The hardship of solo producing..

[BYTEME]

Been at this for about 10 months but due to my learning disability (intregation disorder) I have a lot of trouble learning new things, so I haven't been getting very far at all..

I have been watching tutorials and reading lots of forums. I just still seem to suk at producing Electronic music in my opinion.. I really want to keep trying though.

I'm mostly stuck in the area that involves making sounds work together properly.

Before I started producing Electronic music on my PC, I was a Chiptune producer. With Chiptune you don't need fancy EQ, compression, limiters, or anything. It was just a few drums, and pretty fast melodies all made from tiny sounds used off of audio-chips in old video game tech like the Gameboy Original.

I don't know if I should give up and stick to Chiptune, or keep trying..
I don't have Ableton or all those noce pluins everyone else uses. I use FL Studio with the plugins it came with, and I bought NI Massive, as well as Zeta and other junk which I've been using sparingly.

I'd say my style of music is (VERY) Minimal with characteristics of Chiptune and Moombahton occasionally.
I'm very inspired by Eptic (for his unique whompy circus sounds), Feed Me (for the abstract samples), and Deadmau5 (deep minimal drum patterns.) But really I don't try to copy anyone or use sounds given in tutorials, I definitely have a bunch of sounds I've made over the past few months.

I was just wondering if anyone could help me is all.. :/

[BYTEME]

Some sounds I've heard in music has definitely always frustrated me, made me jealous an feel inferior to producing.
Like a sort of natural-sounding grinding metal bass. Or those VERY TIGHT filtered saw waves used in Kil The Noise and Porter Robinson tracks. I know I shouldn't worry about copying and being jealous of other peoples sounds, I should do it all my own and make my own sounds. :/

[JTMMusicuk]

I started in Chiptune aswell, i know how you feel. It took so long to get out of writing endless melodys and cheesy chord structures, it does all come with time though.
Chiptune is dead these days so iv moved on but make what you want to make and eventually youl get there.

If you want to hear my old stuff search 8bit collective for GB-ME
Id link but i cant get on it at work.

When you have days where you cant be bothered to produce or have writers block try sitting down with your favorite synth and try and make some new patches for your next tracks, every now and again delete your patches and make new ones so you keep progressing.

Theres plenty info round here to help you with just about everything

[Electric_Head]

You have FL , massive and zeta??
That's all you need.
Practice practice practice.

If you battle for ideas, buy some sample packs.

[Augment]

I started in Chiptune aswell, i know how you feel. It took so long to get out of writing endless melodys and cheesy chord structures, it does all come with time though.
Chiptune is dead these days so iv moved on but make what you want to make and eventually youl get there.

If you want to hear my old stuff search 8bit collective for GB-ME
Id link but i cant get on it at work.

When you have days where you cant be bothered to produce or have writers block try sitting down with your favorite synth and try and make some new patches for your next tracks, every now and again delete your patches and make new ones so you keep progressing.

Theres plenty info round here to help you with just about everything

Don't delete patches, rather build a patch library of your own.

[JTMMusicuk]

I never save patches anyway

[hasezwei]

look man, just keep at it.
i've been doing this shit for like 5 years or so, and im still nowhere close to where i wanna be. but lately (and only lately) i get the feeling of actually getting somewhere and it's a rush really, i feel like all the time (literally houndreds of hours which isnt even much compared to what others have been doing) has finally paid off.
however i still have TONS of stuff i can't replicate, at the moment i feel the way you feel about KTN basslines just with breakbeats, i used to be frustrated about reeses for years until earlier this week it just went click and i suddenly understood it.
and at the same time im sure spor/ktn listens to stuff where he's like "aw man i wanna make sounds like this" then sits in the studio and gets pissed off cause he cant put a finger on how it's done.
see it as something positive: the learning will never stop. there will always be an opportunity to improve yourself, something new and exciting to think about.
and i mean if you already know your style thats awesome, i seem to change mine whenever i open my DAW

i wouldnt go back to making chiptune unless thats what you wanna do, you should never feel like thats the only stuff youre allowed to make or something. but the fact that you started out with chiptune gives you a unique advantage cause from what the chiptune people i've met so far told me it gives you a totally different perspective on making music. much more about the actual songwriting and melody rather than spending 3 hours eq'ing a snare drum.
now you wont get around doing that (and thats where i think tutorials come in handy, not to learn how to make the specific sound in that tutorial but to learn efficient non-frustrating workflows) if you're aiming for the big sounds but its not impossible.

and lastly, copying is how people learn. thats just how it works, learning through imitation. when you've reached a level where you're confident with your tools and can do stuff without even thinking about it, thats where you should start putting your own spin on it.

