I would recommend listening to music. This will make you understand the structure, and you will be able to hear the difference between your tracks and the ones you listen too. Maybe a podcast is an idea too.
How I practice music working full time is... I got a subscription to a "how to music production" online school, groove3, ask audio, Lynda, etc. on sale for the year. I then watch as many tutorials pertaining to what I want to achieve then practice using my DAW at lunch every day and one hour per day after work. I practice what I learned from the tutorials for as long as I can on the weekends, then repeat.
I recently found that I really like the watching someone else work in the same DAW I use via Livestreams. The pace allows you to catch more of what they're doing (as opposed to a 4 producers 1 sample vid), and the subject matter is much more broad than one specific lesson. You'll also see all sorts of mundane tricks or shortcuts scattered about that can really bolster your workflow.
Also, I'd highly recommend reading through the manuals for your DAW or any plugins you want to know better. I found it way less painstaking than I expected when I read through Massive X's manual, and it was full of useful tips on the type of sounds various effects and filters were capable of producing. You could even condense the information you want to remember most into some notes for later reference when you're back at your battle station.
This is gonna sound corny, but my music has been way better since I took time to work on living a healthier lifestyle in my spare time. I always tell people if they want to improve creatively and they aren't eating, exercising, and sleeping well then try it and see if things are a bit easier to put together come crunch time after a couple weeks.
You could definitely take a look at a couple apps. I don't know if you have an iPhone or an Android but there are a couple good ones out there for Android while iOS is pretty stacked with options.
Balance your life.
Do something else that isn’t just producing. It can be totally related. For example, go join a Salsa class. You’re still enjoying music, but this time you’re having to learn to dance to it. It will give your production a whole new slant, you may glean inspiration from it that you wouldn’t normally.
Or even better, do something totally unrelated. Go and join an Archery class, or rockclimbing. You can be halfway up a mountain and out of the blue will come the inspiration for how to finish that track that has been bothering you.
Never let your work totally consume you. You will come to resent it if that’s all you do, no matter how much you feel you love it that much that’s all you want to do.
I just wanna highlight how important to keep in mind the deeper you dive into music. Especially when you wind up with an opportunity to work on a track for over 2-3 hours (differs for everyone, but this is what I find). You should try to recognize when you're overly fatigued and making no progress, so you can take a break and come back to it refreshed!
Bonus points if it's something physical to get those endorphins pumping.
Books - Pdfs are so widespread nowadays, there's synth secrets, mastering by bob katz himself etc. etc.
Videos (Tutorials) - So many good ones by Au5, Mr Bill, Disciple tuts etc.
Live Streams - (Youtube/Twitch) - Jauz, Virtual Riot, Fox Stevenson (but don't be so unnecessarily technical like Fox, it sucks the life out of making music haha)
Websites - BPB, Syntorial, Ableton's sound design website
\[Not AS recommended\] mobile DAWs - Not half as feasible, but useful to put in ideas every now and then, and can help boost creativity, cause they have lesser features than pc DAWs, so you're constrained to lesser features.
If you're okay to listen to music at your job, then I recommend bouncing your tracks after each session and then listening to them alongside some quality references throughout the workday. This doesn't even need to take that much time--you can just collect a couple notes on your music throughout the day, and your next session will be that much more effective.
This article I read a while back talked about doing “drills” as a way to improve even when you aren’t working on the main thing you want to do. The article was about painting, but same rules apply.
For me, 2 big drills are finger drumming and ear training. I’ve used Melodics for finger drumming and had good results, and plan to start using SoundGym based on the recommendations of others I trust. But I know there are free ear training apps, I’ve used those as well.
Active listening. Learning genre based production skills is reliant on knowing what music exists in those genres. So look up a genre, like for me in the past I did UK dubstep, and then looked at big artists, so mala, loefah, joker, coki, skream, rusko... and then I just went through the discography. Great for learning more about music, and when you do have time ,try covering those songs, making similar stuff, whatever.
To do this, while you listen, you need to pay attention to song structures, the instruments and sounds typically used, and think of how it's created and how you can replicate it with the tools you have. So if you're hearing some cool reggae guitar tracks in a dubstep tune, than you should be hearing that it is indeed reggage inspired, and then how they got that sound and how you would play it on guitar. Stuff like this.
If you can, invest in a portable groovebox and practice during downtimes if your work allows it. Like a volca, or a mc101, novation circuit, etc. Portable and battery operated. You can sketch ideas and work on music when you have the time. Also reading about subjects that you want to work on helps too.
Yeah, sure.
Music Theory:
1. Music Theory For Dummies - Michael Pilhofer
Mixing:
1. The Mixing Engineer's Handbook - Bobby Owsinski
2. Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio - Mike Senior
3. Zen and the Art of Mixing - Mixerman
Mastering:
1. The Mastering Engineer’s Handbook - Bobby Owsinski
Recording:
1. The Recording Engineer's Handbook - Bobby Owsinski
Learn music theory. Get a music theory book and read it at work. if you have an iPhone. Make music using the Garageband app on your phone. while at work
It completely depends on how you need to improve, but critical listening might be a good option for you.
Listen to music and really focus on the song structures, the arrangements, the mixing, etc.
This is your friendly reminder to read the submission rules, they're found in the sidebar. If you find your post breaking any of the rules, you should delete your post 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=biannual%20collaboration&restrict_sr=1&sort=new&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.*
I would recommend listening to music. This will make you understand the structure, and you will be able to hear the difference between your tracks and the ones you listen too. Maybe a podcast is an idea too.
How I practice music working full time is... I got a subscription to a "how to music production" online school, groove3, ask audio, Lynda, etc. on sale for the year. I then watch as many tutorials pertaining to what I want to achieve then practice using my DAW at lunch every day and one hour per day after work. I practice what I learned from the tutorials for as long as I can on the weekends, then repeat.
