Production?

[dj_obs]

Hey guys!
How did you learn to use software such as Live or Reason and make some music out of it? And also stuff like using MIDI devices? Cause I know this school in CH that teaches stuff like using Live, Midi etc.. Are these worth it?

[zuzz]

Most people i'm guessing learn from trial and error by teaching themself.

If ya wanna learn how to do it it's worth it.

[Jedison]

If you want to make commercials go there. Production isn't a degree type thing that once you graduate you're a good producer, so I think that route may be a risk. I'd say read up and practice and you'll find what you like best and get your own sound. Then maybe go onto audio engineering where you can work with gear you'll never normally have access too.

I honestly believe that if you love something enough, and put in hard work you'll receive the fruits of your labour.

I also know I see enough ads for technical instituts on US television stations, so they seem kinda shady to me. That's just what I think though.

[nem0nic]

School isn't going to get you a good job in production, but it's always a good idea. First of all, you'll make less without a degree. Second, you won't have shit to fall back on if you find out that production isn't for you. You'll be just another high school graduate - have fun being night manager at Sbarro.

That said, you don't need a degree to get into production. I never graduated from college (I quit after my second year because I was making a good living DJing). But I had to start at the absolute bottom and work my way up. What took me 10 years would have taken 4 or 5 if I had a degree, because I could have shopped for a better job at the start.

I don't have to worry so much anymore, because I have a good resume and people know I do good work (and I now have something like 12 years in). But it took me alot longer to get where I am because I don't have that piece of paper.

[Mystic]

Do training, read books, trial and error...

A lot of these programs have some great training programs you can get and use to learn the basics. For instance, Reason has the Producing Music With Reason DVD. It's a great way to learn the basics about how the program works, what each device does, teaches you the basics of patching racks and making tracks in general.

There are also many good books out there you can read to help you get the most out of your music you make with these programs. How to get better sound quality, different ways of recording, etc.

Then you go to trial and error and find what works best for you. In production, there is no right and wrong way to do things.

If you find it's something you want to do professionally, there are a lot of great schools out there that will expand your knowledge to where you're making professional quality music.

[dj_obs]

Thanks guys. I think I was misunderstood in the term school. It's just actually a shop where they sell records and DJ equipment (kinda like TTLab and many others) and they also have professionals teaching there. But it's not like a school where you learn everything and music as a main subject, it's just an extracurricular activity.

Production seems fun, but I don't know where to start...

[Skeyelab]

i learned thru trial and error, reading manuals, talking to people who knew, doing tutorials, and applying the same techniques to producing EDM as you would for any genre

[Jason Cerna]

with live, i did the tutorial, read the manuals, learned how to make patches, started building up my collection of samples, consulted the forums and other users of live.

a good way to learn is to cover a track you already know, without sampling from the track. use sounds from your sample collection and tweak those to sound like the sounds you hear in that original track, then try to arrange them just like the original track.

as far as learning how to assemble a track, that comes with proper knowledge of how the tracks for the genre you're interested in are usually done up. take a favorite track for instance, start noting when certain sounds hit and when, you'll see things are assembled in a neat little pattern.

[Jedison]

Originally Posted by dj_obs

Thanks guys. I think I was misunderstood in the term school. It's just actually a shop where they sell records and DJ equipment (kinda like TTLab and many others) and they also have professionals teaching there. But it's not like a school where you learn everything and music as a main subject, it's just an extracurricular activity.

Production seems fun, but I don't know where to start...

Well if they're giving more like "lessons" I would say learn a program at least a little bit and then get some useful tips, that way you're not wasting money on learning the basics. If you have any friends that do it a little bit, see if they have tips you can pick up on. Even my least technical minded friends who taught themselves have some good things to teach.