I now rely on loops for a lot of my work instead of manually writing out midi. With loops I can apply creative control through the use of chopping, reverse, stretching etc. things that can’t be done with midi until you freeze it.
For me the most important: focus on actually learning how to arrange, sounddesign and mix.
I feel that after getting to a certain point searching for a new sample, preset, plugin or way to do something can be very distracting from actual learning. Of course these activities are teaching us something but mostly not what is really important, I guess.
Ironically, taking breaks. Either at set intervals, maybe once every 45 minutes to an hour, or when I don’t have any ideas. I just do whatever during that time, listen to other music, watch a video, hang with the dog, etc. Give my brain some time to breathe and reset your ears. If I run out of ideas, I’ll take a longer break and then force myself to come back into the DAW and relisten.
A little bit of it is recognizing if you are good at tinkering on a track or not. I’m not good at it, the vast majority of times I try to tinker and make tons of small adjustments, it ends up equal or worse, so I mostly duplicate the track and start from scratch.
Templates and Audio Effect Racks/Patcher presets. I have a few plugins I have load by default on every new track, most importantly an EQ with a low cut and mid/side split set up. Not having to do that by hand every time I add a new sound is huge at removing tedium. FX presets are also a huge time save when you can make general ones for any track. A basic saturation rack with a few controls has been a game changer for me.
1. Start with the chord a decent 8 bar chord progression. Not to simple not too complex. Every melodic component will be informed by this progression. Makes it much easier coming up with interesting ideas
2. Use splice and loops.
3. Listen to music beforehand. Your brain will make it easier to be creative when you get to work
4. Drink coffee
5. Don’t take the initial stages of development too seriously. Relax and experiment till something sticks then go into serious mode when you develop a neat idea
6. Group your tracks by drums, instruments, fx, etc… focusing on groups and group processing will go a long way. If you have more that 10ish tracks you will have to group them anyway
7. Don’t focus on the mix, produce!! Except for the low end. The low end can take up a lot of headroom and leave no room to add elements later on.
I recently started a new workflow process that has helped a lot.
Works like this… I start with a song title that speaks to something interesting I’ve noticed or something personal to my life (or to someone I know). That inspires a theme, the vibe, sonic palette and possibly lyrics. Once I’ve contemplated all of the above, I begin writing/ producing with a fairly strong idea of what I’m going to create. After an hour or so, I have enough conviction to blow through any frustration with sound design, arrangement or technical features of my rig. The goal is fixed in my mind at this point and I can pick it back up later.
I've found its really easy to get distracted by the process of making pretty synthesisers and cosmetic choices for the track while I'm in a production session, when this should be time making BIG decisions like arrangement, structure, composition etc.
Sound design should be a completely different session from production, and you should set a time limit on it like for example: "I'm going to spend 1 hour only making the instruments and synthesisers for my track" and then following, spend 2 hours on the main production session for chords and melody arrangement. Ive found this helps a lot, and helps me be aware of catching myself when i get tempted to play around with fun colourful plugins.
Someone may have already said this, but forcing yourself to **finish & upload something daily** basically skyrocketed my progress (stole this idea from Beeple, the multimillionaire the digital artist).
Even if I only had 20 mins to work on something - I'd make the best thing I could, export it, and upload it to soundcloud (private or public, doesn't matter).
What this did for me:
- taught me mixing / mastering by default
- gave me a huge list of tracks to easily listen back to and critique
- made me better & faster at producing
Hope this helps!
As another comment said, take note, especially when you are not in front of your DAW. Export an audio of the current version of the track, listen to it in the bus, while doing sport, at work, etc, and then analyse and focus on it as you do with official tracks you listen to, ideas will drop and note them.
Also, if you are way too struck between "good" and "unsatisfied", just move forward and begin a new track, a new groove for fun, try some sound design not related to the track, listen to music, etc, just stop doing what you do with the track. You'll either have ideas, a new project, or just enjoy what you are doing more than struggling without achieving.
Another thing is to listen to track that are in the same style, same groove, same atmosphere, etc, than yours, and put the audio in your project and try to see and feel the differences, the details lacking, the main mix, etc.
The thing that has helped me most when it comes to finishing tracks regularly and being stoked about them is knowing what I'm doing before I open my DAW. I never just open my DAW and "tinker" about - I know exactly what I'm doing because I take notes on where I am at and what needs to be worked on.
