How To Learn Edm Production
When I start got into electronic music production, I had no idea what to practise.
I didn't know what I was supposed to learn or what I should focus my time on.
What I wish I had during this time was a basic blueprint – a roadmap of what information technology takes to go from consummate beginner to competent artist.
This article is that roadmap. If you follow the outline and recommendations in this post, I truly believe you can shave months if non years off the time it takes to get from beginner to expert.
As y'all journey through your life every bit a producer, you'll progress through v stages:
- Initiation
- Exponential Learning
- The Dip
- Proficiency
- Mastery
Some of you might exist at phase 1—you're new to production and have no idea what you should exist doing. You might exist at stage 3 struggling with creative problems.
Any stage you're at, there are key things y'all should be focusing on and thinking about.
If y'all are in the beginner stages, I've put together a free video training on how to vanquish it as a new producer. It will help you avert the common mistakes that new producers make, and requite you a roadmap for getting started. 👇
New to music product?
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Stage 1: Initiation
Fourth dimension: two-4 months
For most people, this start stage is one of excitement. Yous've (hopefully) learned that it doesn't take one-half-a-million dollars worth of gear to make electronic music, and you're eager to get started and put a track together.
Amidst this excitement, there's a desperate urge for answers to what should be basic questions. What software should I utilize? Exercise I need to buy whatever special gear? What should I acquire beginning?
The way I expect at information technology, for the first few months, there are iii things you should focus on…
Recommended: What Actually Is EDM?
ane. Choose & learn your DAW
In order to produce electronic music on a computer, y'all'll need a Digital Sound Workstation, or DAW. A DAW is a software application used for producing, editing, and recording music.
If you're at this stage, you probably already know the names of sure software, especially the popular ones like Ableton Live , FL Studio , Cubase , Pro Tools , and Logic Pro .
The question is, which one should you choice?
In that location are a few things you lot have to realize if you're in this position:
- At that place is no "objectively" best DAW. It comes downwards to preference. All mainstream DAWs take the capacity to output not bad music.
- The time you spend stressing over which DAW to selection could exist ameliorate spent learning product .
- You lot can ever switch DAWs afterward on if you feel the need to.
While I don't recommend stressing over the decision, it is a good idea to take some things into account when choosing a DAW, namely:
- What do your friends use? If you take friends who make music, information technology's a adept thought to cull the same DAW every bit them then that you can learn from them every bit best every bit possible.
- What's your budget? All mainstream DAWs toll coin. You're going to have to invest in 1. Even so, they're not priced equally. If you're on a tight budget (under $200), you might consider Reaper, or the cheaper versions of FL Studio, Ableton Live, and Presonus Studio One. If yous can afford to drib a couple hundred dollars, FL Studio Signature Parcel, Logic Pro 10, and Ableton Alive Standard are all proficient choices.
- Educational Discounts: Well-nigh DAWs offering educational discounts for students. This includes Ableton Alive, FL Studio, Bitwig, Reaper, and more.
- Our recommendation: We recommend choosing either Ableton Alive Standard or FL Studio Signature. Both are extremely powerful and capable programs and can be picked up relatively quickly. Since they are the virtually popular DAWs, well-nigh of the courses, tutorials, and books pedagogy music production employ these programs. If money is tight, you tin can start with the limited versions of these software packages , and upgrade in the future. Both of them likewise include 30 solar day free trials to test out the software.
For more explanation as to why we recommend Ableton, cheque out this article on the best DAW for beginners.
The best communication I tin give you is to just pick one and starting time working with information technology. It shouldn't take yous longer than a day to cull a DAW.
Just download one and get started (you'll thank yourself later on).
Do I need any other gear?
The question a lot of people ask during the initiation stage is whether they need to buy anything more than a DAW.
There are two answers to this: the true answer, and the common reply.
The truthful answer is that all you really need is a DAW and a pair of headphones. Other pieces of gear can help but are past no means necessary. I like to phone call this the "Minimum Feasible Studio" (which is all y'allactuallyneed to become started).
