General Production Help PLEASE

zudamusic

New member
Hey guys new to the forum so if I do something wrong dont kill me.

SO I'm in the process of teaching myself dubstep in Ableton Live 9 Suite (legit copy). I'm learning Ableton's Operator for FM Synthesis (for bass) and I also have a (cracked for now) version of Sylenth1 for Subtractive Synthesis (mostly leads/chords). I am trying to learn a lot more about sound design, because I can get some ideas down, but it just sounds so obviously amateur whenever I think I have something good on my hands. I have been reading that people recommend Re-Making tracks before going into original territory but I'm struggling with both.

I consider myself an intelligent person, I breezed through AP Physics and Calculus in high school. I also know ENOUGH about music theory, and I played the piano for a few years when I was younger. But I was astonished to find how difficult and complicated EDM production can be. CERTAINLY not as easy as "pushing buttons on a laptop" like 90% of the population thinks.

I find it very difficult to remake tracks because I just don't know enough about sound design. I have learned the basics of synthesis and waveshapes and I have been grinding for a good month now looking up youtube tutorials. However after learning the basics, I feel that I still just don't have enough information to recreate those sounds. It's very difficult to break down such complex, processed sounds that work so well in popular dubstep songs, especially when there are infinite combinations of different waveshapes, ADSR, Filters, all post effects.... (on and on and on). I usually dont even come close to what I was trying to replicate, and at that point I'm just so annoyed and overwhelmed that it gets even more difficult to focus. In other words, I don't even know what I'm missing or what to do to make it sound like it should. And as a result, trying to create my own work is virtually impossible because I get so stuck on sound design and having to listen to the same loop 1,000 times that it gets so stuck in my head that I lose the overall idea I started with and the creativity is effectively squashed.

Perhaps I'm just impatient, or maybe I'm too much of a perfectionist for the level I'm currently at. But it just takes SO LONG to get the sound im looking for. I'm essentially searching for a needle in a haystack, and the youtube tutorials are telling me about each individual piece of hay in the whole damn haystack which would take FOREVER to learn. I also have to keep my day job to survive so I'm limited on time i can spend in Ableton sadly. I just want to be decent enough to put something out within a year, not sure if that is a realistic goal at this point but let me know what you guys think.

General tips in this area would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks for reading my novel :D
 
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Don't use ableton, trust me, the smarter you are the harder it is to use that DAW. Get logic or Fl studio.
 
Hey bro,

I felt the same way that you have, I felt like i cant seem to complete a song and a listen to the same 10 sec of what I produced over and over again. It really takes time to develope an understanding how everything works together in a song. you need to listen to music and just focus on the different sections of the song, and how the song moves from one section to another. And also start with simpler songs, songs that you beleive arent huge challenges to take on. you can work your way up to producing more difficult songs eventually. Really listening to songs and trying to replicate the structure of build up, bridge, drop, and how the music moves from one to another will make you understand the songs that you listen too and the songs that you want to produce.

best of luck!!
 
Hey, welcome to the forum.

Stop beating yourself up and rushing things - it all takes time.

I agree that your method of "by numbers/re-making tracks" can be helpful, when I started out making dance music it helped me a lot with the layouts/arrangements of tracks and how many layers I should have where etc, and again with my current alias producing hip-hop... but this won't be any good to you if you're comparing the leads and basses you hear in commercial music for one of two reasons:

Either the track youre trying to emulate will have been produced by someone who has spent upwards of fifteen years sat in front of synths, DAWs, you name it, and has trial and error'd their way to being able to make sounds like that with tuition alongside that, or they've cheated, used presets, paid big money etc.

Don't get stuck in a downward spiral because that will ruin you.

My advice would be to make a track, whether you mimic someone elses work or do it completely alone, it doesnt matter for this exercise. Make sure you finish it. Export it and burn to a disc, and write the date of completion on the disc. Put it in a drawer, make sure its safe, then forget about it. Carry on making tracks, learning your DAW, your synths, just keep moving forwards. After six weeks, listen to the latest track you finished and then bang on that CD you made, listen to how far you've come. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. If you repeat this whole process again and again you'll see your development and keep negativity at bay.
 
Don't use ableton, trust me, the smarter you are the harder it is to use that DAW. Get logic or Fl studio.

I'm not a fan of Ableton either but I know some genius-level heads that swear by it so I don't think this statement can really be taken as gospel to be fair...
 
Don't use ableton, trust me, the smarter you are the harder it is to use that DAW. Get logic or Fl studio.

lol Ableton is intended for live performance, ...idk why people produce songs on there, but they do. Yes, FL Studio and Logic are much better for music production, but you cant perform live at all with them. The point of ableton is right there in the name, lol it's Ableton Live. It's brilliant for playing a live show with.
 
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And to the original poster, I have a lot of videos for beginners to learn production. They're all free on my site here: Lessons

You can browse through the topics and titles to watch any that interest you. :)
 
Doin this music your goin to fail alot when u start u can be book smart but music is alot about feelin and just knowing take your time n u will be ok sir
 
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