Cole
Music production 101
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Cole Gaskins
- Posts: 165
- Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 9:44 pm
- Location: Marshville NC
Music production 101
How does one get a firm grasp of all this technology we have at our disposal today. Example...I have alot of "stuff" here in my little music room but I've been mostly a collector over the years; never got into song writing etc. How do I learn the basics of syncing up this to that and scsi...midi....the whole nine yards. I want to really dive into this thing but I don't know where to start. There is so much out there but it's all geared toward the pros. Nothing for the beginner that I've seen. BTW, I hate computers so I'd like to stay with my good 'ole hardware. Is that even possible now? Can you guys help a brother out?
Cole
Cole
Re: Music production 101
Really hard to say without knowing what you have. I'm going through the difficulty of moving from old style tape and HD recorders and going to DAW. It is SO intimidating and everyone only wants to sell the latest greatest hoopla. I haven't got a clue yet as to what I'm gonna end up with. (My computer is ancient too, and nothing new will fit or run on it.)
"Music expresses that which can not be said and on which it is impossible to be silent."
Re: Music production 101
Take something you have i.e. a synth and learn it inside and out. Focus on that alone. If that's too boring for you than you might not be up for it. Sometimes the hard part is just finding the piece of gear that clicks with you. Research research research! Find something that shows potential. Something you want to read up on and understand. After years playing guitars and purchasing a few virtual analog synths and never getting it,wasting money and time. Wanting results without any real understanding( It seems like a trend that has gone directly into the design of many new instruments) and hating the sounds they produced in live situations, I took the dive into a modular suitcase synth. There is no faking with that thing. I really learned a lot about synths and sound principles in general that have informed me and carried over into other areas. I took a somewhat laboratory approach but it was much needed. Coming from a stubborn punk background. After putting down the guitar for a bit and before I had the modular, I used a Heathkit wave generator and an echo pedal. Talk about basics.
After you have selected your tool and you want to take it to the next level buy a mixer, some decent headphones and maybe a microphone. Mixers are cheap and they come in all kinds of variety. I've used a Mackie 16 vlz, several cheap small guys for gigs but I really like the Tapco I have now. Mixers are essential to understanding audio production or synthesizers really. The Tapco has a great simple manual and will have you doing buss mixing or aux sending in no time. The build quality may not be the best but hey!
When you get to the point when you are ready to do some recording your in luck. There are so many ways to do it nowadays and relatively cheap. Remember; it's not how much stuff you have or how standardized your set up is as opposed to what you can do with what you have. If you are in it for real and it's about learning what all this stuff means and does, find something basic, like a four track cassette recorder. Tascam Mark II is awesome. I still use it often to sketch ideas or when I get sick of looking at computer screens. The things you learned about mixers will have a direct application here,and the things you learn with a four track will ease you into Hard disk recording. If you have some sort of digital recorder that can be used too, it may be designed not as intuitively as a four track but hopefully a read or two would get you back on track.
As far as song writing goes I wouldn't worry about it at this point. Generate sound for sounds sake. Make yourself happy first then share. Don't think about genres or any of that. You can be as far out and as individual as you want and as long as you are discovering something in the music you will find some people who will want to hear it.
If I would have insisted on learning midi, computers, mixers and synthesizers all at once (which I briefly tried to do) , I would have given up or lost all my hair a lot sooner. I personally feel midi is the devil and should be taken on only after you master some analog gear first. I may be out on a limb here with that one but If I wouldn't have gotten my hands on knobs I would probably be dead or playing Nick Drake rip offs somewhere..
Hope that helps
j. way too early in the morning..
After you have selected your tool and you want to take it to the next level buy a mixer, some decent headphones and maybe a microphone. Mixers are cheap and they come in all kinds of variety. I've used a Mackie 16 vlz, several cheap small guys for gigs but I really like the Tapco I have now. Mixers are essential to understanding audio production or synthesizers really. The Tapco has a great simple manual and will have you doing buss mixing or aux sending in no time. The build quality may not be the best but hey!
When you get to the point when you are ready to do some recording your in luck. There are so many ways to do it nowadays and relatively cheap. Remember; it's not how much stuff you have or how standardized your set up is as opposed to what you can do with what you have. If you are in it for real and it's about learning what all this stuff means and does, find something basic, like a four track cassette recorder. Tascam Mark II is awesome. I still use it often to sketch ideas or when I get sick of looking at computer screens. The things you learned about mixers will have a direct application here,and the things you learn with a four track will ease you into Hard disk recording. If you have some sort of digital recorder that can be used too, it may be designed not as intuitively as a four track but hopefully a read or two would get you back on track.
As far as song writing goes I wouldn't worry about it at this point. Generate sound for sounds sake. Make yourself happy first then share. Don't think about genres or any of that. You can be as far out and as individual as you want and as long as you are discovering something in the music you will find some people who will want to hear it.
