Ask A Sound Guy

My ability to create graphics for this site is flawless!

Now that that’s out of the way, I troll a variety of music production forums daily. One of them being the DJForum’s Production board which I usually check on a few times a day. Once in a while, there’s a completely valid question met with equally valid responses. But more often then not, it looks like this:

• How do I need to get started producing?
• Production/Remix Software
• How do I make this sound?
• Starting to produce electro house
• I Need Help Recording This Is Not Spam !

And so on. These threads are not useless by themselves, but when the question has been answered a hundred other times, they become very tiresome. So I’m starting this series (which I’ll do once a week until I’m done), to hopefully provide a catch-all/sticky-worthy post covering a lot of these basic questions.

I feel the first topic I should cover is the one that most people ask about: what do I need to make beats, whether it be for EDM (electronic dance music), hip-hop, or what have you. In April, I wrote an article based on pretty much the same topic. But instead of recommending software for you to buy/download, let’s talk about some things that will not only get you software that fits like a glove, but will also help you with your gear/software purchasing plans in the future.

• First, identify your skill level: Everyone wants to be the best at everything, but fact of the matter is we’re not. Are you new to music in general, or just new to music production? Identifying your skill level will help you from being overwhelmed. One of the biggest mistakes of a new music producer is the exitedness you first feel when you decided you’re going to produce: you download four different DAWs (which you shouldn’t do, anyways), you download a hundred VST synths (without knowing what a VST is), and a bunch of plug-ins, most of which do very similar things. You then try out each DAW for 10-15 minutes, realize you have no idea whats going on, and quit. You can stop this by recognizing your skill level and planning appropriately.

  You’re a total newbie if: You don’t understand the basics of time signatures, you’re not sure what tempo/pitch is, you don’t know what compression/EQ is and even more unsure of how to use it, you have no idea how to structure a song, you can’t tell the difference between Reason and Live, Logic or Pro Tools, you don’t know what MIDI is or how its used in a production setting, you find yourself asking “do I need a soundcard/interface?”

  If you’re a totally newbie, that’s okay. None of the questions above are stupid, they’re just typical of someone who hasn’t been taught (or learned on their own time) anything about music theory or music production. Don’t be discouraged!

  You’re novice if: You know what 4/4 is and what it means, you’ve narrowed down your DAW of choice to one or two different programs, you know what a compressor/EQ is and how to use them on a track, you kind of know how to structure a track but still struggle with it, you understand what plug-ins your DAW of choice supports (knowning the difference between a VST, AU, RTAS, etc), you know what MIDI is and you probably own a MIDI controller of some type, you don’t really know much about recording, you understand what you need an interface for and what you don’t need one for, you put reverb on your track instead of on an aux.

  From what I can tell, most people fall into the above category. They amy be well on their way to becoming a good producer and their tracks might be getting more and more solid, but some concepts/ideas still haven’t sunken in yet. No worries: with some dedication and a book or two, you can step your game up and become much better.

  You’re “skilled” if: You understand basic signal flow and know how to record some vocals and maybe a guitar, you understand quite a bit about music theory (scales, chords, time signatures, etc), you use primarily one DAW, you wonder about tracking more than one instrument at a time, you understand things like latency and how they interact with your studio setup, you put your reverb on an aux! :]

  I use the term “skilled” loosely. Basically, this encompasses everyone who is not a newbie or a novice.

• Once you’ve identified your skill level, ask yourself this: what do I really want to do?: Are you working with a lot of loops? Are you focused on drum programming? Or do are you more into synth-heavy music? Identifying what you really want to focus on will help you in the purchasing department and keep you from buying stuff you may never use.

  Just a note, before doing any one of the things listed above, please reocgnize this: to get into music production in the digital realm, you need a) software to produce music in, b) a computer, c) lots of time and patience, and d) motivation. If you get frustrated and quit, you won’t ever work through the gauntlet that is music production.

  If you’re working with a lot of loops.. You basically can mouse-and-keyboard it. With loops, there’s no need for a MIDI controller since you’re working with pre-rendered synth/drum loops. You can bare-bone it with a computer and some sequencing (DAW) software. While this is good for newbies, I wouldn’t suggest staying in this type of situation for too long. Most producers will agree that using loops to produce music is okay when you use them subtelty and change them slightly. Nobody, however, wants to hear a song comprised of 100% loops. And, trust me, people will know.

  If you’re trying to do a lot of drum programming… You’ll need a computer and sequencer, and you’ll probably want a controller with some MPC-like pads. You won’t need a soundcard/external interface if your controller is USB, so you can skip that for the time being.

  If you’re going to be doing a lot of synth programming… You’ll want a similar setup as above, only omit the pad-centric MIDI controller with a more traditional keyboard MIDI controller.

  If you’re going to do some guitar/vocal recording… You’ll need a computer, sequencer, soundcard/interface, and a microphone or two. I’ll get more into recording in a future post.

  If you’re trying to do it all… Then you’re in for a fun surprise and an empty bank account.

• Ask yourself this: “Do I need it?”: There’s a lot of gear out there. And it all looks very cool and slick. But do you need it? Have you been programming drums with a mouse and laptop just fine for the last six months? Do you think that the $600 controller will really make your music any better? If the stock compressor works and sounds fine, do you really need a new plug-in for compressing? If I buy this analog synth, do I acutally know how to integrate it with my digital setup? All important questions to ask while shopping for gear. This gets a little trickier when you’re recording, though.

That’s already a lot to take in, but once you’re done figuring out what you need and what you don’t, you can really focus in on creating music instead of “oh, wow, I think I really need that new controller!”

By far, the most popular question I’ve seen is in regards to a) “what software should I choose” and b) what interface do I need? Since it’s completely possible to create electronic music with a computer, some headphones, and a sequencer, I won’t be getting into interfaces this article. Just in case you didn’t know, though, you cannot run Pro Tools without a Digidesign interface.

So when talking about software, the first thing you should realize is that all software does the same thing when you get down to it: it either provides an environment to produce music, or acts a replacement for an analog tape machine. Not all the software is the same, but if you can create songs in Logic, you can do it in Cubase.

So how do you choose software, then? Simple: demo everything and choose the one that you liked the most. Every major DAW has a demo available, so there’s no excuse for not trying a bunch of them. I would HIGHLY discourage downloading a pirated copy of any DAW for “demo” purposes, as cracked versions can often act funky on computers and hamper your experience. Get a legit demo and you’ll be much better off.

List of Demos:

• Propellerhead Reason (Mac/PC)
• Image-Line FL Studio (PC only)
• Ableton Live (Mac/PC)
• Cakewalk Sonar (PC only)
• Sony ACID Pro (PC only)
• Cockos Reaper (Mac/PC)

I know I didn’t cover every piece of software out there, but every single link above is to a program that will sequence music without ANY external hardware: no interface, no speakers, no controller. You can sit down and create music with a laptop and some headphones.

The important thing to understand about music and audio production is that you need to do it. Stop posting questions on forums and PRACTICE. Instead of trolling forums asking if Reason is better than Live, read a book about production, mixing, or music theory. I wouldn’t say never ask questions, but do it in an intelligent way. While you’re browsing forums, use the search box to see if your question has been answered already. It’s really that simple. Or you can just email us at AASG!

Nobody can make you good at producing music. No amount of hardware or software will make your song sound amazing. It takes YOU caring about YOUR work. But if you don’t love music and don’t have passion for it, your songs will never sound as good as you’d like them to.