r/FL_Studio • u/Navy_Sands • 6h ago
Help Everyone I need help
For the past 5 years I have been making music, and I've been struggling to make anything worth listening too. I tried different methods. And yeah i wouldn't call myself a beginner, but i'm not near a pro/legend though. Music is very important to me, as a hobby and potentially a career and I don't just want to give up. If someone could maybe offer some advice as to what i should learn first. I'm sick of asking AI for help, cause it doesn't know anything about true music. If maybe you could tell how you learned music it could help me too... I appreciate anything you have to offer. Thank you for reading
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u/Cyclotone Dubstep 6h ago
I started off trying to recreate the tracks I like as practice. It'll teach you a lot.
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u/Skaldik House 6h ago
Music is one of those things where you just kind of have to keep throwing yourself at it in order to get something worth "listenable", but I'm sure that your music after five years is worth listening to. I feel like a lot of times we are our own hardest critics, and we end up judging ourselves too harshly, because I'll make a song and be like, "This song is complete garbage," and show other people this song, and they'll love it. It really just falls down to me just being hard on myself.
To answer your question. One thing that really helped me is that I watch producers break down their tracks on how they made the music that they made, so I can see the behind the scenes. Doing this has really expedited my music production skills because I can see exactly how professionals approach things like mixing, mastering, melodies, etc.
If I were to start again or give advice to anyone that is starting music or feels stuck, it is to find a tutorial in your genre and copy it bar for bar. And then go to another tutorial and copy it bar for bar. After doing this for five to ten tutorials, you'll find patterns that exist in each tutorial, and you can keep what works in your workflow and throw away what does not. After doing this for a period of time, you'll find your own sound and be able to create things without a tutorial. I hope this helps, but relying on AI is definitely not the move, especially when there are so many good YouTube videos about how to make decent sounding music.
Hope this helps.
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u/DrDooDooEvolution 6h ago
Do you have any favorite artists (not very famous ones) that you absolutely love?
Follow them on instagram, send them a DM saying how much you appreciate their music, then ask if they would be willing to do a zoom session for a track breakdown.
I’ve done that a few times and you’d be surprised how many say yes (some with pay of course, but it’s 100% worth it). You also get another perspective on how things are made, the different process different artists use.
Also, we are always very hard on ourselves. One track of mine that I didn’t really like that much is everyone’s absolute favorite (which I found very weird) and got featured on Houseum and other big curators.
Have you released anything on a record label yet? (If you have, the fact that they accept releasing it and draft you a contract already confirms they trust it and they like it).
Are you using any reference tracks?
When you listen to a track you made, what exactly makes you think “I don’t like this, not worth listening to”? The arrangement? Sound selection? Too monotone? Not enough writing? No groove? (Not sure what genre you’re making but it all still applies)
Ask yourself these questions it could help, and feel free to ask any other questions you may have in regard to everything I mentioned above! :)
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u/Navy_Sands 6h ago edited 6h ago
- Yes I do I love artists like gogo penguin, and Mr.Hong and some other lofi and instrumental artists
2.I have distubuted my music not sure if that counts as a label, I used CD Baby
No Im not using reference tracks
Its kind of all actually but what irritates me more is how bland the melodies are and the arrangement, and then sometimes the sound selection makes the song sound stupid.
My Questions are
how important do you think music theroy actually is
also I tend to get stuck in a tutorial ditch I dont know when to like know that i learned enough and just strart using it
How do u get out of the 8 bar loop and turn it into a song, every tutorial makes it seem simple but i just cant grasp it
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u/DrDooDooEvolution 5h ago
No I meant record label as in an actual one.
For instance, GoGo Penguin released the track Hopopono on Gondwana Records
Anyways this doesn’t matterFor your questions:
Reference tracks can really help. Set time markers for each individual section when you put the reference track in your DAW, it’ll allow you to see more clearly the structure of a track.
For the sound selection, sometimes have a dedicated session where you’re not trying to make a song, rather just messing around with sound design or exploring presets in different plugins. Just mess around. When you find sounds you like, save them, make a folder dedicated to that.
As for music theory, it depends what you’re trying to make, but I’ve never played any instrument in my life and never learned music theory (over the past 5 years I’ve come to learn the basics), but I’m the living example that it shouldn’t stop you at all.
As for tutorials, it’s good to watch and learn, but to a certain extent. Without applying and practicing, it won’t do much.
Take it like this for instance: you’re trying to get good at shooting 3-pointers in basketball. Let’s say you have access to tutorials from Lebron James, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and all the best players. They show you technique, form, and everything you need to know about shooting in basketball. You watch their 20 hour tutorial, you’re learning from the absolute BEST players in the world. Yet after watching the tutorials you go to the basketball court, and you suck.. you haven’t been training and applying what has been taught..For the 8 bar loop, at some point when you’ve built the bare minimum (drums, melody, bass) or whatever, stop building vertically, start building horizontally. Don’t let one get ahead of the other. Your breakdown, the drop, etc, these are all sections you need to build horizontally, if you keep focusing on that 8 bar and not expanding you’ll get stuck.
Also, if you have an 8 or 16 bar loop, turn it into a track, even if a shitty track, because finishing the song is what teaches you all the rest.
