Biggest beginner struggles

[domsthetics]

Hey guys, I’m trying to come up with ways to make the lives of beginner music producers/djs/artists easier and better understand the problems.

That's why I have two questions:
- ​As someone who is getting started with producing music, what are the biggest struggles you’re dealing with?
- Regarding music production, what would you wish for more than anything else?

Thanks so much in advance - Looking forward to reading all your answers!

[BertKoor]

Recent similar thread:
viewtopic.php?f=74&t=545067

[MWilson]

Not knowing enough about music. Many watch tech videos but don't really dive into instrumentation, orchestration and the elements of music. It's a lot tougher if you aren't comfortable with dissecting what you're hearing imho.

[jisatsu_koui]

- ​As someone who is getting started with producing music, what are the biggest struggles you’re dealing with?

1. Finishing a track. I recently started using markers in Cubase to set a simple template of intro, verse, chorus, ect. Just to guide me for now.
2. Making something more geared towards the music I like/want to make. A lot of times I'll find a preset or sound that I like and build from there, but eventually I find that after adding parts it's not what I envisioned. I'll keep working with it to get practice in general however.

I need to spend more time getting a better idea of what makes up the music I like. For example, I love Velvet Acid Christ, and it wasn't until I actually looked into the acid genre and the tb-303 that I saw how it was relevant to the tracks I like.

Sorry if this doesn't make sense, just a quick ramble!

[neverenoughfunk]

anytime you write/make music ALWAYS save your work... you can always go back to it when you get better...

[JerGoertz]

Back when I was a beginner: struggling to get my ideas down in concrete form.

[MMaarrkk]

Observing people I had the opportunity to teach or mentor, the biggest struggle seems to be rather consistent. No matter the genre, person, it always seems to boil down to "not knowing what to do next". When it comes to people who do hip-hop, it seems after a basic beat pattern and melody, people seem to not know how to make it "sound better" or what to address to make the track more consistent. When it's trance or hardcore, they tend to focus on an aspect of the track, like a kick, so heavily, once they are happy with the kick, they feel like there's nothing else to do.

Obviously, everyone is different and will have different struggles, but no matter how many times I get to go through the process of someone learning to make music, it's always the same - "I don't know what to do next". And more often than not, it's the lack of understanding the basics. With just a few tips, they seem to get an idea of what they want to do next. I guess it's not knowing what you can do, so it really looks like there's nothing left.

Music is art and you have to learn how to put your ideas onto "paper", not worrying about "how to do things" and just doing them.

[domsthetics]

Not knowing enough about music. Many watch tech videos but don't really dive into instrumentation, orchestration and the elements of music. It's a lot tougher if you aren't comfortable with dissecting what you're hearing imho.

I find myself learn and remember the most if I would repeat or try to replicate what the video was about. Only watching never had any impact on me, I'd forget about it in a week!
What do you think would help you the most regarding learning about music? That One thing that would help you solve all the other problems?

[domsthetics]

Observing people I had the opportunity to teach or mentor, the biggest struggle seems to be rather consistent. No matter the genre, person, it always seems to boil down to "not knowing what to do next". When it comes to people who do hip-hop, it seems after a basic beat pattern and melody, people seem to not know how to make it "sound better" or what to address to make the track more consistent. When it's trance or hardcore, they tend to focus on an aspect of the track, like a kick, so heavily, once they are happy with the kick, they feel like there's nothing else to do.

Obviously, everyone is different and will have different struggles, but no matter how many times I get to go through the process of someone learning to make music, it's always the same - "I don't know what to do next". And more often than not, it's the lack of understanding the basics. With just a few tips, they seem to get an idea of what they want to do next. I guess it's not knowing what you can do, so it really looks like there's nothing left.

Music is art and you have to learn how to put your ideas onto "paper", not worrying about "how to do things" and just doing them.

Thanks for sharing your perspective! I came to a pretty similar conclusion after doing research and observing people make music. Putting the ideas into the DAW and actually finishing songs.
I'm curious, how would you guide your students, so they would get an idea of what to do next and that would broaden their horizon of what they can do?

