If you in the present could send a message of advice to yourself when you first started producing, what would you say?

[StarClout]

What are some things know now as a seasoned producer that you wish you knew starting out?

I’ll kick it off:

Be patient: getting better comes in time and you won’t master everything overnight

Set money aside for gear: you WILL want more gear (in my case vintage gear ) and you can get what you want with enough saved up. I had to buy 2 EPS-16 Plus keyboards to get one that worked cause I didn’t want to pay over a certain price. In doing that, I learned with gear you get what you pay for. I lucked out that the 2nd EPS 16 worked perfectly and had the rare Memory Expander card. I ended up parting out the working one (which was beat to hell) and put the boards and display in the case of the non working one (which was in pristine condition) and I got a damn near new looking EPS 16 Plus now.

Learn how to do maintenance/repairs on your older equipment: this piggybacks off the vintage gear stuff. A lot of the vintage gear is gonna need some form of service at some point. Best to learn to fix stuff yourself to exhaust all options before having to take it to a repair shop and shell out hella bread. Plus a lot of folks who repair certain older gear brands (looking at you, Ensoniq) are getting out the game. TheSoniq was the man who was known for being a wizard with Ensoniq gear/repairs and he got out the repair game this year

Get storage expansions (SCSI/Floppy Emulators/SSDs/HDD) for your gear: you’ll need them at some point (Especially with Ensoniq stuff like ASR-10/EPS-16 Plus where SCSI is damn near mandatory). It’ll make your life easier and bring your vintage stuff into modern times

Don’t be afraid to experiment: some of the dopest shyt I made came from happy accidents messing around with stuff. Tinker around and something may come out dope

Learn your gear: you may find that something you want in another piece of gear may be right there in what you have. Master what you have before buying/moving to something else. This will save money down the line. All the manuals are online and YouTube is a helpful resource

 

[StarClout]

@MurderToCassette
@TEKBEATZ
@Blessed Koala
@Reptile
@Wildin
@head shots101

 

[Matt504]

Me to me: Commit to learning software in depth, don't just stop at the point where you only have a working knowledge of it.

 

[StarClout]

Me to me: Commit to learning software in depth, don't just stop at the point where you only have a working knowledge of it.

repped

 

[Reptile]

nikka Ive been making beats for only 3 years, Im still in the "first started producing" phase.

 

[The Intergalactic Koala]

To this very day, I live by the code. Even during hiatus, that quote and devotion to the craft been a part of my aura. Not everybody is going to like your work, but there are some that will.

• Find your niche and the audience to appreciate your niche (me "lo-fi, vaporwave, experimental type of beats)
• Use what you know (if you are a sample based producer/beatmaker, thrive in it. If you hate samples and just focus on composition, right on!)
• Build your brand (Don't follow the wave, and just keep at the vision that you developed in your music)
• Minimalism is essential (Don't go overboard with gear and 10tbs OG sounds and etc, just start small and gain as you go. Me I'm starting over with the SP404, Reaper, Audacity and Spotify to seek inspiration. Later on down the road, the synthesizer will be the next cop).
• Don't expect to be a celebrity overnight, it takes time and focus. Also, It's okay to be discouraged. Take a break and if it's meant to come back, inspiration will be there.

All in all, let experience and growth take you on a journey and don't rush it. Also, don't HOARD YOUR MUSIC!!

IF ITS WACK, STILL DROP IT. IF It's GOOD, STILL DROP IT!

We are living in a era where a beat with no drum and bass can be an instant hit. Hell, Madlib kept it a buck and said he just drops shyt on a iPad.

Bottom line, DIE EMPTY!

 

[The Intergalactic Koala]

nikka Ive been making beats for only 3 years, Im still in the "first started producing" phase.

Breh, music creation is like the game of DOTA. You will never be good, despite mastering the craft.

Hell, look at Dr Dre.

Dude held off from working with MJ because he was soo shook of his own craft. I'm at a point where we are in the best time to be music creators. You got bedroom producers making hits overnight with fart samples, "Doo Doo Brown" alcapella, and a beat up midi controller.

Hell, we are all learning.

I'm trying to learn this damn SP and realize that the biggest problem I had, was the fact that I didn't treat it like a tape recorder/mixer, but instead treated it like it was a damn MPC.

 

[StarClout]

Breh, music creation is like the game of DOTA. You will never be good, despite mastering the craft.

Hell, look at Dr Dre.

