Charlie Puth's 5 Tips For Producing #1 HITS | Studio Deep Dive

Enroll in Charlie Puth's class: studio.com/classes/charlie-pu...
Learn from Charlie Puth, Kygo, Ryan Tedder, H.E.R., Louis Bell, Tainy, and more.
Check out How To Write Song's KZbin channel: tinyurl.com/bdh4d6kv
In this video, songwriter Benny Romalis goes through Charlie Puth's production process, breaking it down in 5 essential tips.
00:00 Intro
00:51 Play One Note At A Time
07:34 Layer Sounds: Synth + Human
11:25 Delay As A Spreader
14:09 Texture & Movement
18:26 Move It Off The Grid

[@thelatestson2954]

If you write every melody like that and don't end up with a #1 track, you will finally end up in existential crisis.

[@minoda3104]

😂😂😂😂

[@ryandodsonmusic]

This has to be the most un-fun way to produce music I’ve ever seen. I was having an existential crisis watching this by 6:51

[@algh5693]

Good practice if someone is bored enough with unlimited free time.

[@TENTS]

@@ryandodsonmusic ya and honestly like, Charlie Puth is a freak, we all know that but it almost seems like a troll here. The opposite of flow state.

[@idkhahaok]

Bro hates MIDI bc he's producing in Pro Tools 😂

[@isaacdynys6518]

Yeah fr. The fact that splicing together individual audio clips is easier for him is crazy💀

[@idkhahaok]

@@isaacdynys6518 FRRR 💀💀💀 I see no benefit either, you can humanize and adjust transients and decay parameters inside the instrument/synth that’s just basic ADSR 💀 no need for all that

[@ChrisRodgers5150]

The best way to use MIDI in Pro Tools (at least in my experience) is never work on another DAW so you don’t know what you’re missing. It worked for me, now I don’t see too much of a problem with PT. Ignorance is bliss! 😂

[@isaacdynys6518]

@idkhahaok exactly. It sounds way more realistic, plus you get to make use of high quality vsts that have tediously recorded notes at different velocities. Also what if you want to change the melody later?

[@idkhahaok]

@@isaacdynys6518 TRUTH

[@lusiii432]

something else that i noticed is how charlie is saying very often "that thing that benny told me about", goes to show having friends or mentors that can teach you interesting things is also something really important to make cool music like he does, so thank you so much for this video!!

[@Campusanis]

During that first tip, I genuinely thought this was a comedy video making fun of producers.

[@alyssacubed333]

i kept thinking to myself "oh good god is he for real?"

[@johnvcougar]

I think your initial impression was bang on …

[@TENTS]

me too!

[@Nightclub20xx]

bless your heart charlie for producing magic in pro tools

[@VicTheMonster]

20/20 10/10 for Charlie's Gems and 10/10 for the Breakdown!

[@zakaroonetwork777]

8:05 What a Trip; his Natural Voice has so many Harmonics right out of his face. 🎉

[@CrypticSoundFX]

Charlie is really talented and all, I've listened to his stuff since See You Again and I respect him a bunch. But playing each note and then bouncing to audio?? I've also heard some pretty bad things about producing in PT and now I know that Charlie uses it, mad respect for him for that loll

[@henriksalomon1]

i'd say the main advantage is that you get very clean notes with reverb and or whatever other fx on them... if it wasn't individually done then you'd have notes bleeding into each other muddying things up, so it absolutely makes sense to do it his way.. but it depends on the sound too

[@CrypticSoundFX]

@@henriksalomon1 Isn't there ADSR for that? Or does PT not have ADSR?

