I havn't posted a new thread for a while because lately I have been too busy practicing my trance producing skills. So now I'm back, and I'm asking one general and possibly hard to answer question.
What would simply be the best piece of advice that you could give a 14 year old producer thats been going at it for 9 months???
I know that this might sound like a stupid question, but what I mean is, if you could go back in time to when you first started producing and you were able to tell past-you one or two pieces of advice, to do with ANY part of music producing, what would they be???
Please only answer if you have something useful to say instead of complaining about how weird a question this is, because I'm really wanting to take this seriously now and see how far I can go.
Just as a rough guideline of my current skill level, here's a track that I'm currently working on, it's my 5th ever trance track.
BTW, If there's anyone kind out there that thinks they could spend a small amount of time giving this a professional feel, I would happily send the flp file as it would benefit my learning greatly.
Storyteller
I think you've got a lot of basics down already. Based on a very quick listen it seems you grasp the song structure and tension buildups decently. However your mixdown is severely lacking.
The entire track sound very very muffled. My advice would be to find a (professional) track of similar style and listen to it well, try to find a similar balance between the elements in your track as in the reference track and your track will improve tons.
Do you have any bass in your soundsystem? The low frequencies are so overwhelming compared to the higher ones! Really something you need to be aware of!
MIKE333ACE
quote:
Originally posted by Storyteller
I think you've got a lot of basics down already. Based on a very quick listen it seems you grasp the song structure and tension buildups decently. However your mixdown is severely lacking.
The entire track sound very very muffled. My advice would be to find a (professional) track of similar style and listen to it well, try to find a similar balance between the elements in your track as in the reference track and your track will improve tons.
Thanks, I'll try that out.
quote:
Do you have any bass in your soundsystem? The low frequencies are so overwhelming compared to the higher ones! Really something you need to be aware of!
I'm temporarily having to use basic ipod earphones because my headphones broke and I am currently in the process of finding a new pair to buy.
So therefore, to me it doesn't sound too "bassy" because the earphones are crap. But, if it does to you and your using proper speakers, then I guess I will put it down a bit, but i normally do like a track with strong bass, it makes it more agressive and "dancy" in my mind.
Storyteller
Let's just say my listening equipment is adequate :).
Good luck with the earphones, I'm positive it will make the improvements the track needs that much easier.
MIKE333ACE
quote:
Originally posted by Storyteller
Let's just say my listening equipment is adequate :).
Good luck with the earphones, I'm positive it will make the improvements the track needs that much easier.
Haha, I wish
Constantin
1st step: Start to work the mix from scratch again
2nd step: Remvoe any multiband compression from master channel(try to keep it as clean as posible)
3rd step: Try to set for the 1st time the levels of the channels without any FX on them.
4th step: Use the EQ not only to boost the nice sounding freq but also to cut freq that you don't need in some sounds to make place for the other sounds, this is one of the ways to achieve a clearer mix.(ex: remove the lows from percussion samples to leave more room for kick/bass)
5th step: LCR mix, watch this if you don't know what is that http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDp8rsdmdEE
6th step and one of the most important: Learn your speakers/headphones, once you do that you won't have to many problems with your mixes :-), as a headphone user you may try to check the levels from time to time in mono or on another systems, a good mix sounds good even on 4$ office speakers.
Maybe some other TA users can complete me or correct me, if I am wrong with something.
Excess
if i had to my 14 year old self trying to produce music anything then, it would be to stop messing around with loops and start trying to write music. with that said, seems you're already past that point. just keep trying, and try to finish every project you start - even if it's not label quality. it's a great learning experience and your work rate will increase with each project you finish.
the teller of stories nailed it. with crappy listening situations, the idea should be to reference your tracks on everything in comparison to songs you know represent the sound well.
ALSO, to the 14 year old me: have your parents buy you nice monitors and acoustic treatment instead of any other luxuries. acquire job to pay for everything else.
Crossposting (opening several topics on the same subject) is not allowed on TranceAddict. I suggest you close the other topic from which I posted the link since this one got some valuable comments already. :)
fuxzz
Remember to have fun, don't listen to people that say you will not make it, be original (learn from others, but use it in your own way).