[fragments]

This article http://www.dnbscene.com/article/88-thin ... q-tutorial

...made a HUGE difference in the way I produce...the way I design sounds, pick samples and (obviously) use EQ...

I read this article at least ten times to make it sink in and I'm a lot happy with the way my sounds work together these days.

[Huts]

I think people need to put music production and their progress into a different perspective. After 10 months of skateboarding would you expect to be even remotely close to the level of the guys you see in videos and magazines? You say your style is very minimal, but then mention KTN, noisia, and feed me as people whose sounds you after recreating which has me a little confused. Insane sound design doesn't equal a good piece of music, worry about the components that actually make songs danceable (drums, groove, bass(i dont dance to midrange)) before worrying about how KTN makes his bass.

[JFK]

I think people need to put music production and their progress into a different perspective. After 10 months of skateboarding would you expect to be even remotely close to the level of the guys you see in videos and magazines? You say your style is very minimal, but then mention KTN, noisia, and feed me as people whose sounds you after recreating which has me a little confused. Insane sound design doesn't equal a good piece of music, worry about the components that actually make songs danceable (drums, groove, bass(i dont dance to midrange)) before worrying about how KTN makes his bass.

Great advice

[hudson]

I think people need to put music production and their progress into a different perspective. After 10 months of skateboarding would you expect to be even remotely close to the level of the guys you see in videos and magazines? You say your style is very minimal, but then mention KTN, noisia, and feed me as people whose sounds you after recreating which has me a little confused. Insane sound design doesn't equal a good piece of music, worry about the components that actually make songs danceable (drums, groove, bass(i dont dance to midrange)) before worrying about how KTN makes his bass.

This. So many people get discouraged when they start out because the expect it to be easy... it's not, it's hard as fuck. You have to practice literally as much as you can, especially if production is your first step into making music. I've been producing for about a year now and, compared to others who have been going for as long as I have, (I hope this doesn't sound too conceited) I'd consider myself a little above average. The only reason I'm at this point now though is because I've been playing music in some form since I was, like, 7 or 8, I've been writing songs for over 7 years, I've been in 4+ bands and I have no hope of a future in anything else but music. On top of all that, I pretty much stopped going to school when I started producing (grade 12... thank god I managed to still graduate) and it's all I did during the year off that I'm on the tail end of.
So yeah, you can't really start something and be good at it in a year or two or three or even four unless you have a ton of relevant experience, an enormous amount of passion, and a fear of the future so intense it could make Rambo shit his pants.

Keep at it dude, just be patient.

[nowaysj]

Draw a picture of the piano keyboard. Put 8 octaves of keys on there. Put some frequencies under the keys on up the octaves. When you start producing a track start writing down the various elements in their freq range. Don't overlap sounds. I wouldn't recommend most people do this, but if you're having a hard time fitting sounds together this should help. Just getting sounds in their own octave/space is a big step.

Also, stop watching tutorials, you can learn more by doing, at this point.

[Attila]

I think people need to put music production and their progress into a different perspective. After 10 months of skateboarding would you expect to be even remotely close to the level of the guys you see in videos and magazines? You say your style is very minimal, but then mention KTN, noisia, and feed me as people whose sounds you after recreating which has me a little confused. Insane sound design doesn't equal a good piece of music, worry about the components that actually make songs danceable (drums, groove, bass(i dont dance to midrange)) before worrying about how KTN makes his bass.

I agree with this for the most part, but on the same note I wouldn't give myself too much time. 10 months isn't an extraordinary amount of time, but for anyone who's seriously focused, a year should be enough time to release a batch of solid tracks and start gigging relatively regularly. Setting deadlines for yourself is absolutely vital.

Someone just starting skateboarding might not be able to expect to do a 900 within their first year, but even Tony Hawk was on top of the scene after a few.

[JFK]

I agree with this for the most part, but on the same note I wouldn't give myself too much time. 10 months isn't an extraordinary amount of time, but for anyone who's seriously focused, a year should be enough time to release a batch of solid tracks and start gigging relatively regularly. Setting deadlines for yourself is absolutely vital.