[@henriksalomon1]

@@CrypticSoundFX i can't see how you would achieve the same effect, please explain

[@CrypticSoundFX]

@@henriksalomon1 You can use envelopes to stop the notes and reverb bleeding into each other. It's faster than bouncing to audio and then doing things to it, and it's automatic, which is always good in a large production. I get that Charlie is a very analog person when it comes to producing, he loves his waveforms, but in the end this is not a video showcasing his talent, it's meant to be him giving tips for producing. Bouncing each note to audio is a horrible tip to give someone (if they do not share the same interest in raw audio manipulation like he does), especially if they're just starting out. His course is meant to be for the newbie to intermediate skill range too, which makes it worse in my opinion, especially when there are easier ways to do what he's doing. This is just my take on this as a Logic/Ableton media composer, I don't know how Pro Tools works, (nor that whole genre to be honest). Other people in the comments say MIDI is horrible in PT, so maybe that's a reason he learned to do things this way 🤷‍♂

[@brawrecords]

The good thing about bouncing to audio is that he commits to the track and the sounds.

[@scottlarock7924]

Good video. Thank you. I also want to throw out there for anybody that's using OVOX, remember you can use the MIDI out to use your voice to play any of your instruments. Even if you don't want to create a dominant instrument layer with it, you can use it to have like a backing sound to your vocal similar to what Charlie did here.

[@darkozoric4184]

I guess the flip side is that music was never meant to be so perfect where you shape every individual note to perfection. Because you can now with modern DAW's, doesnt necessarily mean you should. For me, it loses its magic

[@user-rx2qx9ou8l]

sure. This is honestly such a silly opinion- spend years of your life mastering making music so that it is as good as it possibly can be- but don't put that work into a single song so you have an actual quality piece. I feel like so many just say this because we're lazy- and don't want to go to the levels Charlie puts goes for his music.

[@darkozoric4184]

@@user-rx2qx9ou8l Perfection doesn't necessarily mean quality. What makes you different from me in a performance is the little nuances you do differently. By quantizing it and cooking it into perfection, it removes all the characteristics that makes that performance you and makes it generic. So I end up sounding like you and you sound like me. Music has always been a performance to some extent....we are now cooking all elements so much so that there is no performance any longer. Its just a series of perfectly cooked sounds put together

[@johnvcougar]

A wise lady once said to me: “perfection is a waste of time” … like this whole video, lol.

[@johnvcougar]

100%. The grid is for computers, nothing human about it.

[@johnvcougar]

My #1 tip for producers: do what works for you. And it ain’t this ADD trip (well, not for me, at any rate).

[@BrianFunkMusic]

Benny! Great to see you here! Nice breakdown!!

[@VicTheMonster]

one of the BEST videos ANY producer can Watch to Learn

[@Studio]

Glad to know it was helpful!

[@orangeoctopusjim]

I’m 2 minutes in and this HAS to be a joke

[@robbiep742]

I'm no fan of Puth's music, but he has 4 Grammy nominations. Do you?

[@orangeoctopusjim]

@@robbiep742 not yet! I don’t listed to him either but fascinated by his process and it just seems to go against everything else I’ve seen from him and Benny Blanco… where they use whatever’s on hand, lyrics with voice memos, from start to finish in a half hour, etc… just seems like he’s trolling in an over engineering tone. That said maybe he’s just bored with yesterday’s process which is fine!

[@inshal6420]

@@robbiep742it’s because he is super talented so it doesn’t matter if he does it but the first tip is actually terrible advice lol.

[@sheekyking]

It did seem like a joke at first 😂

[@afpwfarmer]

Great to see it's still all about musical touch and feel even for one of the best producers out there

[@3o_hanna]

I love how he takes his time to explain it perfectly to the world

[@WatchMyShorts303]

Imagine you have everything and u still record vocals on a mobile phone.

[@gurpyarsingh574]

😁

[@brandonsandoval9890]

It’s all about the textures. That melody would sound ass on a clean mic. Think before you speak

[@BrianG8367]

Part of having a great style is when you use techniques you used when you had the bare minimum setup....

[@thetimelesstraveller2219]

Im a newbie starting producing music as a hobby and this is truly inspiring ❤

[@pianoatthirty]

These tips are actually really great. This is the kind of care that brings music to life.

[@Studio]

Glad this was helpful!

