Why am I so terrible?

[KhemicalKid]

Hey there guys.

I've been using FL Studio for about 3 years, and now I guess you could say I know the DAW pretty well, but I just can't get the sounds I want! It's really starting to get annoying now, because I KNOW I have the knowledge, but I can't put it into practice.. I made a song a while back, which is entitled 'Memory' and I was happy with it, but it was really tame compared to most dubstep you'd hear nowadays.

I want to be able to make something that will make my mates belive that I really can make good tunes, but it just isn't happening at the moment. I don't have a midi keyboard, but I badly need one. It's horrible having to think things in my head and then plot them down and see if they sound decent, because I can actually play the keyboard.. Well, I can't read music or any of that, but if you give me an instrument and leave me for a few days, I'll produce something half decent at the end. If any of you are Final Fantasy fans, I can play 'To Zanarkand' for Final Fantasy 10 - and that's a pretty complex song. If any of you havent heard To Zanarkand, then search it up on Youtube, because it is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard in my life.

Anyway, I'm babbling. I have around 5GB of samples, drum hits, vocals, acapellas - all sorts! But still, I'm not producing what I want to hear..

If you could head over to my Soundcloud at http://soundcloud.com/synkope and have a listen to what I've done so far, then I'd be a happy man - I would just like some feeback, and maybe some tips to improve myself.

Thanks guys!

[Recessive Trait]

I want to be able to make something that will make my mates belive that I really can make good tunes

that is the wrong reason to make music.

dude, 3 years is but a flash in the pan. get yourself a midi keyboard (but don't expect it to write hits for you) and keep at it.

[glottis5]

If you're not happy with what our doing, the most logical thing is to do something else or try to get better at it, right? Maybe there's something about the way that you approach production just isn't working. Maybe you're just not practicing enough to get proficient at it (how often do you produce?) or you're not doing it right (what's your process for making a track?).

[johnny666]

I want to be able to make something that will make my mates belive that I really can make good tunes

that is the wrong reason to make music.

I listened to your mixes and look man the ideas are there, you just have to keep building.
I find that the overall production is very plan with not much happening with in the drums/bass/synths.
try adding the little things, like reverse cymbals, automating pitching up and down, pauses are good, turntable scratching in transitions between 2 parts.
vocal hits/melodies.
There is so much more man you just have to listen to more dubstep and try to find what you like with in a specific song and the try to figure it out.
If you haven't already watched the rusko and reso's masterclass, thats a real lifter in terms of production ideas.

[64hz]

i got a midi keyboard and its sat in my cupboard for bout 18 months.

its all in ur head.

im probably in roughly the same situation as you. making good songs for ages, just not the ones i want to.

making tunes for your mates to enjoy is a perfectly good reason to make beats.
(there is no 'right' reason to make music)

but if you have the 'knowledge' but not a grounded vision of what you want to hear, youll go nowhere and make stale music.
do you actually know what you want to make?

[DoctorPlease]

I agree you definitely have decent ideals. you just have to work on production a bit more. dont ever believe that you need more equipment to make you sound better. some of the most popular producers use shitty equipment and make bangers, thats part of what makes them the best producer! skream uses flstudio (not saying its shitty, i use it too) and hes been near the top for a while. basically you just really need to practice, and out source for information.
google is your friend, as well as DFS, and youtube.
watch endless tutorial vids. read countless articles about production, equalization, mixing, mastering ETC ETC.
dont read how to make this sound articles though, those just slow you down.
i can go and comment on your songs to tell you where you need work if you want

[benjam]

After listening to a couple of your tunes I reckon you should concentrate on your arrangement and look at ways to keep things from getting repetitive.
Honestly the first one could be made 200% times better instantly if you bring the drop forward and changed the bass LFO rate from time to time.
Also id suggest A/B your final mixdown with a similar style tune, the tranceyish lead sounds in the two tunes I heard seem to overpower the other elements a bit.
Like someone said above youve got the ideas man without a doubt , just listen to shit loads of tunes and try and work out what it is that stops them from being repetitive.

[KhemicalKid]

If you're not happy with what our doing, the most logical thing is to do something else or try to get better at it, right? Maybe there's something about the way that you approach production just isn't working. Maybe you're just not practicing enough to get proficient at it (how often do you produce?) or you're not doing it right (what's your process for making a track?).

I've tried producing different types of music, house and drum n' bass - But still that didn't go great, as I don't hear as much drum n' bass, so I'm not 100% as to how it is structured, and house was just messing around after listening to some classics..

I was producing every day, I'd get on FL for a few hours, then take a break, then go back on ect. Now because the sun has been shining for 3 days straight, I've been working on my bike. The reason I posted this thread is because I was messing around on FL earlier and was getting frustrated.

