Phat Sam's "How to get started in Music Production" Thread

But seriously, I still don't know what a 'good' sample is, I just try to make it fit and see what happens :typing:

I tend to bass how good a sample is on the actual sound quality. I think the majority of drum samples have the potential to work at some point. It just depends on your mood and the track you're working on.

A sample with lots of headroom, no unwanted peaks and in 24bit IMO is a good sample.
A kick sample that is layered with a hi hat and has reverb on it is a bad sample.
 
Hi Everyone,

First post !!

Just wanted to say thanks for this thread - it's helped me loads if anything it's helped me realise that I can't make amazing kick ass tunes overnight and that it takes a lot of practice.. I have to chill and have patience! (Or it could be that I'm just shit..) :P

Lots of helpful tips in this thread, so those not reading the stickies are missing out!!!

The only thing you've missed is you've not told us how to be like Netsky. :lol:

Cheers!

Nige.
 
Hi Everyone,

First post !!

Just wanted to say thanks for this thread - it's helped me loads if anything it's helped me realise that I can't make amazing kick ass tunes overnight and that it takes a lot of practice.. I have to chill and have patience! (Or it could be that I'm just shit..) :P

Lots of helpful tips in this thread, so those not reading the stickies are missing out!!!

The only thing you've missed is you've not told us how to be like Netsky. :lol:

Cheers!

Nige.

Nice one geeza. Good to see it's of help to someone! :)
 
OK. First off, I'm no expert and in no way would I even call myself a producer as of yet. I am learning constantly like everyone else but there are a few things I know todo and to avoid when starting out as I started without using this forum and I fucked up a lot and tbh, took weeks, months and even years getting better at simple things that someone could have taught me in days. I just think a thread for people who have no idea where to start should have a place to go.

SO.......


Nice thanks :)


The first thing you need to know is this: Music creation/making/production is not something that comes over night. You need to practise and practise fucking hard to get where you want to be. More so, as a producer for an electronic genre, such as DnB, Dubstep, House, Electro, etc... you need to be able to know what to do in terms of engineering a tune on top of being able to 'produce' it. This is where many people fall on the first hurdle. They think that cos they have a new DAW (explained later) and a few drum samples that they will be the new Sub Focus in a few months producing wikid sick mega tunez blud. I know that's what I and a lot of my mates thought when we first started out. We rapidly started to realise that this is not the case.

What I'm saying is, prepare to spend a LOT of time perfecting your production techniques. Unless you're some sort of music production prodigy, or are being personally tutored by Noisia, it's gonna be a long old while before you start making things you're actually marginally 'happy' with.

Right... prerant over... lets begin:

First off, you're going to need a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)

These are computer programs designed primarily for recording, editing and playing back digital audio. (More than often, everything you need to start off producing simple tracks will generally be included in your DAW package from basic to more complicated synths and maybe a few samples. All depends on the pack/DAW you buy.)

First off, I recommend you check out this:
http://dnbforum.com/showthread.php/108682-Tips-n-Tricks-for-the-most-used-DAWs-inside

Pic a DAW and get to know it. If you're on a PC so an easy one to get to know is FL Studio. A little higher up the range would be Reason, Cubase or Ableton Live. I don't know Cubase but I know its very powerful. Ableton is also very good at a lot of things. Not my personal preference but I know that a lot of my friends use it and live by it. Got some seeeeeeriously powerful shit in there. Reason, although I haven't actually played with R6 yet, is seriously good at some things but falls on a few hurdles. You cant use VST's for instance. I used it for years and have found myself coming back from Logic to use some of the instruments and compressors in the Reason rack because I prefer their sound. Each to their own though. Just a few pointers.

