Guidance for a Beginner Producer (Zero-Dollar Budget / Waveform 13 Free)

[this_is_aiah]

I am reaching out to this forum because I recently started my music production journey (about a month ago), and I’m feeling incredibly overwhelmed. I am currently learning on the free edition of Waveform 13 with a $0 budget. I do not own a MIDI keyboard or a microphone, and I have no background in music theory.
I can dedicate 1–2 hours a day to learning, and my goal is to be able to produce full, layered tracks from scratch within the next 6 to 12 months. I’ve watched several tutorials, but I am struggling to bridge the gap between watching videos and actually creating music that sounds cohesive.
To help me get a solid starting point, I would deeply appreciate some insight on a few specific questions:
Navigating the Piano Roll Without Hardware: Since I don't have a MIDI controller, what is the best workflow for drawing notes and sequencing beats using just a mouse? Specifically, how can I start arranging patterns effectively without knowing music theory yet?
Essential Music Theory for Beginners: If I want to make melodies that actually sound good, what absolute baseline music theory concepts should I focus on learning first (e.g., scales, chords, keys), and what can I skip for now?
Sourcing the Right Free Instruments & Samples: Where are the best, legitimate places to find quality free samples, loops, and virtual instruments (VSTs)? Furthermore, what specific types of sounds (e.g., drum kits, synth plugins, bass instruments) should I focus on downloading first so I don't get overwhelmed by options?
Anatomy of a Track: What are the essential components of a beat/song (drums, melodies, bass, counter-melodies) that a total beginner should focus on learning to layer first?
The Basics of Mixing vs. Mastering: In simple terms, what is the core difference between mixing and mastering, and at what stage of my journey should I actually start worrying about them?
A 6-Month Roadmap: If you were in my shoes with just 1–2 hours a day, what would your step-by-step focus look like for the first month or two to keep me from quitting?
I am entirely willing to put in the hard work; I just need a little guidance to ensure I'm moving in the right direction. Thank you so much for your time, your expertise, and for reading.

Best regards!

[Peter Widdicombe]

Expect some questions, in order to get a reasonable reply:

1. Do you play an instrument and/or sing?
2. Why do you want to record (and what... music, spoken, live, composing, or video overlay)
3. Your journey MIGHT be more enjoyable with even a low end MIDI keyboard - some less than $100.
4. Similar with audio - although even singing only, a headphone with microphone (like for zoom meetings)...
5. Specific sound modules - 4OSC has a number of useful sounds, at least to start.
- K1 (Korg emulator) is free and has LOTS of built-in sounds, some dated
- MT Power drum kit is also free, single set of drums but has drum loops if you like 4/4 beats. Or use the micro drummer included
- BBC Symphony Orchestra is kinda large but free, if you want orchestral strings, horns, tympani, flutes, etc.
- You can also use the built-in rompler and download sounds, but do that once you're past basics.
- Sobanth as a Rompler works well, but you need a .SF2 library to load - ChromiumB.sf2 is a good starter.

[Benedict]

Ok this is common so not a failing in you as such. There is a lifetime of learning that never stops. Assuming you can - or even should - hold it in the front of your brain on command is a fail.

The path or mindset you take will define how well you can progress. If you try to be all technical about it, and do the "learning my DAW" thing you will struggle forever.

Waveform is free, but it is also somewhat clunky and if you assume otherwise, you can be thinking that is a you thing. So again, focus on the Music, not the tools. Tools are a dime a dozen and essentially all do exactly the same thing (despite the BSsery of the marketing). Learn Music & Sound; then everything else flows easier.

Having made pretty well all the mistakes in DAWville that slowed me decades, I would start where my highly trained father said I should start, in the music. Doh! This is a series of videos I made to help ease people into what matters and give the most powerful tool for music making: Harmony. My father's mistake was getting me a classic text from the Victorian era on Four-Part Harmony, which was all correct but totally impenetrable for a kid obsessed with Duran Duran, Deep Purple, Depeche Mode, and Doobie Brothers. Not to mention Devo, Dead Kennedys, and Donna Summer.

https://benedictroffmarsh.com/2023/08/0 ... effective/

This method is down n dirty. You can take the course free but I do ask for something from you. Two reasons: A) this is the only way I make a living and the really important thing B) people invest themselves far more in the things they invest in.

If you focus on this for that 6-months, more than anything else (sill make music), you will find yourself way ahead of people who have done the usual suspects routine for decades.

Happy to help - if you commit to the Real Work

[Peter Widdicombe]

Yeah, I admit my answer above kind of fell down the rabbit hole a little. Your DAW is your TOOL, not your guidance. Unless your objective is simply production of somebody else;s work, the music "comes first" - and arguably it should even if you produce for somebody else.

So, play music. The DAW is your recorder, and in this day and age, it may be your instrument pallette as well. VST's are great, but you still need to PLAY them (or build loops and beats) but "the music" still comes first. You still need to understand what sounds good (C F G or 1 4 5), concepts of tempo, what feels upbeat or sad...

THEN you need the DAW to keep track/perform/improve the above.

[Watchful]

Excellent and very experienced advice above, so please read it.

Just to hit upon a couple of points Peter and Benedict didn't, though:

1. Mixing is a multistep process in which you get the song sounding the way you want it. Balancing audio levels, eliminating mistakes, adjusting reverb and delay, applying compression and EQ, using saturation if that's what you want, and revising and editing the parts as you listen to the song evolves. Mastering is the process of getting the song ready for mass distribution, if that's what you want. It used to be a highly technical process in the days of LPs and cassettes. With digital distribution, it's a lot easier but takes some know-how. I believe Benedict could expand on my claim.

A. Mixing is like the editing phase of writing a book. Just as important a process as the writing! If there's one thing I can tell you, it's that you should be mixing as you arrange. Don't treat it as a single activity at the end. You can save yourself hours of aggravation if you mix as you go during composition and arrangement. Like writing a book, edit as you go. A lot.

B. If mixing is the editing of a book, mastering is publishing. In mastering, you deal with overall EQ so all your songs sound like they were done by the same artist, panning, limiting to ensure your song is within the volume requirements of music distribution platforms, etc.

2. If I could get musicians to understand one thing about music theory, it would be the most important thing of all. Music theory IS NOT A SET OF RULES. It's a language we use to explain how music works. That's it. I've been playing instruments for over 50 years, and involved in music production for over 40 (I started as a teenager and took it very seriously)...and this is easily the biggest misconception about music theory.

So many folks starting out in music (and some with many years of experience) panic that because they don't know theory, they're violating some holy book of rules somewhere. That puts music theory first, and it's the other way around. Theory follows, it never leads.

For example, music theory doesn't dictate what chord I use next. But it helps me explain it. I've never had the pleasure of working with Peter Widdicombe, but if we worked on a piece together, I might say, "Let's use an Am7-5 here," and he'll know what that means. Then he might say, "Hey, why don't we use that to modulate the song from C major to Eb major...that could put a lot of energy into the bridge." That's all music theory, and it simply describes what we're doing it.

You can't break the rules of music theory, nor can you ultimately ignore them. I've worked little kids who produced some banger tunes, who didn't know anything about music theory, and I could still analyze the song with theory anyway. If it sounds good, the way you want, you've done your job. Theory lets you explain why.