Music is one of the biggest and most lucrative sectors in the global economy. Nearly everyone loves good music; many more are willing to pay a top bill to listen and watch live performances. Music producers bear the responsibility of churning out fun songs and compositions.
Music production is both science and art; becoming a successful music producer entails finding the right balance between structure and creativity.
For the beginner music producer, an excellent place to start would be listening to practicing music producers. The pieces of advice you’d receive from these pathfinders may seem pretty general at the onset. However, you should find that these tips will include positive habits, workflow, flexibility, and confidence as an aspiring music producer.
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The following tips come recommended by several successful music producers, directors, DJs as well as other industry practitioners:
1. Be in Love with Music and Sound
This point is arguably the most critical piece of the puzzle in your quest to become a successful music producer. If the fame, the prestige, and monetary rewards are your main motivations, then your chances of succeeding are lowered considerably.
The path of producing formidable music demands that you love music and that you commit to knowing as much as you can about it. Critically listen to a million records until you understand what makes a song work and what subtracts from it.
For every single track you make, you should aim at making great music. In this regard, you should respect the craft of songwriting, performance, and recording. The effect of this stance is that you often will end up churning out great sounding music.
2. Have a Concrete vision in place
As with careers that involve creativity, it is best to have a stable view of where your craft takes you and expected results. Music production should allow you to get as crazy and as imaginative as you can be. The art should also permit you to make alterations to the vision you ahead of you.
However, these parts and conceptualizations must fit into a firm, larger picture, of where you want to be as a music producer. Less this scenario and you would feel lost and unsatisfied with your output as a music producer.
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3. Be Open to learning related skills
As a music producer, knowing a thing or two about sound engineering and mixing may prove invaluable over the long term. Now, no one is saying that having a degree in Sound Engineering guarantees the path becomes more effortless. However, understanding how the different elements of a song work together sonically will give you a stronger foundation.
This foundation comes in handy for when you’re in the producer’s chair, making decisions about how the track will ultimately sound. There are other benefits of cutting your teeth as a Sound Engineer. Armed with this training, you are most likely to form endearing partnerships with people that sync with your vibe. Great collaborations have grown from such relationships.
An example is the Sound engineer turn music producer Noah “40” Shebib. He teamed up with notable musician Drake and produced the hit song “Successful.”
4. Work where you are most Comfortable
Practitioners in the creative industry like music production understand the importance of finding your spot. Achieving the desired creative results often means you’ll have to be in the zone-both mentally, physically, and otherwise. In essence, you should ply your craft where you are most comfortable. It doesn’t have to be in a real, professional studio.
This requirement can sometimes be intimidating for beginners; not to mention expensive if you are renting the facility. Your excellent place for work could be the basement of your home or office. You can consider these tips for putting up improvised music studios.
5. Cut Out Distractions
You should aim to achieve 100 percent concentration during your work as a music producer. Your work studio should be a conducive space, so make sure you eliminate all distractions or at least keep them to bare levels.
The ideal music studio should be soundproofed to keep studio noise in and outside noise out. You should also switch off Television sets, smartphones, and other devices. You should also have separate computers for actual studio work and non-related matters like emails and social media.
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6. Always SOS ( Save Obsessively Silly!)
Producing beautiful music via the computer is glam, especially with cutting edge software and devices. However, you wouldn’t want to find that your system has crashed suddenly and you do not have saved copies of your work. As a music producer, keep your eye on saving your job as your work; every time and all the time.
This path is called developing save, often habit into a compulsion. While this act may seem extreme, you’d find that nearly all your work remains captured. You could spend on getting quality external hard drives. You may also want to have samples of your work in a secured cloud-based service.
Remember, the more options you have for saving, the better your chances of retrieving your work in unforeseen circumstances.
7. Take needed breaks
The standard advice for aspiring music producers is to work hard. Put in the hours, for inspiration often emanates from the belly of perspiration. However, there are times when your ears and brain need a little recreation and rest.
Music production entails, giving your maximum to bring out the best songs and music. The chances are present that your brain could reach a saturation point. Experts advise taking regular breaks every 15 to 20 minutes to avoid brain-freeze and blocked-ears, especially when mixing. Taking this path ensures you are rejuvenated, have a better perspective, and boost your output.
8. Learn the rules and make them work for You
As an aspiring music producer, you will receive tons of useful information and not-so-helpful information. The onus falls on you to take what’s right and adapt it to suit your objectives and desire. In other words, you should create your lane with the materials you have learned.
Aspire to be the person who can produce a record in a way that only you could have produced it. In the course of performing your craft, develop your techniques and workflow. Use what you have to create excellent music. What matters is what it sounds like when you press play, especially on your terms.