As a beginner music artist, I’m in need of advice. I did learn one thing, which is to take things slow. Try not to jump to the most exciting part just yet, because you might not be able to do it and it will become demotivating and aaaahhh you gave up.
I remember wanting to jump straight to the cool EDM music and those cool basses and growls, but wait, there was so many terms I had to learn 😢.
This mindset caused me to stop producing for a few months and become off and on. This is why it’s better to take things slow. Learn the basic principals, learn how to use the stock plugins. As an old friend would say, you can’t know how to do 2x2 without learning 2+2 first.
Those reading this, thank you :))
What advice do you have for those starting out?
There’s a lot of sources for learning these days, so be careful not to be overswamped with tutorials. Nevertheless, if you’re learning from the internet, make a text file/notebook with ideas you’ve picked up somewhere? Also, read the manuals for DAWs and plugins before you search their forums. Keep experimenting after you’ve learned the basics of production and workflow (I found that doing a couple of low cost courses on Udemy and LinkedIn helped with these basics).
And to be honest, it might frustrate you,
spoiler
but music production does happen to be one of those fields where capital/monetary investment can make a noticeable difference to your eventual product. There’s an astonishing amount of proprietary code, hardware, circuitry, etc. that can go into that iconic sound you’re looking to reproduce.
Budgeting to acquire that has taken up a lot of my time and effort, so…
Okay wait hold up imma break it down. You gotta get really familiar with a DAW ( Digital Audio Workstation) and just really know your way around there. A DAW is gonna be where you put your samples, synthesizer programs, Mixing Board, MIDI interface. Reaper is free, FL studio and others are easy to “find” cracks of. Gotta get your head wrapped around a DAW.
This way you’ll be able to make the stuff you want and make it sound good. Definitely get in touch with sampling, chopping and generally modulating a sample. Find your favorite movie, video, ambient sound, recording, or whatever; and just really mess with it.
A great way to tune your ear is it listen to artists you like and find out who they sampled or what techniques they used. Take the sample of the original, and try to recreate the artists alteration of it. Or try and match their synth presets from default. You’ll familiarize yourself with your DAW and the sounds you want to emulate and expand on.
I hope this novel of a comment helps, GOOD LUCK ! Never stop making art comrade.
My advice would be to quickly release on whatever platform and being overtly indie / underground. You can’t imagine how many mistakes you’re going to make so better do them fast and be forgiven for them since you’re small. Confronting yourself to an audience is hard and will teach you a lot, and it’s better starting in the safer environment of underground music.
Besides the great advice about learning a DAW, all I can say is just do whatever you can to make the process fun, especially in the beginning phases. If you don’t enjoy it, you’re not going to want to continue, and going back to working on your tracks can be a slog.
Find the part of the process you like best and start there.
It’s been mentioned already but getting to know your DAW is probably number one for sure. Then it’s a matter of making songs of genres that you’re into, considering you’re going to be the most familiar with that genre. And lastly listening to music outside your genre will greatly expand your musical taste and ear, and will allow you to experiment with different stuff too.
