KVR Audio

chris979899 · Post by **chris979899** » Sat Mar 24, 2018 9:47 am

I've been wondering what is the best approach to music production. My girlfriend says maybe one of the courses via point blank or midi course would be helpful. Although I agree it'd help I sort of feel they're not as necessary as they make out. I'm pretty sure Mike dehnert didn't do one (no comparison intended). I think my money is best invested in some quality hardware rather than a course. What would you recommend? Also I struggle to find YouTube production channels I can relate to. Basically I like techno but I'm more into the likes of surgeon, dj Pete, dj rush etc. I feel YouTube channels like PB, Manchester midi, sonic academy etc focus on how to create a big drop or put 10,000 effects on a vocal. I'd be so grateful for any help.

DJ Warmonger · Post by **DJ Warmonger** » Sat Mar 24, 2018 12:00 pm

I don't know what you get from these courses and what you're exactly looking for, but I wouldn't overestimate hardware "quality". Skill is always the most important, especially for a simple style like techno. You can make great music with great skills and minimal setup, but without skill you can't make any use even of the best hardware.

Get some drum machine or other fun toy if you wnat to, but people install most of "quality" and expensive gear in their studios only once they achieve significant success.

chris979899 · Post by **chris979899** » Sat Mar 24, 2018 1:19 pm

It's hard to tell you what level I am. I'd say as somebody who understands the music I'm pretty clued up having loved techno since I was about 13 and am now 30. My knowledge and ideas are something I'm confident with, but my skills not as much. Maybe the best option for me is to keep researching the equipment I'm after and learn it in depth.

Zexila · Post by **Zexila** » Sat Mar 24, 2018 1:24 pm

If you are into techno, I think this is the best investment in knowledge you can get anywhere:
https://www.dancemusicproduction.com/pr ... ode-techno

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goHmFb2E5j8

As far as I understand, this guys don't just make track for you to follow and that's it, they dissect whole genre and explain you all the theory and motives about everything, so you can employ all the techniques to make your own music.

If you have time and patience to figure it all out by yourself, than you don't need any help, you may never know what kind of exact techniques you are employing, but you will doing it because you heard it before and find it working in your music.

Hardware is not an answer to quality problems, if you pick up some tool to make your creative flow easier, than sure, it's nice addition, if you think it will spray quality over your music, prepare for disappointment.

Distorted Horizon · Post by **Distorted Horizon** » Sat Mar 24, 2018 1:38 pm

IMO you should just listen to what you like and trying to copy that in your DAW. Then after you know how it's done, you can make that to your own style. Yeah and of course make crap loads of music.

When it comes to vst's or hardware, I spent thousands to vst's before I realized that I don't need one single of them. Ok maybe couple of FX and guess there's no real competition to Serum in freeware world.

I assume that you have expectation that someone will listen to your music? I can't speak for everyone but I believe I'm not totally wrong when I say that people are more interested in the music itself, rhythm, melody, flow etc.. Than what did you use to make the song or how much did it cost.

Distorted Horizon · Post by **Distorted Horizon** » Sat Mar 24, 2018 1:44 pm

Sadowick has nice videos you might like.

And when it comes to your level, you could post some soundcloud link of your so we can decide your level

twitewhite · Post by **twitewhite** » Tue Mar 27, 2018 1:26 pm

Just try to copy songs you like. One of two things will happen. Either 1) You copy it perfectly and learn has the song was produced (and how to create or improve similar songs as a result) or 2) You fail, but you end up with something unique that is perhaps even better than option one, as it's not just a copy of something that's already been done, but rather a unique piece with your stylistic characteristics baked into it.

I've created a lot of music this way. Especially when I was starting out, I used this method, and more often than not, got nowhere close to where I wanted to be. However, I was able to make something of these failures, and by the time I had finished them, they sounded pretty good, even if you couldn't tell what song they were originally based off. As long as you have an open mind, you can take your failures and further develop them. Trying to confine yourself to a single genre or style hurts your creativity greatly. I doubt I could have come up with the sounds of my "mistakes" on my own if I rejected anything that wasn't *insert genre here*.

Also, if you're like me, melodies and ideas come to you at all times of the day. Make sure you have a good voice recorder on your phone and use it whenever inspiration strikes, as by the time you get home from work the idea will be long gone.

generaldiomedes · Post by **generaldiomedes** » Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:12 am

Just start making music. Set a deadline to make a track by and try to meet that deadline.

The problem with videos is that they don’t really stick in your head as much as struggling through the problem yourself. After a year of making music I am just now starting to understand what they are really saying in the videos anyhow.

Hardware .. not sure why you would want to spend money on a limited unwieldy piece of hardware at this stage with the wealth of VSTs that are available.

S9DD · Post by **S9DD** » Fri Mar 30, 2018 3:04 pm

Hi, as many of the respondents have said, you need to make a start, somewhere. Musically the goal of mimicing something you know well is a good exercise.