The common answer is that yous need at least a decent pair of headphones and maybe a MIDI keyboard. A decent pair of headphones should invariably be the next particular on your list if you observe that making electronic music is something you want to keep doing.
If you do want to buy some gear and you're not certain what to option, I recommend reading this article I wrote chosen Starting Electronic Music Production on a Budget.
Further reading:
- The Definitive Guide to Music Production Software
- The Best DAW for Beginners
- The Beginner's Guide to FL Studio
- Ableton vs. FL Studio: How to Selection the Right DAW for You
- Home Recording Studio: What Y'all Actually Need as a Producer
Learning your DAW
Having downloaded a DAW (or trial version of 1), yous may feel tempted to become stuck in straight away and start making a vocal.
Doing this will upshot in defoliation, frustration, and if you're not careful, you may determine that making electronic music is simply likewise difficult so you'll give upward.
Your number one priority afterwards downloading a DAW is to acquire how to use it. The best style to practise this is to read your DAW's manual. If you're non much of a reader, search YouTube for [DAW NAME] beginner's tutorial or How to employ [DAW NAME].
Using Ableton Live? Click the push below for costless access to our twoscore-infinitesimal Ableton Beginner's Masterclass
two. Experiment (Play)
Later on getting acquainted with your DAW, the next central thing you should be doing is experimenting, or "playing."
The only objective hither is to accept fun. Sure, spotter a few YouTube tutorials, acquire a few things, but above all, experiment. Learn how to put downwards a basic drum vanquish. Try recreating the tune from whatever vocal is stuck in your head.
Do this for a couple of weeks.
Some helpful tips for inspiration:
- 100 Ableton Live Tips
- 100 FL Studio Tips
- fifty Tips from Twitter
3. Create your first song
The final step in the initiation stage is to make a song, from start to end. Don't worry about how you call back a vocal should be made, whether in that location are any rules or non, simply brand something that'southward 2 or more minutes long, and telephone call it washed.
This is an essential footstep. You must get into the habit of finishing music as early on on as you can.
Otherwise, y'all run the gamble of non being able to finish music after downwardly the track.
You may experience the urge to show everybody your creation. You might feel it's time to create a Soundcloud account or post your track on YouTube. Though there's no intrinsic harm in doing this, I don't recommend information technology. Information technology's a distraction, especially in the initiation stage.
If you want to speed upwards the learning process and follow a proven framework, check out EDM Foundations . We've had over 3800 beginner producers get through the course with slap-up results.
New to music production?
Lookout man our free masterclass on how to learn electronic music production the smart mode (without months of confusion & frustration)
Stage ii: Exponential Learning
Time: 6-24 months
Phase 2 is where the real fun begins. Y'all start getting the hang of things, and every track you lot make sounds better than the last.
This stage takes a while, typically 1-ii years. For some people, information technology may exist shorter, specially if they have the freedom to put many hours in. For others, information technology may have longer than ii years.
Stage 2 is titled Exponential Learning because that'south exactly what happens. Yous acquire knowledge, develop skills, and amend as a producer at exponential speed.
Here's an illustration (I know the line is not an exponential curve, merely y'all get the thought):
It'southward an exciting time in your journey as a producer. Your optics are opened to the limitless freedom that electronic music production presents. You listen to tracks you made a few weeks before and detect how much you've improved since.
During this stage, at to the lowest degree in the early months, you'll be improving week on week if you put in the time and effort.
But in order to excel during this stage, you'll need to follow these four key disciplines:
Key discipline 1: Learning the fundamentals
In stage ane, yous probably watched a few tutorials and read some articles. You might know a thing or ii about music theory, and yous might have an idea of what an EQ does.
However, now information technology's time to knuckle downward and gain a basic understanding of a few fundamental concepts, namely:
- Music theory
- Construction & arrangement
- Mixing
I've put these in order of importance starting at the top. It'due south important to notation that these concepts run deep and wide, and you tin spend a lifetime learning about mixing and audio lonely.
Unless you lot have a adept reason for going across what's essential or basic, I highly recommend you keep things unproblematic and relevant. Learning complex jazz music theory probably isn't necessary correct now if you're but wanting to brand a few techno tracks.
