Things I Wish I Knew When Getting Started

[shockenkleid]

After 10 years of being an aspiring producer I have come to the conclusion that,

All I needed to produce trance/house/techno/EDM was:
- Any D.A.W it doesn't matter (but preferably Logic-Pro)
- Lennar Digital Sylenth1
- Modartt Pianoteq
- D16Group Drumazon (sounds amazing when driven with FabFilter Saturn)
- FabFilter Total Bundle

I should have spent 50% of my time:
- learning music theory
- learning composition theory
- paying for a piano tutor
- enrolling in an online mixing/mastering course


I should have spent the other 50% of my time:
- composing

And the only studio gear I would ever need is:
- Focusrite Scarlett Solo
- Kali Audio LP-6
- Audio-Technica ATH-M20x * with better earpads like Dekoni Audio Earpads
- Arturia KeyLab Essential 49
- Sonarworks Reference 4 (software & Mic)

Thats it. Every EDM hit song could have been made with just these

[egbert101]

True stuff.

[kritikon]

I wish I knew that Lexicon FX units don't like being housed in damp cellars.

I also wish I knew that by definition, Victorian house cellars tend to be very very damp unless you do a shitload of reno on them.

I might have liked to have known that rats and cockroaches like cellars too...

[Ploki]

Pianoteq threw me off, ngl

[shockenkleid]

Pianoteq threw me off, ngl

14 pianos (grand/upright)
1 harp
2 electric pianos
4 Chromatic percussion's

something like this would take up gigabytes of storage. but you get all of this under 50mb with pianoteq because the plugin uses physical modelling not samples and it sounds great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj95Za0cL-w

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

• Monitor loud, record and mix at lower levels (I know lots of people ignore this but it makes life easier)
• Nothing's ever perfect, better to get something finished quickly
• ...similar to the above, if it's taking too long, abandon it - it's not ready and may never will be
• Learn to work with others
• Gear is fun, but it's the smallest part of the equation (also, less is more)
• Hardware FX aren't magical or special. They can be fun though.
• When setting levels during the recording stage, or prior to the mixing stage, try to "rough out" a pretty decent mix before you even add any additional plugins (this goes back to #1). When your mix already sounds decent with faders at unity and no plugins, it's pretty hard to screw up.
• Practice your instruments and learn how to relax when playing them (that should probably be #1 for me actually)

[Ploki]

something like this would take up gigabytes of storage. but you get all of this under 50mb with pianoteq because the plugin uses physical modelling not samples and it sounds great

oh i love pianoteq and know how it works, it's just not the first thing to spring to mind when someone says EDM

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

...something else I wish I knew when getting started:

• The 2021 resale value of analog synths. Junos for 300-400 everywhere. Some Moog models for the same price (Rogue, Prodigy). An OB-8 for under a grand.

[Ploki]

Plugins, but in a year or two.
it's already happening, that's why i'm shrinking my shit down to as much as i'm comfy with.
i might waste 15 minutes here and there trying to replicate some stuff with existing stuff (i.e. like 30mins today to replicate Softube's Amp Room marshall sound in Voxengo Boogex+Kelvin).
Unrelated note, Softube's Amp Room has a 50hz "mains" hum that modulates the drive. talk about authenticity

[Hink]

I wish I knew that Lexicon FX units don't like being housed in damp cellars.

I also wish I knew that by definition, Victorian house cellars tend to be very very damp unless you do a shitload of reno on them.

I might have liked to have known that rats and cockroaches like cellars too...

I thought that was what the wet/dry knobs were for

[shockenkleid]

something like this would take up gigabytes of storage. but you get all of this under 50mb with pianoteq because the plugin uses physical modelling not samples and it sounds great

oh i love pianoteq and know how it works, it's just not the first thing to spring to mind when someone says EDM

lol oh my bad.. yeah pianos are used within certain sections of a song, rarely throughout the entire piece in EDM

[Ploki]

Try microtonic tho - it does a f**king great 808 + tons more.

[chk071]

I find it interesting that you say for "trance/house/techno/EDM", D16 Drumazon as a drum solution is enough. I always felt kind of limited with just a 909 emulation. And, I always thought that pretty much everyone in the business would rather rely on sample packs.

But, what do I know.

[thecontrolcentre]

Don't lend your gear out ... it'll go missing or get broken.

[zerocrossing]

Let’s see…

Gear isn’t precious and fragile. Throw a limiter on the 2 bus and explore.

I don’t like most people and most music. Trying to become an audio engineer was not a good fit.

I hate traveling. Even with first class plane tickets and a suite at the Four Seasons. (Not the landscapers). Becoming a touring musician was not a good fit.

In high school, spend less time trying to convince girls to have sex with me and more time playing guitar.