True facts of music making

[chim]

I'm kind of drunk and not sure this makes any sense but I came up with the idea that in here we could post those those things people who make music can relate to and benefit from. I thought about making a music making tutorial of sorts about that stuff I've managed to learn on my own while slaving away at a DAW, but then I realized everybody who makes music has those kinds of revelations and I would love to read that kind of stuff. When I was learning music making, I'm pretty sure it would've been better if I had this type of thread to go to. So anyway, I will try to write some of my personal thoughts on music making so you see what I'm getting at. Feel free to post anything you've learned yourself. The only rule is that it has to be 100% real, I'm sick of "how to become the next big thing" and "marketing yourself" style tutorials, but I'm going to leave it sort of open. Also, I hope that we can aim this sort of thing towards aspiring musicians with the typical setup, i.e a computer and a pair of headphones, but if you have studio experience that's great too if you can tell the rest of WATMM what it's like. Imagine you're telling your younger self what you need to know. Anyway, here goes. *deep breath*

 

Make some fucking music. When you get home from work or school or whatever, stop opening firefox the first thing you do. Boot up your daw and try something new.

 

Save those tunes. I know they suck, but two years from now, that shitty little ditty will be so fucking awesome to listen to. No matter how great you wish your music to be, it's mostly about making a personal kind of diary about your feelings. It doesn't matter that nobody else will have any idea what your tune is about. You will know.

 

Turn down the volume. Listen to other peoples music. Then EQ, EQ, EQ. EQ some more. As you listen and make music, you automatically train your ears, so do it as much as you can.

 

If all else fails, put a chorus FX or reverb on it. Some distance and diffusion can bring alot of depth to a dry mix.

 

The compressor is one of the most difficult devices to learn because it's kind of backwards and acts in very short time intervals. The settings you put on it don't boost the volume, they take down the volume. The side effect is that the bit that isn't compressed is made louder, that's where the boost association is made. So if you have a long attack with a short release and hard ratio settings, the initial part is going to be boosted and then lowered very quickly, and then, extremely quickly, the compressor stops acting. This is a great setting for a snare drum, for instance. I like to imagine that the compressor is a shark that swallows sounds and makes them more succinct as it eats them. Long settings can be really hard to calibrate, but it will probably work out well if you just use your ears and compare to other tunes.

 

People are shallow fucks. Don't take any criticism personally.

 

Now I'm going to quote some great posts. I will post more if/when i find them.

 

suck cock. and suck cock goooooooood

 

Labels are only going to want to sign acts they think are worth while, so you already need to be a musical force. Get a myspace, facebook, soundcloud, and every other internet network that has a home for music. Promote yourself. Get out and start playing live regularly. This is extremely important. Go on tour. Talk to people. See if you can get an opening slot for the respected music artist who's coming through your town. Network with other musicians and music fans. Get together a demo kit with at least 5 of your best tracks. Make sure to put your best track first. I hear that getting a nice promo photo and a paragraph biography about yourself to send out with your demo is a good plan too.

 

Maybe start releasing your music for free online. Look what that has done for people like Wisp and Dorian Concept.

 

Online Presence with good content...Don't cheap out and horde your best tracks for demos or when you get signed. Put your stuff out there, share it but don't get all egotisitcal about how awesome you are because you have a myspace. Do what wisp and cma did, put a whole grip of stuff out there that anyone can share with fellow music lovers.

 

also, don't take too much advice from us unsigned EKT fuckwads

[skotosa]

Thanks, I'd personally like to read a lot more tips. Makes it easier if it is all collected. I found that short read worth while.

[Ivan Ooze]

Just have fun at it, why else make music?

[Plarkreluke Banloboh]

Just have fun at it, why else make music?

 

To channel an assortment of electromagnetic deities and demons.

[coax]

1. i make whatever I want to make no matter how noisy or shit it may seem to others. Or simple. I wanted to please others or follow others standards and sensibilities a lot more in my earlier years, but now I learned to just do whatever I want to do.

 

2. Experiment out of my usual boundaries. I try not to go for the typical synths or typical sounds I know I like, but rather try some ugly ones or even just randomly adding some notes. Also just adding effects and layers to see what works without being afraid it might not fit. Even if it may not seem like it when you listen to them separately, they could work wonderfully together. It may also spark new ideas for releases with this new sound where you can refine the soundworld.

 

3. layers are important so a sound may sound empty on its own, but then once I add layers i am 'given' more interest immediately, and thus more motivation to continue on the track. Same goes for progressions or different parts. Just adding a synth and a new line that is in contrast to the previous section could work without you knowing that before trying.

