i must agree with whats said above. the first months or even year will suck simply becouse you have an idea but just can't turn it in to reality (that might be a sound, melody, overall 'flow', buildup etc etc) or will just go by unnoticed! thats pretty much how it is for me, now listening back and rns file i made a couple of months ago make me go but at the time i was doing it, i really enjoyed myself.

all i can say is i hope you enjoy yourself, don't worry about profs or tunes in the amature section, its a proces that takes YEARS. dont putt presure on yourself, just enjoy.

things i can say that have helped me are looking at midi files (to see how melody's work etc), finnish project files (too see how its goes together overall) and listen to music (i must say it really chances the way you listen) reading other peoples questions in here doesn't hurts either

Hi guys,

As you can see, i'm not a regular poster, but I do read these forums basicly every day. I'm replying because this topic is about something i'm struggling with for some time now.

I started "producing" about a year ago, using FL and some plugins, and finished like, two tracks with it, which sucked big time. I knew that producing good music wasn't a matter of months, but of years, but the frustration of not being able to create what was in my head made me quit for a few months.

The feeling got to me, that working with FL just wasn't "my thing". On the other hand, I knew I loved music so much, and I really wanted to learn to make tracks. A couple of months ago, I decided to pick it up again, but this time using Reason. I heard a lot of good stories about it, knew that a lot of great producers used it, so I bought a MIDI-controller and started again.

Now here it comes, you guessed right, after a few months with Reason, with a few finished tracks, and the basics of the program in my mind, I seemed to get stuck. I just couldn't get any fat sounds out of the devices, for instance, using Subtractor with EQ and Compression, and several bass tutorials, all that I got out was some fuzzy stuff. Not comparable with pounding bass that guys like Lemon8 and Markus Schulz create.

It isn't like I do not understand how the program works, because I do, and I have finished some tracks with it, and also seen great improvement. It's just that I seem to be stuck on a certain level. When I hear tracks from a guy like Perry O'Neil (who's said to be working just with Reason), I cannot imagine that those tracks are made with it. I'm a pretty down to earth guy, so I know it's my capabilities that are weak, and not those of Reason itself, but still, the program just does not seem to fit me.

Now here's my question (nice to see that you even got this far in my "novel" =)): I'm thinking about trying out Cubase SX, using VST for synths and stuff, and Rewire it with Reason, to use the Redrum as percussion. I hope that this will fit me better than the programs I used before. Would this be usefull, or do you guys think that I will end up in Cubase just as in FL and Reason? Also I would like to mention that i'm absolutely no guy that tries to produce because it's "cool", but just because I love music and I want to transform the inspiration I have in tracks.

Thanks in advance!

http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...threadid=194445

some reason sounds. and yes its harder to get a phat sound out of reason but there's alway layering, that helps a lot (2 or more synths playing the same notes at the same time)

lets see what reason 3 brings

You have to find the toold that work the same way your head does. I find things much easier to work with when they are all separated and disected into their individual pieces, and when I can see what path my sound is taking and change it freely.

I prefer using Buzz for my shitty attempts at music making, some of the synths in it are really simple and great ways to figure out synth programing. I bought fruity before I knew about buzz and made a couple songs which ended up sounding pretty awful, but it was really weird cuz I got several emails from people who found me on mp3.com and said they liked my sound and were looking for more music of the same style. I haven't made a finished song since those first attempts a few years ago, since then I have been reading and expirimenting like a fiend.

Now I find myself playing with reaktor, I like this program alot, I hope I can afford it one day, until I can afford it I wont use it's sounds in my projects, I just like playing with it because it helps me learn how everything works.

When you build a device, you almost automaticly know how to use every part of it, because you were the one that put it together, tools like buzz and reactor allow you to build things with little pieces in this way. For me, it works with the way I think, and hopefully will make me a good producer in the end.


I suggest that you download buzz(its free! go to buzzmachines.com) and start making simple arrangements and using simple machines, try to figure out how everything works and gradualy make more complicated arrangements until you have the sounds you want.


Be very patient, take breaks from tweaking and take the time to think long and hard about the sound you are aiming for and what pieces it consists of. Record yourself mimicing the sounds you want so that you don't forget them while you are trying to recreate them in the programs. Write ideas on paper, anything thatis in any way related to your song, write it all down so that you have room in your head to figure out everything, eventualy it all comes quiker and you can get away with writeing and thinking less, but it takes a lot of time for that to happen.


Good luck!