What would be my advice to myself when I was starting

[roman.i]

Hey,

What would be my advice to myself when I was starting.
Here are few things from my subjective list.

Dos:
1. Spend most of the money on monitors and acoustics. For the obvious reason, you need to hear what you are doing. High end monitoring with a good acoustics is a key to this. Confidence you can get in your decisions worth every penny. No only in the daw, but also when buying another plugins or hardware.
2. Train your ears. Invest at least few months on a daily ear training. Frequencies, Compression, Reverbs, Saturation.
3. Understand what are the differences between producing, mixing, mastering. This is sounds so obvious, but for some time I was trying to learn production from mixing channels, and this was a mistake. While plugins maybe the same, but techniques and goals are different.
4. Learn the history of mixing / recording / production. You need to understand why and when to use this emulation or that hardware.
5. Use 96khz for you projects if you can. Many plugins don't do oversampling, with 96khz you get a better sound.
6. Keep only plugins and hardware you actually use. Sell the rest.
7. Real analog is better than an analog emulation, but plugins are good enough. Buy hardware only for the most important things.

And the don'ts:
1. Don't go crazy with audio interface for DA or cables. Many monitors nowadays have digital processing and a digital input, use them instead of analog inputs. When working with digital, doesn't matter which audio interface you have there will be no difference in the fidelity.
2. Don't buy the do-it-all plugin when you are a beginner. Example, Pro Q3 or Kirchhoff. These plugins give you an unlimited freedom, but as a beginner will be doing random moves. One trick pony plugins are better for beginners.
3. Don't buy many emulation plugins of the same thing. Modern analog emulations are very close to each other. Keep one emulation plugin for each hardware.
4. Don't spend more than $40 on a plugin rule.
5. Don't buy subscriptions or bundles. You will have crapload of plugins that will only confuse you.
6. Don't be obsessed with an analog hardware. Analog workflow is a pain after you get used to plugins.

You are welcome to share yours.

[vurt]

id say "enjoy the ride,kid" then wink, turn and walk in to the mist.

[elassi]

Ummh, me don't sign your points, roman.i.

My advice: Define your song. What do you want to achieve? Then learn the basics about arrangement, listen to tracks you think they're da bomb (whether it's Jazz or Techno, doesn't matter). But don't get yourself lost in technical details.

As soon as you have an idea of your song, start to build it, no matter what tools you have in your arsenal. A good song works in almost any quality.

(2ct)

[audiojunkie]

My advice after being on KVR for twenty+ years:

1. Continually work on improving your instrument playing skills. Make it a goal.
2. Make music for the right reasons--for your satisfaction. Do not make music hoping to impress anyone.
3. More important than any equipment is the song. You could write a masterpiece with a broken, out of tune honky-tonk piano. The song itself is more important than any other aspect.
4. You do not need hundreds and hundreds of synths and plugins. Don't collect synths just for patches--it's a time waster. Buy a few tools for their special characteristics and color/flavor of sound, and learn how to use them well. Keep it uncomplicated, but high quality.

I'll give an example:

I wasted years worth of time collecting hundreds and hundreds of synths and plugins for their patches over the years, rather than learning to use the tools that I had. What ended up happening, is that I would spend what little time I had just playing with presets. It was fun, but I had little to show for it at the end of my session time.

Now, I have a few specific tools that I use and know well, and appreciate the quality and sound characteristics of, and I don't have to waste my time with sounds. Here is what I currently use as my absolute essentials:

* TAL-Sampler
* TAL-Drum
* U-he Diva
* U-he Repro
* U-he Hive 2
* U-he Uhbik
* Sfizz

Now, I do have a few more plugins than that, but the above-listed plugins are my essential tools. These are the tools I use 95% of the time when I am doing my work. I have a creative sampler for quickly making any sounds that I don't have immediately, a dedicated drum sampler, high quality old-school analog synth sounds, high quality modern digital sounds, a high quality effects suite, and a high quality sample library player (Sfizz) for realistic/acoustic sounds. All of these are fairly simple tools that I am trying to master completely.