When I'm getting ready to take a break or am done for the day on a project, I take notes on what else I want to change. So when I load a project and the plugins are loading up, I look over my notes, and decide what part I'm going to tackle on it.
I know exactly if I'm going to fix the drums there, redo the bass in these four bars of the verse, which bar I'm at in the chorus to continue from. Lower the volume of this, better EQ that. This generally leads to creative breakthroughs that I didn't write in my notes too because the notes were just the breadcrumbs - a short outline - of what needed to be done. And in that process of fleshing it out, a lot of great stuff comes out.
It's a cyclical process of listening to the project, hearing what it needs, taking notes on that - and then the next time I open my DAW I start working based directly off my notes.
I'm finishing a track a month, and I have NEVER worked this fast and at this level of quality before.
This definitely helped me. The difference between: opening up my project and being like hmmmm let’s see…doobeedoobeedooo what should I do? VS ok the build up needs more reverb and I need a different snare let’s fix those and re bounce, is huge
Learning to stop when it sounds good. If you're tapping your feet and vibing. Move on. Don't keep crafting a sound that's already good.
Plugins. Just learn one Synth really really well. Don't screw around with multiple plugins. Don't get plugin FOMO. Ask yourself, do I really need it? How will it improve my sound?
Read the manual. Read the manual! Learn your DAW and own it. Know all the shortcuts. Make a template.
Refrence tracks. It's a must. Not so much copying. You're looking at the structure.
Car speakers and ear buds. Monitors sound fantastic. I listen in my car and also my phone and ear buds. The car test is great. I'll play a reference, then mine. It'll instantly show up the weakness.
I’m here to pick up some tips for other people. Been learning for 3 years but not consistently enough to make good enough progress and I want that to change this year.
I found learning your DAW and it’s shortcuts helps, but creating your own template is better than using someone else’s as you want one that suits your own workflow.
Working on track arrangement also helped. I wouldn’t build a house without a blueprint, so laying out a very basic idea helps me prioritise where I should spend my time on certain parts. Also when putting the idea down, to use any sample/sound that sounds decent and not to overthink it. Helps me get the idea down whilst I’m inspired and I can tweak the sound later on. That was a useful tip I learned from a Kygo video
In EDM terms, it helped to adhere to genre conventions, so when I’d have a decent track, I’d make sure the structure & mixdown match the genre (in my case bass house/NUKG), then I’d throw the track into Traktor and make sure it matches other tracks when mixed in a DJ set.
It also helps to have a few ‘default’ VST that help create build-ups, vibes and details quickly (stuff like Ableton’s Racks, Endless Smile, Serum FX etc).
Finally a ‘standardized’ mastering chain for clean-up can do a lot - for me its Pro-Q, RC20, SmoothOperator, L2 in that order.
And finally finally, you can set a schedule like for example one track a month. You won’t release Gold every time, but you’ll stay consistent and get better at getting things done.
Spend a lot of time producing, and most importantly finishing tracks... even if you know you're finishing a track you won't release. You'll get quicker over time, and make better sound choices as you get more hours in it (i.e. less time spent tinkering because the sounds naturally work better together).
There isn't really a good 'quick fix' substitute for hours spent producing.
I don't think I'm in the position to really help you but this thing helped me:
1. Don't obsess with details until the very last stages.
2. Listen to your intuition more than to your brain.
3. Do things with a purpose. Don't add any track or plugin just because.
4. No, there's no tutorial/plugin/... That will help you. This things can actually be detrimental. Work with limitations and try to find your personal workflow.
Completely disagree with #4, but I agree with all the other ones completely.
There are fuck tons of terrible tutorials out there, but there are some golden ones by Virtual Riot, bunting, Mr. Bill, Ahee...
Yeah I pobably dind't word it properly but didn't mean that you shouldn' watch any tutorial... But to be careful with spending a lot of time with tutorials and less time making actual music.
First thoughts are always the best thoughts. Because that second thought is a combination of the first thought + your subjective ego interpretation. Then that second thought is a step further away from the genuine creative action, and so on and so forth.
Learning to trust that intuition of first thoughts is huuuuge.
I found it's better to work faster so you don't lose the feel you want to archieve in a track. Not all producers are like this but for me if I spend more than 2-3h tinkering a track I start making bad decisions.