 

4. I tend to render fx layers and random tweaking as sets and wav files, sometimes i end up using them in a track later.

 

5. And yeah I feel I make the best tunes when I'm more experienced in the type of track im trying to do, so to make the 'same' track several times over is not a bad thing. I can try to do a waltz or an idea many times, i dont always upload those everywhere but i end up defining more and more about what i feel the finished product will be like. also giving tracks time to mature is good, so a few days without listening works for me.

 

these are the types of things ive been thinking about lately at least.

[Guest Promo]

I guess for me the time you learn something fresh in your daw is when you need to do something particular you don't already know. For example recently I got interested in the juke riddim. I couldn't quite get my head around it so I searched for examples of how it was done and came across a rather handy tutorial on Youtube. Another thing in Ableton I've started to do is save and create instrument presets which is saving me a lot of time in the production process. Also if you can befriend a musician who is very talented and who will be frank with you about your music then that is worth so much. Luckily I have such a friend and he's inspirational because each time he comes over I learn a lot and it pushes me want to make better and better music.

[ZoeB]

Ten tips, in no particular order:

 

 

• Think about what your equipment can do, not what it's designed to do.
  
• Tiny imperfections add character
  
• Personal experimentation beats received wisdom
  
• Strive for very little equipment, and learn it inside out
  
• Music is a conversation between the instruments
  
• Trust your own taste and judgement
  
• For inspiration, go for a walk, don't stare at a screen
  
• Anything can be an instrument
  
• Strive for balance at every level
  
• Break complex tasks down into simple ones
  

 

 

That last tip is good for any work. Does writing an album seem daunting? Try just coming up with a few chord progressions on the first day. Make some nice instrumentation and work out some cool rhythms to play these chords on, on the second day. Build things up bit by bit, like that.

 

Just have fun at it, why else make music?

 

Because other people need some music to fulfil a specific purpose?

[tokn]

Make music constantly. Finish tracks. Don't take to much time on them. Better come back another time when you can hear your track with more neutral ears. Believe in yourself, that by finishing tracks no matter what you will become better and better. Because most musicians are a terrible mixture of lazy and perfectionist, this is the most important thing to remember, I guess.

[sergeantk]

take ideas you wrote on one instrument and try to translate them onto others (if you play live instruments). Use a guitar melody as a synth lead or apply a really weird perc rhythm to a piano riff or whatever... just think outside the box

[Audioblysk]

Make music constantly. Finish tracks. Don't take to much time on them. Better come back another time when you can hear your track with more neutral ears. Believe in yourself, that by finishing tracks no matter what you will become better and better. Because most musicians are a terrible mixture of lazy and perfectionist, this is the most important thing to remember, I guess.

 

couldn't have said it better than this creepy, smiling German did.

[Squee]

Less talking, more action.

[Hautlle]

Get the fuck off watmm the internet and make some tunes

 

Record EVERYTHING

[modey]

Make music constantly. Finish tracks. Don't take to much time on them. Better come back another time when you can hear your track with more neutral ears. Believe in yourself, that by finishing tracks no matter what you will become better and better. Because most musicians are a terrible mixture of lazy and perfectionist, this is the most important thing to remember, I guess.

Pretty much spot on. Though I personally think that it's ok to spend a long time on a track. These days it takes me around a month on average to finish a song. The longest was probably two years. It's rather satisfying to sit back and listen to something that has been kicking around for a couple of years in various states, once it's finally done—especially if it's a long track with a lot of sections that were written at different stages.

.. Then again, I believe that no track is ever *complete*, even after being released on an album/EP/whatever. I've reworked so many of my tracks after releasing them, it's ridiculous.

[cloud capture]

feel it

[wahrk]

This one isn't as universal, but I try to never exactly repeat anything. That is to say, you could absolutely have the same drum loop for 4 minutes, but the entire sound as a whole should not repeat itself. Maybe every 32 bars there's a tiny bell sound. Maybe the second go 'round of the hook has an extra grace note in the bass at the beginning. Maybe there's a half-time drum loop that's eq'd into a little box that's down there at -30dB. Maybe they won't notice it consciously, but it will affect them, however subtly.

 

Transitions, transitions, transitions. Great, you started with a bass line, then added a kick, now there's a hi hat. Sure, whatever, but you just started them playing. Oh, cool the song's moving to another section, so everything started playing different notes. Big deal. What makes that transition is the way it changes, not necessarily what changes. Filter something. Bring the melody in gradually. Start with just the delay and then unmute the dry signal for whatever's coming in. Use some reverse cymbals or whatever. Transitions can make or break a song. If you have weak transitions, you're gonna have a hard time keeping people's attention.

