I’m sometimes asked for advice or opinions on music production. This covers everything from workflow advice to odd tips and tricks or even just questions about synths and sequencers. I’m not claiming to be some form of music guru but if I can help you out just send me a message or an email. I’d be happy to receive any questions, queries or even just feedback from the blog. If anything comes up that I feel that could make it to the blog I’ll make a post.
From time to time going to post a few things that I think could be useful to people that are interested in making music. I’m going to be aiming the posts at producers that are just starting out but even some of the more experienced music makers out there might find some things useful (you never know). Below are the first three tips, I hope you find these posts useful.
Make a template
This might seem obvious but when you load up Your DAW it’s nice to get started straight away. Make a custom template that has all of the effects and settings that you most commonly use already pre-loaded. Do you use the same synth or drum sampler for all of your tracks? Stick them in your template too; you’re going to load them up every time anyway. It may seem like a sensible thing to do but most of the time produces forget about this and find themselves loading up the same things every time that they start a fresh track. Don’t waste any time setting up when you could be making music.
Keep Things Simple
When you first start on a new track it’s often tempting to cram the track with as many cool sounds as possible. You’ll end up with a cool loop but more often than not you’ll probably hit the wall and scrap what you’ve come up with because you run out of ideas. A basic drum track and synth sounds are sometimes all you need to get the track flowing. When you’ve got the Basics down then it’s time to add your little extras. Sometimes the best ideas come to you when you have a basic stripped-down arrangement. Keep it simple! Don’t kill your track before it reaches its full potential.
A day of sampling
When writing a new track I often spend a lot of time trying to make a cool synth sound or trying to find that perfect kick. A fresh set of sounds can give you that little bit of inspiration that will get your tracks off to a flying start. It’s even more satisfying knowing that you made the samples yourself. Often I’ll spend a day away from the computer creating fresh samples that I can use in my next production. You can sample anything; Old keyboards, guitars, hand claps or even household objects such as pots and pans can provide you with that little bit of inspiration. If you don’t have the resources to record the samples yourself you could also try checking websites such as the freesound project or even downloading some of the free sample packs available on this blog. Remember when taking samples from websites make sure that you check the copyright on the sounds. (N.B. All the samples from this blog are completely free of copyright).