(Also, while I think about it, if you are on Reason, you can follow a guy called 'BoyinaBand' on YouTube. Some really good tutuorials all the way through from compression and EQ to making UK Garage and Drum and Bass. He's here: http://www.youtube.com/user/wwwboyinabandcom. There is also another guy that focus' on DnB using Reason. Some of his stuff is dark as hell but he's a very good producer. I learnt quite a bit from him when I was starting out: http://www.youtube.com/user/loki1200)

If you're on a Mac, there is a basic program that comes with it; Garageband. Very simple program but tbh, you can't get much better than just using it to get used to the workflow of a DAW. Higher up the range on a Mac would be Logic Express and then Logic Pro. Not much difference between the two but I'm sure you can read up on the difference yourself. Pro Tools is another industry favourite. I'd only recommend getting it if you have £12K to spend on the HD version. If not, get Logic.

Piano Roll:
These are very hard to explain so follow this tutorial to understand what a piano roll is:

Yes, it's for FL Studio, but the process is pretty much identical for all DAWs


Learn how to make beats to start with. Simple drum patterns and things to then layering samples.
Samples can be found here (some dead links in here as it is an old thread.):
http://dnbforum.com/showthread.php/2088-The-Breaks-X-Change-Thread

Try the New Breaks X Change thread:
http://dnbforum.com/showthread.php/157847-THE-NEW-BREAKS-X-CHANGE-THREAD

Also, there are shit loads of free samples packs for one hit drum samples. A lot of DAWs come with samples themselves anyway. Just have a look. The WorldWideWeb is your Oyster!

When you've learnt how to use a piano roll and change your instruments and make drums and stuff you need to next, learn how to EQ and compress. Compression is possibly one of the hardest things to learn in terms of mixing and engineering so really look into it. Play with a compressor along side reading about it to understand what it does. These are your 2 most basic mixing tools. You don't know how to use these, you ain't gonna have any good tunes, let alone giving Nestky a run for his money.

A couple of tutorials for these are here:

I know this is for Logic but its a very good tutiorial:

Again, for Logic, but it'll help you get the idea:

I would go on but I'm tired and need a piss. That should get you started though.

In terms of using the forum… You need to ask specific questions or otherwise, no-one will be able to help you get better. Asking 'How do I be like Netsky?' is almost like asking 'How do I do wicked sick mega 3D graffiti?' Or 'How do I get a six pack in 10 minutes?' You're only gonna learn by yourself with years of practise and perceverence.

Anyone who wants to add to this for people starting out, please do.

I know richie/logikz/miszt/Freek/Mr_Fletch and the other seasoned producers will be good to update this a bit too to help the youngens out...

Mo fire
:antitank:
Nice :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
hi guys,


I've recently been starting with FL. And i'm reading your tips & tricks to get started but i'm like wth is he talking about. therefore i have some questions for you.
Do u just download samples of kicks, snares etc and adjust them in ur own way. Or do you really need to produce your own kicks hats,...
i was thinking u have to produce your own kicks and therefore i have a few questions about that topic.

1.) topic here told me that u have to get started with piano roll but that i already know. So ur been talking about compression and EQ and i get all the stuf your telling me but the problem is that I dont know how i can make this dnb rythm. i want to create something like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RREJ5qSnHc

in this track u have like the kick & claps but then u have few instruments coming between fast after eachother. U all know what i mean u have the basic kick clap kick clap. but the thing in between is the thing i want to create and have difficulties in finding this rythm. Thats why i'm kinda stuck because i can't create the sound I want.


I hope you guys can help me out so i can move on and practice harder to become good :)


Thanks




Keeyz
 
hi guys,


I've recently been starting with FL. And i'm reading your tips & tricks to get started but i'm like wth is he talking about. therefore i have some questions for you.
Do u just download samples of kicks, snares etc and adjust them in ur own way. Or do you really need to produce your own kicks hats,...
i was thinking u have to produce your own kicks and therefore i have a few questions about that topic.

