Where to Begin: The Ultimate

101 Guide to Music Production

As someone who got tired of seeing this question posted every 24 hours, here is a
comprehensive guide for beginners in music production. This post is a thorough compilation
of information with direct links to each topic discussed.

First things first:

A few important things beginners fail to understand all the time:

1. This is not something you can learn in just a couple of years, let alone months. Be
ready to invest in a long run and wait for it to pay off bit by bit.
2. Different DAWs and single-purpose plugins, at the end of the day, do the same thing
using the same or similar algorithms. You don't need 30 versions of the same effect
unless you actually hear a difference. Choose the ones that suit your workflow and
personal preferences.
3. Be willing to read A LOT. If you want to go beyond 'I turn the knob and the sound
goes drrrr' then you will need to absorb a lot of information from different sources,
mostly through reading (manuals, articles, Reddit debates, posts like this)

This is your key to developing a sixth sense for things. It will help you analyze information
yourself instead of just blindly following someone’s advice, which is the worst way to learn.
Always try to understand the reasoning behind someone’s decisions, whether it’s on
YouTube or elsewhere. Apply all this in practice later.

— Where to Start? —
1. Foundations of the DAW

Generally speaking, it doesn’t matter which DAW you choose. The differences will become
more apparent later. In the future, you'll subconsciously learn to understand other DAWs. For
example, you'll be able to follow along when someone uses a different DAW from yours.
Fundamentally, they all do the same thing.
FL Studio, Ableton, and Logic Pro (Mac) are the most popular options because they are
intuitive, user-friendly, and have a wide range of tutorials online. Manuals too... Read the
manuals!

Some other DAWs you might see people use nowadays are Pro Tools and Cubase.
With Reason and Reaper being less common. These 4 are OG DAWs that I personally
recommend to reach for when you already have some prior experience.

As for the fundamentals, you need to learn how to work with MIDI and audio channels,
samples, and automation. The rest involves UI, hotkeys, and audio editing. Learn how to alter
an audio sample, as in make it longer or shorter, cut it, duplicate it, transpose it, warp it,
reverse it, etc. Learn how to work with MIDI, write and edit notes. Editing is your first job
before you become a producer.
2. Effects and Knobs

As a beginner, you should start with a basic understanding of effects. You don’t have to delve
into the details of how an effect works internally. It’s helpful to know, but if it becomes
overwhelming, focus on hearing what the effect does first. (Also, every effect, from physics
perspective, will alter the sound in ways beyond what’s immediately apparent or obvious
from the basic description of the effect. They all have their byproducts, but for now, focus on
the basic, noticeable impacts of each effect and save the deeper details for later)

(YouTube links are timestamped)

Parametric EQ — Learn the knobs, frequency ranges, slopes and filtering types (Low Pass,
High Pass, Bell, Bandpass etc)

Spatial/Time Based — Reverb, Delay, Echo.

Modulation — Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Tremolo, Vibrato. (Listen to the sound)

Sound Dynamics — Basic

Compressor, Limiter, Clipper, Gate, Distortion, Saturation, Overdrive.

NOTE: With compression, don’t expect to understand it right away. It’s one of, if not the
hardest, concepts for beginners to grasp because it’s crucial yet difficult to hear. Allow
yourself time to train your ears and be patient. Understanding will come with experience.

Other/Creative — Vocoder, Bitcrush, Frequency Shifter, OTT + other, less popular, and/or
more complex effects

NOTE: You will find more effects in your DAW, but for now, don't worry about the rest.
They all share characteristics with the effects mentioned. Also some DAWs may use different
names for these effects. Just google “DAW name + the effect” and you should find the exact
name of the effect in your DAW.

3. Basic Terminology

The Process of Making a

Song: Composition and Songwriting, Production, Mixing, Mastering.

Arrangement: Arrangement, Structure, Common Structures, Verse, Pre

Chorus, Chorus, Bridge, Hook, Turnaround, Post Chorus (Extended Chorus), Topline.

Synthesizers: Synthesizer, Preset/Patch, LFO, Envelope and

ADSR, Cutoff, Drive, Portamento and Legato, Oscillator, Polyphony, Modulation
Wheel, Pitch Wheel, Key Track (Key Follow), Unison and Detune, Arpeggio and
Arpeggiator, Velocity.

Instruments: Pluck, Pad, Sub Bass and Mid Bass, Synth Bass, Slap Bass, Saw Bass (Moog
Bass), Lead, Closed Hi-hat, Open Hi-hat, Shaker, Tambourine, Claves, Riser, Impact,
Technical: Mono vs Stereo, Hertz (Hz) or Cycles Per Second (CPS), Wavefroms, Waveform
Cycle, Phase and Polarity, Amplitude, Frequency Spectrum
(Analyzer), Clipping, Headroom, Input vs Gain, Volume vs
Loudness, Output, Buss, Bypass, Quantization, Sidechain, Ducking, Frequency Spectrum
Partials Explained.