Well, I don't always do it in the same fashion - but generally I'll open up and instrument and just lay some notes down to see how it sounds (normally the melody) and then structure the song around that. Sub Bass will come next, then the drums - And that's how I do it really. Like I said, sometimes I'll find something that I really like, but then when it comes to making the song - the inspiration is gone. That is one of my biggest flaws, I get onto FL after thinking about some new beats, then I sit down, and draw blanks. I never get angry, I just think 'f**k it' and then leave.

I listened to your mixes and look man the ideas are there, you just have to keep building.
I find that the overall production is very plan with not much happening with in the drums/bass/synths.
try adding the little things, like reverse cymbals, automating pitching up and down, pauses are good, turntable scratching in transitions between 2 parts.
vocal hits/melodies.
There is so much more man you just have to listen to more dubstep and try to find what you like with in a specific song and the try to figure it out.
If you haven't already watched the rusko and reso's masterclass, thats a real lifter in terms of production ideas.

Ok man, thanks for having a listen. I feel the same way, everything I make lacks that spark.. Yeah I understand, I have fiddled around with all sorts in the past!

I find that listening to dubstep just annoys me, because I think to myself 'why can't I make sounds like these!?' although I know that it will take time.

Ok, I'll have a look.

i got a midi keyboard and its sat in my cupboard for bout 18 months.

its all in ur head.

im probably in roughly the same situation as you. making good songs for ages, just not the ones i want to.

making tunes for your mates to enjoy is a perfectly good reason to make beats.
(there is no 'right' reason to make music)

but if you have the 'knowledge' but not a grounded vision of what you want to hear, youll go nowhere and make stale music.
do you actually know what you want to make?

Fancy selling it? I think that a midi keyboard is vital, because instead of plotting things down, you can sit there and tap it out, and it is so much easier..

Glad I found someone else in the same situtaion! I bet all the greats have had times like these though.

It's not purely to entertain my mates, I just want them to like it!

Does anyone know what they want to make? Surely people don't have it all planned out? You just open up your DAW and mess around, then then BAM! That sound hits you, and you realise you could make something good this time.. Thats what I do anyway

I agree you definitely have decent ideals. you just have to work on production a bit more. dont ever believe that you need more equipment to make you sound better. some of the most popular producers use shitty equipment and make bangers, thats part of what makes them the best producer! skream uses flstudio (not saying its shitty, i use it too) and hes been near the top for a while. basically you just really need to practice, and out source for information.
google is your friend, as well as DFS, and youtube.
watch endless tutorial vids. read countless articles about production, equalization, mixing, mastering ETC ETC.
dont read how to make this sound articles though, those just slow you down.
i can go and comment on your songs to tell you where you need work if you want

The midi keyboard is the only thing I want, just so I can think things out without having to mess around on the piano roll.. I didn't realise Skream used FL!

I've watched countless tut videos, I just get bored watching them! But yes, I should watch more!

Nahh I agree, I prefer watching the tutorial videos then reading pages and pages of people asking 'how do i make this sound'

Feel free man, feel free.

After listening to a couple of your tunes I reckon you should concentrate on your arrangement and look at ways to keep things from getting repetitive.
Honestly the first one could be made 200% times better instantly if you bring the drop forward and changed the bass LFO rate from time to time.
Also id suggest A/B your final mixdown with a similar style tune, the tranceyish lead sounds in the two tunes I heard seem to overpower the other elements a bit.
Like someone said above youve got the ideas man without a doubt , just listen to shit loads of tunes and try and work out what it is that stops them from being repetitive.

Yeah I agree, once I make a song, and then try and revise it, the ideas are just gone..

I do aswell, I make a drum n' bass re-edit of that song not too long ago.. Then I tried to redo it altogether, but its really hard when you have 40+ patterns that you need to delete so you can start over - I'd rather do that then export the patterns I want to keep.

The Flute & Violin one? I posted that one Facebook, and a mate said that same thing. I just threw that together one evening, and I don't really like it either, but it's much different now after I have done some more work to it.

Ok man, I'll try my best! Wish me luck, because I somehow think that I'm going to need it!



Sorry if I have been a bit frank, it has taken me an age to write this out!

Thanks everyone!

[Juzzy]

Ok man, I'll try my best! Wish me luck, because I somehow think that I'm going to need it!

Sorry if I have been a bit frank, it has taken me an age to write this out!

Thanks everyone!

Good luck. I liked the last song but its not really my type of dubstep coz i like dirty dubstep with a hard bass.

Im also having difficulty making dubstep with FL Studio but i only started making dubstep a few days ago

[nowaysj]

I think the pro's songs usually have fewer musical ideas than beginner's songs, but the pro's put way more work into what is there. Like beat by beat there is tuns of nuance, and they keep shit moving, constantly changing things.

Now, you might not even be hearing what you like about the songs you like. When the pros are doing it, it's little subtle things that most people don't even hear, but they feel.

