Random Production Tips Thread™

[futures_untold]

Eat healthy food, maintain a regular sleep pattern & get outside occassionally for fresh air, real sunlight and excersise.....

I fail at all of those

That's why at 2am in the morning you cover your face in spunk/'shaving foam' and take pictures for dsf

----------------------------------------

Another great tip for learning is to become part of a music making clique that pushes its peers to constantly evolve their sound and thier skills. There is nothing like trying to out do your buddies to drive you to learn new shit and to make better tracks!

[parameter]

finish your tracks!

[DZA]

Eat healthy food, maintain a regular sleep pattern & get outside occassionally for fresh air, real sunlight and excersise.....

I fail at all of those

That's why at 2am in the morning you cover your face in spunk/'shaving foam' and take pictures for dsf

i didnt do it for dsf i did it cus i was bored BIATCH

[magma]

Keep it simple and get levels right clean before you start trying to "fix" them with effects.

[antipode]

Something that I have found,

Instead of plowing through projects waiting to hit something you like, (but not getting more than a 16 bar loop..)

(146... urgh lets try something else.. 147.. oh that was alright, but I'm bored of it now.. 148.. meh... 149 ad infinitum)

Get off the computer and come up with a concept for a song. Sometimes music for me is just practicing making beats, but the best tunes I ever make are the ones I have been inspired to make beforehand, and have sat down at my computer with a clear idea where I want to take it.

tldr: Don't just draw sketches all the time, plan masterpieces.

[higgzbozon]

This, not written by but attributed to Thelonious Monk.

It essentially sums up everything and way more that I thought I'd learned about being a musician and part of a scene and so on, better than I could ever have expressed it.

"They tried to get me to hate white people, but someone would always come along and spoil it"


hahahaha

[doubtful]

The "don't play everything" advice is great. It's a strangely compelling feeling when a track invites you to play ghost snares in your head.

[step correct]

1.Find an element of a tune and let that be your focal point..build the track around that.

2. Compression advice

3.Keep at it bro! you stuff is starting to sound pretty dope!

[allisfullof]

some good advice here.....i especially dig the eating healthy bit, probably a lot more important than most would realize.

something i've found to help as a new producer (and its been said a bit on here already) is to really keep at it and push through those moments of feeling like you'll never get it, because there will be a lot of this starting out, but if youre passionate about it and dont mind getting inside your daw and getting your hands dirty, it WILL happen, and each song will get better and better...

spend A LOT of time reading about your daw (the ost important bit of advice i've gotten) read those manuals, take advantage of how awesome it is have fucking dubstep youtube tutorials, spend lots of time on this forum reading thru all the various production threads, i've found it an inexhaustible resource and has improved my knowledge of the craft tenfold, some really killer advice on this forum... but the point is that you've gotta put in the work to get results

once you feel you've got a grasp on working with loops and getting sounds as you like, look into learning automation. this will open up many new doors and ideas

if you're feeling uninspired throw a tune into Edison or any other wave editing program and cut out some samples that you dig for your library. sometimes just doing this will bring about new ideas and songs

another cool thing to do with a wave editor is to throw a simple sounding dubstep beat (the intros of a lot of songs are good where theres not a lot going on except for a very basic drum loop) into your editor, sample the kick, snare and any hi hats involved and then try to recreate the loop in your sequencer using these samples. this has helped A LOT with getting my head around the whole shuffling hi hats dubstep sound

gain structuring is essential


i think its extremely important to do everything you can to finish your tunes when youre first starting out. i probably have about a hundred unfinished beats and sketches and many new versions of each....but it's all about finishing that ;tune and accepting that it's not gonna sound as perfect as youd probably like....it's okay if it sounds simple at first, you're trying to be learning the fundamentals of working with loops and learning synthesis, and to get it to NOT sound like you're throwing down blocks on a grid (unless thats the sound you want)

make music your life. live and breathe it at all times and don't forget all the wonderful natural music around you at all times....

[MidnightMassDubstep]

'high pass everything'

'sub volume thread'

i still dont know how to use compressors properly though

Quick question, how much should I high pass by? Also how much should I low pass as well?

[allisfullof]

'high pass everything'

'sub volume thread'

i still dont know how to use compressors properly though

Quick question, how much should I high pass by? Also how much should I low pass as well?

are you guys throwing a hp and lp on the master to get rid of certain frequencies, or is this in respect to filtering individual instruments (ie lp'ing your sub, hi passing your hats) ?

[MidnightMassDubstep]

'high pass everything'

'sub volume thread'

i still dont know how to use compressors properly though

Quick question, how much should I high pass by? Also how much should I low pass as well?

are you guys throwing a hp and lp on the master to get rid of certain frequencies, or is this in respect to filtering individual instruments (ie lp'ing your sub, hi passing your hats) ?

I'm no proffesional, but I do a lp and hp on every single track and bus, because sometimes I feel certain tracks need more or less passing.
I still don't know the general amount of Hz though, I think for low pass it's about 60Hz, amirite?

[allisfullof]

'high pass everything'

'sub volume thread'

i still dont know how to use compressors properly though

Quick question, how much should I high pass by? Also how much should I low pass as well?

are you guys throwing a hp and lp on the master to get rid of certain frequencies, or is this in respect to filtering individual instruments (ie lp'ing your sub, hi passing your hats) ?

I'm no proffesional, but I do a lp and hp on every single track and bus, because sometimes I feel certain tracks need more or less passing.
I still don't know the general amount of Hz though, I think for low pass it's about 60Hz, amirite?