Music theory
Music theory is absolutely fundamental despite the numerous successful producers who don't know it at all.
Electronic music production differs from traditional music limerick and production in many ways, merely it's even so music that has chords and melodies and, therefore, relies on the same fundamental musical concepts. Not learning music theory earlier is one of my biggest mistakes.
Our course, Songwriting For Producers, is the most comprehensive resource for learning theory and songwriting every bit an electronic music producer.
We've also put together a gratis comprehensive guide to learning music theory (and approximate what? It isn't boring to read either).
Structure & arrangement
Once yous've developed a basic understanding of music theory, you'll demand to learn structure and arrangement. Learning construction and arrangement will teach yous how to take a curt musical thought and expand it to create a full-length song.
Fortunately, electronic music follows a predictable and standard structure, and then it'south not hard to pick upward the basics.
The best way to learn construction and organisation is to drag songs into your DAW and study them. Pull them apart. Steal the basic construction from an existing rail and utilize it for your ain.
Additionally, we recommend investing in EDM Foundations to acquire the basics of construction and start applying information technology quickly.
If you're more advanced, Songwriting For Producers features 12 genre-specific breakdowns where you'll learn about how popular songs are structured (and why they piece of work).
Mixing
No one wants to listen to a well-composed and well-bundled song that sounds similar it'southward coming out of a can can, which is why grasping the fundamentals of mixing is important.
Here's what I recommend to begin with:
- Mixing EDM: The Complete Beginner's Guide
- Digital Audio 101: The Basics
- Mixing Secrets for the Minor Studio by Mike Senior
If you go through all these resources, or even just a few of them, you'll take a sufficient level of knowledge to practically use to your work. Call back, no amount of theoretical learning can replace real practice, and then exist wary of the balance between them.
Cardinal bailiwick 2: End fast and finish often
"As Ira Glass then famously put it, the best way to refine your craft is to create a huge book of work. Not to create the most perfect piece you can, just to create many pieces of work." – Herbert Lui, Why Quantity Should be Your Priority
One trap that a lot of producers fall into in stage ii is the perfection or masterpiece trap. They remember that they must create amazing work—that they must focus on creating masterpieces.
Having a perfectionist attitude in stage 2 is not only an inhibition to learning and progression, it also destroys your self-esteem. Why? Because even if you were to prepare the perfect standard for your work and achieve information technology (which isn't likely), y'all're progressing at such rapid speed that you'll be disappointed in your "masterpiece" a few weeks after.
What yous should focus on instead is finishing. Not just finishing, only finishing tracks equally often every bit you can.
When I was in stage 2, I'd finish tracks in one day. They didn't sound that great, just I learned something new with each projection.
Yous have to focus on quantity during this phase, because if yous do, quality volition inevitably go up and you'll learn much faster than you lot would otherwise.
Central field of study 3: Diversity & further experimentation
During phase 2, it tin can be tempting to pigeonhole yourself into ane genre or style of music. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I do recommend you experiment with every bit many unlike genres as you can.
Why?
Because you'll learn quicker.
I started out making dubstep and picked upward some valuable skills such as pulsate programming and audio design while doing so.
I and then ventured over to drum & bass and developed my pulsate programming skills even further.
For a while, I made techno and firm, which taught me a lot about the groove. Nowadays, I mostly make trance and progressive business firm, simply the skills I gained from experimenting with other genres all the same come in handy.
So, if you feel like making genre Ten, then do then. In that location's no reason why y'all shouldn't.
Primal discipline 4: Gathering feedback and building relationships
At this stage, many producers start thinking well-nigh how they should brand and market place themselves, how to gain more Soundcloud followers, and so along.
This is aught more a distraction, and if you're currently stuck in stage 2 then trying to make a proper noun for yourself is a futile effort.
While you shouldn't be spamming forums and the comments section on YouTube videos telling everyone you lot're the next Martin Garrix, there are certain things worth doing exterior of your DAW that will set you up for future success and also allow you lot to learn and progress faster.
