1. How do you guys manage your time between working/school or whatever with producing?
2. What tips do you guys have for making a more advanced beat?
3. What tips and tricks do you guys have for making hip-hop/rap/trap beats?
4. Tips on fitting everything together? And getting it to sound better together?
5. Finally tips on organising the song? So just before you export the song
I'm sorry if this is a long post to answer but these will help me greatly and any feed back is appreciated so much!
I have a couple of question for you guys
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- Banned
- 10196 posts since 12 Mar, 2012 from the Bavarian Alps to my feet and the globe around my head
Don't you think these are enough questions for at least 6 threads? 
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- KVRAF
- 2211 posts since 20 Sep, 2013 from Poland
Those really are some big HUGE questions. I'll give a couple of them a crack, though.
2. Start simple and master the basics first, then make things more advanced one small advancement at a time. I don't try to do a whole lot at once. That's the philosophical answer. The more practical answer is there are a lot of things that make beats sound less basic. Varying the velocity of the notes, layering sounds, and automating some synth parameters are three.
3. Much slower tempos than EDM, say 74 bpm or even slower. To get a classic trap sound, use 808 samples for the drums. Listen to some drum patterns on tracks you like, copy a few of them in every detail, and after 5 or 6 you'll get an idea of what they have in common. Use a simple bass tone. Some string and horn samples. DSK Strings and DSK Brass are free and will work for trap. Think "hood orchestra".
4. This is a huge giant topic and you can keep getting better at it for decades, but one tip: absorb way too much knowledge. Read all of "Synth Secrets" including the parts you don't think you have any reason to ever care about, read at least one college-level textbook on tonal harmony and go through all the examples with a keyboard, keep up with what music cute girls are into this year, everything. It all adds up and it all helps you make tracks sound better. Again, that's pretty philosophical. A more practical answer: don't pile too many sounds into the same frequency spaces, especially at the lower end - make sure there's room for everything. That's a matter of understanding and arranging the sounds, but also using EQ and sidechain compression where needed.
2. Start simple and master the basics first, then make things more advanced one small advancement at a time. I don't try to do a whole lot at once. That's the philosophical answer. The more practical answer is there are a lot of things that make beats sound less basic. Varying the velocity of the notes, layering sounds, and automating some synth parameters are three.
3. Much slower tempos than EDM, say 74 bpm or even slower. To get a classic trap sound, use 808 samples for the drums. Listen to some drum patterns on tracks you like, copy a few of them in every detail, and after 5 or 6 you'll get an idea of what they have in common. Use a simple bass tone. Some string and horn samples. DSK Strings and DSK Brass are free and will work for trap. Think "hood orchestra".
4. This is a huge giant topic and you can keep getting better at it for decades, but one tip: absorb way too much knowledge. Read all of "Synth Secrets" including the parts you don't think you have any reason to ever care about, read at least one college-level textbook on tonal harmony and go through all the examples with a keyboard, keep up with what music cute girls are into this year, everything. It all adds up and it all helps you make tracks sound better. Again, that's pretty philosophical. A more practical answer: don't pile too many sounds into the same frequency spaces, especially at the lower end - make sure there's room for everything. That's a matter of understanding and arranging the sounds, but also using EQ and sidechain compression where needed.
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- KVRAF
- 2211 posts since 20 Sep, 2013 from Poland
Question 1 is really "how do I organize my whole life". To me, music has a lower priority than work, eating lots of meat, and lifting weights. Music, all put together, gets about 10 hours in an average week, some combination of rehearsals, classical bass exercises, transcribing new covers, production, doing fabric finishes on electric instruments or whatever else I'm working on that week. Things get prioritized within music by whether there's a deadline and by how much I like the vocalist.
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- KVRist
- 303 posts since 8 Dec, 2011 from Lebbeke, Belgium
Very important for all of us. Professional or not.LBensley wrote:Question 1 is very important for me ATM so any tips on that is very grateful!
Everyone need to find the his own way.
I just can say how i do it.
I work and have 4 kids. So i stay with my family till +- 10PM.
Then i play music in room dedicated to on the last floor of the house till +- 1AM.
I need to sleep 5 or 6 hours, not a big sleeper. But i know that it's not for everyone.
I need to pay my bills so, my job is more important than the music (sadly).
And the key with the family, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, kids,is the communication.It's the only way to find an agreement about timing.
Good luck.
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- KVRAF
- 2295 posts since 18 Oct, 2010 from Japan
I'm not going to answer the other questions; just number one...because it's easy and I'm lazy.
Juggling. Spend weekends off-and-on doing what you want, and if you have hobbies outside of art - watching a specific TV show, playing a video game, reading a book, whatever - take time to do that a little each day after work.
Of course, if you have a family to commit to it may be more difficult to juggle, and I'm not the one to talk to about that.
Juggling. Spend weekends off-and-on doing what you want, and if you have hobbies outside of art - watching a specific TV show, playing a video game, reading a book, whatever - take time to do that a little each day after work.
Of course, if you have a family to commit to it may be more difficult to juggle, and I'm not the one to talk to about that.