As long as you'll keep the motivation, everything else will come along the way.
And yeah, your song is really bass heavy. When u lowcut a bass for example, that doesn't mean you take away the power, many times you get more power because you get rid of those low freqs that muds everything up. This takes some experience, you don't want to take away to much either.
And the same goes with pads and leads and so on, so yes, a pair of Monitors are pretty important. It's not easy to make the right decisions when you can't hear what you are deciding about.
But for now if I were you, I would have just kept producing as much as possible.
cryophonik
Lots of good advice, particularly Constantin's. My additional advice to a 14-yo "trance producer" would be:
- learn to play an instrument. Take lessons from a good teacher. Piano/keys is the obvious choice since it is the de facto standard in music production and composition, but guitar is a good second choice. Both of these instruments allow you to play both solos and chords, so they will be more useful for learning music theory than something like a saxaphone or trumpet is.
- learn some music theory. You don't need a degree and you will pick up a ton of music theory when learning an instrument, assuming that you have a decent instructor.
- work on your ear-training skills. Being able hear and quickly figure out what is going on in another song is an invaluable skill to have. As you learn your instrument, spend time learning songs of all styles and sharpen your ability to hear chord progressions, melody intervals, etc.
These three skills are closely aligned and you will find that there is a lot of overlap between them. Getting up to speed on them, especially at your age, will put you leagues ahead of the pack down the road. Trust me, the gap between amateur and pro on the technical side of music production is pretty narrow because much of that can be learned quickly through tutorials. The artistic side (playing, composing, arranging) takes many years to master, so get at it while you're young.
One final bit of advice would be this: be sure to keep some depth and breadth in your production skills. Focus on trance, since that's your favorite, but become a student to the process of production and composition by studying a wide variety of popular/dance music. In other words, don't restrain yourself by trying to sound exactly like a handful of artists, like so many young trance producers seem to do.
Nightshift
quote:
Originally posted by cryophonik
Lots of good advice, particularly Constantin's. My additional advice to a 14-yo "trance producer" would be:
- learn to play an instrument. Take lessons from a good teacher. Piano/keys is the obvious choice since it is the de facto standard in music production and composition, but guitar is a good second choice. Both of these instruments allow you to play both solos and chords, so they will be more useful for learning music theory than something like a saxaphone or trumpet is.
- learn some music theory. You don't need a degree and you will pick up a ton of music theory when learning an instrument, assuming that you have a decent instructor.
- work on your ear-training skills. Being able hear and quickly figure out what is going on in another song is an invaluable skill to have. As you learn your instrument, spend time learning songs of all styles and sharpen your ability to hear chord progressions, melody intervals, etc.
These three skills are closely aligned and you will find that there is a lot of overlap between them. Getting up to speed on them, especially at your age, will put you leagues ahead of the pack down the road. Trust me, the gap between amateur and pro on the technical side of music production is pretty narrow because much of that can be learned quickly through tutorials. The artistic side (playing, composing, arranging) takes many years to master, so get at it while you're young.
One final bit of advice would be this: be sure to keep some depth and breadth in your production skills. Focus on trance, since that's your favorite, but become a student to the process of production and composition by studying a wide variety of popular/dance music. In other words, don't restrain yourself by trying to sound exactly like a handful of artists, like so many young trance producers seem to do.
great advice, i did all these things when i was in high school, and after a 3-year near-haitus from producing (18-21) boy are they starting to pay off now. except i play piano by ear. i cant read music, but i understand scales chords intervals etc due to vigorous learning when i was younger.
when everyone else was studying high school BS, i was studying music and production, half the i learned back then didnt even make sense to me then but it all starts to click eventually and that feeling is amazing lol.
also dont get stuck in one genre or too many genres too relative of each other, i did that for about 5 years and wondered why EVERYthing i made (even attempted genres) turned into trancey...well because that was the only thing i practiced and listened to. ever since i started exploring more music in 2009ish and stopped listening to trance, things started to change.