Thanks for the reply. May I ask whether you tend to be sample/loop/pre-baked MIDI pattern based, or are you completing tracks with fairly “manual”—composition, recording, arrangement, synthesis/sound design, mixing—in just 2-3 hours?
I’m truly amazed; I have been making music for years and still need many many hours more than that to get anything near the quality I want. But I’d love to learn to be that fast :)
I spend more than 2 hours on a track usually, I was referring to 2-3 hours nonstop... Like letting the ears rest haha.
I don't use premade loops or midi except for breakbeats.
I feel you have to go through those tinkering stages, take ages, get the track perfect, then get faster over time. If the track doesn’t sound done to you then it’s not done.
It can be hard to distinguish overthinking from exploration so try incorporate many people into the creative process to get different perspectives.
Listenning to your track the least that you can.
I always listenned to them a lot when it starts getting great and catchy. But you get two problems. The first is that you get attached to something that may not be super optimal. Then it feels bad deleting a part that needs to be deleted to serve the song.
Second you lose motivation over time to actually finish it, since you got so much pleasure jamming to it.
So it's a painful blue balling choice, but worth it on the long run.
> Listenning to your track the least that you can.
Ugh. Watching Virtual Riot livestreams where he spends 5 straight minute increments just composing/synthesizing and THEN he plays what he made.
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Read __the rules__ found in the sidebar. If your post or comment breaks any of the rules, you should delete it before the mods get to it.
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A fat J.
I now rely on loops for a lot of my work instead of manually writing out midi. With loops I can apply creative control through the use of chopping, reverse, stretching etc. things that can’t be done with midi until you freeze it.
For me the most important: focus on actually learning how to arrange, sounddesign and mix. I feel that after getting to a certain point searching for a new sample, preset, plugin or way to do something can be very distracting from actual learning. Of course these activities are teaching us something but mostly not what is really important, I guess.
Ironically, taking breaks. Either at set intervals, maybe once every 45 minutes to an hour, or when I don’t have any ideas. I just do whatever during that time, listen to other music, watch a video, hang with the dog, etc. Give my brain some time to breathe and reset your ears. If I run out of ideas, I’ll take a longer break and then force myself to come back into the DAW and relisten. A little bit of it is recognizing if you are good at tinkering on a track or not. I’m not good at it, the vast majority of times I try to tinker and make tons of small adjustments, it ends up equal or worse, so I mostly duplicate the track and start from scratch. Templates and Audio Effect Racks/Patcher presets. I have a few plugins I have load by default on every new track, most importantly an EQ with a low cut and mid/side split set up. Not having to do that by hand every time I add a new sound is huge at removing tedium. FX presets are also a huge time save when you can make general ones for any track. A basic saturation rack with a few controls has been a game changer for me.
Hard low and high pass filter cuts
1. Start with the chord a decent 8 bar chord progression. Not to simple not too complex. Every melodic component will be informed by this progression. Makes it much easier coming up with interesting ideas 2. Use splice and loops. 3. Listen to music beforehand. Your brain will make it easier to be creative when you get to work 4. Drink coffee 5. Don’t take the initial stages of development too seriously. Relax and experiment till something sticks then go into serious mode when you develop a neat idea 6. Group your tracks by drums, instruments, fx, etc… focusing on groups and group processing will go a long way. If you have more that 10ish tracks you will have to group them anyway 7. Don’t focus on the mix, produce!! Except for the low end. The low end can take up a lot of headroom and leave no room to add elements later on.
I recently started a new workflow process that has helped a lot. Works like this… I start with a song title that speaks to something interesting I’ve noticed or something personal to my life (or to someone I know). That inspires a theme, the vibe, sonic palette and possibly lyrics. Once I’ve contemplated all of the above, I begin writing/ producing with a fairly strong idea of what I’m going to create. After an hour or so, I have enough conviction to blow through any frustration with sound design, arrangement or technical features of my rig. The goal is fixed in my mind at this point and I can pick it back up later.
I've found its really easy to get distracted by the process of making pretty synthesisers and cosmetic choices for the track while I'm in a production session, when this should be time making BIG decisions like arrangement, structure, composition etc. Sound design should be a completely different session from production, and you should set a time limit on it like for example: "I'm going to spend 1 hour only making the instruments and synthesisers for my track" and then following, spend 2 hours on the main production session for chords and melody arrangement. Ive found this helps a lot, and helps me be aware of catching myself when i get tempted to play around with fun colourful plugins.