[@Decranz-sb7pg]

Nice that you share!❤

[@Solanaar]

The entire first part is actually a concept. But he seems to be unaware of it so he tries to describe it. It's what you could call "mindful production". What do I mean by that? It means that you should try to be very conscious and deliberate about EVERYTHING. This helps you to evaluate every decision and not fall into the trap of doing something the same way every time out of habit, which would lead to uninspiring and boring tracks. He just explained it poorly by talking about weird dogmas. But there's no one way to be mindful of your production, this is just HIS WAY. Rendering out things is a great way because it automatically forces you to be mindful and helps you to move forwards instead of second guessing yourself, the ultimate killer of creativity. There are actually a lot of tools to achieve this, btw. It's a really fascinating field of psychology

[@Solanaar]

If anyone wanna know about a cool method, I can recommend searching for "scrum sprints". It is a method of breaking projects down into smaller sub-projects, at the end of which there is always a finished product. This iterative way of working encourages you to concentrate on the essentials. At the end of each sprint, you consider what is needed to complete the project. Rinse and repeat.

[@Solanaar]

Another tricks to think of projects as assignments. Venus theory made a great video about this concept recently.

[@thebellbrothers3279]

@@Solanaarwhat is the name of the video?

[@thebellbrothers3279]

@@Solanaarwhat is the name of the video?

[@Solanaar]

@@thebellbrothers3279 Idk if I can link Videos in comments, kzbin.info/www/bejne/eImtYWCeYql7qcUsi=xSYyp2MQ33biNcSq would be the vid. It's called "The Homework Theory: Making Music Effortless"

[@ambernalin6463]

People see a different approach, people start dissing. Welcome to an ordinary world

[@hummarstraful]

I just discovered Charlies music (late I know) and he's my new music guru. Very few people on the planet can produce hits by himself like this guy, with no collaborators.

[@mikespink2037]

If you always have a stereo audio track under your Software Instrument Track - instead of 'Committing' the MIDI to Audio you can just select what you want to commit and drag the MIDI on to the Audio track ... job done

[@get2del]

Maybe when he made this, that feature wasn't available :/

[@MayotheMaker]

I’m picking up everything he’s putting down. I love it

[@LaymensLament]

why the heck did he play every note seperately

[@RukqMan]

He loves stress😂😂😂😂

[@MatthewYates1]

I love this video. It's about patience. If your patience is short, you won't survive this process. I'm doing some of this in my tracks accept transposing Midi into audio. I've done that before but not all the time. I really think this is a cool process if you have enough patience to carry it out. Bravo Charlie keep up the good work.

[@TrexMom]

Thank you for this, amazing tips

[@toddkreuzburg4162]

do people realize how crazy it is that he's working in Pro Tools? Nutz... I thought he'd be in Ableton for sure.

[@stampusbeats]

Why it's crazy?

[@andreslozano6035]

@@stampusbeatscuz pro tools sucks for production. It’s a good DAW for mixing and tracking tho

[@stampusbeats]

@@andreslozano6035 As someone who uses PT, Ableton and Logic I have to disagree... but I guess we're talking about opinions/personal preferences and not facts

[@iAmDusti]

@@andreslozano6035 No mainstream DAW "sucks" they just have different pros and cons. Pro tools might be less intuitive for production sure, but I'm sure since Charlie is familiar with it, it's not even a big deal or something that even crosses his mind.

[@toddkreuzburg4162]

@@stampusbeats Pro Tools is widely known to be used by rock, country, live bands, etc. Not often used for Pop because of the lack of midi tweaking.

[@evanseesred]

One tip that is not explicitly said but is kind of a bonus tip: sing your melodies first. Then find them on the keyboard. I find that when I put my hands on the keyboard, i consistently go back to the same patterns, the same shapes, etc. But when I’m just singing and imagining it in my head, it’s pure and unaffected by my interaction with an instrument and I can kind of intuit what’s musical and appealing about a phrase before playing it on a keyboard.

[@juangarcia-rp5ov]

Is there any app or ia available that i can sing a melody and then return the notes?

[@evanseesred]

@@juangarcia-rp5ov good question. I’m sure there is. Ableton let’s you drag an audio file to a midi track and it interprets it into midi information, but the results can be kind of mixed.