1.) topic here told me that u have to get started with piano roll but that i already know. So ur been talking about compression and EQ and i get all the stuf your telling me but the problem is that I dont know how i can make this dnb rythm. i want to create something like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RREJ5qSnHc

in this track u have like the kick & claps but then u have few instruments coming between fast after eachother. U all know what i mean u have the basic kick clap kick clap. but the thing in between is the thing i want to create and have difficulties in finding this rythm. Thats why i'm kinda stuck because i can't create the sound I want.


I hope you guys can help me out so i can move on and practice harder to become good :)


Thanks




Keeyz

I just started with reason so I can't really help you with this because I don't know anything about FL studio, but at reason i can select how much steps there are.
U now probably using 16 steps, if u set this to 32 u can add extra drums between the notes u already have.
Not sure if this is what you mean but u could try :).

OT.
Just found these tips: http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/tech/23-classic-drum-n-bass-tips-155890
I'm too inexperienced yet to know what to do with those but I think they quite helpfull.
 
I just started with reason so I can't really help you with this because I don't know anything about FL studio, but at reason i can select how much steps there are.
U now probably using 16 steps, if u set this to 32 u can add extra drums between the notes u already have.
Not sure if this is what you mean but u could try :).

OT.
Just found these tips: http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/tech/23-classic-drum-n-bass-tips-155890
I'm too inexperienced yet to know what to do with those but I think they quite helpfull.

Good shout

hi guys,


I've recently been starting with FL. And i'm reading your tips & tricks to get started but i'm like wth is he talking about. therefore i have some questions for you.
Do u just download samples of kicks, snares etc and adjust them in ur own way. Or do you really need to produce your own kicks hats,...
i was thinking u have to produce your own kicks and therefore i have a few questions about that topic.

1.) topic here told me that u have to get started with piano roll but that i already know. So ur been talking about compression and EQ and i get all the stuf your telling me but the problem is that I dont know how i can make this dnb rythm. i want to create something like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RREJ5qSnHc

in this track u have like the kick & claps but then u have few instruments coming between fast after eachother. U all know what i mean u have the basic kick clap kick clap. but the thing in between is the thing i want to create and have difficulties in finding this rythm. Thats why i'm kinda stuck because i can't create the sound I want.


I hope you guys can help me out so i can move on and practice harder to become good :)


Thanks




Keeyz

Keeyzzzzzzz! My mannnn!

So I think you're looking for what are called 'ghost notes,' 'ghost snares' or 'ghost drums.'

Have a quick skim on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_note

It's basically drum shuffles that come between the first snare and second kick. Sometimes more frequently, some times not at all.

Do a little bit of research on the Amen break to get you started - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen_break

And some on drum and bass drum programming - http://www.attackmagazine.com/technique/beat-dissected/incessant-drum-bass-beat/

Have fun braaaaaah!
 
Hey,
I'm getting into using Cubase 7 for drum and bass, this forum is great! a real stepping stone.
I'm having real confusion over the drum programming though - I read that page on drum programming that you just posted Sam, but I still don't really understand the process of making dnb drums. So is there a generally used process of creating a beat using midi and then putting 4 bar loops over the top? or do many people create there own loops using midi or anything? Very confused :(
Any wisdom?
Thanks,
Matt
 
Can't I just but a Roland key bored. Press the demo button for "super sharp machete bass" .What? hey Presto I'm the new so hazard??

Would said keyboard have to go thru some sort of "DAW"

And is mastering really important?? Were tunes in the 90s mastered?

Vibes>perfection ? Non?
 
FB_IMG_1519039041541.jpg
 
This thread has been a really fun and useful read.
I've been messing around in FL for 10+ years now, and just gone it alone this whole time, when I could have benefited from a forum like this a long time ago.
I struggle with getting a final-sounding mix, and while I don't particularly like the side chain compression sound you hear in pop music, I know its something I need to learn to get my low end coherent. And I will. I'm also going away from this thread with a lot of other ideas that can really help me improve my sound.

My point is, I really appreciate the wealth of experience and ideas and tips I'm seeing here, so thanks to everyone contributing.
 
Back
Top Bottom