Call me the karate kid (before being the man), because I am in need of some solid direction from a seasoned vet, or anyone looking to be influential to a beginners journey down the path of electronic music.
In other words, I have started to really get into the world of music production, DJ’ing, etc. I will be entering my freshmen year of college this fall and since i decided to walk away from my hockey career and NCAA opportunity because of financial issues, i have decided to take on the monster they call electronic music production as a hobby. My goal is to have fun with it and maybe, through out college be able to produce and possibly even perform some fun songs, mixes for friends. I look up to artist such as 12th planet, nero, deadmau5, skrillix, bassnectar, pretty lights, rusko, and so on, you get the picture.
All in all, as of now I have a Macbook Pro, Ableton Live 8, and I picked up a Novation Launchpad for ****s and gigs to mess around on and basically give me a little more motivation to really stick with this. I look to keep it at that for now, and just focus on really decoding ableton live, and learn the fundamentals to producing glitch step, dubstep, house music, etc. I would love to be versatile in all genres of electronic music. I am always looking to learn more from everyone and anyone. If anyone is interested in throwing some pointers and guidance my way, it would be greatly appreciated. I signed up for the silver membership of sonic academy as well and the tutorial videos are very informative, although real time feedback and discussion is an important tool for any student of anything for that matter in my opinion.
That’s about it, hit me with whatever ya got. Just glad to have others out there that have the same passion for all of this.
p.s- sorry about the long post, just wanted to get my story across in one sitting.
Cheers
Wax on and then buy a subscription to this site…
Phil is an excellent Myagi san…
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haha thanks man, i actually do have a subscription, just got a silver membership.
learn music theory! 
Things I wish people had told me when I was starting out:
- Listen to as much of what you want to sound like as possible. Not just through your tinny iPod headphones, but on a nice stereo system, and take notes. How does the artist structure the song? Besides what you can hear clearly, what’s sitting under the mix? What element of the track do you really like?
- In house music, despite newly fueled talk about giant bass drops, heavy wobbles, or whatever, the most important thing for a “drop” is the kick drum. You can have the coolest bass sound in the world, if you’ve compressed your kick drum incorrectly and it’s flat and missing in the mix, it’s going to sound like sh*t. (Tips for kick drum compression: if it’s a strong, punchy kick to begin with, stick with 4:1 ratio compression, with a threshold between -7 and -13 dB, with mid to high attack and release) Oh, and for Dubstep, which is the genre a lot of the artists you mentioned produce in, the kick is NOT as important. Sub bass is the killer there (that’s a sine wave, really.)
- Despite what you hear/read/think, compression DOES NOT MAKE THINGS LOUDER. It softens the dynamics by reducing the amplitude of the track’s transients. If you have something, say a bass, that’s totally punchy but not loud enough in the mix, put a limiter on it and turn the gain up, don’t just slap compression on it. (Many people make this mistake because Ableton’s standard compression has a “Makeup” toggle which compensates for the gain reduction…)
OK, those are things that I really wish I had known a year ago and only now have I been learning them…
Oh, the best advice I can give you is to always have someone, not necessarily a producer, to be there and comment on your tracks. Having a third party is THE most essential thing starting out. I wish there had been someone to tell me how crappy I sounded 9-10 months ago.
awesome flaxo thanks for the help!
Definately, definately have to agree with Flaxo! All those things pointed out make absolute sense and I wish someone had told me those things when I started out in January…
I also definately agree with willidaniel! Music Theory is BORING to learn but god is it worth it! I am still in the process of learning it myself… Though be careful, a lot of other forums keep saying too much Music Theory will actually kill your creativity, got to find the right balance.
appreciate the response man, and yes music theory has been a hassle, considering the last time i took a look at it was middle school haha. I am looking at the videos here at sonic academy for music theory, but not too sure if there are others that are necessary for my development.
i dig ur response. that is true, listening to music u really like on loud speakers. just don’t go deaf!!! u never regain ur hearing… one thing that never heals!
music theory is great… i’m relearning it myself after taking piano as a teenager… but it’s coming back. it’s fun!
Oh also, just a tip, put your reverb on return channels or busses. Don’t use it as an individual effect. Not only will it give your track spacial schizophrenia, it’ll gobble up your CPU in an instant.
flaxo had some good tips there. and his music is dope so i’d listen. haha
the biggest tips I have for you are this: practice, practice, practice and then practice more.
if u wanna be a pro… there is no “dabbling” in music production. it takes about 10,000 hrs of pure time & dedication to be a pro at about anything. at 8hrs a day that will take about 3 years. so if ur gunna do it. be prepared for the long haul. cause it takes mad time.
[quote]MistroPain (20/07/2011)[hr]Definately, definately have to agree with Flaxo! All those things pointed out make absolute sense and I wish someone had told me those things when I started out in January…
I also definately agree with willidaniel! Music Theory is BORING to learn but god is it worth it! I am still in the process of learning it myself… Though be careful, a lot of other forums keep saying too much Music Theory will actually kill your creativity, got to find the right balance.[/quote]
100%
i was obsessed with learning music theory for years… i was very good at it… then realised my music became more sh!t and predictable the “better” i got at the theory cos i was writing what “should” come next… instead of what sounded different and interesting… i dont focus on it anymore and try to forget what i learnt
awesome guys thanks for the help, yeah i know its a long haul to be good at anything. Hockey for 15 years at a high level will teach you a little something about work ethic, but props to the big names out there in music production, because this is takes a much different approach to work ethic thank the athletic side im so accustomed too. If only I had an actual teacher! I am more of a hands on learner, and having someone with me would help so much more. Too bad where I live doesn’t have that…
Trust me, nowhere has that. Post anything up here. People are pretty kind. And send it to your heroes, whoever they might be. Unless your heroes happen to be Guetta, Armin, or Tiesto. In which case, don’t… Or at least don’t expect a response.
[quote][b]UnitedVision (22/07/2011)[/b][hr]
the biggest tips I have for you are this: practice, practice, practice and then practice more.
[/quote]
+1
thanks guys, my mind is just a cluster with it all right now. I get so pumped to start this up, and now i am so road blocked. I feel like i have a lot of great tips, but have no idea how to put them in order and where to start…
Start with learning your DAW. You cant do anything without that…