something to think about before diving into a DAW

[efence]

what happened to producer getting started with some skill or knowledge before opening a daw for the first time? i know came from a pre softsynth plugin time where things where not as assesable, but still.

if your thinking of making music heres some steps that might help
-if your making dance music maybe take up djing/mixing. you might learn some rythm structure,tempo,song structure, what doesnt sound good togethr.
-maybe learn an instrument. a keyboard, guitar, shit even a bongo. something to help learn a lttle something abouy music.
--take a class. choir, join the marching band, music appreciation at local junior college, a piano lesson with your aunt Edna's
-maybe pick up a BOOK. they have other uses than rolling joints on your lunch break.

just some thoughts
excuse my typing/spelling/grammer my arthritis is really flaring up

[-[2]DAY_-]

i might draw some hate, but relevant to this OP.... i am sorta of the belief that if you don't already do at least one of the aforementioned things, then you have no business installing DAW software or considering yourself a producer at all... unless you're the type who doesn't play music but is a serious recording engineer/mix engineer (i personally don't know any good ones who can't also play).

I know some people want to try this shit out even tho they don't play, and i get that. but at some point people have to say Ok, musicians are going to make music, I will do something else because i ain't no musician. Otherwise where do we get to stand out and be appreciated for our extreme degree of specialization and natural ability and artistic vision?

I just know too many wannabes who think technology substitutes for talent. /rant

[ComfiStile]

I love music, I have played guitar for ages, but due to health reasons beyond my control (obviously), I find it harder to play. So I decided to instal a DAW and make music digitally instead.

I'm shit at it, but hey, it's like learning a new instrument from scratch.

[skyh]

When I started producing a couple of years ago the only thing I had going for me was a growing interest in EDM.

I don't play any instruments. I didn't have any EDM expirience whatsoever.

Now I still produce and run a blog dedicated to my love for EDM.

My advice to anyone is don't let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn't be just make yourself. Fuck everybody else and go with what you feel.

[lyons238]

i dont have any previous musical talent. but i can beatbox and i do have an ear for what sounds good. i believe by just slowly learning more and more and practicing over time i will not only learn my daw better, but gain some musical theory and talent along the way.

i admit i am a bit slow at making progress, but it is happening.

edit: yeah i agree with the guy above ^

[nnny]

When I started producing a couple of years ago the only thing I had going for me was a growing interest in EDM.

I don't play any instruments. I didn't have any EDM expirience whatsoever.

Now I still produce and run a blog dedicated to my love for EDM.

My advice to anyone is don't let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn't be just make yourself. Fuck everybody else and go with what you feel.

This for me.

[wizeguy]

yea skyhigh said it, do what you want... "fuck everyone else"

*tho some of them steps would help

[AJGR]

i was mixing records for 11 months before i touched a DAW. i guess it helped with song structure and making things DJ friendly. that can be a problem sometimes as i'm always thinking about how the tune will sound in the mix. it might be limiting me but it's hard to change old habits.

[jrisreal]

I have a relatively big musical experience before electronic production came for me. I was singing before I could talk. I play alto saxaphone and baritone saxaphone, soprano recorder and tenor recorder, harmonica, bass guitar (but i suck at it), piano, and drums...I also sing and rap. My mom and her family used to be well-known singers in the mid-west. I've taken music lessons since I was like 4 or 5. Got into electronic music production about 3 years ago. Now, I'm 15.

[theDisciple]

-maybe pick up a BOOK. they have other uses than rolling joints on your lunch break.

That part got me good. Personally I started to learn to play piano and keyboard before I opened my first DAW. After a month or so of learning to play keyboard I got myself a MIDI to USB converter. Just starting out and think its one of the best decisions and best pounds Ive spent on equipment.

Back to your post, although the above line makes me laugh a lot it is true. To start learning piano I started learning music theory from books as it gave me somewhere to start. Go check out your local library as they will have a large section on music that will contain everything from learning to play instruments to mixing your almost finished track. Best bit of advice here, don't take books for granted...

[amphibian]

i might draw some hate, but relevant to this OP.... i am sorta of the belief that if you don't already do at least one of the aforementioned things, then you have no business installing DAW software or considering yourself a producer at all... unless you're the type who doesn't play music but is a serious recording engineer/mix engineer (i personally don't know any good ones who can't also play).

I can't agree with this at all, as I'm one of those people you mentioned. No musical knowledge whatsoever, massively inspired by a particular dubstep artist I saw play live (Antiserum), and so hopped right in. That does not mean that I took shortcuts though - I have spent a lot of time reading everything from how to do your mixdowns properly (which I still can't do ), to phrygian scales, note progression and the like.

You're always going to get people who think they can make it really quickly, with minimal effort. Joke is on those people. You gotta work at it, and hard.

I've studed production every day since I started (no joke), nearly 12 months ago now. Not a day has gone past where I haven't read -something- or experimented in some way at home.

That said and done - this thread still has some sound advice (no pun intended)

[Cubicle]

I used to play drums in a metal band.
Was in love with fast double-kick bassdrum sound.
One of our members passed away and the band fell apart.
We lost contact and I gave up on drumming (tho everyday it aches to get back after those drums).

After a couple of years I bought myself an electric drumkit and a cracked version of Reason 4.
Put my mind to it and learned myself (and stil am) everything I could/should know.

I understand your rant 2DAY, but I don't agree with it completely.

[Filthzilla]

It's not totally necessary, but it does help.

[LordBid]

yea I really disagree with you buddy.... I started producing knowing nothing more than the fact that I fucking love music. I think people should do whatever they want, however I agree that it is good to educate yourself in the world of music, study some theory and fuck around, or else your music will sound like dicks.

[LordBid]

not relevant

[-[2]DAY_-]

im referring more to hip hop heads who can't get the sample in tune with anything because they haven't any ear for music, yet insist that they are producers. I should point out i know a lot of guys like that, and i don't think anyone here is like that. if you can sequence sound to have some kind of aesthetic value, you make music. If you have no prior training, but are able to use your ear to get things to fit, you've got it. I don't think it takes a genius to do that, or a guitar player or whatever.
But i've heard a lot of guys try to smash a square peg thru a round hole, because they have no fundamentals of geometry. and then they call themselves carpenters. It makes me feel like they disregard the people who whittled sailboats out of tree branches growing up, and trying to occupy their place instead of finding their own place.