[@DiabeticOwl]

respect to you man... to endure that process, you deserve all your millions

[@yashark1893]

He seems to be having fun though! Doesn't he? The process is not painful to him. Maybe he is not in a rush to get to the fruit of the action. He enjoys the journey. He takes his time.

[@PEWDieMilk]

Majority of you disliking this process, are the ones who love just dropping sound kits into FL studio to so called “PRODUCE’ a record, y’all are cookie cutter arrangers, THIS IS REAL PRODUCTION.

[@shaboogen]

Charlie Puth makes #1 hits because he's a gifted songwriter and has good marketing behind him. It has nothing to do with "recording each note individually" because that's awful advice. If he'd have flipped the synth to monophonic and adjusted an envelope, he'd have accomplished everything those edits accomplished in probably less than 30 seconds.

[@user-xedwsg]

Agee with your comment. Something to consider though - "Practiced Songwriter". No one on this earth is born with arbitrary gifts.

[@marcinbenedek789]

@@user-xedwsg great comment. I love the attitude of, "there is no talent, only ass-hours you committed to develop the skills". Maybe this attitude does not always work, but... you do your best, you do your part :)

[@zakaroonetwork777]

Charley Puth doesn’t even need a Studio. I want to see him record a Hit Song on His laptop in the Bathroom at the Airport, then finish the Final Mix on the Plane Ride.

[@AlexDMast]

dude i wish this song existed irl it would literally be on repeat

[@undrwatertape]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6rXaaeiYtKdb9k

[@NiallC]

Vid is great and really interesting to see how accomplished maestros use the digital realm of music production. But would love to see Charlie have a one on one hour with Tache and Bitwig... Just to see how many times he gets the 'mind blown.gif' during the sesh😂🤯🤯🤯

[@Antonio_Ortiz]

I have to admit: while I don't have any interest in the style of music he produces, his production techniques are very inspired and well-communicated, so much so, I even got inspiration for song ideas just from watching this. I'll consider myself a fan of his now. 👏🏾

[@scottfaircloff9530]

Thanks for this! cheers!

[@davidhayman9330]

Thankyou, alot of great insights on this video!

[@Studio]

Glad it was helpful!

[@maxcherniy1060]

1st tip is absolutely redundant, there's ADSR for controlling volume shape of sounds lol

[@miguel5652]

foo just edited all the clips instead of turning the attack up lol

[@pianoatthirty]

You get variable attacks and releases when chopping audio like this, so no, not the same thing as a static ADSR setting

[@jmd489]

@@pianoatthirtyThis. Everyone bandwagoning hate but clearly didn’t see the small differences that are made that can’t be done by just a blanket knob setting.

[@pianoatthirty]

@@jmd489And the funny thing is, this is what top level guys do - they play with audio in very nuanced, delicate ways. It's hilarious to see people in the comments think they know it all and then offer up their I-know-it-all "solutions".

[@archmichaels]

Music production is just perfection...

[@yomommacalled_]

last tip is goated

[@audioplayrecords]

let me just whip out my phone and completely hit every note from memory with my mouth without reference. dude's a beast

[@LiamHaleMusic]

I love that for him tools are just the means to the end

[@archmichaels]

Music production is just perfection.

[@king_scarxiii8229]

Was not expecting Benny in this video

[@prodynot]

awesome video, thank you!

[@karensachl]

Wait, y‘all already did a video on this

[@iAmJoshC]

This Channel Is awesome like the Holy Graal

[@mrbrightside5278]

Ive seen quite a few folks do tutorials like this. What do they use to capture the audio in real time like that? They've got something capturing the feed from pro tools right? What do they use?

[@BENJAYmusic]

i clicked so fast too, love the vid!

[@amrfigueroa]

I hope he had some tips about HOW TO SPREAD YOUR INSTRUMENTS ALONG THE SPECTRUM OF FREQUENCIES

[@mikethemusicman1978]

I often work with just audio and commit my MIDI ideas quite early and deactivate the plugin so that it saves RAM and CPU usage. I use Cubase 13 which is pretty great at rendering MIDI to audio. I like Charlie's approach to music.