File Formats: VST2 and VST3, AU and AAX, DLL, MIDI.

Audio Formats: MP3 and WAV, AIFF, FLAC.

NOTE: I ignored sample rate and bit depth because you'll likely find the information online
too technical and overwhelming. It's a complex topic, so for now, stick to 44.1/16 (44,100 Hz
sample rate and 16-bit depth) and don't sweat it.

Music Theory: Triads, Scales, Root Note, Pedal Note, Intervals, Voicing, Inversions.

Vocals and Songwriting: Vocal Harmony, Lead, Background Vocals, Ad

Libs, Vocalize, Vocal Run, Phrases, Bar/Measure, Pickup Measure, Downbeat and
Upbeat, Note Values, Time Signature, Riff, Counter Melody, Syncopation, Swing.

Industry Roles: Music/Record Producer, Vocal Producer, Mixing Engineer, Mastering

Engineer, Audio Engineer, Songwriter, Demo Singer, Performer.

NOTE: For a beginner, drawing lines between these roles may seem hard. In one way or
another, as a music producer, you'll eventually find yourself trying out most of these roles.
Nowadays it's generally considered that a music producer could also be, for example, a
mixing engineer and writer. So you might write melodies and lyrics or do what a mixing
engineer does before eventually sending it out to the actual person to reevaluate and enhance
your decisions. In the music industry today, roles are pretty blurred. Keep in mind that even
though that's how it usually happens, there are tons of exceptions. There are lots of talented
people who are dedicated exclusively to mixing or writing songs, without having anything to
do with production, for instance.

4. Sound Design

In simple terms, sound design is about translating the sound you imagine in your head into
your DAW using synths, samples, and effects. I'd say it's the most versatile part of producing
music.

There are many different digital synths available. Some are fancy looking emulations of
analog units like this one, while others are purely digital and/or rely on wavetables. Digital
synths rely on binary data and code, making them sound flawless. Analog stuff tends to be
imperfect due to its inherent characteristics and various sonic, pitch, and filtering variables.
Analog can introduce slight distortion and noise, which many find pleasant and natural
sounding. One could be preferred over another depending on what you're trying to achieve.
Another, more honest answer is that it's simply easier to use certain synths to make certain
sounds, because it requires less hustle. Some synths work differently from others due to
different methods of synthesis. The most common synthesis method is subtractive synthesis.
The vast majority of digital synths you'll encounter will be either subtractive or wavetable
synths.
You can use either one of your DAWs native synths or a separate VSTi plugin.

Some VSTi plugins you'll see more often than others are:

Serum, Vital, Sylenth1, Massive, Diva.

For a beginner:

 if you want to learn how to make sounds on your own, you can pick either Sylenth or
Diva as these perfectly represent a classic subtractive synth with oscillators and
filters. People also often recommend Syntorial as a tool for learning subtractive
synths.
 If you want to primarily rely on pre-existing configurations or 'presets' then Serum,
Vital, or Massive would be your best bet, as they have the largest communities of
people making preset packs.

The reason I don't recommend starting with a wavetable synth is that wavetable synthesis is
much more complicated than subtractive synthesis. Think of wavetable synthesis as an
additional dimension to subtractive synthesis. Yes, you CAN do subtractive synthesis on a
wavetable synth, but if you want to avoid a lot of additional knobs and overwhelming visuals,
start with a subtractive synth. This will help you draw a clear line between the two later.

— Closing Thoughts —
This is a lot to learn, but this knowledge will help you move beyond the beginner stage and
rely more on practice. However, let's keep in mind that the end goal of it all is to make music.

Your mindset shouldn't be about what is 'right' it should be about what best evokes the
intended feelings of the song. Produce to the lyrics and the song, not just as a backdrop. This
is what makes a producer great.

You can struggle to express yourself creatively or convey emotions through music due to lack
of experience, but this should always be your main priority if you want your music to have
'that' impact.

All this nerdy shit is what creates the neural connections in your brain needed to make
intuitive decisions without it distracting you from the song and its perspective. That's the
whole point. Give it some time, and you'll eventually notice that you make 'right' decisions
based on pattern recognition rather than real-time analysis. You’ll eventually learn to break
the rules and turn seemingly 'wrong' short-term moves into brilliant decisions in the long run.
One step back, two steps forward. Like in chess, it’s all about the global strategy.

Hope you've found this post helpful.

... and don't ask this question ever again, it's annoying. Ty