Trust me, I am a professional beginner
There might be hundreds of tutorials on the Internet on how to kickstart your music career, but usually they are written from perspective of people who are doing it for ages and don't remember their early amateur struggle anymore. What you're going to read is legit - I am making music for 9 months now and went from zero experience to creating fairly listenable tracks and playing a live show. It's not a rocket science: if it worked for me, it will work for you too. Granted. So let's dive into it right away.
Me playing my first show. I might look pretty chill, but I was about to get a heart attack.
1) Listen actively
Before I have properly started messing around with my computer, I tried to pay attention to general structure of music. I come from a club background, so this usually involved me screaming into ears of my sweaty friends and asking what instrument is this 'tsss tsss' sound that I hate (you don't always like what you hear, do you). It was an open hi-hat. So since then I could recognise an open hi-hat and hate on it. I started realising that claps usually come on second and fourth beat and so on - something you don't notice when you're purely enjoying music. DISCLAIMER: Once you start doing this, you can't stop and will never hear music the same way. I can usually zone out, but sometimes I get distracted by great arrangement of a track at my gym and literally stop doing pushups.
2) Get the tools
So by now you've analysed plenty of the music you like. It's time to do some real work. There are two main ways how to make music. Or maybe three. The first one is getting music software on your computer, the second is getting analog gear and the third is to use a mix of both. I started off with my laptop only because A) I'm broke and B) I'm broke. Using analog instruments can be often more fun and you will get quality sounds unlike some samples you can find on the Internet. But analog way is damn pricey and if you're starting out, you might want to wait a bit with the fancy stuff. So if you're on budget like me, this is what I advice to get:
- Computer - one that has at least 8GB RAM and a fast processor. I used to work on an outdated laptop (see the picture above) and it worked till one day my program started using 277% of the CPU and crashing.
- Digital audio workstation (DAW) - the software. Majority of producers work in Ableton, FL Studio, Logic Pro, or Pro Tools. I've chosen Ableton simply because there are a lot of tutorials for it and majority of people I know use it.
- Headphones - they are the cheapest form of feedback you can get and a good reference point. Me and my friends happily use Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro.
- Monitor speakers. The difference between consumer speakers and monitor speakers is how 'true' the sound is. Usual speakers often enhance bass while the pro speakers try to give you the most real image. If you hear too much bass coming out of your speaker, in reality you will end up with little bass in the mix. I am still planning to buy them, but it's quite an urgent issue - listening to music for extended periods of time is harmful for your hearing and just sucks in general. The best price-performance ratio title goes to JBL LSR 305.
Everything else like MIDI keyboard, microphone, sound card, controller, or a huge screen can come later. Although if you like playing melodies, keyboard is really fun to use and not expensive at all.
3) Feed your curiosity
This could be summed into two words: Google & YouTube. There are plenty of things you have to learn and knowledge you have to acquire. Usually you stumble upon a problem, either something with your DAW settings or a music theory question or how to make a certain sound. Googling stuff or watching a tutorial here and there saves a lot of time and gives you new input each time. Don't be lazy and don't dwell on your problems. Get them solved once and forever!
Reading books isn't old school at all. I highly recommend these: Music Theory for Computer Musicians & The Mixing Engineer's Handbook & 74 Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers.
4) Find a community
This strategy is important in case the previous one fails. There are times when you simply have no clue and feel hopeless. There's nothing easier than joining online forums where you can ask just about anything. I am a part of community with 20K Ableton users and get plenty of responses from different angles in matters of minutes!
It's a little big tougher to find real people in the place you live, but if you find yourself in a big city, definitely try to connect with like-minded guys. They will guide you and teach you and eventually become partners in crime. In your dark times they can also motivate you and push you forward which leads me to my last point. ->>
One of my best friends jamming with his drum machine and synths and showing me how stuff happens.
5) Stay motivated
Starting something new is extremely intimidating. It took me 2 years to grab my balls and overcome my own fear. But then I made a mental switch and decided that this is what I want to do and I will do everything in order to learn it. You gotta be tough and a warrior. To keep your motivation going strong, I recommend:
- watching interviews with your favourite musicians (who often reveal they had to work extremely hard to get where they are)
- following Gary Vaynerchuk for motivational videos that will kick your butt
- letting other people hear your music and enjoying the positive feedback
- giving yourself a deadline - to publish a track or perform live, I swear the second made me learn ultra fast and work like a horse
- reminding yourself that making music and following your dreams is a gift and not a given in a world where people don't even have shelter or food
I really hope this will make some of you get your thing started.
xo
Dana
A PC with decent ram is without doubt vital ! Especially when you are continuously adding stems to your DAW sessions :-D
Or using heavy plugins :)
Nice first post!! Coming from the music scene I can appreciate your advise. Welcome.
Thank you, hope it helped!
Well written
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