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http://www.ohdratdigital.com/free-stuff/free-plugins/free-vst-au-plugin-project-time/
How would you say you been more inspired to do this?
Do you think it'd be better if you'd gone to a university or are going to one?
Do you think you'd have or have the same opportunity to learn as much as the one in school or viceversa or maybe even more as a bedroom producer?
Which do you think is better?
If you must know the answer then the answer is no to the studio environment question. A yes to the equipment question. Rhetorical questions I know but I might as well include some rhetorical answers. I understand that I have the freedom to do whatever the hell I want when it comes to making music. I get that I can open up a brand new project instead of working on the same one. I also understand that if I keep this behavior up I will end up 100 unfinished tracks.
I understand that it's not mandatory to have any sort of schedule or routine and I can literally just sit there and play with reverb all day if I desired. I don't see why its necessary to go to school to schedule anything but considering my major isn't audio engineering I have no choice but to resort to trial and error and asking for help on forums.
I don't see how these questions are of a similar nature aside from the constant frustrated tone I get from the replies you guys are giving me.
Body language is not in the form of text, i have trouble and often misinterpret things said through text.
These questions i ask are in place to get a better understanding of your problem, and to give solutions as to how to solve it.
The only frustrated"tone" you'd be perceiving would come from yourself, and not through text. Just stating observations, and trying to solve problems.
Back to the issue at hand. What i suggested was a way of learning what you'd be doing in a more efficient manner. Re-read it again if you have to, but the information is there to help eliminate variables for both you and I, that was the point.
Now that we both understand that you have to do it by trial and error, all you're left with is just by doing that. You could order some books about the different production stages and see to the more specific aspects that are associated with each stage.
THREAD.
That link has a book in particular that seems to inspired a forum member enough to post about it. I also mention a book that may cover a more "human" perspective rather than a technical one. Both go hand in hand when dealing with music and people involved in it.
What i mentioned wasn't just blatant "lol go do these things and like w/e bro". You have to do a hard analysis and spend the time necessary to be proficient at this. Simply put, it's like doing home work.
I get that this isn't your major, and you probably want to do it more often than what you're doing right now, but that's the opportunity cost by going to school that's not in the related field. Which is fine, but, what you're asking comes from what you're choosing to prioritize in your life right now.
Out side of my initial questions, which should be reconsidered in a more calm manner and not with anger glasses, Don't know what else to tell you that's already has been told and basically not looked at thoroughly by you.
Ps, don't feed the troll man. I have a habit of going full retard. And if you want any more help from any one, you gotta learn to look at things from many angles and try to pull out what people are actually saying. Because, and once again going back to my post before hand, people are their own thing and you have to understand yourself in order to relate to other people.
*edit* You also may need to look outside of music and apply techniques to music to get the desired results.
Use any thing and every thing if you're in the pursuit of knowledge and understanding, other wise....I have no advice on the opposite of that path.
*edit* I read your post aboutTHIS. I've gained more insight to your situation.
You've been doing music production for not that long dude...compared to your musical understanding. Those things are totally different even though they are compliments in a product.
so, you already know what to do when it comes to practicing an instrument, now apply that understanding to get better at producing.
Btw, i checked your sound clips and they sound pretty decent. You could just be over thinking this whole thing entirely. Just gotta put in the time and learn as you go man. Hard analysis of yourself and start working on those things you see that you're weak at. That's what i did, and that's what many people have done. Eventually they've sought through other people, but not with out finding a problem they can't fix or understand themselves.
Interesting actually. So far you're the only person who has suggested that it might be more beneficial at first to practice things separately. I agree that certain guidelines in mix downs tend to form patterns. A lot of things like compression, reverb, and delay settings however don't really tend to follow a specific pattern with the exception of high passing the latter two to remove the mud below 200 hz.
I guess patterns might not have been quite the right word. Perhaps 'mental models' would have been better. The point I wanted to make is that a large part of what your brain does is comparing and matching models of stimuli with your senses. When you learn something, you're essentially developing a better and more intricate model of it. That process is always iterative, and models progressively build on each other to make larger ones. That's why I advocate breaking things down - the model of 'a professional sounding production' is too complex to try and pick up as one thing. The simpler models that make it up like 'good sound design', 'logical structure' etc. are more realistic steps. You should try and find the level where you're sufficiently challenged - not so easy that you get bored and lose interest, not so difficult that you get frustrated and give up.
Okay, I realize that there are a lot of wrong things with the question I posted so, to better describe what I'm talking about, this video explains it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=351&v=av6PwZ78zKY
Music is based off the Major key.
Your Major scales eventually run into your minor scales as you progress up or down the keyboard. This is true for any instrument (absolute statement check me if i am wrong please).
I personally found the circle of fifths confusing as hell. All you really need to know is what i said above and how to play the scales. That's a REALLY basic understanding.
My hunch is that you should lean towards breaking things down, at least at first anyway. In a way, learning is really just about increasing your ability to identify and distinguish between ever more intricate patterns. This process necessarily builds on itself, so you should start at the bottom where the patterns are as simple as possible (or at the level where they're just within your current understanding).
