The best guidance will always come from people who have previously achieved success in the field of music production if you are interested in a career in that industry. You’ll be amazed to learn how these general-sounding music production pointers and suggestions will ultimately benefit your habits and workflow as well as your adaptability and self-assurance as a budding music producer.
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Begin with a vision
An excellent place to start in any career that relies heavily on creativity is to have a clear idea of the outcome you hope to achieve. When it comes to creating and editing your music, you can be as crazy and creative as you like, and your original vision may change as you go. However, lacking a clear idea of the final product can leave you feeling confused, and it will probably be apparent once your project is finished.
Eliminate distractions
Make sure to get rid of all distractions from your work studio or at the very least reduce them to a minimal in order to create a conducive environment. In order to keep studio noise inside and outside noise out, a music studio should ideally be soundproofed. Turn off your television, smartphone, and even watches (or just take it off). Additionally, set aside PCs for your actual studio work and non-production tasks like social media and email.
Work comfortable
You must be mentally and physically “in the zone” to produce creative work. Work in the location you feel most at ease. It is not required to take place in a real, professional studio because novices may find those daunting (and cost a lot in rental hours). You can always create your own home recording studio if you feel comfortable doing it there.
How to Stereo Width
Consider that you have finished 50% of your track and noticed that your stereo analyzer is not balanced and that the correlation is bouncing from one side to the other. Low-end, especially sub-bass and kick, can lead to stereo correlation problems. Be cautious while making low-end focused sounds, especially those you randomly produce, as sub bass has the greatest impact and weight. These may result in stereo phasing problems.
Use a free stereo imager, such as iZotope Imager 2, to identify any potential phasing problems and reduce the stereo width on your lowest frequencies to prevent this. The Balance stereo difficulties would also be the second concern. This occurs when your bass or sub-bass plays more to the left or right or simply rotates from left to right. 150hz Low-Cut would be a perfect location to eliminate stereo information from the low end to address both issues. If the problem still exists, adjust the low-end slope’s abrasiveness to 72 dB/oct.
The best advice I could give you is to start using the noises that don’t cause any problems of this nature. Finally, you might choose not to resolve the issue. Although it may be tempting, refrain from using noises that give you a terrific initial impression. Those are merely the sounds that may appear great at first, but that is only a false impression. If you don’t have the money, don’t make it too wide.
To avoid this frequent problem, use an analyzer right away. You don’t need to put it on every channel; just put it on your master bus. The audio signal of a particular instrument will then be audible when you solo your recording.
Sub-bass mono should always be used; it’s the simplest adjustment you can make right now to prevent significant stereo correlation concerns.
Although bass can be mono, generating beautiful stereo width is usually preferable. Always make sure the bass is the only part of the mix to which the stereo width is added; otherwise, problems could arise.
It works the same for a kick drum as it does for a bass. Keep it mono or divide it into a mono and stereo component. Make sure the sub kick is always more powerful and dominant in the mix. Reverb on the non-sub area is another effective kick technique. This might give your kick more atmosphere and natural sound breadth.
In comparison to subbass, pads don’t have as much weight, therefore you can make them very wide. Pads are typically mid/high frequency oriented sounds, therefore adding them to your mix would not negatively impact it at all. However, make sure to constantly perform your song and use all of the instruments at once to test the stereo analyzer on the master bus. Always examine it as a whole because verifying the pad with a spectrum analyzer on a single bus won’t be very useful.
Percussions can also vary widely. It depends on what part of the frequency spectrum it is in like everything else. Additionally, feel free to use percs on either the left or right channel to add diversity and liveliness to your mix.
Create contrast
Put your attention on generating contrast if you want to make a track that is more lively. Remember that listeners are taking what they are hearing in the moment and putting it into the context of what they just heard a few seconds before. So, lower the level of the area preceding your chorus or “drop” if you want it to seem loud. Cut all the bassier components just before the 808 sub enters if you want it to stun folks. And be careful to keep your other instruments narrower if you want that synth lead to come in nice and wide. Keep in mind that perception is everything. And it’s possible to argue that the environment in which a new instrument is used is just as significant as the instrument itself.
Watch other producers
Many of these suggestions are the result of years of monitoring other producers. Online, you may find endless lesson videos created by producers using any DAW you can imagine. Start taking notes after getting some up. I’ve found that when I watch other producers, I learn a lot more than just what the tutorial was intended to teach me because I also get to see other workflows, discover keyboard shortcuts I wasn’t aware of, and see fresh and innovative ways to use the software I’ve been using for more than ten years. You may truly push your mind to new creative possibilities by watching other creators.
Stick To Only a Few Plugins
When there are so many plugins available, it can be extremely difficult for a newcomer to decide which ones to buy. All you require at first are a select few that you will utilize consistently. Even just DAW built-in plugins are possible. Because in the end, the production itself—and not a plugin—will produce distinctive and creative work.
Strive to be original
It’s common to desire to sound like your favorite artists when creating your own music. Don’t, however, merely copy the genre of music that you and everyone else listens to. Avoid listening to other people’s music before you begin so that you can create your own melodies, lyrics, and mixes much more easily.
It isn’t about Expensive Gear
With software, a mouse, a keyboard or guitar, and some headphones, even a beginner can create professional-quality music. The significant disparity is not caused by the analog equipment. Yes, it does, although the difference is little and starts out that way. You want to expand first, then buy it when you can.
Even with the best equipment on the earth, a producer who doesn’t knows what he’s doing won’t be able to create golden sound. Even with merely adequate equipment, a talented producer can still deliver excellent results.
You won’t get better with new equipment. First, perfect your super-ninja producing abilities! Study the fundamentals of acoustics, computer recording, and mixing, as well as different mic approaches. Learn how to use the equipment you already have. As you go, put this knowledge to use and improve it.