I think this might be a bit too much of a general statement. There are so many other factors involved than just whether you are seriously focused or not...

There is no way, for instance, that someone could (from scratch) learn to produce release worthy tracks AND learn to DJ well enough to secure regular gigs in a year. Unless you are A) Extremely gifted B) lucky enough to have access to all the equipment / software etc that you need to accomplish it and C) lucky enough to have an huge amount of free time to dedicate to it.

[hudson]

I agree with this for the most part, but on the same note I wouldn't give myself too much time. 10 months isn't an extraordinary amount of time, but for anyone who's seriously focused, a year should be enough time to release a batch of solid tracks and start gigging relatively regularly. Setting deadlines for yourself is absolutely vital.

I think this might be a bit too much of a general statement. There are so many other factors involved than just whether you are seriously focused or not...

There is no way, for instance, that someone could (from scratch) learn to produce release worthy tracks AND learn to DJ well enough to secure regular gigs in a year. Unless you are A) Extremely gifted B) lucky enough to have access to all the equipment / software etc that you need to accomplish it and C) lucky enough to have an huge amount of free time to dedicate to it.

The most important thing imo
Tony Hawk was incredibly gifted, but he also used to skate before and after school every day. You can have massive talent, but never get anywhere because you don't use it enough.

[JFK]

You can have massive talent, but never get anywhere because you don't use it enough.

Agree 100%

[Aufnahmewindwuschel]

antwuan was incredibly gifted, but he also used to drink every day. You can have massive talent, but never get anywhere because you don't use it enough.

thats the counter thesis, cause he still got alot of fame . its all about image and marketing plus it helps being tatooed all over your body

[Aufnahmewindwuschel]

antwuan dixon for no skateboarders

[Attila]

The biggest barrier would be the producing, which is just a matter of time and effort. I mean if you have a solid grasp on production/song structures, learning djing is kind of a redundant skill in a lot of ways. As far as equipment goes, if your laptop's powerful enough to produce on, running traktor or serato will be nothing. And I honestly can't think of one person who doesn't have even 4 or 5 hours to dedicate to something a day except maybe the most swamped single mother with 3 jobs. Even if you work full time 9-5 that still gives you 16 hours of free time a day*

*Unless you're raising a family, in which case I don't know why anyone would seriously pursue a career where success typically means travelling virtually all the time.

I feel that most of this is a non issue though because it seems that 90% of people genuinely diving into production now are college aged or younger with reasonably powerful computers and more spare time than trees.

I agree with this for the most part, but on the same note I wouldn't give myself too much time. 10 months isn't an extraordinary amount of time, but for anyone who's seriously focused, a year should be enough time to release a batch of solid tracks and start gigging relatively regularly. Setting deadlines for yourself is absolutely vital.

I think this might be a bit too much of a general statement. There are so many other factors involved than just whether you are seriously focused or not...

There is no way, for instance, that someone could (from scratch) learn to produce release worthy tracks AND learn to DJ well enough to secure regular gigs in a year. Unless you are A) Extremely gifted B) lucky enough to have access to all the equipment / software etc that you need to accomplish it and C) lucky enough to have an huge amount of free time to dedicate to it.

The most important thing imo
Tony Hawk was incredibly gifted, but he also used to skate before and after school every day. You can have massive talent, but never get anywhere because you don't use it enough.

I feel like this kind of further proves my point. Even with school (roughly 7-9 hours/day) he still found the time to dedicate to skateboarding. What's stopping any adult with a full time job from waking up early and staying up late to produce before/after work?

[fragments]

I agree with this for the most part, but on the same note I wouldn't give myself too much time. 10 months isn't an extraordinary amount of time, but for anyone who's seriously focused, a year should be enough time to release a batch of solid tracks and start gigging relatively regularly. Setting deadlines for yourself is absolutely vital.

Someone just starting skateboarding might not be able to expect to do a 900 within their first year, but even Tony Hawk was on top of the scene after a few.

Not trying to be an asshat...but that's not everyone's goal.

I've been at this for five years ...slowly collecting gear, reading tutorials and making a lot of shitty tunes...but I've enjoyed every minute of it...every six months or so I have some kind of break through. If you aren't enjoying it take a week off...or month...hell I took a whole year off and didn't loose anything I'd already learned.

Honestly if you aren't enjoying it take a break...that being said...if you are serious about getting releases on decent labels and all you'll have to learn to push through ruts and frustrations.