As for how to break down music production, you'd want to do it so that the patterns are broken down to a level you can start learning. So mixdowns are a kind of pattern, compression is a pattern within that, sidechain compression is a pattern within that, etc. You'd probably learn something useful by trying to break it down yourself - it would help you to understand all the elements that go into production and how they relate to each other. Would probably make a pretty interesting tree diagram actually.
This is something I read when I was interested in coding, but there's no reason why it can't also apply to music production tbh: 5 Tips for Power Learning
Yes, it's me againAnd yes, here you are again, asking a question you indirectly have asked before. How do you get better quicker? How do you expedite the process?
You're comparing two different things. You can't really compare piano playing and production like that, they are two different things. Playing the piano is performance based, whereas production is not. What is the result of end result of piano playing practice? It is a high level of piano playing performance. You want to get good at production, what is the end result? A song. A track. Do you see where I'm going with this?
The answer is very simple. You want to get good at producing songs? Practice just that. Producing full songs. Produce a song and finish it. You have to look at it as a whole, because it is just that.. a single thing. You release a single song. It's interesting because you already answered your own question: "Or is this a bit impractical considering that all these things are pretty much irrelevant unless you're able to combine them all at the same time to complete a finished track?" Yes, you could practice single components, like mixing, sound design, blah blah blah. But you'll be doing all these things out of context. Don't you think it would be more beneficial to practice these things within the context of a song, which is what you're aiming to be good at anyway?Producing songs?
You asked for a "superior practice method". The best thing you can do for yourself is this.. make a track, finish it, put it away and move onto the next. You don't have to release it or upload it.. no one else has to hear it. Just keep it on your hard drive. Do this at least 100 times if you want to see results quickly. It's a proven method for rapid progress, which is what you're aiming for right? Your songs won't be great in the beginning, but you seem to not want to face this (for reasons I will never know) and therefore you're not finishing enough songs to make any real progress to begin with. And you wind up back at the beginning, repeating this over and over again. Failure can be a good thing. The more times you fail, the more you learn. The more you learn from your failures, the less you fail.
I really don't understand why you find it so hard to grasp the idea of finishing tracks. Don't over think it. Don't be afraid to suck in the beginning. Just go for it.
Zau said it best.
I will also agree that on your 100 completed song, you will start to see a difference.
I know around song 50, you'll be noticing some things but definitely by song 100 you'll be in a good spot.
If you're actually completing a song, you are doing all that you can to practice what you need.
Understand this; unless you are actually using all the components that you are aware of at any given time, then you haven't mastered your understanding of your daw and overall music production. That might be over kill, but that's still with in the scope of "being a master".
Then the master's problems become more complex and suited for a master to solve and then become a proficient master.
I know some people might not agree with me, but if you really want to get down to the nitty gritty (at least initially), you may need some studio upgrades.
I fought off buying studio monitors for the longest time, mostly because i just wanted to wait and see how far i can get. But I've spent some time oh my headphones and logitech speakers, before i realized the limitations that i was placing on myself when making music. Those limitations manifested into frustration and the only reason why I didn't make music for any stretch of time now, was because of those equipment flaws.
I wouldn't trade that experience though, because it made me more versatile and understand more about any of my tools. I got a ways to go if i want to master the science of understanding, but the feeling of understanding i think definitely is down pat.
It's an odd mix of things, but just keep making complete songs with what ever you have man, keep researching, and asking questions.
Can't make it sound less garbage if I don't have garbage to begin with. ^.^
That's a sign dude. 6 years is quite enough to get nearly as good at music as some Madeon or Seven Lions or VR. Especially with how technology and internet developed recently.Why dont you believe in urself? just because its getting a little tough you're going to start doubting urself? this world is full of people who give up be one of the very few who doesnt .understand that in order for you to have anything of great value you must suffer and endore
It's just real hard to listen to guys like Madeon, Seven Lions, and Virtual Riot and then listen to my own music. How can you expect someone to not doubt themselves when they're going up against these guys? You can understand that can't you? Don't get me wrong I know that these things take time but if you enjoy what you do should there really be any sort of suffering involved? It's not that I'm suffering but I just feel regret because I've spent all this time on music without much to show for it because none of my tracks sound professional enough yet to release.
You should reconsider what you're doing wrong in music production and find more efficient ways to get better. It's hard though. Many people improve slower than they could because they make lots of mistakes and they don't know actually what to do to improve their skill.
Also each year it gets harder to quit this.
Also I feel the same way as you sometimes but I can't quit anymore because it's too late
All these hours we dedicate to our craft and people may never care about our music. Many people will never give it a listen. More people will just skim through it and move on to the next track.
I feel like I'm having somewhat of a quarter life crisis when it comes to thinking about whether all that time was worth it considering the things I had to give up because of it.
Does anyone else feel the same way?
Honestly, in the end, I think most artists feel this way...Or at least they have at some point. When you boil it down, all that really matters in creativity, passion, and just life in general is that you truly enjoy what you spend your time doing.
A very tough but important question every artist needs to ask themselves is: "Would I be doing this if I never made a dime from it? Am I just doing this because I don't have anything better to do?"
What you are feeling is normal. I think the most important thing at the end of the day is to let musical creativity be play, not work. Don't force anything. If you're not feeling creative, do something else for a little while and come back.
And never compare your music to anybody else's unless it's because you're using their stuff as a reference mix. Trying to compare your music to that of somebody who has already had major success isn't fair to yourself.