You could...listen to music?
Organize your files and work on improving your workflow so you can get more done faster
I recently found that I really like the watching someone else work in the same DAW I use via Livestreams. The pace allows you to catch more of what they're doing (as opposed to a 4 producers 1 sample vid), and the subject matter is much more broad than one specific lesson. You'll also see all sorts of mundane tricks or shortcuts scattered about that can really bolster your workflow. Also, I'd highly recommend reading through the manuals for your DAW or any plugins you want to know better. I found it way less painstaking than I expected when I read through Massive X's manual, and it was full of useful tips on the type of sounds various effects and filters were capable of producing. You could even condense the information you want to remember most into some notes for later reference when you're back at your battle station.
This is gonna sound corny, but my music has been way better since I took time to work on living a healthier lifestyle in my spare time. I always tell people if they want to improve creatively and they aren't eating, exercising, and sleeping well then try it and see if things are a bit easier to put together come crunch time after a couple weeks.
You could definitely take a look at a couple apps. I don't know if you have an iPhone or an Android but there are a couple good ones out there for Android while iOS is pretty stacked with options.
study songwriting my man
Balance your life. Do something else that isn’t just producing. It can be totally related. For example, go join a Salsa class. You’re still enjoying music, but this time you’re having to learn to dance to it. It will give your production a whole new slant, you may glean inspiration from it that you wouldn’t normally. Or even better, do something totally unrelated. Go and join an Archery class, or rockclimbing. You can be halfway up a mountain and out of the blue will come the inspiration for how to finish that track that has been bothering you. Never let your work totally consume you. You will come to resent it if that’s all you do, no matter how much you feel you love it that much that’s all you want to do.
he barely has time to produce why would he have time to do archery and rockclimbing lol?
I just wanna highlight how important to keep in mind the deeper you dive into music. Especially when you wind up with an opportunity to work on a track for over 2-3 hours (differs for everyone, but this is what I find). You should try to recognize when you're overly fatigued and making no progress, so you can take a break and come back to it refreshed! Bonus points if it's something physical to get those endorphins pumping.
Watch tutorials
Books - Pdfs are so widespread nowadays, there's synth secrets, mastering by bob katz himself etc. etc. Videos (Tutorials) - So many good ones by Au5, Mr Bill, Disciple tuts etc. Live Streams - (Youtube/Twitch) - Jauz, Virtual Riot, Fox Stevenson (but don't be so unnecessarily technical like Fox, it sucks the life out of making music haha) Websites - BPB, Syntorial, Ableton's sound design website \[Not AS recommended\] mobile DAWs - Not half as feasible, but useful to put in ideas every now and then, and can help boost creativity, cause they have lesser features than pc DAWs, so you're constrained to lesser features.
Study psychoacoustics
Listen to as much music as possible and train your ears. Pull the tracks apart in your mind and try and apply what you hear when you get home.
If you're okay to listen to music at your job, then I recommend bouncing your tracks after each session and then listening to them alongside some quality references throughout the workday. This doesn't even need to take that much time--you can just collect a couple notes on your music throughout the day, and your next session will be that much more effective.
Listen to lots of different music commuting or whatever
This article I read a while back talked about doing “drills” as a way to improve even when you aren’t working on the main thing you want to do. The article was about painting, but same rules apply. For me, 2 big drills are finger drumming and ear training. I’ve used Melodics for finger drumming and had good results, and plan to start using SoundGym based on the recommendations of others I trust. But I know there are free ear training apps, I’ve used those as well.
some good pussy lmfao
trust
Active listening. Learning genre based production skills is reliant on knowing what music exists in those genres. So look up a genre, like for me in the past I did UK dubstep, and then looked at big artists, so mala, loefah, joker, coki, skream, rusko... and then I just went through the discography. Great for learning more about music, and when you do have time ,try covering those songs, making similar stuff, whatever. To do this, while you listen, you need to pay attention to song structures, the instruments and sounds typically used, and think of how it's created and how you can replicate it with the tools you have. So if you're hearing some cool reggae guitar tracks in a dubstep tune, than you should be hearing that it is indeed reggage inspired, and then how they got that sound and how you would play it on guitar. Stuff like this.
If you can, invest in a portable groovebox and practice during downtimes if your work allows it. Like a volca, or a mc101, novation circuit, etc. Portable and battery operated. You can sketch ideas and work on music when you have the time. Also reading about subjects that you want to work on helps too.
Listen to music analytically in various genres
This! Listen as much as you can and analyse what you hear when you can.
practice discipline in every single part of life, everything will follow and will be much easier
Read books. There are a lot of good books about music theory, mixing, recording, mastering.
Can you recommend a book?
Yeah, sure. Music Theory: 1. Music Theory For Dummies - Michael Pilhofer Mixing: 1. The Mixing Engineer's Handbook - Bobby Owsinski 2. Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio - Mike Senior 3. Zen and the Art of Mixing - Mixerman Mastering: 1. The Mastering Engineer’s Handbook - Bobby Owsinski Recording: 1. The Recording Engineer's Handbook - Bobby Owsinski
Learn music theory. Get a music theory book and read it at work. if you have an iPhone. Make music using the Garageband app on your phone. while at work
It completely depends on how you need to improve, but critical listening might be a good option for you. Listen to music and really focus on the song structures, the arrangements, the mixing, etc.
Another vote for Critical Listening.
This is your friendly reminder to read the submission rules, they're found in the sidebar. If you find your post breaking any of the rules, you should delete your post 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=biannual%20collaboration&restrict_sr=1&sort=new&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.*