Music making sites and tips anyone?

Tenfoureightytwo · Post by **Tenfoureightytwo** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 12:56 pm

Does anybody know any good sites for tips and hints on making electronic music. Ill be honest I am new to this whole music making thing I can hear the music I just can't get it out of me. I am using Ableton at the moment and i have mediocre skills on guitar and piano. So expensive analog equipment is out of the question at the moment and I have to rely on crappy vst's but hey its not the tools its the artist. So any tips on how so of you started or ways I could learn would be great.

In a side note i believe in total transparency I believe that we should all share our skills and knowledge so that others can learn and copy, i wanna hear the most amazing music i can, i want the music to be number one, anybody could be the next Aphex or Autechre maybe even the next Boards, maybe.

Keep making music, stay green.

Bryan · Post by **Bryan** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 2:54 pm

So you haven't put much effort into making music, but have a strong belief that you may be the next Aphex or BoC and thus we should put in a bunch of effort to direct you where to find free information that you could search Google for yourself? I'm not critical of your search, just your approach.

Its called hard work. Practice practice practice. Improvise. Sing. Playing an instrument/MIDI keyboard is an act of translation, the fluency of which you have to make a long term commitment to honing.

oscillik · Post by **oscillik** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 3:00 pm

Tenfoureightytwo wrote:Does anybody know any good sites for tips and hints on making electronic music. Ill be honest I am new to this whole music making thing I can hear the music I just can't get it out of me. I am using Ableton at the moment and i have mediocre skills on guitar and piano. So expensive analog equipment is out of the question at the moment and I have to rely on crappy vst's but hey its not the tools its the artist. So any tips on how so of you started or ways I could learn would be great.

In a side note i believe in total transparency I believe that we should all share our skills and knowledge so that others can learn and copy, i wanna hear the most amazing music i can, i want the music to be number one, anybody could be the next Aphex or Autechre maybe even the next Boards, maybe.

Keep making music, stay green.

with regards to starting out, if you're completely new to electronic music making (or even just recording music in general, electronic or not) i don't think Ableton Live is a good place to start. you need to understand the basics of a sequencer first and foremost, without understanding how a sequencer flows and what you can do inside it, then you'll have a hard time getting anything going. i started out with eJay version 1, and as crappy as it was it was a great place to start. you won't be able to use your own samples, but it'll at least teach you the basics.

as far as the statement "anybody could be the next Aphex or Autechre maybe even the next Boards, maybe", there's nothing wrong with a little optimism but these artists are in a league of their own. even amongst themselves.

just don't forget that technical know-how does make a good musician, and vice-versa

portiss · Post by **portiss** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 3:56 pm

Bryan wrote:So you haven't put much effort into making music, but have a strong belief that you may be the next Aphex or BoC and thus we should put in a bunch of effort to direct you where to find free information that you could search Google for yourself? I'm not critical of your search, just your approach.

Its called hard work. Practice practice practice. Improvise. Sing. Playing an instrument/MIDI keyboard is an act of translation, the fluency of which you have to make a long term commitment to honing.

Sorry, but that's just bullcrap. He didnt mean it like that, maybe you should actually try to help him, instead of this. I dont know shit about this, but if I knew, I would be happy to share my knowledge and see what other people will do with it.

Mexicola · Post by **Mexicola** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 5:13 pm

portiss wrote:
Bryan wrote:So you haven't put much effort into making music, but have a strong belief that you may be the next Aphex or BoC and thus we should put in a bunch of effort to direct you where to find free information that you could search Google for yourself? I'm not critical of your search, just your approach.

Its called hard work. Practice practice practice. Improvise. Sing. Playing an instrument/MIDI keyboard is an act of translation, the fluency of which you have to make a long term commitment to honing.

Sorry, but that's just bullcrap. He didnt mean it like that, maybe you should actually try to help him, instead of this. I dont know shit about this, but if I knew, I would be happy to share my knowledge and see what other people will do with it.

Agreed.

Guido · Post by **Guido** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 5:30 pm

Either way, he has to learn himself. I can't really give good advice since I use an old, barely maintained, buggy open source tool called Psycle to make all my music. Since I've been using it for about 10 years I know it pretty well and I've programmed my own plugins and modifications for it, but I wouldn't really recommend it. I guess the best thing to do as a beginner is to use Fruityloops or something and read a load of tutorials. Trial and error. The learning curve from being a total beginner to making a song you would appreciate yourself is pretty steep, atleast it is when you try to be creative and make idm-ish music (for lack of a better word) and not use presets. Once you know how to make basic tunes we can give you advice on how to perfect it.