The first matter you lot should be doing – having finished a few tracks – is gathering feedback from people. It's important to get a second gear up of ears on your music so you lot can larn what your weak points are and if there are whatsoever ongoing problems with your music (your low-end might be consistently too loud, for example).
The second matter you lot should exist doing is building relationships with other producers and people in the industry. You should do this irrespective of whether you lot want to build a career in music, mainly because the opportunities that come from just knowing people are invaluable.
New to music production?
Watch our costless masterclass on how to acquire electronic music production the smart mode (without months of defoliation & frustration)
Phase iii: The Dip
Fourth dimension: 6-18 months
Stage 3 is the most difficult office in an electronic music producer'south journey.
Production starts to become difficult and seems more time-consuming. You sit downwardly to work on something and finish upwards procrastinating—doing something else that'due south easier.
If you're lucky, every bit in, you're a office of the 1%, so you may not go through stage iii.
But you probably will become through it. Most people do. In fact, information technology's the very reason I wrote The Producer's Guide to Workflow & Creativity.
The unfortunate reality is that most people give up when they reach stage 3.
Fortunately, phase 3 doesn't last forever, and there are ways to progress through it faster.
i. Deal with overwhelm
The first affair you must practise if you find yourself in "the dip" is larn to bargain with the feeling of overwhelm.
Feeling overwhelmed is pretty much guaranteed if you lot're stuck in phase three. You might experience overwhelmed by the fact that y'all're non producing every bit much as you lot used to, or simply past the sheer corporeality of piece of work involved in putting together a decent track.
Whatever you feel overwhelmed by, you lot need to reverse that feeling and get on top of it. There'due south an age-one-time productivity technique that will assistance you practice this. Information technology'southward called breaking big projects into minor tasks.
For example, if you lot're overwhelmed by the sheer amount of piece of work involved in putting together a decent track, then suspension it down into small parts. Starting time, focus on but the melody. One time that's washed, you lot can motility on to the next thing. This is how y'all bargain with overwhelm.
two. Figure out your objective & motivation
One of the main reasons people give up during this stage is that they can't find the passion they once had for making music.
Passion keeps us going. There's no denying that. But at times, it tin be difficult to experience information technology or detect it.
Because of this, information technology's important that you effigy out two things: your next objective, and your overall motivation or reason for making music.
Your objective might be that you want to release an EP. That'south the adjacent "large affair" on your list, and that'due south what you lot're actively working toward. But an objective alone is not enough, you need an overarching reason or reasons for making music.
My reason for making music is twofold: outset, I make music because I love information technology, and 2d, I make music considering it helps me teach other people to brand it. During times where I feel frustrated with music and don't feel like I "love it," I fall back to the 2d layer and remind myself that at that place's more 1 reason why I make music.
In one case you take an overarching reason, working through dry periods where you lack inspiration and creativity becomes much easier.
Need aid with this? Bank check out this post where I show y'all how to prepare goals as equally producer.
3. Learn how to overcome creative issues
The third thing you must learn in this stage is how to overcome creative problems. You will encounter them—everyone does.
In that location's as well much material on the topic of creativity and creative block to include in this mail service, so here are some links to books and articles on information technology:
- 74 Artistic Strategies for Electronic Music Producers
- Mastery by Robert Greene
- x Music Product Experiments that will Make Y'all More than Creative
- How to Destroy Artistic Block with the Vocal Palette Strategy
Likewise, if you lot want to shout me a few coffees, then my volume might exist helpful too.
4. Be consistent and patient
"The difficult thing is to stick to things when you have outlived the beginning interest, and not nonetheless got the second which comes with a sort of mastery." – Janet Erskine Stuart
Despite all efforts to overcome creative block and the overwhelming feeling of not getting enough done or non doing your all-time work, stage 3 is inevitably going to last a while.
It'due south a natural part of an artist'due south journeying, one that tin't really be avoided. Yous have to learn to live with it for a period of time before you come out the other side and enter stage iv.
There's no magic play a trick on or tip that volition make phase iii comfortable. It'due south uncomfortable by its very nature—a constant struggle. This means that you have to be consistent and patient.
