What you wish you had known early on as you began producing?

alexanderrness · Post by **alexanderrness** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 10:41 am

What are some things you wish you had known when you were first starting out, it can be ableton-related or just music in general. We all started somewhere, learning through various different methods. Some of the most simplest things had to be learned the hard way - experimenting, trial & error, etc...

For me, I wish I had been more selective on who I allowed to use/purchase my work. I was inexperienced and was very willing to lease out beats to artists whether I thought they were good or not.

doghouse · Post by **doghouse** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 1:20 pm

The one thing I wish I knew back then was it's not possible to work too hard.

Angstrom · Post by **Angstrom** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 5:03 pm

That once you have your shit solidly together you should move to where it is valued most, and to the place where there are the available opportunities to maximise your outlook.

In smaller cities there is often a vibrant scene filled with friends and good times, but your home base is quite vital to any prolonged success. It's those downtime moments where you bump into somebody at the supermarket which determine your career's overall longetivity.
Success relies a great deal on serendipity, and I think that while luck is really just "being prepared" it is much better to be prepared in a swarming locus of opportunity, rather than monopolising the 3 opportunities in your university town.

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 5:44 pm

My usual mantra: Less is More. I ruined so many solid ideas over-producing them or throwing every tool I had at them.

Gregory Wells-King · Post by **Gregory Wells-King** » Sun Jul 29, 2012 5:28 pm

Keyboard shortcuts are the key to workflow.

If something is affective but simple, it probably is, so keep it that way.

Back Up. (It will happen, as does OS and Hardware upgrades).

Make some 'Track Analysis' copys of other artisits tracks you like or think capture the spirit of what you do, so they help you understand the parts required.

Watch the Tom Cosm 3 quick tips tut's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j6HZnHB ... plpp_video

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Sun Jul 29, 2012 5:59 pm

Don't waste your time trying to make something work when it's usually better to forget it and move on.

JMFOne · Post by **JMFOne** » Sun Jul 29, 2012 6:01 pm

-Get a decent sample pack
-Learn how to create a drum beat using loops and cutting out unwanted sounds
-Use a reference track

Cymatic Kicks · Post by **Cymatic Kicks** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 2:52 am

bass compression sidechained to the kick

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 2:19 pm

#3: Sidechain compression is not the answer to everything.

1.A.M. · Post by **1.A.M.** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 3:51 pm

EQ everything !

JMFOne · Post by **JMFOne** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 4:13 pm

Tarekith wrote:#3: Sidechain compression is not the answer to everything.

everyone loves the sidechain

yur2die4 · Post by **yur2die4** » Tue Jul 31, 2012 10:27 pm

Keep Facebook handy on your second or third monitor to keep up with the latest trends. Keep phone handy too.

Get an awesome subwoofer. Crank it to 11 so you can feel the bass.

Master it afterwards with headphones. Don't skimp here. Get the ones with sound enhancement.

If your limiter is killin' the vibe, switch it out for Saturator on default. Set it to 6. (...actually, I do this when I am messing around... haha)

Make sure every sound has plenty of hard panning, phaser, delay, reverb and lastly, make left and right channels off phase for extra width.

Put EQ in master. Make it look 'HAPPY:)'. Or just a healthy V shape

If none of this is working, start buying gear until it is fixed.

Automate, everything...

Wait for cash to flow in.

redranger · Post by **redranger** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 12:02 am

I wish I had known how addicted I would become to this hobby and how much money I was going to be spending on it as a result. I might have run far, far away before I started. LOL

Vios · Post by **Vios** » Sun Aug 05, 2012 7:15 am

Compose first. Produce Later.

This video really changed and improved my workflow:

5 Steps to Writing Better Music Faster

bartend7 · Post by **bartend7** » Sun Aug 05, 2012 5:58 pm

the drugs wont help!

What you wish you had known early on as you began producing?

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