Looking For Some General Advice

[armsoforion]

Hi Everyone,


I'm looking to improve my production capabilities.


On a scale from 1 to 10, I'd say I'm somewhere in the 4 or 5 area currently, and would like to push that up a few notches. I know the basics of songwriting, recording, mixing, and I have a a decent grasp of compression, filtering, and EQ, though I'm always looking to refine these skills.


While I do some acoustic things, most of my efforts are in electronic music production, and it's here where I seem to struggle with choosing "good" instrument sounds. I can program beats and write melodies and harmonies all day, but they often come out sounding too "cute."


The best way I can describe it, it's like aiming for a CHVRCHES sound, but having it come out sounding like the background music to a Wix commercial. I realize some of this is tempo, rhythm, key, and cadence, but I think a significant portion is also knowing:


A) which sounds go well together,
B) which instruments sound current and fit within a genre,
C) how to synthesize these sounds or modify existing instruments to meet the goals of "A" and "B" and,
D) knowing other production techniques that contribute to the goals of "A" thru "C."


So, I'm wondering if anyone here has some general advice for how to get better at these things, or knows of some specific articles/videos that deal with this sort of thing.


I'd greatly appreciate it.


All the best—

 

[The Funk Junkie]

Sound design is always a huge challenge. In my opinion it's the single most important element. I often hear "cute" (your words haha) tracks that should be good but just don't stand out. They have great melodies, chords, lyrics, whatever... the biggest single issue always seems to be the drums. I know it seems weird for a lot of people, especially those with a strong background as a musician, but things like the snare drum selection will make or break a track. If your hi-hats sound cheesey, the entire song will sound lame, it's just the way it works. I'd find some high quality drum sample packs and just spend some time taking your favorite pre-existing songs and swapping drums in and out, maybe try using a sampled break, whatever. Just spend a lot of time tweaking the drums and seeing what works and what doesn't. Nobody is ever too good to improve the sound design on their drums and it'll be well worth your time.

A great song with generic fake drum sounds is not as good as a mediocre song with excellent drums...

 

[B Side Producer]

What's said above, AND,
don't try to make music production into an exact science. There's ofcourse a lot of science behind it , some parts that let itself be put into a framework but a lot of it isn't. You can analyse songs and try to copy it or incorporate the same sounds and techniques. But in the end, it's about if you like it, if others like it. You can break all the rules in the rule book and still get hordes to like your music.
Try to go on your judgement and in the mean time, broaden your horizon. Listen to music you never listen to, analyse songs that you really like, google for answers, search function on fp, etc.
AND, very important, go make that shit! A lot of future producers end up in a non ending contemplate state where very little music is made out of fear of sucking. There's a very beautiful saying about that by one of the worlds greatest thinkers...
can't remember it though I need to make some music instead of typing here

 

[Epsilon-144]

I think trying to replicate an already established sound is the thing holding you back. You might be focusing too much on trying to sound exactly like something you're separate from. I mean this is in a good way. When you focus on trying to replicate a sound, you close this giant and wonderful world of creativity into a box that has to sound just like chvches. You se ewhqt i'm saying.

You can learn all the science to a great track, and that'll help the sound quality, but music is still to this day 90% art.

...I think the problem is when you get a wild, outside the box, (possibly ground breaking) idea, you dont jump on it because its doesn't sound like chvches. Thats the killer of a lot of creativity. People focus too much on trying to sound like artists that already exist. Music and art are creative, and those who pioneer new sounds and ideas will thrive in these fields.

Be yourself, man. Don't worry about sounding like chvches. Your attempts to sound like them are never going to sound like them, because you're not them. So overtime you'll keep trying and trying, and you'll keep thinking "damn, ...i'm not as good." BUT YOU ARE! ...just with a sound you have to develop on your own, as your sound, and as your dent in the universe. ...And then watch man, its wild, people start trying to make music that sounds like YOUR music, and you'll think now, "damn, ...they're making the same mistake, but at least it's my sound this time."

Do you have any songs to share. I'll be more than happy to listen.

 

[Epsilon-144]

Edit: I said something stupid. How do I delete this post? (not the one above, that ones good)