5. If you are thinking of making a career of it, have a back-up plan. Most don't make it. I didn't. Only a few here on this site have made it successfully. Get an education and have a back-up career that can you can support yourself with, in case your dreams of success never come to fruition.

6. Have fun. There is absolutely no point in doing any of this is you aren't enjoying yourself. If it isn't fun, go find something that is, and put your time and efforts into that. Life is too short.

[Synthman2000]

Invent a plug in to change voices from Keanu Reeves to Freddie Kruger.

[cryophonik]

It's a little different for me because I started playing and reading music at a very young age 40-some years ago, long before DAW-based music became a thing. So my advice to myself and anybody else would be this: before you even think about music production software and equipment, learn to become a musician first. All the software and hardware in the world won't write your music for you, so don't put the cart before the horse. Too many beginners seem to think like this:

Likes music >>>>> Buys gear >>>> ????? >>>> Profit

[kritikon]

My advice to myself...?

You should have saved up for the Jupiter instead of rushing out to buy the Juno, you impulsive twat. Beyond that - you ended up enjoying yourself for 35 years, so you probably did it right, and don't listen to some old fart like me.
Oh, yeah, one last thing...don't store your expensive gear in that dark damp cellar at the back...you'll regret it. Electronics don't like water. You know that expensive Lexicon you always hankered after...that's a lot of money to waste, sonny.

[Uncle E]

Don't mix my own records (at least not at the beginning). Either hire someone or form a band with someone who can already mix well.

Also, stop being a control freak. If the other members of your band want to change something in the music, just do it. It literally doesn't matter.

[jamcat]

My advice after being on KVR for twenty+ years:

Stay off KVR and make music instead.

[vurt]

avoid ditchfield road, on the 11th of september 1986.

[mixyguy2]

Dos:
1. Spend most of the money on monitors and acoustics.

These are important things not to be skimped on, but "most?" ah, no.

2. Train your ears. Invest at least few months on a daily ear training. Frequencies, Compression, Reverbs, Saturation.

3. Understand what are the differences between producing, mixing, mastering. This is sounds so obvious, but for some time I was trying to learn production from mixing channels, and this was a mistake. While plugins maybe the same, but techniques and goals are different.

I'm not sure what this even means. "Producing" involves both mixing and mastering, but you seem to imply these three things are mutually exclusive.

4. Learn the history of mixing / recording / production. You need to understand why and when to use this emulation or that hardware.

No you really don't.

5. Use 96khz for you projects if you can. Many plugins don't do oversampling, with 96khz you get a better sound.

No you really don't. A ridiculous yet pervasive myth.

6. Keep only plugins and hardware you actually use. Sell the rest.

eh, I get that, but something you don't use today you might have a use for tomorrow. No harm in some hoarding.

7. Real analog is better than an analog emulation, but plugins are good enough. Buy hardware only for the most important things.

Mostly yeah, but "hardware is better" is yet another pervasive and archaic myth.

And the don'ts:

1. Don't go crazy with audio interface for DA or cables. Many monitors nowadays have digital processing and a digital input, use them instead of analog inputs. When working with digital, doesn't matter which audio interface you have there will be no difference in the fidelity.

Mostly agree.

2. Don't buy the do-it-all plugin when you are a beginner. Example, Pro Q3 or Kirchhoff. These plugins give you an unlimited freedom, but as a beginner will be doing random moves. One trick pony plugins are better for beginners.

Not necessarily. The devil's in the details.

3. Don't buy many emulation plugins of the same thing. Modern analog emulations are very close to each other. Keep one emulation plugin for each hardware.

Absolutely!

4. Don't spend more than $40 on a plugin rule.

Sorry but this makes no sense. Again, the devil's in the details. It makes no sense to set a specific number on what to spend on a plugin.

5. Don't buy subscriptions or bundles. You will have crapload of plugins that will only confuse you.

With rare exception I agree, but "bundle" is a broad term...

6. Dons't be obsessed with an analog hardware. Analog workflow is a pain after you get used to plugins.

Amen.

[kritikon]

So, do you agree or not about Ditchfield Rd?

[Septic Underground]

Just listen dont play Saves 100Ks of money in the end.