Consistency matters because, without information technology, you'll never progress through stage three. Consistency ways building habits, and habits aid you push forward when inspiration is nowhere to be seen.
During stage 3, it's a skilful thought to get into a consistent rhythm, to fix a schedule.
For instance, y'all might decide to commit to producing for 30 minutes per twenty-four hour period no matter what. Starting time small and and then you can work up to longer sessions (similar 90 minutes).
Patience is too important. You take to empathize that while stage three doesn't final forever, it'southward not short. Even if you can't run across the light at the terminate of the tunnel, you need to firmly believe that it'due south at that place and wait. (However, don't look while not doing piece of work. Y'all won't progress through phase three without putting in effort).
This is all office of developing an artist'south mindset, a mindset that keeps y'all driven and focus towards reaching your product goals.
New to music product?
Scout our free masterclass on how to larn electronic music production the smart manner (without months of confusion & frustration)
Phase 4: Proficiency
Time: 2-5 years
It'south hard to pinpoint exactly where stage 3 ends and stage four starts, mostly because there's a fair amount of overlap.
But you lot'll know when you lot're out of the rough. Stage four is the concluding stage before mastery, which means that while you should still be actively learning and progressing, your piece of work is starting to agree upward in terms of quality.
Now, stage iv typically takes years. Information technology's important to understand that I'thou talking nearly the fourth dimension it takes to go from being adept to a primary of the craft. Most people admit that it takes approximately 10 years to become a principal in whatever field, with the definition of a master being "world class."
So, while I've noted that stage 4 takes two-five years to progress through, that does non hateful it takes two-5 years to become a good or even bully producer. You can hands build a career at stage 4.
Cardinal discipline one: Advanced learning and remaking
By this phase, you should have a deep agreement of fundamental concepts and a "big picture" view of how different concepts and disciplines interact with each other.
But it's time to go even deeper. At this point, you're starting to further your strengths and bring up your weaknesses. Learning complex jazz music theory now is far more advisable than in stage ii.
Avant-garde learning is all about going deep into topics. It helps to start with your stiff points, because, at the stop of the day, music production is too diverse a field to become a master in everything.
If you're into sound design, you might delve into the physics side of it, learning why certain waveforms audio the way they do. If you love mixing, y'all might decide to intern at a studio or read some textbooks on audio. You lot get the thought.
Remaking
There comes a point where y'all've learned most of what'southward necessary from books and videos, and you demand to get beyond the "full general" advice and gather more nuanced ideas and tricks.
The best mode to do this is to learn from other artists who are at or in a higher place your skill level. Given that anybody is unique and has unique thoughts, it follows that their music will be unique in ane way or some other.
How exercise you larn from other artists? You lot report their music. Improve yet, you remake information technology. Remaking forces y'all to listen attentively. It forces you lot to attempt out new ideas and solve problems. Information technology forces you to think near what y'all're hearing and how it'southward made.
Cardinal field of study 2: Collaboration
Another thing that'southward benign to focus on during this stage is collaboration. This could be working with another producer, vocalist or musician. There are many reasons why collaboration helps:
- You lot pick up tricks and tips from other artists and producers
- You acquire to work well with other people and communicate ideas
- You learn how to make compromises
- Y'all build relationships with like-minded people
- You build your brand past leveraging other's audiences/fanbases
There'southward really no alibi for not collaborating. If you live in an expanse where no one makes music, you can either collaborate with someone over the internet or move.
If you don't know anyone on the internet who makes music, terminate existence lazy and join the EDMProd Creative person Customs, post a question request if anyone wants to collaborate with you lot, and go decorated.
Key discipline 3: Career paths
I've tagged this as optional because I know not everyone wants to build a career in music production. You lot might dearest your twenty-four hours task and but want to brand music on the side.
But I'm willing to bet most of y'all reading this would similar to build a career out of music if you could. Despite what people say, there are actually many different career paths bachelor for the skilled music producer. You could:
- Build a career as an artist
- Exercise freelance work
- Audio editing
- Audio design
- Ghost production
- Get into film and commercial work
- Teach music production
- Create sample packs and other products
Obviously, there are many more jobs than just those, merely that should requite you lot an idea. Headlining at Ultra is not the merely career path.