How much should you high pass WHAT by? you think the low pass is 60 hz but what for what are you talking about low passing? im confused, unless you're just referring to putting filters on a master..... there's no set in stone amount of hz for whatever it is that you're eqing. it would probably help to get a hold of some sort of eq chart to get a better idea of where your frequencies should be, or better yet, a spectrum analyzer. and above all else, use yours ears to find the fundamental frequencies (the sweet spots)

[step correct]

some good advice here.....i especially dig the eating healthy bit, probably a lot more important than most would realize.

something i've found to help as a new producer (and its been said a bit on here already) is to really keep at it and push through those moments of feeling like you'll never get it, because there will be a lot of this starting out, but if youre passionate about it and dont mind getting inside your daw and getting your hands dirty, it WILL happen, and each song will get better and better...

spend A LOT of time reading about your daw (the ost important bit of advice i've gotten) read those manuals, take advantage of how awesome it is have fucking dubstep youtube tutorials, spend lots of time on this forum reading thru all the various production threads, i've found it an inexhaustible resource and has improved my knowledge of the craft tenfold, some really killer advice on this forum... but the point is that you've gotta put in the work to get results

once you feel you've got a grasp on working with loops and getting sounds as you like, look into learning automation. this will open up many new doors and ideas

if you're feeling uninspired throw a tune into Edison or any other wave editing program and cut out some samples that you dig for your library. sometimes just doing this will bring about new ideas and songs

another cool thing to do with a wave editor is to throw a simple sounding dubstep beat (the intros of a lot of songs are good where theres not a lot going on except for a very basic drum loop) into your editor, sample the kick, snare and any hi hats involved and then try to recreate the loop in your sequencer using these samples. this has helped A LOT with getting my head around the whole shuffling hi hats dubstep sound

gain structuring is essential


i think its extremely important to do everything you can to finish your tunes when youre first starting out. i probably have about a hundred unfinished beats and sketches and many new versions of each....but it's all about finishing that ;tune and accepting that it's not gonna sound as perfect as youd probably like....it's okay if it sounds simple at first, you're trying to be learning the fundamentals of working with loops and learning synthesis, and to get it to NOT sound like you're throwing down blocks on a grid (unless thats the sound you want)

make music your life. live and breathe it at all times and don't forget all the wonderful natural music around you at all times....

hey that's all good stuff there, man.

[setspeed]

'high pass everything'

'sub volume thread'

i still dont know how to use compressors properly though

Quick question, how much should I high pass by? Also how much should I low pass as well?

dude, i don't want to sound insulting here, but if you're having to ask that question then you're probably not yet at the stage where you really need to worry about it.

the basic principle is that you filter out sounds/frequencies that don't need to be there: so obviously that's going to be a different set of frequencies for a snare drum (which incidentally I would HP at about 150Hz) and a hihat (probably more like 1K usually. But as ever, it all depends etc etc blah blah blah).

it's a gradual thing though. took me a couple of years of producing a lot to really spot when I should be doing this. likewise with fancy effects - people bang on about this reverb being so much crisper or cleaner than that one, but I must have released 30-odd tunes before I could really tell the difference between 2 reverb units. so basically, just keep plugging away. it'll become obvious eventually, and you'll know what you need to be doing. otherwise, if you're just doing it because someone told you to do it on a forum, you'll run the risk of just making things sound worse


also, whoever said that you should finish lots of tunes - definitely. taking a tune beyond the 16 bar loop or 2 minute sketch stage is a skill in itself which needs practise: you have to get into the habit of adding the detail and tweaking the arrangement to make it a good interesting track, and also of following a tune through to its conclusion (which can sometimes be a complete ballache). this needs practise just like any other aspect of production....

[immortal]

"Work on your work." --Art & Fear

In other words, to stop analyzing, talking about, worrying about, discussing and obessing about your craft, JUST DO it. Make your music. Paint your paintings. Write your stories. Again and again. One gets better by doing, and doing A LOT. Not obsessing over making one peice "perfect".

Was the most mind-freeing book I've ever read.

To true

[paradigm_x]

seconded. my mates has been making awesome loops for years but cannot finish a single tune.

Keep telling him to do it, doesnt even matter if it comes out shit, you NEED to learn to make a proper track.

[grow]

'high pass everything'

'sub volume thread'

i still dont know how to use compressors properly though

Quick question, how much should I high pass by? Also how much should I low pass as well?

dude, i don't want to sound insulting here, but if you're having to ask that question then you're probably not yet at the stage where you really need to worry about it.

the basic principle is that you filter out sounds/frequencies that don't need to be there: so obviously that's going to be a different set of frequencies for a snare drum (which incidentally I would HP at about 150Hz) and a hihat (probably more like 1K usually. But as ever, it all depends etc etc blah blah blah).

it's a gradual thing though. took me a couple of years of producing a lot to really spot when I should be doing this. likewise with fancy effects - people bang on about this reverb being so much crisper or cleaner than that one, but I must have released 30-odd tunes before I could really tell the difference between 2 reverb units. so basically, just keep plugging away. it'll become obvious eventually, and you'll know what you need to be doing. otherwise, if you're just doing it because someone told you to do it on a forum, you'll run the risk of just making things sound worse


also, whoever said that you should finish lots of tunes - definitely. taking a tune beyond the 16 bar loop or 2 minute sketch stage is a skill in itself which needs practise: you have to get into the habit of adding the detail and tweaking the arrangement to make it a good interesting track, and also of following a tune through to its conclusion (which can sometimes be a complete ballache). this needs practise just like any other aspect of production....

Setspeed is right on. Listen to this post. Don't go trying to put your "learning process" tracks out or anything but finish them! This is the only way to understand the process and develop your formula for making music. The refining steps that come last are so important you simply can't learn by skipping them.