What are the top three tips that you'd give to a producer with less experience?

[Babasmas]

1: Learn what all the basic filter types and wavforms sound like in combination with each other.

So many questions I get about sounds end up being the simplest things just because a person didn't experiment enough to know what a square wave sounds like with a bandpass on it.

2: Learn what everything sounds like with distortion.

So many questions I get about sounds end up being the simplest things just because a person didn't experiment enough to know what a square wave sounds like with a bandpass on it that was then distorted.

3: Learn every combination of every setting that makes a super saw.

High pitch spread, low spread, high phase spread, low phase spread, distorted, not distorted, a chord, an octave, an octave and a third. From my own observations, 70% of all sound design is just super saws. Learn that, and you're 70% of the way to learning everything.

Why am i not surprised about the second one ? :p

[Shew]

1. Don't try to be original + Don't be afraid to steal good ideas from your favorite tracks (Good artists copy, while Great artists Steal)

This! I'd even go as far to say, try and recreate other people's tracks entirely. It will teach you a lot more than trying to come up with original ideas. Just make sure you don't carry on doing it like some people *coughzombycough*

I definitely agree with this, remaking full songs is great practice, and it's a method I have used periodically to learn very quickly! It's a good challenge to take up. Pushing yourself to figure out how to get something sounding a certain way makes you innovate and develop your own techniques. Even if you didn't nail the sound, you're still getting closer and learning more through experimentation 

I love doing remakes, I think they are so critical to learning new techniques on your own like you said.  Because of this I usually have 2 production processes, one being remakes and one being producing my own music.  If i'm not feeling creative I'll just do a remake that day

[Yens]

1. Don't try to be original + Don't be afraid to steal good ideas from your favorite tracks (Good artists copy, while Great artists Steal)

This! I'd even go as far to say, try and recreate other people's tracks entirely. It will teach you a lot more than trying to come up with original ideas. Just make sure you don't carry on doing it like some people *coughzombycough*

I definitely agree with this, remaking full songs is great practice, and it's a method I have used periodically to learn very quickly! It's a good challenge to take up. Pushing yourself to figure out how to get something sounding a certain way makes you innovate and develop your own techniques. Even if you didn't nail the sound, you're still getting closer and learning more through experimentation 

I love doing remakes, I think they are so critical to learning new techniques on your own like you said.  Because of this I usually have 2 production processes, one being remakes and one being producing my own music.  If i'm not feeling creative I'll just do a remake that day

I never actually thought about it that way. The struggle with coming up with something new is really hard, and if have a blank mind i just keep staring at my screen (or facebook and stuff) and do nothing productive. I will try the remake thing when nothing comes in mind.

[hotels // keajn from darklit]

I've been doing this for almost 3 years. Here's the best advice I can give to people starting out that truly want to learn.

You can, and should strive to, be better.
This is my Golden Rule of everything I do in life that matters to me -- from production, to relationships, to medical school, to anything I care about. Becoming content with what you're doing or your skill level leads to stagnation. There's no finish line in this, only stepping stone goals you set along the way if you choose so. Want to get better? Admit you can improve and figure out how to.

Connect with people
Forums and reddit are great but I improved the most when I joined a group chat of people who, like me, wanted to improve. These are people I've talked to every day for the last 2 years and are pretty good friends. Don't be afraid to reach out to people on soundcloud/twitter/Facebook. Like a sound from a track? Message the artist. Is deadmau5 going to tell you how he did something? Most likely not, but who knows? He could. I reached out to a very well known artist (he's on this forum) several months ago and said I was going to be in the same city as he was and wanted to meet up and talk production. He agreed to meet up for a half hour or so. We ended up sitting in a Starbucks for nearly 4 hours talking about music/production/the industry. That's an experience you want to have and the only way you're going to get it is by connecting with people. Guess what he said was the most valuable experience he's had? Reaching out to an artist he looked up to.

Listen
The obvious, not-so-obvious, broad-spectrum piece of advice. Listen to fans. Listen to haters. Listen to what your friends and family have to say about your music. Listen to yourself. Try sitting down with one other person and play one of your songs for them. If you're not cringing, you're not being self-critical enough. Listen to music you love. Why do you love it? Figure that out. Listen to music you hate. Why do you hate it? Listen to people who are better than you. What makes them better? Listen to people who are worse than you. There's stuff you can learn from everyone, regardless of skill -- even if it's how not to do something. Listen to your sounds. Listen to your sample selections. Listen to your progressions. Listen to your arrangement. Listen to your melodies. Listen to everything. Fucking Listen.

