KVR Audio

willdub1 · Post by **willdub1** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 4:30 pm

Choose an instrument and take lessons from the best teacher/tutor you can afford. You need to forget about all the technical bits and focus on the art itself. All that stuff about plugins and mastering should take the back sit at least for now. My biggest mistake getting started was thinking that if I knew everything there is to know about the science (DAW,Synths,Effects) I would automatically become a great producer. I couldn't have been anymore wrong. By learning music theory you will gradually learn about composition, orchestration and then the science and all the technical aspects of music will eventually become part of the equation. But i didn't follow the routine and skipped stages so i wasted a lot of time and energy getting here. Don't make the same mistake I did. Stick to the routine.

Deep Purple · Post by **Deep Purple** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 4:39 pm

I think that's excellent advice, although I don't necessarily know that you always need a teacher - it's always possible to be self-taught or get a lot of knowledge from friends and other musicians.

Playing an instrument is always going to be a huge benefit to any musician, and just trying to use the building blocks approach is rarely going to do anything other than make you sound just like everyone else, and I doubt it will ever give you that satisfaction of being able to sit down and just play for the joy of it.

rod_zero · Post by **rod_zero** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 4:56 pm

I agree 100%, I f I was starting again I will get music lessons first.

willdub1 · Post by **willdub1** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 6:18 pm

Deep Purple wrote:I think that's excellent advice, although I don't necessarily know that you always need a teacher - it's always possible to be self-taught or get a lot of knowledge from friends and other musicians.

Playing an instrument is always going to be a huge benefit to any musician, and just trying to use the building blocks approach is rarely going to do anything other than make you sound just like everyone else, and I doubt it will ever give you that satisfaction of being able to sit down and just play for the joy of it.

I think you're wrong there. the whole point of having a good teacher is that you wont be second guessing yourself. the whole point of having a teacher period is to stop you wasting time trying to learn from other people and randomly experimenting not knowing why something sounds good when it does. You can obviously teach yourself but what you gain is nothing compared to someone who has years and years of experience and with all that wealth of knowledge just handing it to you. And if you want to be a producer learning an instrument isn't essentially necessary but the whole point of why I suggested it was that there is no better way to learn music theory than to do practical exercises. and musicians do practical exercises on instruments last I checked. Regardless of whether or not you want to be fluent with the instrument it still serves as the best way of becoming well versed in music theory.

Deep Purple · Post by **Deep Purple** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 6:31 pm

willdub1 wrote:I think you're wrong there. the whole point of having a good teacher is that you wont be second guessing yourself. the whole point of having a teacher period is to stop you wasting time trying to learn from other people and randomly experimenting not knowing why something sounds good when it does.

Knowing whether something sounds good has little to do with having a teacher - it has a lot more to do with musical appreciation.

I taught myself to play guitar and piano without any help from a teacher and am very good at both. Most of what I got was from books, friends, listening to records, etc. Just because I didn't have someone who formally called themselves a teacher it doesn't mean I wasn't taught.

keyman_sam · Post by **keyman_sam** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 6:42 pm

+1 to a good teacher.

You may be great at teaching yourself and all that, but self-teaching is not for everyone. A real teacher is. The investment in a teacher is little compared to return on the investment over time. You will thank your lucky stars everyday that you learned music with the guidance of a good teacher.

willdub1 · Post by **willdub1** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 6:58 pm

Deep Purple wrote:
willdub1 wrote:I think you're wrong there. the whole point of having a good teacher is that you wont be second guessing yourself. the whole point of having a teacher period is to stop you wasting time trying to learn from other people and randomly experimenting not knowing why something sounds good when it does.
Knowing whether something sounds good has little to do with having a teacher - it has a lot more to do with musical appreciation.

I taught myself to play guitar and piano without any help from a teacher and am very good at both. Most of what I got was from books, friends, listening to records, etc. Just because I didn't have someone who formally called themselves a teacher it doesn't mean I wasn't taught.

And you probably would have gotten to where you are now a lot sooner if you just got a teacher

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 7:05 pm

+2 to a good teacher. I say this as both a former student (elementary-high school bands/orchestra, private lessons, college music student) and as a former tutor/instructor. A good teacher will help you minimize the trial and error with regard to technique and help you stay focused on your own individual goals. A good teacher will be strict enough to ensure proper technique, timing, and striving for the perfect performance, but will also encourage improvisation and experimentation. I've had many excellent teachers and a few pretty bad ones, but none of them tried to make me "sound like everybody else" - in my experience, the only people who say this are people who have little/no experience working with a teacher/instructor. I've also noticed that most people who say this generally tend to...well, not sound all that original. It just took them longer to figure it out.

(that's not directed at Deep Purple or anybody else in particular).

DodgingRain · Post by **DodgingRain** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:39 pm

The problem is finding a teacher that can teach EDM style music or production which doesn't really involve an instrument per say. I have probably over 12 years of instruction on 3 instruments and I guess it was somewhat valuable, maybe.... not real sure if it was or not.

Someone that teaches an instrument isn't going to teach very much theory, its going to be mostly time spent on learning to play a specific instrument and it's techniques.

For EDM or production work I think the theory I've picked up via books has been far more valuable. The lessons did give me some basic background that made going through the theory books easier however.

Daags · Post by **Daags** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:47 pm

1: hookers & blow
2: ????
3: ????
4: ????
5: platinum hit record

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 9:02 pm

DodgingRain wrote: Someone that teaches an instrument isn't going to teach very much theory

That really depends on the teacher. I've had piano and organ instructors who taught me a lot of theory (and some that didn't), and I personally included a lot of theory when I was an instructor (bass). I'd say the bigger question is not how much theory you learn, but how much learning the instrument helps your composition skills (not really the same the as theory, but certainly related). Improvisation on an instrument is a skill that really helps with composition - not only does it require some knowledge of chords and progressions, but it helps with coming up with new ideas. Ultimately, performance, theory, and composition are all interrelated skills, so IMHO it just makes sense to approach it that way, rather than focusing on just one or two.

rod_zero · Post by **rod_zero** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 9:32 pm

yeah you need a teacher that also teaches composition. Or a jazz teacher that teaches improvisation. Both can get you to figure out the incredible complex chord progressions, key changes and counterpoint EDM uses.

experimental.crow · Post by **experimental.crow** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 9:35 pm

giant stylized mouse head silhouette thingy ...

Aloysius · Post by **Aloysius** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 9:48 pm

How would you know what a good teacher was when you're just starting out? I've seen a lot of videos on YouTube with great advice and others by people who look ''pro'' but really haven't a clue what they're talking about.

If you managed to ''get there'' in 6 years, I reckon you took a short cut. Making the same mistake you did seems like the best thing anyone could do.

rod_zero · Post by **rod_zero** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 10:08 pm

Aloysius wrote:How would you know what a good teacher was when you're just starting out?

Simple you book trial sessions with various teachers before commiting to one.

6 years down the line. My advice to anyone getting started