Other than learning to really listen to what is going on, which should be a goal in of itself, I recommend bringing in a simple song from a producer you really like, and just putting it in the playlist, matching the tempo so your measures line up with their measures, and really just get very familiar with their song. Like beat by beat, note by note. You'll see how little is going on, and how much is going on.

If you want to accelerate your production learning by about a year, just start recreating the track with your own samples and synths and fx. Just start doing it. And do it as closely as you can, so if you play a measure of theirs, and a measure of yours, they sound pretty similar. There are going to be differences due to mastering, but don't trip on that too much.

I swear to you, if you really spent the time and did this, you would learn actually how much work goes into a good track, you will learn about arrangement/songwritting/flow, and most importantly you will learn really how to work your tools. When you objective goals, like I want this white noise sweep to sound exactly like this, you have to really learn how your filter sounds, and how the automation works, and etc etc.

Also, you best not be writing your tracks with that limiter on the master. BEST!

[MexicanKangaroo]

I think the pro's songs usually have fewer musical ideas than beginner's songs, but the pro's put way more work into what is there. Like beat by beat there is tuns of nuance, and they keep shit moving, constantly changing things.

Now, you might not even be hearing what you like about the songs you like. When the pros are doing it, it's little subtle things that most people don't even hear, but they feel.

This.

Everyone has their flaws in their music production... I'm sure when most people started out their tunes were solid, but it lacked the energy and that professional sound that comes from professional producing
Just spend a day or two, brand new track, but don't compose anything; don't make tunes, nothing. Just pull out your favourite synths and mess around finding sounds. Make multiple copies of slightly tweaked patches. Get a few plugin chains going. Seriously, it did a whole lot of good for me. I think I remember reading Excision's view of this... it's somewhere in the forum, too late for me to find it.

[makemerich]

not to give you a lame all for one one for all take but, we all feel like this sometimes.

try colaborating with differint types of artists.
your never going to be excision, or skrillex, or who fuckin ever, anyone except yourself.
so take what you know and have/are learning, and make something . if it sounds like a half ass version of what the pros do, pull a 180 and throw in a audio sample of ring tail lemurs mating, then chop it up and do something with it, i dont know do whatever you do and dont stop doing it. always try something different. the successful people have multiple elements in what they do.
and everything is s p a c e d e v e n l y.

[Lethal_Dose]

I want to be able to make something that will make my mates belive that I really can make good tunes

Music is supposed to be a form of expression not a way to be cool. 3 years really isn't much time either. There are folks who have a natural knack for it but keep practicing and make the music for you not cuz you think others will like it. That will follow.

[64hz]

i got a midi keyboard and its sat in my cupboard for bout 18 months.

its all in ur head.

im probably in roughly the same situation as you. making good songs for ages, just not the ones i want to.

making tunes for your mates to enjoy is a perfectly good reason to make beats.
(there is no 'right' reason to make music)

but if you have the 'knowledge' but not a grounded vision of what you want to hear, youll go nowhere and make stale music.
do you actually know what you want to make?

Fancy selling it? I think that a midi keyboard is vital, because instead of plotting things down, you can sit there and tap it out, and it is so much easier..

Glad I found someone else in the same situtaion! I bet all the greats have had times like these though.

It's not purely to entertain my mates, I just want them to like it!

Does anyone know what they want to make? Surely people don't have it all planned out? You just open up your DAW and mess around, then then BAM! That sound hits you, and you realise you could make something good this time.. Thats what I do anyway

it aint for sale cos i will get around to using it (eventually)
i used to use it all the time, they are helpful for sure, but not totally necessary.

I dont think anyone has it totally planned out, but i normally dont even open my DAW now without an idea for a song.
obviously there are still times i fuck around but i find it useful to go into making a song with a notion of what vibe i want to create and with what sounds.

[deadly_habit]

because you touch yourself at night
as said 3 years is but a flash in the pan
you'll eventually have that egad! moment with your music and it will all make sense and your vision will start coming out in your tunes easier
it's not something you can put technical specifications or a time frame

[tavravlavish]

I think you need to listen to more music, different kinds, and a lot of different electronic music. Cause to be honest with you, what you are writing is really stale, the melodies and sounds you are using are boring. Nothing changes and none of it I find interesting. it doesn't sound like you've spent a whole lot of time on those tracks, every producer needs to do some nerding out. Sometimes A change in daw might be needed. I think If I spent 3 years starting out in fl and I would probably be writing a "why am I so terrible?" post as well. I haven't spend a lot of time on fl but it just isn't my program at all. This is of course just my opinion, and I hope you don't get offended by that. I would suggest trying to write 30 second or a one minute long songs, and focus on the details, try to make those 30 seconds really great and intricate. I would suggest this to a lot of electronic producers, and basically any musician. I think it would be good practice to work on little mini songs for awhile. I should probably do that as well come to think about it.

[DZA]

[zerbaman]

2mnytrolls