I want to sound like a specific style

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bigl2369

New member
I want to get started producing but I don't know where to start. I do however understand basic concepts. I know that designing sounds is mostly about midi and instruments and effects.

I don't know how to do sampling unless I use pro tools and I can't get pro tools now because I don't have any money. With pro tools I know how to sync tracks to tempo.

What vst and effect combinations can I use to sound like armin van buuren's "a state of trance". I'd like to sound like that with a mix of drum and bass.
 
bigl2369 said:
I want to get started producing but I don't know where to start. I do however understand basic concepts. I know that designing sounds is mostly about midi and instruments and effects.

I don't know how to do sampling unless I use pro tools and I can't get pro tools now because I don't have any money. With pro tools I know how to sync tracks to tempo.

What vst and effect combinations can I use to sound like armin van buuren's "a state of trance". I'd like to sound like that with a mix of drum and bass.
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Wait: you want to start producing and don't know where to start, but you know how to sync tracks to tempo inside pro tools?

Wait2: you don't know how to start, but you want to sound just like ONE song from ONE artist?

Man, let's talk a little: first, the road to stardom is a tenebrous and bumpy one. You need years to achieve the "quality" you want to. You'll need to practice to exhaustion.

Second, you don't need to sound "just like" someone else. You'll need to sound "just like" YOURSELF. As many of us, you drag influences from lots of artists, and as many of us, you are thinking "But this guy is GOOD!". Well, yeah, he is. But he's already taken that place.

Third: I advice you to take things slowly. Search which DAW you want to use, study it. Know it from inside out. Read the manual. Know how to use the synths/effects that come bundled with it. Did I mention "Read the manual"? Then, after that, you can see if you need to buy any other synth.

Then, after some years (depends on how fast you evolve and luck), you'll be another Armin van Buuren.
 
And technically I do know where to start. By dropping some instruments and effects onto midi tracks and drawing notes and modulation.
 
bigl2369 said:
And technically I do know where to start. By dropping some instruments and effects onto midi tracks and drawing notes and modulation.
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It's not that simple. And that was the focus of my first answer.

You won't get a good quality song by just "dropping some instruments and effects onto midi tracks and drawing notes and modulation". You need to study to know what instruments to use and combine, what FX to use to achieve the sound you want, how you draw notes to get the structure you want and how you'll modulate them. To get all these things right take time. A LOT of time.

Then, you'll have to know how to mix them properly. What frequencies you'll need to cut because they're clashing with others causing muddiness. What ones you need to raise a few db to make that instrument shine in the mix. How to make that kick drum so punchy it will make your ears blow up. How to make a riser effect that gets the attention of the listener and make him/her want for the bass to drop.

Then, when all of this are done, you'll need to listen to it, over and over again. Take notes on how to improve the mix. Change it, listen again and again. Listen on your shitty earbuds, on your pro mixing headphones, on your monitors, in your car, in your home stereo. After some time doing it, you finally will get it right. Then you'll: 1) Try to master this song yourself; 2) Send to a professional studio for mastering (therefore spending money).

If the first option is what you choose, you'll need to take care of multiband compressors, exciters, limiters, pre and post eq (and the list goes on).

See? It's not that simple.
 
Alright well if it can't be simple then I guess I give up. If the basic functions of a DAW aren't good enough to produce results without creative design and engineering intuity then I'm out. I'm not that smart and I'm not putting forth hours of effort.

I just thought maybe I could get some custom sounds.
 
bigl2369 said:
Alright well if it can't be simple then I guess I give up. If the basic functions of a DAW aren't good enough to produce results without creative design and engineering intuity then I'm out. I'm not that smart and I'm not putting forth hours of effort. I'm not that smart and I'm not putting forth hours of effort.
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nicholas-cage-laughing.gif
 
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bigl2369 said:
Alright well if it can't be simple then I guess I give up. If the basic functions of a DAW aren't good enough to produce results without creative design and engineering intuity then I'm out. I'm not that smart and I'm not putting forth hours of effort.

I just thought maybe I could get some custom sounds.
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No. You thought you'd check in here and get someone to say to you how you'd get the shortest trip to stardom. And now that you've seen that it isn't as easy as you wanted to be, you're blaming on us (particularly on me) for letting you down and making you quit.
 
Well you guys are making it seem like I can't write music with custom sounds.

Although I don't know anything about mastering and I can't design my own sounds I still think I could do well using other peoples projects and presets.

I'm not lying when I say a lot of production is drawing midi and modulation while using instruments and effects.
 
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bigl2369 said:
Well you guys are making it seem like I can't write music with custom sounds.

Although I don't know anything about mastering and I can't design my own sounds I still think I could do well using other peoples projects and presets.

I'm not lying when I say a lot of production is drawing midi and modulation while using instruments and effects.
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No, man, you're not lying. But you're taking a very simplistic approach to production. Electronic dance music isn't only getting custom sounds and drawing midi and modulation. That's what I'm trying to tell you.

You cited Armin van Buuren as the artist that guide your drive to write music. If he didn't know everything about production, then probably he wouldn't be as big as he is now.

Ironically, I think he'd be posting here, and discussing:

- how to get a perfect mix;
- how to achieve [insert producer's name here] sound;
- what is the best daw he can use;
- how can he make his kick and snare hit as hard as possible;
- What is this sound? [insert any link to a youtube video here];
- How to make a catchy chord progression;
- What is the structure of [insert genre or sub genre here];

I can keep this list for days, if you like.
 
It would be best for me to understand how to produce(I don't). But wouldn't a project file provide me with somewhat of a working knowledge. Although I wouldn't understand how the artist designed and constructed his sounds, I would still have the final product to analyze and use.

And I keep saying this, but after I would have the project I would just need to draw new notes and envelopes.
 
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exactly knowledge is power but copping someones else sound design without knowing/understanding how it was done is not knowledge but more akin to the veritable infinite number of monkeys and infinite number of typewriters/wordprocessors producing a script for hamlet in an infinite amount of time:

i.e. having the tool but not having instruction on how to use it does not mean that anything you create will be of any worth
 
just look at youtube tutorials it will only take you a while before you are producing the sound you desire.
 
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