The other matter that must exist noted is that most people who achieve mastery practise and so considering they work full fourth dimension on their arts and crafts. If we utilise the 10,000-60 minutes dominion equally a starting point (and I don't care whether it's scientific or non, information technology's a good dominion of pollex), and so over x years, you'd need to put in three hours a day.
Putting in iii hours per twenty-four hours while holding a 9-5 chore is not easy. You can reach stage 5 producing music "on the side," but it's certainly not easy.
If y'all desire to see some job offers in the music industry? Caput to musiccareers.co.
New to music production?
Watch our costless masterclass on how to learn electronic music product the smart way (without months of defoliation & frustration)
Stage 5: Mastery
Fourth dimension: Forever!
The concluding stage is one that very few people get to.
Mastery, equally normally defined, is when you've practised your craft for so long that information technology becomes almost a completely subconscious deed. You produce music effortlessly.
In my listen, some "masters" of electronic music product would be people like BT, Above & Beyond, Mat Zo, Koan Sound, and so forth.
Please notation that I'one thousand not in this stage, and then anything I recommend here is purely from a indicate of observation and what I retrieve should be done during this stage.
1. Deep experimentation
When you've mastered your arts and crafts and everything you make is quality, it's fourth dimension to introduce.
Deep experimentation is near throwing preconceived notions and "the standard manner of doing things" out the window. Equally a master, you start to question underlying assumptions y'all accept almost product processes.
"Is this actually the all-time way to do things? What if I did information technology this mode?"
The principal can afford to experiment in such a manner and get away with it because he understands the rules so well and he knows what will likely happen if he breaks them.
The intersection of diverse facets that music production features is then clear to the master, which is why the experiments he comes up with are far more likely to succeed compared to the proficient producer or stage 2 producer.
Frequently, this volition lead to breakthroughs. Maybe it's a new mixing technique or method of composition. Maybe it's a new class of song structure. Music is always-evolving, and masters are the ones who push it forwards the almost.
two. Branching out
Having reached the point of mastery, you might start to await for new challenges in related fields to music production.
For example, you might make up one's mind to rigorously study acoustics or classical music, both of which will have bearing on your abilities every bit a producer.
You co-operative out into unlike fields not just because they help you lot as a producer, but because of pure involvement.
iii. Condign a leader
Finally, as a master, you'll probably become a leader unless you're a recluse. Possibly you pioneer something, maybe you develop a new genre that becomes popular. Who knows?
I mean, this is essentially what Skrillex did, right? That'south how he'due south able to give out confident advice like below:
What's certain is that stage 5, the mastery phase, does non end. There is no phase 6, there is simply mastery and that's it.
Fifty-fifty the master has to keep learning.
What at present?
Chances are, you're reading this as someone who'due south completely new to music product or needs some guidance.
If so, I know exactly how you experience. Even later reading this article, y'all're probably still feeling overwhelmed, confused, and lost.
Fortunately, that tin modify.
1 pick is to come up with a systematic plan for how y'all're going to learn product. You lot can use this article as a guide, develop your own strategy, find the correct resource (I've linked a bunch of proficient ones), and read some solid books.
That'south a expert selection. I wish I'd taken it when I started out (I wasted years floundering around, watching random YouTube tutorials, and non actually learning anything).
The other option is to follow a framework that's enabled thousands of other producers to movement from confused, beginner producer to confident intermediate producer.
A framework that drives you to take action and gives you the tools you demand to brand your first song, then your second, then your tertiary, and so on.
A framework that doesn't just teach you lot a bunch of theory, just actually shows you how to brand music on a practical, fun level.
To larn more most this framework, bank check out my free video training by clicking the button below.
New to music production?
Picket our free masterclass on how to learn electronic music production the smart way (without months of confusion & frustration)
Source: https://www.edmprod.com/5-stages-electronic-music-producer/
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