New to Digital Music World. Need Guidance......

Discussion in 'Education' started by Ichos, Jan 12, 2023.

  1. Olymoon

    Olymoon MODERATOR Staff Member

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    Well, I didn't meant that you can't work on a whole track composition structure in FL Studio, but only that it's maybe not the easiest DAW for that. (I know it have got better at it in the last years).

    But yes, if you feel comfortable with Ableton go on with it, and I don't even think you'll have to chose anything else later. Ableton can go really far in all directions. ( I must say that I'm not a fan, so I'm objective about Live).

    My last word is that, the most important thing, when you make music, is to feel comfortable with your tools / instruments, as you don't want to have all the time to fight with them, and this is subjective, as we all have different mind sets, but when we're getting creative, the tools must follow ( not us following the tools).
    I'm personally very demanding on this. If I try a DAW or a plugin, it's 10 to 15 mn , if I don't find where to click for what I consider basic operations, I delete it. No matter how good they are, because creativity flow goes first.

    I use Reaper without deep tweaking... That's not an obligation. I just changed the skin to my taste, made visible 3 windows, like track list, marker list, project list, etc... And memorized 3 windows arrangements on shortcuts. That's all and I'm ready to go.
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2023
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  2. Colin

    Colin Producer

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    First off, everyone has to start somewhere.
    It really does help to have some musical ability, so you should concentrate on learning some of that first.
    Anyone saying otherwise is an idiot or an unrealistic optimist!
    The better your musical skills are, the quicker you can translate what's going on in your mind.

    As you learn an instrument, or instruments, don't just play other peoples music.
    Try to make up little tunes of your own with what you've learned so far and devote a bit of your practice time to that.
    Just mess about and see what you can come up with.
    You will soon build up a little repertoire of bits.

    Finally, somewhere down the line, start thinking about DAWs and all the rest of it.
    The last thing the world needs is any more musical stick-man creations clogging up the internet.
    At this point you can take all your own little bits of music and try to form them into a tune, and figure out how to best produce it.

    It's a long hard road, and there are no quick fix solutions.
    Like anything else in life, the more you put in, the more you will get out.

    Good luck on your journey & have fun!
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2023
  3. Ichos

    Ichos Producer

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    Thanks everyone for all these great advice. I got a faint idea of what my musical journey is going to be like.

    For time being I ll put some physical practice into learning the digital piano and try to create ideas regularly (even if thrash) and be consistent about that. Side by side I ll keep learning and translate my trash compositions into DAW into a track structure. Guess I will learn more in the process. I know it is going to be extremely frustrating for me. The only thing that will matter for me is not to lose hope and keep going.

    Wish me luck. Once again thanks everyone.. :thanks:
     
  4. Olymoon

    Olymoon MODERATOR Staff Member

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    There is also pleasure in the path.
    I wish you luck.
     
  5. xbitz

    xbitz Rock Star

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  6. iswingwood

    iswingwood Kapellmeister

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    My best tips:

    1) Don't drown in plugins. Stick to a few greats like Synlenth, Arturia Lab V, and some standard acoustic sounds for Kontakt. Even is you use Mac, stick to VST/VST3 as much as possible so that you'll have less potential headaches switching from mac and windows.
    2) Youtube is your best friend. Don't pay for courses. There is enough free info. If you hate ads, use JDownloader or similar tool to download from youtube.
    3) Experiment, Make mistakes, get lost. Its part of finding our own style and solutions.
    4) Don't worry too much about finishing a song in your early days. Do a bunch of "save as", make as many different ideas a possible. Unique inspiration is not easy to reproduce from your memory...so if you're in the middle of one idea, and another comes....save what you got, and get started on the next. Come back later to polish.
    5) Don't ignore your significant other...they will secretly envy your joy of computer if you don't give them enough attention. Digital technology is great, but life is still analog.

    Peace.
     
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