Where to start with production? (newbie)

[Giran]

There is no "best" synth out there. Although there are some VERY good ones that professionals prefer, such as Native Instruments Massive, Spectrasonics Trillian or Sylenth1 by Lennar Digital.

Also production depends on how fast/willing you are prepared to learn. Some bits of production are far easier to learn than others, I love building solid drums but really dislike sound design. If you really want to start production seriously, then perhaps do invest a little in some courses by Sonic Academy/Dubspot. However, I've found alot of these schools concentrate on the basics rather than more of the advanced stuff (which makes sense for beginners), but don't expect to be making the sounds of your favourite artists within a month. It's a long process that's always evolving and requires attention.

[kickassDJ25]

Hi Giran

thanks for the info.

I want to take it seriously, I'm willing to put the time in. I was looking at Sonic Academy, 55 dollars every 3 months I think, not bad, even just to get the basics you know.

I'm gonna mess around with ableton for now, but I honestly don't even know where to start with it.

I read on the net, Its best to start with some loops?

[Andrew B]

Start with the built-in tutorials.

[Skeyelab]

I dare not read a manual, especially this one ha

why not? are you afraid to progress?

[Giran]

No problem mate.

That sounds like a plan indeed. Make sure you learn + pay attention when it comes to Equalization and Compression, as they are the standard tools for any producer. It really depends on what genre you want to produce, but I think the best starting point is the drums. It's a solid foundation for any good track, and having professional sounding drums are a big indication of a good production.

There are tonnes of tutorial videos on youtube, but definitely grab a book on mixing from Amazon/etc.
http://www.dnbscene.com/article/88-t...te-eq-tutorial is a good starting point as well.

Using loops are a hot topic amongst producers. I'm not going to share the "hipster" viewpoint but there are pro's and con's to using loops.
They are easy to use; just drag and drop the required loop which fits the track. It's also helpful when learning a new genre and a whole different type of drum programming is required. By dropping a loop, you can identify where the kick/snare/hats fall and give groove to the track.

Generally, loops are unprocessed drum hits sequenced together and are finalized renders. This means you cannot edit them in any way unless you slice them and load them into a sampler. Ableton is great for doing this as you can slice to track, but it's not always 100% correct. Sometimes you can have a loop that has one element out of place, and even slicing + EQ'ing cannot do much without stripping the core groove. This is where loops fail massively.

Every single person who produces EDM professionally swears by Vengeance and Loopmasters sample packs. They are fantastic, clean sounds but because they are so well known, any loop you use from theirs would be recognized easily. This is where the "hipster" viewpoint kicks in.

Don't worry about that though, if it sounds good to you, then it probably is! At the end of the day, it's not always the route taken, but actually getting to your destination is what counts!

[kickassDJ25]

I shall give that link a read tomorrow.

can loops just be dragged and dropped into the arrangement window? not really making music is it?

I'll take your info on board about Equalization and Compression, but what makes them so important?

[thehadgi]

I think at your stage, it would do you well to read 2 books (or any others..) that I read when I was starting out:

http://www.amazon.com/Ableton-Live-P.../dp/1598639757

This one will explain the program, what everything does, and how to commonly use the program the program to do certain things.

http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Post-Pro...8573225&sr=1-4

This one will explain the idea behind eq, compression, reverb, all those other musical things that you're wondering about. If you kinda go through each book at the same time, here and there, you'll start to make sense of music production as a whole. Then the only thing left is to keep making things. Start with simple sounds, drum hits whatever. Then go into loops. Then make a short phrase, like intro-verse-chorus. Then a full song.

Baby steps

[Giran]

I shall give that link a read tomorrow.

can loops just be dragged and dropped into the arrangement window? not really making music is it?

I'll take your info on board about Equalization and Compression, but what makes them so important?

// Easier to quote + reply.

Yup they can and yes, that's precisely what certain elitist producers say.
You could argue that a chef doesn't always cook from scratch. It's not like he grew an animal, fed, killed, cleaned and then cooked it for you.

Equalization and Compression are very important in production and mixing because they sculpt and mould the sound you want.
Equalization (basically) works by cutting or boosting specific frequencies of an incoming signal (a loop for instance). Generally it's alot better to cut the muddy ranges (below 120-200hz) than to boost the bright ranges (2khz+). Most pro's abide by this rule and so do I.

Compression is generally used to control the output level of an incoming signal. Sometimes a vocal/drum track has a loud and unexpected point in the signal and you wish to "lower" the volume precisely when that point occurs. This is what compression does. You can use compressors for tightning drums (parallel compression), de-essing (vocal control), and side-chaining (making the bassline pump/duck when the kick hits).

If you can master these two techniques, then you are kinda halfway to becoming a good producer.

[ilya]

If you can master these two techniques, then you are kinda halfway to becoming a good producer.

not trying to pick on anyone but seriously, ignore this quote entirely. put down the books and tutorials. stop watching youtube videos on compression techniques. delete those loops you downloaded.

grab some free drum samples online, download synth1 (http://www.geocities.jp/daichi1969/softsynth/), depending on which version of live you have there's also pretty good chance you got some virtual instruments and a sampler/simpler already.

now open live, go through the built-in tutorials to get a better understanding of the basics - audio vs. midi tracks, programming into live's piano roll, arrangement vs. session view, etc. pull up a simple piano sound, some of those drum samples, and write in whatever comes to your head - be messy, don't worry about 'mistakes'... that your sonics might not sound anything like your influences, that your music isn't as catchy as your favorites, that your track only ends up being 2 minutes long when you're trying to write house. in fact, stop trying to do anything for now, forget allllll that shit and just mess around! make sounds and little musical patterns, program your own crazy left-field drum loops. drop in a random effect with a fun sounding name on one of your channels, something like 'ping-pong' or 'crusher' and tweak randomly to taste.

if you're genuinely having fun this process itself, regardless of whatever the end product sounds like, consider picking up some of the books suggested above/watching online tutorials about specific techniques that you find yourself wanting to better understand, etc. more importantly though: listen CLOSELY to a lot of the music you enjoy -really thinking about the elements of it that you like (listen to some music you don't typically listen to too) and only produce if/when you feel inspired, have something to say or just feel like doing something you love.

[ilya]

2 more things:
monitor at low volume levels, preserves your hearing; if something sounds good when it's played quietly, there's a much greater chance it'll sound good when loud too. the inverse isn't always true.
take regular breaks! you might get a completely different perspective on something the next morning... get out of the house, stay in and read a book, get drunk, go to a park, get laid, or whatever - just get inspired.