2 Simple Tips To Become A Better Music Producer

Within this article, I will present you two simple tips that will help you to improve your skills and become a better music producer.

Many music producers are rushing and jump straight into the action without actually know what to do.

So, what you have to do?

These are the mainly first steps on how to become a better music producer:

Learn

Before you do any production you have to learn what good production actually sounds like.

To do that you must have an actual high-fidelity playback system, properly set up, in a proper listening environment.

That does not mean your phone or iPod through ear-buds or headphones. It does not mean your car with the 1000-watt amp on the subwoofer.

It does not mean a boom box or your computer with its built-in or add-on little plastic speakers.

It CAN be your computer with a decent pair of studio monitors, or a real stereo (but not a surround-sound home theater system, unless that can be switched to a stereo mode), with the speakers set up in an equilateral triangle to your listening position.

Listen without any extra EQ. And you must listen to full-fidelity sources whether that be vinyl, CD, tape, or full-resolution digital files (.aiff or .wav) but NOT MP3, AAC, or other compressed file formats.

Listen

Next, take time to sit and actually LISTEN to good quality recordings of all types of different genres. Don’t just let the music play in the background while you’re doing other things. Analyze what you hear.

…and Ask Yourself

Why does it sound good? What do the drums sound like? How much bass is really in that guitar?
What are the relative levels of instruments and vocals? What effects are being used, and how much?
Where in the stereo field (the 3-D audio image that exists between the speakers in a properly set-up listening environment) does each instrument live?

Conclusion

Active listening is essential for the aspiring engineer. You couldn’t become an Impressionist painter if you have never seen an Impressionist painting, so how can you expect to be any good as an engineer or producer (even if you’re only working on your own music) if you’ve never taken the time to learn what sounds good and why.

Take the time to train your ears, and your work will benefit. Plus, you’ll get a whole new level of enjoyment out of the listening experience.