[domsthetics]

- ​As someone who is getting started with producing music, what are the biggest struggles you’re dealing with?

1. Finishing a track. I recently started using markers in Cubase to set a simple template of intro, verse, chorus, ect. Just to guide me for now.
2. Making something more geared towards the music I like/want to make. A lot of times I'll find a preset or sound that I like and build from there, but eventually I find that after adding parts it's not what I envisioned. I'll keep working with it to get practice in general however.

I need to spend more time getting a better idea of what makes up the music I like. For example, I love Velvet Acid Christ, and it wasn't until I actually looked into the acid genre and the tb-303 that I saw how it was relevant to the tracks I like.

Sorry if this doesn't make sense, just a quick ramble!

Thanks for your detailed explanation! It does make sense and it helps a lot. What do you think keeps you from finishing a track the most? Is it maybe the lack of motivation, knowledge, or something else?

Getting to know what we like is a never-ending experience I believe. As we evolve and grow, what we think we like can often change and that's perfectly normal.

[imrae]

I need to spend more time getting a better idea of what makes up the music I like. For example, I love Velvet Acid Christ, and it wasn't until I actually looked into the acid genre and the tb-303 that I saw how it was relevant to the tracks I like.

This is a really good point. Much as we say specific gear doesn't matter, it can sometimes be hard to make sense of what you're hearing without knowledge of the gear. I loved but couldn't begin to emulate the West Coast synthesis work on 2000s-era NIN - until I got Reaktor Blocks and VCV rack.

[MWilson]

I find myself learn and remember the most if I would repeat or try to replicate what the video was about. Only watching never had any impact on me, I'd forget about it in a week!
What do you think would help you the most regarding learning about music? That One thing that would help you solve all the other problems?

Even a beginner music theory course will get you a lot further down the road. Ear training is helpful as well. When I'm mixing, I rely heavily on reference tracks. Don't overpopulate your music with parts. Amazing music can be made with just one instrument. Best of luck.

[MMaarrkk]

I'm curious, how would you guide your students, so they would get an idea of what to do next and that would broaden their horizon of what they can do?

Every case is unique, but there are definitely some things that seem to help people universally. One of the points is right above ^ - actually looking at what makes up the music you like, which is a great way of starting to analyse the music you enjoy and develop what you want to see from yourself. A next step after looking into the music you enjoy would be to try and recreate it. I think there was a separate thread regarding this exact topic, but I think recreating tracks you like is a good way to further develop an idea of how to develop a workflow or instead of focusing on being "creative" just focus on learning how to use the DAW.

If someone is starting off fresh with no experience at all, maybe with music even, the best tip that is somewhat hard to put into words is to not overthink everything. It's very easy to get lost in a single aspect of a track, but if you allow yourself to work on everything just enough and come back to polish it later, many people end up achieving quite a bit more.

[Tannaliini]

My case:
1. I usually make a short loop (the "chorus" or "refrain" part). And then I start to make another one... and another one... So I have pile of these loops, but nothing "finished". I think this is my biggest struggle - like @consordini stated "what to do next".

2. I have HUGE amount of things I just don't understand: what is root key/how to find it in my own melodies, all the different synth types FM, WT, Subtractive, Romplers, Granulars (well I know some stuff now, but still so much to learn that it's time to time feels like I just can't cope with all the information I should learn)

3. Mixing + mastering (well I'm not really at that point yet since I'm mostly just getting out those short loops, but still...)

Anyways, I still get some energy when getting some notes to my DAW, trying some different sounds. Making some melodies... It just feels good to me.

[MMaarrkk]

2. I have HUGE amount of things I just don't understand: what is root key/how to find it in my own melodies, all the different synth types FM, WT, Subtractive, Romplers, Granulars (well I know some stuff now, but still so much to learn that it's time to time feels like I just can't cope with all the information I should learn)

That is a very common hurdle that most people encounter that haven't had traditional music training. Just dedicating an hour or even 30 minutes a day to music theory can definitely help a lot - or even looking up the specific aspect you want to understand. That might not work for advanced concepts, but for some basic things here and there it should work just fine.