If I would have insisted on learning midi, computers, mixers and synthesizers all at once (which I briefly tried to do) , I would have given up or lost all my hair a lot sooner. I personally feel midi is the devil and should be taken on only after you master some analog gear first. I may be out on a limb here with that one but If I wouldn't have gotten my hands on knobs I would probably be dead or playing Nick Drake rip offs somewhere..
Hope that helps
j. way too early in the morning..
Moog Voyager Old School Whitewash, Moog Murf, Moog Ring Modulator, Doepfer Modular System, Modified Arp Avatar, DSI Mopho Keyboard, DSI Tetra, Sidrassi Organ, Roland Space Echo and Motu 828 (on the fritz!). http://pegasusfarmsrecords.com/
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Cole Gaskins
- Posts: 165
- Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 9:44 pm
- Location: Marshville NC
Re: Music production 101
WoW, that's some great advice guys!
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nicholas d. kent
- Posts: 190
- Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 6:00 am
- Location: NYC
- Contact:
Re: Music production 101
Big complex situations are usually best solved by thinking of them as many smaller less intimidating things to learn or solve. Often along the way you can find answers to other things you wanted to solve while concentrating on your initial questions. Temporarily pretend you have less than a lot of stuff.
I personally would not follow the advice of just taking one thing and learning it inside and out simply because you likely can't do effectively if the one thing is meant to be used in conjunction with other equipment. But there is nothing wrong with just taking one item and concentrate on using it and learning what you can do with it.
As a former college instructor of several arts using technology, I've definitely seen many people run into frustrating or confusing road blocks when they concentrate on a larger more lofty goal or perfectionism too quickly. To have goals and try to be perfect is great and admirable and should be in the back of one's mind, but when one starts, practice and understanding are often better steps than jumping into something with lots of elements involved.
One technique I often find useful is to take turns concentrating on just the technical or just creative sides for a while and alternate. Don't switch back and forth too much or give up too easily, but don't stick with something not working so long that you grow to resent it out of frustration or something. The idea is to take a technical process and just do it and get to know it works. Don't worry that you creation is nothing interesting. Then do it again. Now you have the confidence that it works so the second time maybe think about a creative use now that the technical side works.
Doing is a very good thing... and then thinking about all the parts, which worked great, which could be better. A lot of people, even myself sometimes, get stuck because we start looking at a creative goal and just see maybe too much equipment that we may not know too well. A great step is a lower pressure situation of using just a bit of it without the worry of it not coming out right. It's better to do something really simple and then do it again better than face something complex and don't know where to go.
I personally would not follow the advice of just taking one thing and learning it inside and out simply because you likely can't do effectively if the one thing is meant to be used in conjunction with other equipment. But there is nothing wrong with just taking one item and concentrate on using it and learning what you can do with it.
As a former college instructor of several arts using technology, I've definitely seen many people run into frustrating or confusing road blocks when they concentrate on a larger more lofty goal or perfectionism too quickly. To have goals and try to be perfect is great and admirable and should be in the back of one's mind, but when one starts, practice and understanding are often better steps than jumping into something with lots of elements involved.
One technique I often find useful is to take turns concentrating on just the technical or just creative sides for a while and alternate. Don't switch back and forth too much or give up too easily, but don't stick with something not working so long that you grow to resent it out of frustration or something. The idea is to take a technical process and just do it and get to know it works. Don't worry that you creation is nothing interesting. Then do it again. Now you have the confidence that it works so the second time maybe think about a creative use now that the technical side works.
Doing is a very good thing... and then thinking about all the parts, which worked great, which could be better. A lot of people, even myself sometimes, get stuck because we start looking at a creative goal and just see maybe too much equipment that we may not know too well. A great step is a lower pressure situation of using just a bit of it without the worry of it not coming out right. It's better to do something really simple and then do it again better than face something complex and don't know where to go.
Re: Music production 101
What Nicholas says makes great sense. And makes me think that maybe I should live with what I've got and just get something to use to convert the final result to a format than can be distributed via computer. I'm more comfortable with my old technology even if it is 'harder' to do than all this newfangled DAW stuff. I really like the idea of continuing to not have a computer in my studio.
"Music expresses that which can not be said and on which it is impossible to be silent."
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Paul Norheim
- Posts: 33
- Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2008 3:55 am
Re: Music production 101
This could perhaps be a place to start:Cole Gaskins wrote: How do I learn the basics of syncing up this to that and scsi...midi....the whole nine yards. I want to really dive into this thing but I don't know where to start. There is so much out there but it's all geared toward the pros. Nothing for the beginner that I've seen.
Cole
http://tweakheadz.com/guide.htm