 

Filters are the shit. Automate them. A lot.

 

Distortion of all kinds is your friend (aside from unintentional digital clipping). A little bit of warmth or grit can really beef a sound up to the next level. Throw a little bit on your drums, your leads, your basses, even (and sometimes especially) the mix as a whole.

[Plarkreluke Banloboh]

c) Imaginayshun.

[Rbrmyofr]

High pass filter everything at 90hz except for the kick and bass, high pass filter them at 40hz-ish.

[impakt]

Always have your studio/daw in a setup tailored for what you need. No need to re-invent the wheel every time you're gonna make a new track. Set up dedicated channels for different sounds(with suited EQ/filtering like Rbrmyofr says) and have your effects routed the way you need them. EQ all bass away from your delay/reverb input-strips, unless you want it to sound muddy.

[Friendly Foil]

Finish tracks. Save everything.

Sometimes, try and see how many tracks you can do in one day. Do ten tracks, and hopefully one of them will be good.

Have fun.

[o00o]

http://vimeo.com/14912890

 

http://vimeo.com/4156727

 

 

and this:

 

 

and lern some instrument very very well

[TechDiff]

probably quite personal, not universal.

 

drink coffee, lots

Keep workspace tidy

Don't have a job

Don't have a girl/boy friend, or rather, any serious relationship

Learn to tell when you're having to force yourself, and learn to stop and do something else when you are

ignore everything else

avoid comparing yourself with anyone else, in terms of quality, success, anything,

find inspiration away from music, things like books, films, paintings etc

eat well, vegetables and fruit, keep your brain healthy

be sober

Learn to use hats, and break down tasks and processes. have a sound design hat, composition hat, engineer hat. focus on one thing at a time.

Don't feel guilty about taking a long time to finish something.

Always keep in mind what is most important about what you are creating, this is music, not engineering. Music first, production second.

Don't clutter yourself with superfluous equipment. Keep to hand the things you're actually using, put everything else away.

Nothing wrong with being a perfectionist, so long as you can tame that when you have to.

Try to identify trends and habits in your creative process, then try to break away from them.

know what every parameter of every piece of equiptment your using does, if you haven't used one of them yet, find a reason to.

Learn to tell when you're experimenting and learning, and when you're just dickin about.

Fuck other people's opinions, don't ask for them, don't listen to them

try everything once

Make sure your creative process is always exciting, if you feel like youre just going through the motions, youre doing it wrong

Teach yourself, experiment. You'll learn far better that if you constantly have your head in tutorials and guide books.

 

 

 

 

 

[ZoeB]

Don't have a girl/boy friend, or rather, any serious relationship

Fuck other people's opinions, don't ask for them, don't listen to them

 

Or date someone who shares your passion of making music, and can give you good constructive criticism, while you return the favour. :D If you can be honest with each other, and not let your emotions get the better of you when your partner's pointing out your music's flaws, and you pick yourself back up and fix those flaws, your craft will be better as a result. My latest work is pretty good, because the executive producer, my partner and myself were all picking holes in it and finding things to improve and working out what would be good to add, so I usually had straightforward lists of tasks to implement the next day. We all contributed at least a bit to the actual music too, so it was a real team effort, and much better for it. Credits and congratulations all around!

 

There's some great advice in this thread, thanks for sharing your tips everyone! ^.^

[vamos scorcho]

great thread.

 

 

my recent thing has been to expand my mind through creation

 

the act of creating is a creating... so get creative, really creative

 

creativity is a form of mental expansions. i think it can be seen that way. so take chances, open up connections between things.

 

like if i want a drum beat maybe i can channel some Coco Chanel into it... watch some of her fashions and use news clips of her voice as a sort of guideline.

 

really it makes it more fun for me, to make the actual act of creating into an adventure instead of an act of 'making a song' it becomes an act of enjoying the act of creation.

 

something like that. a major shift for me recently was discovering this method.

[Cryptowen]

I find that the more emotionally distraught I am, the more moody my tracks/pictures/writing/etc gets, whereas when I'm in a good place mentally it's more technically proficient & abstract. Probly because the former is me channelling frustration & the latter is like, building model boats.

 

Also by "moody" I don't necessarily mean "angry", but just more melodic, explicitly emotional chords, big direct beats, etc. By "abstract" I mean more complex & obtuse, focusing more on atmospherics & sound texture.

[o00o]

One really important thing:

 

Ask people who are successful or very skilled in music on a business level

 

I have learned 10x more from masterstudents in music and successful artists than from random people doing some music. People who are successful in their craft will give you completely different tips than random people that happen to make music.