Dude held off from working with MJ because he was soo shook of his own craft. I'm at a point where we are in the best time to be music creators. You got bedroom producers making hits overnight with fart samples, "Doo Doo Brown" alcapella, and a beat up midi controller.

Hell, we are all learning.

I'm trying to learn this damn SP and realize that the biggest problem I had, was the fact that I didn't treat it like a tape recorder/mixer, but instead treated it like it was a damn MPC.

Repped to the both of y’all

 

[Wildin]

I don't have much to add. Just experiment, read, study, research, keep making shyt and don't stop.

I started with an mpc 2000 at a time before YouTube and if you had a question and it was in the manual, mfs would refer you to "page 36" "page 118". And at first it seemed like an a$$hole thing. But then you read that bible front to back and that shyt clicked.

But you not only read it, you read it again and go through and do everything, press every button, every mode, every sub menu, turn off and on every value. " turn on note repeat, activate the drum pad, change the timing"

So even if you don't know what something is or what it does, you can usually figure it out " oh ok, this is what happens when I change the attack/delay/release/sustain"

So now you know your shyt inside and out. I say to research and study (watch tutorial, product videos) because there's bugs, known issues, fixes, patches, workarounds and short cuts. Back in the day cats didn't know to pull the cable out just a Lil bit which would cut out some of the sound and just give you the bass notes. Obviously some cats knew that, they were filtering and sampling bass that way. But other cats around the country and shyt didn't know.

The most important thing is don't stop! Don't stop making music! But this can really be said with anything. It doesn't do you any good to know everything to know about working out, fitness, supplements and shyt if you aren't working out. Just having the knowledge doesn't keep you fit. Reading books and watching videos isn't the same as doing 50 pushups.

Make music, practice making music and don't stop. Save everything. Especially the wack shyt, because you'll revisit it and see how much you've grown or then have the knowledge and experience to be like "here's how those hats are supposed to sound" "this is what I was trying to do but didn't know how.."

 

[StarClout]

I don't have much to add. Just experiment, read, study, research, keep making shyt and don't stop.

I started with an mpc 2000 at a time before YouTube and if you had a question and it was in the manual, mfs would refer you to "page 36" "page 118". And at first it seemed like an a$$hole thing. But then you read that bible front to back and that shyt clicked.

But you not only read it, you read it again and go through and do everything, press every button, every mode, every sub menu, turn off and on every value. " turn on note repeat, activate the drum pad, change the timing"

So even if you don't know what something is or what it does, you can usually figure it out " oh ok, this is what happens when I change the attack/delay/release/sustain"

So now you know your shyt inside and out. I say to research and study (watch tutorial, product videos) because there's bugs, known issues, fixes, patches, workarounds and short cuts. Back in the day cats didn't know to pull the cable out just a Lil bit which would cut out some of the sound and just give you the bass notes. Obviously some cats knew that, they were filtering and sampling bass that way. But other cats around the country and shyt didn't know.

The most important thing is don't stop! Don't stop making music! But this can really be said with anything. It doesn't do you any good to know everything to know about working out, fitness, supplements and shyt if you aren't working out. Just having the knowledge doesn't keep you fit. Reading books and watching videos isn't the same as doing 50 pushups.

Make music, practice making music and don't stop. Save everything. Especially the wack shyt, because you'll revisit it and see how much you've grown or then have the knowledge and experience to be like "here's how those hats are supposed to sound" "this is what I was trying to do but didn't know how.."

Repped

 

[How Sway?]

Don't be afraid to put anything out even if it's trash.

I been making beats for about 7 years (technically since 2007 when i made my first couple projects in highschool) but I didn't put anything out untill like 3 or 4 years ago.

 

[MurderToCassette]

RTFM (read the fukkin manual) Over and over and over.
Learn how to connect devices via MIDI, it makes life much easier
Back up EVERYTHING
Stop using floppies (I'm still in this habit)
Buy more old gear when no one gave a fukk about it (2007-2017 or so)

 

[StarClout]

RTFM (read the fukkin manual) Over and over and over.
Learn how to connect devices via MIDI, it makes life much easier
Back up EVERYTHING
Stop using floppies (I'm still in this habit)
Buy more old gear when no one gave a fukk about it (2007-2017 or so)

This the one right here! Them prices pre pandemic were at least reasonable

 

[Aje]

1. F*ck the so-called rules.
2. Don't spend your money on all these plug-ins. Spend your time and money finding a mentor that can teach you the simplest tips and tricks that are invaluable.
3. Stay weird.

 

[Turbulent]

Learn the manual by heart and then forget the manual.

Learn an instrument.