5 practical tips for new music producers

Some fundamentals for getting started

1. Don’t immediately focus on social media and marketing*

When you’re in the zone and feeling creative, the worst thing you can do is get bogged down in your subscription, follower, and like count. It’s important that you have a social presence, especially if you want to appear “legit” — but ultimately you should focus on your craft and songwriting above all else. It’s not important that you don’t have true fans yet, you’ll get there with time.

*Start building a social presence when you‘ve established a brand and a sound (I will write on this later)

2. Work with what you have

I see so many new producers assume that new gear will make them an instant success. That is the complete wrong way to look at things. It’s all about learning the fundamentals and building from there.

When you get a new drum machine, learn the ins and outs; when you download a new soft synth, learn the capabilities; or when you get that fresh sample pack, constrain yourself to only using that set of sounds. New producers get too caught up in trying to find their perfect combination, but you’ll master the craft faster and better if you limit your consumption of new gear and song writing tools.

3. YouTube is your friend

The days of going to music school to become a songwriter are behind us. There are countless hours of free content all over the internet that will you get to where you want to be. Never underestimate free tutorials and lessons that are available to everyone.

Here are a few of my favorite Youtube channels/playlists:

General tutorials

Pyramind

Cymatics — Music Production Courses

Inspiration

FACT Magazine — Against the Clock

Mass Appeal––Rhythm Roulette

Sound design & Mixing

Pensado’s Place — Into the Lair

Synthhacker — Serum tutorials

ICON Collective — Serum w/ Steve Duda

ADSR — Pro mixing tips

4. Be willing to take breaks. A lot of breaks.

We’ve all been there. You’ve been messing with an 8-bar loop trying to make something stick. You’ve been running through a melody, tweaking it for hours. You can’t get the drums to groove quite the right way.

Go get some fresh air, listen to something else, take the night off. Your brain need to recharge and refresh. You aren’t going to write a grammy winning track in one session. It takes years to develop your craft so enjoy the process and don’t kill yourself.

5. Always remember to have fun

Screenshot from r/edmproduction

Don’t beat yourself up while you are learning. So many people I talk or read about seem to think that they have to have the perfect sound and samples and melodies and style, etc. Thinking like this will definitely kill your motivation and your mood. The creative process is long as it is exciting and over time you will develop these skills, as well as your own song writing technique!