I was going to write my own list, but this covers everything I had in mind lmao. Everything listed here is fundamental and incredibly helpful!

[Kidswaste]

1. You should focus on making music more than fixing mistakes

As a beginner I always thought that working more and more on a track to make it sound perfect was a good idea 'cause then I wouldn't have to feel bad about some mistakes in the track. Truth is, you always do mistakes at the beginning and you should let it be into your process. Time fixes stuff, and people can help you fix that aswell. But more importantly you've got the time to do it. In my opinion, it's better to do 10 tracks with a lot of mistakes in them but with shit tons of different sick ideas than 3 tracks that don't have that much flaws but finally didn't teach you a lot of stuff.

This is the kind of stuff that works in the first months (or on a year depending on the time you take to produce). You'll know when it's time to focus on what's wrong (if its still there!)

2. Connections, How to do it and why it is important

Like maybe a lot of us now, you're a kid doing music on Soundcloud like millions of others. You're probably wondering 'why does this guy encountered succes without a lot of followers', or 'how did he collab with XXX'. Well it's mostly by talking, reaching people that would seem unreachable.
Of course you don't have to rush it, and more importantly you shouldn't spam your links around or ask for feedback to anyone you meet. Rule 1; don't be a dick. Just try to be social, and actually care about what the other is saying to you, or what you'll say to him. By building a relationship it'll be easier for you to ask for favors or even to give favors (which is probably the most awesome part of that kind of relation!) (and being honest is even better, a lot of ppl do it by interest and I guess that's easier to see when its the case. Try to care!)

3. Mixdown

Something I wish we would have told me when I begun : Loud =/= good. Actually, the lower your mix is, the better it'll be. It'll sound way more clean, you'll have more space, you'll be more precise, it'll be funnier. You can exercise yourself by trying to do a track that won't go over -6 RMS for exemple, or lower every tracks in one of your old tracks that you don't need anymore. It takes some practise, but once you've got it, oh man, music will be so much easier!

[Matthew wesney]

1) practice 2) practice 3) practice

[Drainpuppet]

1. A/B! it's the fastest and easiest way to make your mix better, especially if you don't have the ear training to hear what's wrong with your mix by itself

2. Finish your tracks! As many as you can! Even if you're just copy and pasting a bunch and then calling it done, that's better than not having a finished chune to reflect on. I know so many newbie producers who just don't finish anything so they don't get any better.

3. Don't start releasing music until you're sure about it. You might regret it later lol.

[MatisseV]

The best tips I could give to you, would be to practice, and practice... If you feel that you can do it, keep trying, to be as good as people you hear on the radio, or your favorite ones, you have to dedicate big part of your time, so never give up if you feel that power to keep forward, if you don't feel that kind of energy to be better, you won't get to far, so, if you really want to do it, learn and practice, and never quit, never give up.

[Technicolor Type]

Hmmm, I think a good tip is to take things you learn on the internet with a grain of salt. There's alot of misinformation out there and you should always try and figure out why exactly you're doing something you saw online instead of following it blindly.

[VOIID]

2. Finish your tracks! As many as you can! Even if you're just copy and pasting a bunch and then calling it done, that's better than not having a finished chune to reflect on. I know so many newbie producers who just don't finish anything so they don't get any better.

I'm not exactly a newbie but finishing tracks is still a problem for me xD sometimes I feel like some tracks are not worht being finished or I just can't come up with some parts of it and end up starting a new project. Any suggestions?

[Lunatic Expert]

I'm printing this page! I'll hang this on my bedroom wall. Amazing topic.

[MifzanHerawan]

1. be persistent and consistent with your goal and idea (for a song/project)
2. always learn. there are more things you don't know than you do
3. i only got two

[MifzanHerawan]

1. Read the manual!

2. Read the manual!

3. I don't care if you watched a youtube video, READ THE MANUAL!!!

ahahahahaha the ultimate tips~

[OliverHandsome]

1. Learn your tools.

2. Learn the rules.

3. Break the tools and rules.

[ERLAND]

1. Don't use too much time trying to make up your own style/sound, it will come eventually. Just make what you feel sounds good.
2. Presents are fine, don't feel too guilty if you use them. Just use them in a way that makes it sound unique and like yours. Also don't use too much time trying to learn each and every vst by reading the manual, instead try endlessly tweaking presents until you know what the fuck is going on and you can make that sound from scratch.
3. Most importantly, don't stop doing it. Keep on making music, its fucking amazing.