Why not just make music that feels good to you under one moniker, then you can draw influences from the different genres you like. Once it’s finished, you’ll have something that maybe sounds a bit different to the run of the mill stuff and you’ll probably still get a sense of what the target audience is and which genre it probably falls into mostly, it’ll usually end to leaning a certain way.

The music I make is probably mostly influenced by Indie, Grunge, Midwestern Emo/math rock and I also use synths as well as guitars. But even though it’s a mix of influences, it probably slightly leans towards indie rock in the end and that’s also noticeable in the people who like it..

but the point is If I tried to satisfy myself by being an artist in each of those genres with a different name and being strict about making specific genres solely, each project would probably be more run of the mill and have no real standout qualities. But by not thinking too much about that and making music based on whatever comes and the influences I have, there’s something a bit more original in parts.

If you have the ability to make good music in different genres, then you probably have the ability to make good music generally speaking, so just work on making something a bit different with all those influences.

 

reach to a couple of people who sing on youtube (sort the videos by date so u get the most recent ones there will be lots of new people) and message them say I am happy to produce a track for you 50, 50...if you have any ideas for melodies or something etc

i guess that would be a good way to start...also if that person shares it with 10 friends, thats 10 more plays than nothing

btw u seem to have vast experience...........can you tell me the best ever tutorials u seen? or mixing or mastering or anything?

 

i know exactly what you have been through. And in case others may land on this thread wondering the same i would like to say the following

The very reason why you are asking these questions give the answer to what you must do and how you must confront your situation.

You must acquire a routine in releasing your music, that will give you all the knowledge and security to really know what you should do going forward.

There is no contradiction whatsoever in releasing the variety of "genres" you named above.

Do not dream of becoming a marketing professional and professional musician. Do the most basic decent plan when releasing or you will become totally burnout and distracted, maybe even disillusioned.

Your goal is to acquire a portfolio, a showcase and make it public. right now you have nothing. this is your primary goal. All your other insecurities and questions will get answered in the exact right way when you start releasing your music.

A classic beginner problem is worrying and wanting to make things perfect before starting, perfect artwork, perfect mix, perfect release plan, perfect artist "profile" (lol). That only leads to anxiety and a huge waste of time.


.

 

I can't really think of a specific tutorial right now, but I can think of some things to ALWAYS keep in mind:

1- REFERENCE TRACKS. Listen to some tracks you know are very well mixed and preferably in the same style before mixing your track and actually switch between your track and the reference(s) to get the feeling of how the frequency spectrum feels.
2- Do the balancing at lower levels. This is a advice I got from Maarten Vorwerk a few years ago. Later on I found a rational explanation for this: It's because when listening at different levels, the frequency spectrum gets a difference response to our ears, so listening at lower levels (not so low that you barely hear it) makes you actually hear the frequency spectrum with a better fidelity. Don't just balance your mix at a fixed level too, set the core balance at a low level but then switch between the different levels to optimize your balance choices.
3- Take breaks, don't try to mix your track all at once. Mix it for a little to get the core idea done, take a break, return to it and so on, it will help your ears to reset. When you're mixing or even producing, you get used to how it sounds, which can be very misleading in mixing decisions, not to count that your ears get fatigued very fast, specially if you're using headphones. If you produce and mix your own tracks, I would recommend you to not listen to your track for a week or so and then mix it.
4- You can't polish a turd. If the production isn't right, then it's going to be really hard to mix the track because the sounds you've chosen are fighting for the same space, for instance. Or you're trying to make the sounds sound good in the mixing stage when what you really needed to do is just pick a better sound that already fits the track to begin with.
5- Every instrument must have it's own space in the frequency spectrum. Think of it as a vertical scale, high frequencies are on top and low frequencies at the bottom. Now listen to some tracks and try to noticed where the instruments are most prominent in the vertical frequency spectrum.
6- Use a reverb which basically only has early reflections and send things that are supposed to be in your face to this reverb send. It really needs to be a small space, to make you feel the reverb rather than to actually hear it. More detailed information on this:

7- Things that are supposed to sound far away are darker and things that are supposed to sound upfront are brighter, this can be applied to reverb too.
8- Mix in contest, The vocals need to sound right in the track, not by itself, for instace.
9- Only apply moves when you actually need them, don't make some thing just because you saw someone do it on a YT tutorial, unless it's related to some template setting. LISTEN and decide if something needs more or less of X frequency, needs compression, etc.

Remember that there's no "this mix sounds better than this one" in terms of mixing, that's all on the artist to decied. I know that Michael Jackson had his tracks mixed A LOT before releasing them. For instance: I can mix a rock track with a low level snare, which isn't normal, but that's how I wanted my track to sound like, that's gonna give the emotion I wanted when producing it. Some other guy can mix that same track and put an artifical sounding sample on it and have it louder, almost like a deathcore snare, and think it's perfect. IMHO there isn't a better or worse in mixing, there's a mix which translates the intended emotion and can carry that emotion through different playback systems, that's the actual better mix.

*Mixing with Mike bootcamp tips are some of the best free material you can find on YT tbh. Hope this helps.

*I actually remembered a really good tutorial which helps you understand the "you can't polish a turd" sentence:

*This playlist is golden too, you'll learn and have fun at the same time:

 

Last edited: Apr 15, 2022

industrial bossa nova

 

Genres are just labels made for the convenience of consumers anyways, ideally artists shouldn't care which genre they produce.
Just do whatever you like, whats the point in picking music as career if you have no fun with it.
Mix genres, take a look at Gustav Mahler who combined completely unrelated music over a century ago.
Also, you can't live off a small income.

Watch Jesse Cannon on Youtube, he is the only marketing guy who is not full of shit. You don't need money, just time.

Lol that's like one of a million tiny things to consider.
The no. 1 Mixing tip is still be patient, consistent and practice for a few years, and start ear training early on (ear training is not only about recognizing intervals, you need to recognize both intervals and frequencies if you produce and mix/master your own music).

That's plain wrong. Dan Worrall made a video on this, the curve gets flattened the higher the volume is. If you mix at low volume you overemphasize high end and lows due to the unequal response. If you need to mix at lower volume because of neighbours, or because you want to stomach more (ear fatigue kicks in later) then use SlickEQ Mastering EQs equal loudness curve preset

Or when Martin Vorweerk tells you so? :D

Watch his introductory series first

Good. Now you only have to consider Pareto's Principle: 80% of your music depends on Production and Pre Production, 20% comes from the Mixing and Mastering (Post Production).
Where do you spent most of your time, on watching underbelly-tier YT tutorials?
On analyzing and perhaps even transcribing your favorite pieces and contemplating on what makes them unique?
On actually making music with an open mindset and learning from your mistakes? If you dare to make mistakes to begin with.
Insecurity and imposter syndrome are a bitch in this industry (whats your name on this forum again?).

I don't want to front, just tell you that you need to make big steps now in order to be successful, and it will definitely be rough.

 

Last edited: Apr 15, 2022

Thank you for your honest response. Yeah, I'm not a professional by any means, I just wanted to compile what I think were the best analogies that I could remember right now and that made my mixes get better (they definitely need to improve though). Maarten told me the low level trick on a Q&A he did back in 2016 I think... But this information is also accessible through his Tip of The Week book. I will definitely watch some Jesse Canon's videos, didn't know him!