Treefingers · Post by **Treefingers** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 6:00 pm

Don't expect to be a genius straight off, I started making music - I feel so awkward saying that - when I was about 14 (it was mostly random noise and anything that wasn't still had a fuckload of flaws, of course). I'm 18 now, and my choons still have a LOT of room for improvement.

The most important thing is to enjoy it though; and feel free to do stupid things like getting a guitar and putting a chopstick between the strings and the fretboard and flicking it (I did this and got cool noises).

isawdrones · Post by **isawdrones** » Wed Sep 16, 2009 6:10 pm

Follow your intuition

Bryan · Post by **Bryan** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 6:36 am

Boy, a few of you take yourselves far too seriously. As I mentioned my response was to the OP's attitude and not regarding the quest to become a musician/producer, something which I think we are all capable of if we put in the time and effort.

Perhaps the OP was inartful in expressing himself, but to me it came across as if someone wandered into the kitchen of a good restaurant to tell the chef that he knows what good food tastes like and that his recipes should be given free to all. The irony of which being that there is a profound human tendency to share (see copious music/cooking videos on Youtube and other instructional websites) when that sharing comes from a vantage of choice rather than responding to perceived entitlement.

But I digress. Pick that apart if you'd continue to waste your time and energy.

Back to music. From a practical standpoint if you can hear the music in your head the #1 thing you can do is develop some piano skills so that you can translate the ideas you hear. 88 keys (or 61 or 49) seems like a wide expanse, and when you learn scales to cut that down to 7 or so notes at a time you'll watch the ideas in your head gradually come alive at your fingertips. I would be willing to bet that the majority of the top electronic musicians you hear were the beneficiaries of piano lessons as children, a skill that with today's sample libraries and MIDI keyboards turned them into players of any instrument.

I've been a musician for many years, and I'm on the same quest the last 8 or 9 months to develop computer production skills. I have to say that the one thing I underestimated the most is that for all my years of playing guitar, piano, and bass, I had little conception of the full scope of what a four-limbed drum beat entails. It takes a lot of trial and error, especially if you share a taste for complexity, but my biggest takeaway is that using multiple hi-hat/cymbal sounds will make your beat come alive (and is the heart of what drummers do). The open hi-hat seems to be the glue, although I'd love to hear the thoughts of anyone with more drumming/beat creation experience than myself.

endless endless · Post by **endless endless** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 7:46 am

Bryan wrote:but my biggest takeaway is that using multiple hi-hat/cymbal sounds will make your beat come alive (and is the heart of what drummers do). The open hi-hat seems to be the glue, although I'd love to hear the thoughts of anyone with more drumming/beat creation experience than myself.

the daft punk remix of leave home by the chemical brothers is a good example of this. it would be another ordinary remix if it wasn't for the change in gears stemming from the clever use of the hi- hats.

can't help the op much tho, all i have is a martin acoustic, and as lovely as that sounds i'd really love to splash out on some tech gear to scratch the twenty year itch i've had to make electronic music. but as i'm going to university at the grand old age of thirty-six i reckon i'm going to need any savings i have to see me thru the course. i don't see my good lady being very pleased if i came home with a pile of analogue synths.

dave_from_2001 · Post by **dave_from_2001** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 9:19 am

think outside the "electronic" music box. electronic music is retarded.

Chuck Beckles · Post by **Chuck Beckles** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 12:59 pm

Bryan wrote:Boy, a few of you take yourselves far too seriously. As I mentioned my response was to the OP's attitude and not regarding the quest to become a musician/producer, something which I think we are all capable of if we put in the time and effort.

Perhaps the OP was inartful in expressing himself, but to me it came across as if someone wandered into the kitchen of a good restaurant to tell the chef that he knows what good food tastes like and that his recipes should be given free to all. The irony of which being that there is a profound human tendency to share (see copious music/cooking videos on Youtube and other instructional websites) when that sharing comes from a vantage of choice rather than responding to perceived entitlement.

But I digress. Pick that apart if you'd continue to waste your time and energy.

Tenfoureightytwo · Post by **Tenfoureightytwo** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 1:31 pm

First of all thanks for all the positive feedback. Seems I upset some people, not my intention at all. When I asked for Internet sites relating to music production I should have told you that I have goggled tips and hints etc, but the Internet is flooded with crap and I thought that maybe some people with more wisdom and experience than me might know a good site or whatever.

