Whether you are an aspiring music producer or someone who has been in the music industry for a while now, there is always scope for improvement when it comes to music production. Music production tips can come in very handy, especially for beginners and amateurs!
While most of the tips and tricks may appear to be no-brainers, you will be surprised to notice how much better they can make your music sound. The right tips from the right music producers can heavily impact the quality of your future music as well.
Continue reading to perfect your music production process and produce truly remarkable music.
Best Music Production Tips for Beginners
Have ‘Pitch Perfect’ Musical Ideas
Like any other industry filled with creativity and art, it is extremely important to know what you want the final result to be. This doesn’t necessarily mean you should have good ideas all the time – you need to be able to convert your bad ideas and tweak them here and there to help make your own music sound good.
You can make your music remarkable with some spark inspiration, fine-tuning, and editing. Below are some music production tips for beginners!
Understand Music Theory
Nowadays, because of electronic music production, making music appears to be a piece of cake from the outside. In reality, you will need to perfect your understanding of music theory to get a good mix. The music production industry is filled with talented folks and experienced producers who have mastered music.
Ensure that you spend some time listening to other people’s music and learning music theory. Try to get honest feedback from those in the music industry as well. After all, practice makes perfect!
Take It Easy
If you ever feel like you have hit a writer’s block, or are creative block, feel free to keep your music aside for a minute and take a break. Come back with a fresh mind and fresh ears to create music. It is important to rejuvenate the mind before you produce music.
Take It Up a Notch
Any music producer will tell you that the art of making your own melodies sound good is to try and step out of your comfort zone. Try not to just stick to one genre and the same sounds, but instead play around with good sounds from different genres until you find your own good sound. You may also want to use multiple sound sources and various audio equipment.
Try not to stick to the same frequency range and play around with different settings. Pick up your instruments one day and play random music – that is how most of your favorite artists started producing music, and damn, did that get their revenue streams flowing!
Stick to Your Identity
While it is a great idea to use a reference track or refer to music from other producers and their YouTube channels, to leave a mark as a good music producer, you will have to find a way to make your piece an original sound.
When making music, try to steer away from listening to music made by other producers and artists to make your music production process more personalized.
Keep Your Options Open
Music production requires you to be flexible. There is no right or wrong way to structure your music’s sound design. One of the biggest music production tips is not to shy away from playing around with different aspects of music, such as the genre of music (like hip-hop, jazz, and so on), the bass sound, and the audio interface.
If needed, use existing soundtracks, pro audio files, or project files, or opt for a sample pack if you think that will be what sounds good with your music. You can also play around with a synth patch.
Keep in mind that you need to let different soundtracks mix seamlessly. A mastering engineer can help you learn how to do this effortlessly. If you find that finishing the music for certain tracks is becoming a bit of a task, feel free to move on and come back to the track later.
Do You Really Need Fancy Equipment?
When starting with music production, it is easy to get carried away with wanting the latest snare drum or channel (like the master channel or perhaps a separate channel). Neither do you need the newest master bus as a beginner.
In fact, even as you progress in your career of being a music producer, you will find that very few music producers have the latest master bus! Still, while you’re at it, check out our music production equipment checklist to see what are the essentials!
As someone starting off with music production, all you need is your creativity as part of the music production process. Instead of investing your own money in anything fancy, feel free to use your laptop speakers. You don’t even need multiple screens – simply one computer screen will be more than enough. Take a look at some of the best laptops for music production on the market presently!
Whether you are starting your journey in the music production industry or have been in the industry for quite some time now, FL studio is a great workstation, especially for electronic music.
Try it out by creating a mastering chain! Create music and press play to hear how the music sounds and if the sound design needs any amendments. When you finish, simply export the project files.
Music Production Tips for the Slightly More Experienced Producers
Who says experienced producers don’t need music production tips? Even if you have been into music production for a while now, we are sure you will still be looking at ways to improve your music. Here are a few music production tips for those in the music production business with a fair amount of experience.
Listen More
If you want to change your music up, the first thing you will want to do is change the type of music you listen to. This is a wonderful way to generate new musical ideas and one of the simplest music production tips.
Step outside of the same room you use to produce music into another space to let your creativity flow. Listen to tracks from other producers and genre labels you wouldn’t usually listen to.
Produce While You Play
A great way to improve your music is to notice how other producers play around with their tracks. Sample packs can come in handy during this process of music production. Instead of using the same chord sample that you have used multiple times, try playing around with a synth lead or the midi controller.
Stereo width will come in handy when trying to piece together different parts of a musical track. Consciously try to use other instruments or a different frequency range when experimenting.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
One of the most impactful music production tips is collaborating with other producers. You could consider collaborating with producers who have a very different music production style compared to you.
This will open up your doors to various new techniques and music styles. Along with this, it will also allow you to look at music from another producer’s perspective.
Welcome Criticism With a Smile
When you work to create something magical and tremendous with someone else, there is bound to be some criticism involved – and that is a good thing! You should always consider constructive production tips given to you by fellow members of the industry.
This will allow you to see where your music needs improvement and correcting and will enable you to perfect your melodies.
An Ending Note – Music Production Tips
And that is a wrap on music production tips! As you continue on your journey of creating music, keep in mind to constantly be learning and unlearning. Feel free to seek music production tips from fellow experienced producers in the musical industry and give out production tips to your peers around you.
If you have any questions, doubts, or queries, feel free to drop a comment in our comments section below, and our experts will get back to you with an answer in no time.