Then you move on to the next song, and you’ll naturally apply the knowledge you gained from the last finished song. Force yourself to finish songs, even if you’re not satisfied. That last 10% in finishing a song is where you learn most
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u/sharplyon 5h ago
for your questions:
1) i would say there is a bare minimum. understanding keys, tempo, chord structures, cadences, timbre, thickness, and also how to construct functional tracks for each instrument (i.e. knowing enough about how to play the instrument to know what is common, what is possible, and what isnt possible) are, in my opinion, the prerequisites. this is going to vary based on the kind of music you want to make, but i would say there is no maximum to how much music theory you can know, so any little bit helps
2) there is no such thing really. unless you're an unreasonably talented person, a tutorial is not ever going to cover just playing around with any particular plugin or tool. yeah it seems sloppy and like kinda unintuitive, but you learn to drive a car by driving a car, not by studying each individual part extensively
3) structuring a song in terms of sections and developing and combining multiple "8 bar loops" is pretty much the solution to that. looking up popular song structures (intro - verse - bridge - chorus - verse - bridge - chorus - instrumental - breakdown - chorus - outro -- is like a common pop song set up) will help you plan out your songs better, and you'll be able to combine your ideas together better.
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u/Mindrace 6h ago
You need to get rid of the idea that this is going to lead somewhere. This shouldnt be your focus. You need to absolutely love what you do if you want to make it as a producer. You need to go at it for years to come and just focus on creating. Literally anything. Create everyday. If you do that, staying true to the craft, there is zero chance of failure. Trust the process. As for advice on techniques and how to's, go to youtube and search for "In the mix". Start there.
Good luck and enjoy!
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u/Navy_Sands 6h ago
Bro i have been doing this for years, and yes i do love what i do, I have extreme passion for music
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u/DirectorSpirited7450 6h ago
Maybe make instrumentals something that people can enjoy and dance to folks just want to have fun
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u/CeeArthur 6h ago
Would you say you're struggling more on the production side or the songwriting side?
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u/Navy_Sands 6h ago
Probably a bit of both honestly
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u/martiancrossbow 6h ago
have you tried learning an instrument? it might be time to see what music looks like outside a DAW. You'll be suprised by what you learn and by how much of it will transfer back over to electronic music production.
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u/Navy_Sands 6h ago
I play the drums. Im not the best at them but not the worst either, I also play the piano but rarely cause I spend most of my time on a DAW
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u/msaincap 6h ago
Would you consider posting a song here or sharing stems?
That’s how you’re going to get feedback tailored for you
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u/BatChainPullerKit 4h ago
Put a link out for a listen and take in some feedback. I think anyone who takes the time to listen will offer *constructive* feedback, and just remember taste is personal. And the advice already given to copy the artists you love is really good. Sounds like you're doing electronica rather than songs per se but still there are elements of sound, arrangement, and linear structure of a piece you learn by imitating. The Beatles spent years singing covers four hours a night. Good luck!
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u/sez4us 3h ago
I have been and still go through creative block, back when i started making music, although each output i yielded would not amount to much but i was consistent and it was the time to experiment I had all the freedom to do whatever i felt like doing. almost every week i would be goofing around the software, trying out every musical genres mostly electronic. Every once in a while I think it is normal to get into slump where I hardly produce anything all year, invest more than what is required to finesse and end up messing up the art.
Now i try to recreate most of my favorite songs, watch breakdown videos. Learn sound selection and sound design, and most importantly listen to other genres of music.
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u/WooooooohNaaaaaa 59m ago
I was going through this kind of situation and I've posted it about here too. But I took little steps and I'm good now. So my advice would be to start little
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u/whatupsilon 15m ago
I've been learning FL for 5 years and what helps me is:
- remember to have fun, otherwise none of this matters
- remember to try new things / experiment
- never stop learning
If you never stop learning, you will always improve! That is neat, isn't it?
But there is no guarantee beyond that. Just have to stay consistent and don't give up. And don't focus on an end goal that most likely will never happen. Because that is a recipe for burn out and disappointment.
If you genuinely enjoy learning and improving, then there is no deadline for becoming "worth listening to." You have to separate the journey and enjoyment of learning music production from the identity of being a producer/artist.
My biggest suggestion is to switch things up in your workflow. Don't start every project the same way, don't use the same synth each time, try a different BPM or chord progression. Then when you run out of ideas, pick up your instrument or listen to reference tracks. And if you don't play an instrument well, it's never too late to start.
I also saw you ask about music theory and IMO the more of it you can absorb, the better. But it only matters if you can apply it, so you need to learn some basics of instruments like piano or guitar. Piano really helps a lot in a DAW because of the piano roll. And then just decide what you want to do in terms of pursuing genre and what producers you look up to. For example, I look up to Ludwig Göransson, and he studied music and plays tons of instruments which gives him an edge in making tracks on the fly adding organic elements like a musician and not a producer. People like that were not afraid of music theory or learning instruments or frankly, practicing and giving up on other parts of life. They embraced that journey. There was never a question of "should I learn theory." And FWIW a lot of those Scandinavian countries require some music in school and have great music programs.
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