Ive been using Ableton for about six months and the curve is indeed steep

I would like to clarify I am only about making music for myself and friends, I do not think I am gonna be the next Aphex Twin or Boards of Canada by any means; but other people with little knowlege could be and thats who the statement was for. But believe me hearing Boards of Canada totally changed my view on music they work on a level only a few rare people work its almost ethereal. BOC express things in music that cannot be spoken. They are indeed in a league of their own.

With regards to the total transparency comment what I was trying to say was that I think with total freedom of information, we could push boundaries of music,art, medicine science etc etc far beyond what we see now. By people holding things back or being afraid of someone achieving better results than you only stifles and holds back the thing that you want to create. Who cares who creates it as long as it created.

By the way what does OP stand for, I thought names came up on the side bar.
Bryan no worries man love to hear your opinion.

Anyway I am gonna keep at it.

turquoise70 · Post by **turquoise70** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 1:43 pm

man of the world, heed my words: don't use fruity loops to make warbly synth music or you'll be suckin hipster dick for years to come!

*disappears back into the ghostly ether from whence he came*

Tenfoureightytwo · Post by **Tenfoureightytwo** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 1:52 pm

turquoise70 wrote:man of the world, heed my words: don't use fruity loops to make warbly synth music or you'll be suckin hipster dick for years to come!

*disappears back into the ghostly ether from whence he came*

LOL thats gold.

By the way didn't mean for this thread to be just for me, i was just thinking that if i need help maybe others do to and yadda yadda, you know what i mean.

oscillik · Post by **oscillik** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 2:43 pm

i would highly suggest reading up on synthesis techniques, specifically Subtractive Synthesis. don't use websites, get a good book (either from Amazon or from your local library if they're that good)

Quick Guide to Analogue Synthesis by Ian Waugh is a very good place to start - it's a very good book for a beginner, one i've recommended to my friends who haven't got a background in this stuff like i do.

turquoise70 · Post by **turquoise70** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:00 pm

Tenfoureightytwo wrote:
turquoise70 wrote:man of the world, heed my words: don't use fruity loops to make warbly synth music or you'll be suckin hipster dick for years to come!

*disappears back into the ghostly ether from whence he came*
LOL thats gold.

By the way didn't mean for this thread to be just for me, i was just thinking that if i need help maybe others do to and yadda yadda, you know what i mean.

honestly FL is a great place to start, and stay, in my humble opinion. Ableton does great things, though. You don't really have to start anywhere in particular, you could learn on Ableton too. My best advice is to experiment and play around, then once you feel kind of stagnant and bored, seek out tutorials for stuff. I can only speak from my own experience but i learned Fruity Loops and became totally comfortable in its environment, and i know just how to effect the sound and style i'd like to hear from it, like knowing how to touch your lover of many years just the right way (only guessing here, my computer IS my only lover

). to me that's what it's all about, not having the most wild-ass out of this world ideas, or the most technically proficient setup, or the most expensive analog equipment. getting the sense of satisfaction from what you do. so... i say, aim for that!

Treefingers · Post by **Treefingers** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:03 pm

Tip for Ableton Live: Simpler (or Sampler if you're posh and have a full version of it) is fucking awesome once you've learned what everything does.

Also,
Any instrument + Audio editing software = A multitude of possibilities.

Cupz · Post by **Cupz** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 5:32 pm

Get some instruments, a mic and dowload Audacity. There is no better way to learn composition and song structure than just playing it in and playing it back.
Download a sequencer (I use Fruity and Cubase) and toy around with vst's and effects to get some more depth in production and song layering...

thats...pretty much it.

oh, avoid the use of presets, they will only make the process of fully understand your tools longer and you'll only get standard results (as supposed to FUCKING AWESOME)
Don't use drum machines right away, but use them after you developed a sense of good drum patterns. Listen to music, keep an ear open for drum solo's (and I mean CLEAN drum solos) and edit them up.

Treefingers · Post by **Treefingers** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 6:37 pm

Cupz wrote:oh, avoid the use of presets, they will only make the process of fully understand your tools longer and you'll only get standard results (as supposed to FUCKING AWESOME)
Don't use drum machines right away, but use them after you developed a sense of good drum patterns. Listen to music, keep an ear open for drum solo's (and I mean CLEAN drum solos) and edit them up.

This is good advice.

____twoism

Music making sites and tips anyone?

Music making sites and tips anyone?

Re: Music making sites and tips anyone?