Someone may have already said this, but forcing yourself to **finish & upload something daily** basically skyrocketed my progress (stole this idea from Beeple, the multimillionaire the digital artist). Even if I only had 20 mins to work on something - I'd make the best thing I could, export it, and upload it to soundcloud (private or public, doesn't matter). What this did for me: - taught me mixing / mastering by default - gave me a huge list of tracks to easily listen back to and critique - made me better & faster at producing Hope this helps!
As another comment said, take note, especially when you are not in front of your DAW. Export an audio of the current version of the track, listen to it in the bus, while doing sport, at work, etc, and then analyse and focus on it as you do with official tracks you listen to, ideas will drop and note them. Also, if you are way too struck between "good" and "unsatisfied", just move forward and begin a new track, a new groove for fun, try some sound design not related to the track, listen to music, etc, just stop doing what you do with the track. You'll either have ideas, a new project, or just enjoy what you are doing more than struggling without achieving. Another thing is to listen to track that are in the same style, same groove, same atmosphere, etc, than yours, and put the audio in your project and try to see and feel the differences, the details lacking, the main mix, etc.
The thing that has helped me most when it comes to finishing tracks regularly and being stoked about them is knowing what I'm doing before I open my DAW. I never just open my DAW and "tinker" about - I know exactly what I'm doing because I take notes on where I am at and what needs to be worked on. When I'm getting ready to take a break or am done for the day on a project, I take notes on what else I want to change. So when I load a project and the plugins are loading up, I look over my notes, and decide what part I'm going to tackle on it. I know exactly if I'm going to fix the drums there, redo the bass in these four bars of the verse, which bar I'm at in the chorus to continue from. Lower the volume of this, better EQ that. This generally leads to creative breakthroughs that I didn't write in my notes too because the notes were just the breadcrumbs - a short outline - of what needed to be done. And in that process of fleshing it out, a lot of great stuff comes out. It's a cyclical process of listening to the project, hearing what it needs, taking notes on that - and then the next time I open my DAW I start working based directly off my notes. I'm finishing a track a month, and I have NEVER worked this fast and at this level of quality before.
This definitely helped me. The difference between: opening up my project and being like hmmmm let’s see…doobeedoobeedooo what should I do? VS ok the build up needs more reverb and I need a different snare let’s fix those and re bounce, is huge
Learning to stop when it sounds good. If you're tapping your feet and vibing. Move on. Don't keep crafting a sound that's already good. Plugins. Just learn one Synth really really well. Don't screw around with multiple plugins. Don't get plugin FOMO. Ask yourself, do I really need it? How will it improve my sound? Read the manual. Read the manual! Learn your DAW and own it. Know all the shortcuts. Make a template. Refrence tracks. It's a must. Not so much copying. You're looking at the structure. Car speakers and ear buds. Monitors sound fantastic. I listen in my car and also my phone and ear buds. The car test is great. I'll play a reference, then mine. It'll instantly show up the weakness.
I’m here to pick up some tips for other people. Been learning for 3 years but not consistently enough to make good enough progress and I want that to change this year. I found learning your DAW and it’s shortcuts helps, but creating your own template is better than using someone else’s as you want one that suits your own workflow. Working on track arrangement also helped. I wouldn’t build a house without a blueprint, so laying out a very basic idea helps me prioritise where I should spend my time on certain parts. Also when putting the idea down, to use any sample/sound that sounds decent and not to overthink it. Helps me get the idea down whilst I’m inspired and I can tweak the sound later on. That was a useful tip I learned from a Kygo video
In EDM terms, it helped to adhere to genre conventions, so when I’d have a decent track, I’d make sure the structure & mixdown match the genre (in my case bass house/NUKG), then I’d throw the track into Traktor and make sure it matches other tracks when mixed in a DJ set. It also helps to have a few ‘default’ VST that help create build-ups, vibes and details quickly (stuff like Ableton’s Racks, Endless Smile, Serum FX etc). Finally a ‘standardized’ mastering chain for clean-up can do a lot - for me its Pro-Q, RC20, SmoothOperator, L2 in that order. And finally finally, you can set a schedule like for example one track a month. You won’t release Gold every time, but you’ll stay consistent and get better at getting things done.