[@Waynyce]

With modern computers is ram and cpu still an issue 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@inshal6420]

I bought an m1 pro Macbook Pro so I dont have to print anything lol.

[@inshal6420]

@@Waynyceit was until a few years ago. Kontakt instruments are really intense. Apple did some magic with their new chips because I tried crashing the thing with 1000 kontakt instruments and it kept going. Computers in the same price range before these chips would struggle with 15

[@FunDaBounceDJ]

Ingwye Malmsteen said he uses pro tools as just a recorder. Remember, both Yngwie and Puth are notorious for their perfect pitch.

[@TiquiciaJamz]

great info, thanks

[@juanmejia6186]

im not gonna judge a top class music producer and artist but the sustain and fade and everything he wanted couldve been done using an envelope inside a synth. he would have absolute control inside a synth

[@tayloisa3]

Bruh this is a w ads

[@TaiWyban]

why does he increase the attack in the transient master and then add sidechain with lfo tool? That's like turning on a humidifier and a dehumidifier on at the same time.

[@glennfordsolinap8606]

maybe he likes the way it sounds dynamic, although even w/o the transient master, it would pretty much sound the same because of the lfo tool...

[@glennfordsolinap8606]

also, i think the lfo tool that he added was only within half beat, so with the transient master added, it adds this groove + the that strong plucky sound...

[@signaltheplug]

He didn't use those plugins on the same audio channel, the lfo tool was on the Juno channel

[@RealWorldMusicTheory]

it‘s kinda hilarious that he’s going to all this length to make it sound human and off the grid, when you could have just played it in directly

[@laurentsauvagnac]

It’s so hard for me to be so patient with every sound even if I know this to be THE secret. Still… can’t stop myself from accelerating and I usually finish by disappointment

[@RroreNBeats]

Charlie! thank you so much !

[@thawzinlin2431]

Charlie is a real genius

[@rogercabo5545]

"Her way" PartyNextDoor ... a great example to break out of common rules.. and have a look over the fence.

[@oddontheboard6645]

Great Video

[@joshpinho]

Converting the MIDI to audio? That seems new. And hateful lmaooo Props to that Madeon shoutout! Love his sound.

[@juanmejia6186]

not always. i convert midi to audio in order to free up CPU usage. you can have all the plugins and audio effects on the track, committed into an audio file. then you can remove those plugins to free up CPU usage. also you won't need the VSTi anymore, which can consume a lot of CPU depending on the VSTi

[@ronnyrk7408]

Ignore that guy who is talking , as we ignore “KZbin” ads Focus on Charlie🎉

[@Neil14]

Where to find Charlie's video?

[@gurpyarsingh574]

don't know much about the theory & all, but if you write one line of the melody and then you sit down to write the midi then the next line of the melody might get lost .think the creative process is just have the melody worked out then carry on (i think so) . don't know to read write structure. sorry i need to learn more

[@MrHignite]

I play for a good groove and i record with a good groove the band has to have a groove when we rehearse or when we play out kinda like the funk brothers did at Motown do you loose the groove when you record this way ?

[@midlifeadventures3138]

Amazing that Charlie does all this in PT. Someone got a new toy from Sweetwater.

[@davidrichmusic121]

I don't think I would have the patience, I spend ages on production but a single note at a time? I play the full all way through it feels more real. I suppose it's why Charlie is a muti millionaire megastar and I am not. I use Cubase which is great for me but wouldn't start again on it. Great vid 👍

[@Ganesh-op6wc]

You need all the legit plugins to produce and mix that smoothly in Pro Tools 😂

[@Bip4e]

14:07 he is not really panning the sound and leaving space in the middle for other elements, he is just widening the sound but regarding frequency and not space.

[@HKprod90]

when will there be a subscription? there aren't too many courses.

[@kristianclarke]

The sound of the mouse clicks!!

[@willieoval]

Is there a full uncut video of CharlieS process

[@mukeshpathak7302]

I'd also be interested to find

[@Octxvius]

I think on mix with the masters

[@absaloj]

so dope

[@wowboom8769]

You already upload this right?

