Hello so I am planning to learn making music completely from scratch and record my entire process going "pro" (I haven't decided what "pro" really is yet in terms of goal setting).

I do not know anything about making music haven't even decided on which DAW to use yet.

My plan right now is to just read the manuals and expand on the concepts that i read.

Even then i am still a beginner so i thought asking for help would be nice.

So if you pros have the time for it a very very very detailed roadmap / pathway / what to do for learning music ( mixing , sound design , DAW , music theory ... ) would be a blessing for me.

I do not plan on giving up on this project.
Thank you for reading this!

 

Your choices for DAWs:
https://audiosex.pro/threads/which-daw-will-take-over-the-market.78118/
Your pathway for professionalism:
https://audiosex.pro/threads/the-time-required-to-become-a-professional-in-the-world-of-music.78023/

 

Beside the technical aspects of producing (daws, mixing etc.), do you play an instrument -and/or- do you know a minimum basics of musical theory?

 

There are lots of things to think about here, but for starters:

Do you plan to write music from scratch, or layer loops created by others? If writing from scratch, you've likely got to learn the basics of playing an instrument, like piano or guitar (I recommend piano, as it's the most frequently-used MIDI controller, and it's probably easiest for a beginner to understand) - you just have to become somewhat proficient with chords and scales, nothing too fancy. If you practice diligently, you can become good enough to write songs in a few months or a year or so. You can take lessons or might be able to learn from tutorials on the web. If you're going to layer loops, it still helps to know how to play an instrument, but not strictly necessary. If you're going to go the route of layering loops, pick a DAW by watching tutorials, and then watch more tutorials to learn it. It will be complicated at first, but it's not rocket science. You'll be able to do it.

Re learning mixing, etc, once you've begun learning a DAW, just play with it and watch even more tutorials. Download sounds, and load them into the DAW. Maybe download a FEW plugins, or just use the DAW's built-in plugins. Don't get caught up in finding the perfect plugin, as they're all pretty much the same - there's just a lot of marketing hype.

I know this is a piecemeal approach, but it will work over time. A less piecemeal approach would be to go to audio school and/or apprentice/work in a recording studio and/or hook up with a home recordist who would teach you. Probably better if you could do one of the latter, more systematic, things, but I infer that you wouldn't be posting if you could.

I know you wanted a detailed guide, but I don't think one can be provided at this stage.

 

KiloHearts bundle. Just a hunch.

 

First of all, welcome and I'm glad you want to make music.
All beginnings are difficult. But making and playing music is a really worthwhile activity that never gets boring and will give you a lot of joy. It's best to just get started, because practice is easier than theory.

DAW - Digital Audio Workstation

This is a clear digital audio workstation with a very good workflow.

PreSonus - Studio One (Professional Demo)
Log in or create a MyPreSonus account to manage or register PreSonus hardware and software, download a free 30-day demo of Studio One. https://connect.presonus.com/home?returnto=/studioonedemo

If you don't like this digital audio workstation (DAW), you can also try out demos of Ableton - Live 12

Try Ableton Live 12 for free – 30-day Trial download
Ableton Live lets you easily create, produce and perform music within one intuitive interface. https://www.ableton.com/en/trial/

USB - Audio Interface

You then need a USB audio interface such as the
Focusrite - Scarlett 2i2 [3rd Gen] --> https://focusrite.com/products/scarlett-2i2-3rd-gen
or
Audient - iD14 --> https://audient.com/products/audio-interfaces/id14/overview/

A USB audio interface is designed specifically for music production, it has high-quality converters and components built in. The drivers are of higher quality than those provided by Windows.

Active near-field monitors

You then need special monitoring monitors for music production so that you can properly judge what you are playing. The monitoring monitors are connected to the audio interface and placed in an isosceles triangle on the desk so that you can properly check the sound.

Yamaha - HS 5 --> https://europe.yamaha.com/en/products/proaudio/speakers/hs_series/index.html

Midi Keyboard Controller

With the MIDI keyboard controller you can play virtual software synthesizers or enter beats. A must for every musician.
Nektar - Impact LX49+ --> https://nektartech.com/impact-lx49-61-plus/


Books:
Books have a very big advantage, you learn more and better and you can always look something up if you don't know something.

- The Mixing Engineer's Handbook: 5th Edition
English edition | by Bobby Owsinski | March 28, 2022

- The Mastering Engineer's Handbook 5th Edition
English edition | by Bobby Owsinski | November 9, 2024

- The Music Mixing Workbook: Exercises To Help You Learn How To Mix On Any DAW
English edition | by Bobby Owsinski | January 18, 2021

 

Last edited: Dec 9, 2024

Who the hell cares?

I'll tell you who - the guys who want to sell you something. Or someone who already bought that, and now wants to reassure themselves by promoting their own choices and visions.

Maybe I'm one of them? You decide, but just hear me out

From ancient times till 20th century music was a communication tool to speak of unspeakable. Now its degraded to the mere function of a soundtrack.

The thing you call "pro", is a limitation musicians induce on themselves, so that the most broad public don't go vomiting, or (what's worse) don't buy another absolutely identical record from some other musician

Music can be a very good hobby. Just ask yourself honestly why you are doing this. Musician is a very bad profession. Don't listen to the "pro" bullshit

P.s. and if you want to learn about gear - go to groupdiy website, these guys can make Neumann's for less than 200 dollars

 

As orbitbooster (implicitly) suggests...
Before losing yourself in technical aspects:
learn at least one instrument and the accompanying music theory. This will make you life as a musician (regardles off hobby/pro) so much easier.

 

There are perfect plugins to start with. The same ones over and over.

Fabfilter Pro-Q3, Pro-C2, Pro-L. Valhalla Reverb. Pick a delay. A good channel strip , a saturator, and maybe even a clipper if you want to live dangerously. The stock stuff in your DAW. And something for repairing, like RX or Acon Digital.

 

no not really but i do have a plan on learning that as well im not going to dedicate an entire 3 months just playing keys and learning it im gonna scatter the progress over the year while learning the technicals

 

im gonna be doing it from scratch yes
and thank you i understand what you are saying it is going to be mostly do things and find out

 

crazy i got my name from kilohearts but i have no experience trust me i just looked up game sound design etc and found phaseplant n i was like ooh the brand name is cool so i just added extra word

 

im reading them books asap thank you as for hardware i dont know when ill get them
thanks a lot

 

yes im planning to learn the keys over the process

 

i will look over these plugins but ill be using the stock things for a while lol

 

as a DAW you can try Reaper.. it has unlimited trial, fast workflow and customizable look (skins)

 

Fee fi fo fum
I smell the smell of Foster's bum

 

hell is that?

 

i was thinking ableton but ima look that up

 

It's a good DAW optimized for electronic music.