Music production : why noobs are noobs ?

[V0RT3X]

Also most of the "Pros" know what they are doing and spend Months on just one track before sending it off to their marketing label.

One common mistake I see with lots of n00bs is that tend to get into "Turd polishing" which is basically trying to make some badly composed shitty track sound "Good" by attempting to mix and master it.

Trust me I know because I'm often guilty of this myself and then I have to stop and go "Ok this is shit time to go back to square one". This actually took me a while to figure out.. but I'm learning!

And then theres those of us who whip out a track in a day and never actually finish it (I'm also completely guilty of this).

My biggest advice? Have an idea in your head of what you want to do before sitting down at your DAW. It will save you a shit ton of wasted time.

You can't rush through learning this shit, you really have to know the basics to get anywhere and if you aren't going to school for it don't be f**king lazy and really do yourself a favour and go hit the books, youtube etc.

You could be like me and just not give a f**k what people think and put out weird stuff that most people don't listen to, but honestly if you want to get somewhere and maybe get some kind of commercial success or whatever, I think you really need to focus on learning the essentials. Don't kid yourself by thinking you can whip together a track and then load up a Ozone preset and call it a day.

[lfm]

At the end of the day make music that sounds good to you, and only you, for only you can please yourself. No one became great because they followed the herd. It is what goes on in your head and in your heart that counts. Don't automatically assume that pro = good. These days it's probably 90% marketing and 10% any real talent.

This.

It's not a kick that make you want to listen again to a track - it's about if it's art or not. Earbuds some use to listen to music will make kicks sound like metronome anyway - what you spent so much time on. It matters, but is not the focus.

And the fact that ability to produce music is so easy today - will make a lot of less good material out there. It used to be filtered by record companies - this is no longer the case. Everybody can do it - with almost no money.

[Michael L]

My biggest advice? Have an idea in your head of what you want to do before sitting down at your DAW

Really important point!
I see an unfortunate trend in software away from the transparency and flexibility you need to be unique; and toward black-box programming that is marketed to be simple, easy and fast.

[Tijs35]

Just a little story also :

I always loved the kick from this track :

I find it really awesome. As people said, you don't focus on kicks when listening to tracks, and it is rare for me to say "Wooaa this kick is awesome".

But it was the case with this track.

I tried to duplicate it with layering, with drum synthesis, but I never had a good result.

I was thinking "these guys are boss, how the hell did they make this bassdrum ?"



And, many times ago, I found that it was actually a Vengeance kick. (VEC5 Trance Bassdrum 17).


So again, it makes me believe that the reason why noobs tracks sounds bad is because of a lack of musicality and logical ideas.

Even if someone has no knowledge at all in production, he could get "decent" results just by finding the right samples.

[Tijs35]

Just a little story also :

I always loved the kick from this track :

I find it really awesome. As people said, you don't focus on kicks when listening to tracks, and it is rare for me to say "Wooaa this kick is awesome".

But it was the case with this track.

I tried to duplicate it with layering, with drum synthesis, but I never had a good result.

I was thinking "these guys are boss, how the hell did they make this bassdrum ?"



And, many times ago, I found that it was actually a Vengeance kick. (VEC5 Trance Bassdrum 17).


So again, it makes me believe that the reason why noobs tracks sounds bad is because of a lack of musicality and logical ideas.

Even if someone has no knowledge at all in production, he could get "decent" results (in terms of sounds) just by finding the right samples.

[Tijs35]

Just a little story also :

I always loved the kick from this track :

I find it really awesome. As people said, you don't focus on kicks when listening to tracks, and it is rare for me to say "Wooaa this kick is awesome".

But it was the case with this track.

I tried to duplicate it with layering, with drum synthesis, but I never had a good result.

I was thinking "these guys are boss, how the hell did they make this bassdrum ?"



And, many times later, I found that it was actually a Vengeance kick. (VEC5 Trance Bassdrum 17).


So again, it makes me believe that the reason why noobs tracks sounds bad is because of a lack of musicality and logical ideas.

Even if someone has no knowledge at all in production, he could get "decent" results (in terms of sounds) just by finding the right samples.

[AnX]

Today, it is far easier than before to start music production.

You have (to name a few) :

- Vengeance samples (production ready)

- Nexus2 (production ready)

production ready = marketing bullshit

if you want to produce music, try writing a song

[mgw38]

N00bs are n00bs because they lack practice. Unless you are really talented the expectation is that you need about 10.000 hours of practice to become an expert. That is years of practice. As to the workflow. There is no “right” and therefore also no “wrong” way to do things. All this “you have to do it this way or you are a n00b” is ridiculous nonsense.

[Aloysius]

why boobs are boobs ?

[DJ Warmonger]

Other than that, I generally proceeded from the notion that if someone thinks you have to layer just to get a decent bass tone or "kick" the chances are pretty good they never made anything sound by itself, endeavoring to get a good sound by themselves on one o' them old timey things called a musical instrument.

It's the sort of thing a noob would do because they saw it in a tutorial or read it in a magazine, and think they have to do it to sound "pro."

The biggest mistake is trying to sound pro and thus trying to imitate what they think pros must do, which must be complicated because they're pros, right?

This is a common mindset. Trying to mimic "pro" producers by following single tips and trivial solutions.

But no, turning one knob or layering one sample won't magically make track be "pro". These guys have years of experience, but also different skills, ideas, workflow and gear. Copy-pasting single element won't be enough.
Another issue - if for instance akick in a track sounds good, it doesn't mean the kick is the only element involved in final result. Overall balance and sidechaining can contribute a lot to final effect.

[imrae]

The most noobish thing I see on this forum time and time again is people who don't know the difference between a technical process and an artistic choice. They ask how they "should" make a kick drum, what is "best" between different synthesis techniques and complain that a sound is bad because it doesn't have the hyped high-end and flattened dynamics of a finished track in some competitive commercial genre.

The principles of making a clear, natural and balanced mix are fairly universal over a wide range of music genres. Using mix tools to compensate for questionable arrangement decisions is far more situational.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

The fact is everyone use vengeance samples.

...[Grabs dictionary...Looks up "fact"]...

So again, it makes me believe that the reason why noobs tracks sounds bad is because of a lack of musicality and logical ideas.

A great song will still be a great song, no matter the mix or listening medium. A bad song can be improved by the mix and listening medium, at least in certain scenarios. I'd definitely aim for the first situation.

Anyway! I'll go with the general sentiment to not worry what the others are doing.

why noobs are noobs

I'm sure there's a great parody thread lurking in there, somewhere. If only I could think of a word that rhymes with "noobs"

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

why boobs are boobs ?

You got there before me

[woggle]

Always liked this hit - not sure about the kick but I think this a Vengeance snare.

[sjm]

I'm sure there's a great parody thread lurking in there, somewhere. If only I could think of a word that rhymes with "boobs"

Toobs!

They mk my trakcz snd moar analogly, worm and fussy. Pro tip!