[@karensachl]

I remember too

[@selliantuttimusi6735]

Amazing! I just realised how lazy of a producer I am. This level of detail almost requires some sort of aut*sm that I wish I could have :(

[@pepthelad]

Guess I have autism then

[@KYLETISZAI]

Basically

[@selliantuttimusi6735]

​@@peptheladDon't waste it bro, create amazing things please!

[@Solanaar]

I disagree with the notion that to be intracte you need to be autistic. It's more about diligence and mindfulness, something everyone can do. But also check if that's actually what you want to get out of making music. For me it's something I relax with. So my goal is different and it's totally valid to just slap some cool sounding presets together or use the same melody every time. But if I want to create an actual song I am much more deliberate and work at a slower pace.

[@dominikperkovic3058]

Push yourself harder, you cant be lazy at anything if you want to suceed, but if you dont, who cares, do what you enjoy 😉

[@kwhandy]

cons of pro tools is we can't use free plugins when the devs not release the aax format of it bridge aax to connect vst? nah

[@juanmejia6186]

big nah

[@marcelobustamante6405]

can't believe he took the transients out of that synth (painstakingly and by hand instead of using the envelopes) just to add them with a plugin later

[@dimark9173]

Is it convenient to work with midi in Pro Tools?

[@juanmejia6186]

not at all. it is one of pro tools' downsides.

[@PaulNichollsMusic]

Charlie hates MIDI more than my CPU ☠️

[@dylanpaulmusic]

You guyz need tk get Illenium or Martin Garrix a Studio Masterclass 🤕

[@RandomizerTV]

I clicked so fast

[@Studio]

Wanna see how Charlie finishes this song? Check out his full class on Studio! Follow along as he writes, records, and produces 2 brand new songs from start to finish, right in front of you, explaining everything he’s doing along the way. studio.com/classes/charlie-puth/pop-production

[@BENJAYmusic]

comment: 8 hr ago video: 7 min ago WTF!!!?????

[@twenteee]

Dang, last tip was not I was thinking of!

[@ryandodsonmusic]

He has to be trolling. This can not be how he produces music everyday 😵‍💫

[@toxikwastedump]

anyone else suddenly want to start a plugins company

[@melancholymoshpit]

"I WANT THE PUTH!" "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE PUTH!"

[@aGoodDisguise]

He’s that Lorde South Park bit

[@angeloalcazar7355]

the intro is inspired from the song of "walk to the earth".

[@angeloalcazar7355]

he used that kind of vibe for another vibe song related to the copied

[@vinniecolemusic]

seems more like programming than music to me but to each their own I guess. There's more technology in these songs then the Apollo missions...

[@alexbaerg]

I’m not surprised at all that Charlie uses audio instead of midi for everything. He’s an analog, real world musician first, and then got into production after that. And him singing everything out like that and then translating into some other kind of instrument that blends with his voice with actual audio.. is pretty much how Michael Jackson did stuff with Quincy Jones. And I can assure you they weren’t using ableton 😂 I love this process. And the results speak for themselves.

[@socratesnotis]

Bro needs to check out studio one lol

[@relooch]

gold

[@Studio]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@trollingisasport]

Haha I do the same thing with Valhalla delay

[@ImmortalanDivine]

I can read the cvv but not the card Number,somebody can help?

[@Pulse2AM]

For your voice off the phone why not just sing the notes in the key chromatically and map them to a sampler, then you can trigger any note in the key. You can sing them longer than necessary then do the ADSR on the sampler to get the right length. Most DAWS have a humanize function, he's workin way too hard to get the job done.

[@WillyJunior]

He wants the human touch in his tracks. What you described is taking away that vibe

[@soggybiscuit6098]

Prompt : make me a charlie puth song, and make it good

[@gpsloft5868]

Sounds like his song BOY! That song nice tho

[@KomalSammal-hd6hj]

We want kygo here❤❤❤

[@inshal6420]

Kygo would see that first tip and run for the hills.

[@KomalSammal-hd6hj]

@@inshal6420 and will dive into sea🤣