask for an internship there because my friends are only as good as I am. You're right about youtube, that's my main source of info right now.

 

I do compose small pieces now and then, and I'm certainly no professional. But I can give a few tips.

 

First is to recognize the vocabulary of music. Like what types of drums there are, the difference between "bass", "synth", and "string". There are a couple dozen words to learn, but you'll better understand by looking at FLS's instrument library, read the instrument names, and listen to them. Before you know it, you'll already know what a snare, hihat, and a bass drum is. If you want to compose electronic music, a couple key words are "Attack", "Hold", "Decay", "Sustain", "Release" and your types of cutoffs, and lastly what kind of sound waves there are like "Sine", "Triangle", "Saw", "Square" etc.

,

Second is to listen to just listen to music. Whatever you prefer and what you want to produce. For example, I want to compose Dubstep, Industrial, and Glitch music. So I'll listen to artists like Knife Party, Alien Vampires, and The Glitch Mob.

When you listen to music, I suggest listening to all the parts of the track. Like the beat, melody, and trying to identify what they are. Be sure to listen carefully to some instruments as you might not notice their presence, for example I never knew Rainbow Factory had drums in the background until I listened closely.

 

Third is trying to compose small pieces (they don't have to be small, they can be larger if you like) of music you want of whatever genre every day. I would also suggest looking at FLS save files that other people made so you can get an idea of how they made their beat, melody, and so on. This will get you familiar with composing music.

 

When you compose your piece, and it doesn't sound right, try to keep modifying whatever part sounds out of tune until it sounds right to you. Never submit something you don't feel really confident about.

 

After all that is just practicing I guess. Then you can start learning more advanced techniques like the use of VST plugins and Automation.

 

I know most of those terms but I'll look up a few. When I see something on FL that I don't know, I'll usually look it up right away.

 

Thanks for the advice on releasing stuff. I've been really pressured about putting myself out there. The problem is, I just don't feel like my material's ready yet.

 

Btw, knife party and glitch mob are sick. Haven't listened to alien vampires though

[DusK 1,264]

I posted some guides a while back that should help, though there's one extremely important thing to understand: Nobody becomes a good music producer overnight. Learning and experiencing enough to get to a point where you're capable of producing music worth listening to (objectively speaking) takes years. Be patient with it, and don't rush music out, because that can lead to either disappointment and discouragement, or pretentiousness delusions of grandeur.

[Decibel 13]

I posted some guides a while back that should help, though there's one extremely important thing to understand: Nobody becomes a good music producer overnight. Learning and experiencing enough to get to a point where you're capable of producing music worth listening to (objectively speaking) takes years. Be patient with it, and don't rush music out, because that can lead to either disappointment and discouragement, or pretentiousness delusions of grandeur.

 

There's some really good stuff on here. And it's all in one place which makes finding it a hell of a lot easier haha. Thanks dude!

[ASocialyAwkwardPony 299]

Don't know if this have been covered yet, but some small notes that I find usefull:
 

1. Reverb is your friend. Use a lot of reverb on instruments that would otherwise sound "fake" unless that is the sound you are going for. This is especialy useful on programed piano, drums and any other typical organic sounding instrument as well as vocals.

 

2. Clipping is bad unless you do it on purpose. To avoid it, be sure to reduce the master volume or instrument volumes to make sure the master volume never hits the upper red parts (goes over -0dcb). Having a master limiter on top of it all and adjusting it to never let the volume go over -0.1dcb can work too as long as you make sure the master volume itself isn't too loud, or it could sound muffled.

3. Panning and effects are useful. If you have a guitar in your track a common trick is to copy it into 2 parts and then pan each part into each speaker, making more room for the dynamics at play. If anything sounds "off", adjusting the signals in a Equalizer (EQ) can help you morph the sound of the track in the way you want.

Very basic stuff so you probably know it already, but yeah just thought I would pop in and mention it just in case. Best of wishes with the music producing!

[Gay Bird 421]

The internet is your friend. Dusk posted something a while back with some super helpful stuff. You want to get to know your daw, and you also have to learn what sounds good in a particular instrument, and how to bring it out with EQs or what have you. You also should learn how to take out the sound you do that want like the picking sound of a bass or the ring of a snare drum. Also use panning. It gives a big dynamic to the sound. Basically learn what sounds good or bad, and learn how to use the tools you have to get it sounding better. I've used pro software like ableton and logic, and I can tell you that garage band and mixcraft can get you the exact same results.

[rebbud 1]

http://www.beatmakershq.com/ >> i found this article  helpful for those  who aspiring and really want to learn music production so fast ..

You’ll also discover which beat maker software we recommend to new producers such as yourself, and how to approach music production with the right mindset from day one.

[Sickman 205]

Uninstall Cubase/ProTools/what have you from your computer, learn to play a fucking instrument and start a goddamn band.

"Music production" is a piss-poor synonym for talentless hacking.

[DusK 1,264]

Uninstall Cubase/ProTools/what have you from your computer, learn to play a fucking instrument and start a goddamn band.

"Music production" is a piss-poor synonym for talentless hacking.

 

Have fun listening to no published music artist ever.

 

I'm pretty sure you don't even know what music production entails.