As you know the genre you'd like to develop, your challenge divides logically into:
- getting set up, with the right tools - computer, DAW, speakers, mic, phones
- locating/creating the right sounds - mics, hardware synths, plugins, samples
- developing the engineering rigour in capturing, taming, and tailoring new signals from mic's/hardware
- "programming" parts, or playing and capturing keyboard parts, using MIDI and line audio
- learning to manage the competition between audio parts - arrangement, volume/EQ management
- learning to keep a listener interested for 3 minutes, genre knowledge put to the test
- mixing to stereo, final compression/limiting/eq, bass management
- iterating over the above to tweak or update, or even make massively different choices in hindsight
- developing some system of session storage, such you can go back to a tune later, easily

Note these are engineering or process related skills. So if you do sign up for music technology course, this is what courses will focus on, not necessarily the application of this knowledge to your favourite type of music. A lot of the knowledge is the same no matter which genre you choose. You will make better music long term by trying many genres as you learn, even if you always gravitate to one.

I suggest you break each of these down into:
"things I know I know", no education needed, just do it
"things which seem obvious, or I could probably discover by doing", so have a go and make notes
"know the principle, but lack of familiarity", copy others, practice until that wears off
"things I definitely don't know", ask very specific question on forums, buy a book, or just try

If there is risk in getting into music, it's the cost versus the reward. But if you buy hardware, as opposed to software, you will have things you can sell if you change your mind. So a simple hardware subtractive synth might be a good choice, as opposed to plugins. Think quality, not quantity. Do not ignore the second hand market as there is a lot of perfectly serviceable gear out there. You may be surprised how having just a few choice tools can really help the process along.

However, no one can truly teach you how to make your own music, as your voice is your own to discover, even in a genre you believe you know really well. It is something you will only truly discover and hone by actually doing it. "Happy accidents" are about the best discoveries.

If it all feels daunting, try to network with other people and see how they go about doing it. Get along to an expo, talk to DJs in clubs, make contact with artists using SoundCloud.

For faster results with electronic music, you might also consider learning some DJ skills, where selecting audio for looping and mixing is going to be considerably simpler at the outset than picking up all the various skills you would need to be original at a musical level. That may seem off-topic, but some of the skills and much of gear is transferable. Once you're moving, then you can learn to make your own "original elements" to suit, when you have deepened your knowledge. "Rome was not built in a day."

I wish you every success with it.

chris979899 · Post by **chris979899** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 2:24 pm

Hi everyone had a good read of these thank you for your help and support I really appreciate it.

I'm gonna keep cracking away at it and keep learning. One day I might post a track on here for anybody to critisise for me. I have decided I want to start with a drum machine sampler combo. The idea of the hands on approach really appeals to me especially with drums etc. When it comes to hardware I'm looking for the fine line of it being playful, yet has the quality. This is difficult to find of course but I'm going to buy the Elektron Digikat and have a good learn of that. I also have sylenth which I find really enjoyable just wish I could play with it in person rather than a vst using my mouse.

chris979899 · Post by **chris979899** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 2:25 pm

also does anybody know what synth sylenth was based on? If any

Zexila · Post by **Zexila** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 5:37 pm

chris979899 wrote:also does anybody know what synth sylenth was based on? If any

Inspired by Virus probably.

Distorted Horizon · Post by **Distorted Horizon** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 6:07 pm

A lot of research has been invested in order to achieve unheard warmth and clarity

It's all they say at https://www.lennardigital.com/sylenth1/

I don't think it's actually based on anything really

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 6:24 pm

chris979899 wrote:The idea of the hands on approach really appeals to me especially with drums etc. When it comes to hardware I'm looking for the fine line of it being playful, yet has the quality. This is difficult to find of course but I'm going to buy the Elektron Digikat and have a good learn of that.

That's a great choice. I just watched a couple of vids and the Digikat looks cool. Another option is the RTYM and/or Octatrack.

vitocorleone123 · Post by **vitocorleone123** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:49 pm

Start somewhere. Get a DAW (I suggest trying Reaper and Tracktion Waveform to see what "clicks" for you... you can always get a more expensive DAW if you feel the need once you're sure this is what you enjoy) and get some top-rated free VSTs. Watch some videos and look at articles/books on analog synthesis - not a lot of it, but enough to understand what's happening. Definitely get a decent MIDI controller - if you can't get a nice big one with lots of keys and controls, I suggest getting one with lots of keys and a few controls if any.

You CAN try to mimic some others as a way of learning, or you can just see what happens. If you're wanting to try to make money, I suppose copying others is a way of doing it and maybe you develop your own style that way. If you're wanting to have fun and perhaps develop an original style, skip that step and do what you can and what sound good to you, instead. Focus on learning the tools so you know how to use them rather than how someone else uses them.

Once you establish some knowledge and skill, you'll have a better idea of where to invest $$ - either in paid VSTs, hardware, or both. Otherwise you could be throwing money away. On the flip side of that, buying a hardware synth would definitely focus you heavily on learning that one tool, which has its benefits. Sometimes when you have the tools to do "anything" it can be hard to produce "something" because it can feel overwhelming.

After getting some experience creating music, get some free EQ, delay, etc. effects and start learning how to mix, which is yet another set of skills (let someone else master it).

Good luck!

Getting the best from your productions