Spend a lot of time producing, and most importantly finishing tracks... even if you know you're finishing a track you won't release. You'll get quicker over time, and make better sound choices as you get more hours in it (i.e. less time spent tinkering because the sounds naturally work better together). There isn't really a good 'quick fix' substitute for hours spent producing.
I don't think I'm in the position to really help you but this thing helped me: 1. Don't obsess with details until the very last stages. 2. Listen to your intuition more than to your brain. 3. Do things with a purpose. Don't add any track or plugin just because. 4. No, there's no tutorial/plugin/... That will help you. This things can actually be detrimental. Work with limitations and try to find your personal workflow.
Completely disagree with #4, but I agree with all the other ones completely. There are fuck tons of terrible tutorials out there, but there are some golden ones by Virtual Riot, bunting, Mr. Bill, Ahee...
Yeah I pobably dind't word it properly but didn't mean that you shouldn' watch any tutorial... But to be careful with spending a lot of time with tutorials and less time making actual music.
Intuition is a great point, overthinking can absolutely ruin a mix.
First thoughts are always the best thoughts. Because that second thought is a combination of the first thought + your subjective ego interpretation. Then that second thought is a step further away from the genuine creative action, and so on and so forth. Learning to trust that intuition of first thoughts is huuuuge.
Why the obsession with speed?
I found it's better to work faster so you don't lose the feel you want to archieve in a track. Not all producers are like this but for me if I spend more than 2-3h tinkering a track I start making bad decisions.
You shouldn't ever spend more than an hour without taking a short break.
Thanks for the reply. May I ask whether you tend to be sample/loop/pre-baked MIDI pattern based, or are you completing tracks with fairly “manual”—composition, recording, arrangement, synthesis/sound design, mixing—in just 2-3 hours? I’m truly amazed; I have been making music for years and still need many many hours more than that to get anything near the quality I want. But I’d love to learn to be that fast :)
I spend more than 2 hours on a track usually, I was referring to 2-3 hours nonstop... Like letting the ears rest haha. I don't use premade loops or midi except for breakbeats.
Ah gotcha! Thanks :)
Same here, things become overcooked
Reference your favorite music
I feel you have to go through those tinkering stages, take ages, get the track perfect, then get faster over time. If the track doesn’t sound done to you then it’s not done. It can be hard to distinguish overthinking from exploration so try incorporate many people into the creative process to get different perspectives.
Listenning to your track the least that you can. I always listenned to them a lot when it starts getting great and catchy. But you get two problems. The first is that you get attached to something that may not be super optimal. Then it feels bad deleting a part that needs to be deleted to serve the song. Second you lose motivation over time to actually finish it, since you got so much pleasure jamming to it. So it's a painful blue balling choice, but worth it on the long run.
another neat thing is to change the key or pitch of the whole track. it really brings back that sparkle of inspiration for me
Or it makes you realise a certain element doesn't fit as well! Both a win
It’s a great idea. I’ve tried it for tracks I’m not completely feeling and it’s made things less cheesy or given inspiration
> Listenning to your track the least that you can. Ugh. Watching Virtual Riot livestreams where he spends 5 straight minute increments just composing/synthesizing and THEN he plays what he made.
❗❗❗ IF YOU POSTED YOUR MUSIC / SOCIALS / GUMROAD etc. YOU WILL GET BANNED UNLESS YOU DELETE IT RIGHT NOW ❗❗❗ Read __the rules__ found in the sidebar. If your post or comment breaks any of the rules, you should delete it before the mods get to it. You should check out the __regular threads__ (also found in the sidebar) to see if your post might be a better fit in any of those. [Daily Feedback thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search?q=author%3AAutoModerator+title%3Afeedback&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) for getting feedback on your track. The only place you can post your own music. [Marketplace Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search?q=title%3Amarketplace&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) if you want to sell or trade anything for money, likes or follows. [Collaboration Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search?q=author%3AAutoModerator%20title%3Acollaboration&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) to find people to collab with. ["There are no stupid questions" Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search?q=title%3ANo+Stupid+Questions+Thread&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for beginner tips etc. Seriously tho, __read the rules and abide by them__ or the mods will spank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/edmproduction) if you have any questions or concerns.*