learning music production - Day 9

Ninth project of mine, made in Fl Studio 21
After listening to this again after finishing it, I'm actually pretty happy with it (when I wrote the note I said I wasn't really a fan of this one cause it's too repetitive), it is still really repetitive, but it's probably one of my favorites I've made so far now that I listen to it again
I made a Discord Server! Join here: / discord
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9th Project in Fl Studio
Made in 1 hour 30 min (again)
- Not really a fan of this one, I feel like
it's too repetitive
- My process hasn't really changed although
I think I'm getting better at figuring out
what sounds work well together
- I learned about the stereo separation knob
and used it for the first time in this
project

[@PhosphorusAcid]

the melody could actually work but those drums gotta go

[@z_z878]

Yeah... I really need to work on my drums lol

[@isaiahbarkat8692]

​@@z_z878 It's totally fine if you aren't immediately good at drums though. I have been producing for almost a year and I still think my drums need some work.

[@TheLucioMusic]

Idk I kinda disagree! The drums are charming and bouncy, they feel original and authentic. But maybe that’s just me 🤷‍♂️

[@laalsagtsachen]

sounds like the kind of beat that would play at a wii sports rap battle gamemode 🔥🔥🔥

[@z_z878]

lol, I like the vision!

[@ysid-uu2ih]

Is actually insane that you have done this progress in 9 days vruh

[@z_z878]

Thanks! I’m glad you like the progress!

[@echoch.4693]

Adding a counter melody might be good here.

[@z_z878]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@-soundsurfing-]

i'd save this to a playlist, good stuff man. When I started going into music, I was NOWHERE near this good 9 days in. Good job bro 🔥

[@z_z878]

Thanks, I'm glad you like it! I'll try to keep it up!

[@brandonflaherty5692]

Hahaha I remember when I first started. Just trying to make something coherent, no thought about sound selection or flow or energy, just putting Shit on top of eachother that fit, I can dig it though!

[@z_z878]

lol, thank you! I feel like I have so much to learn

[@Mcguy215]

biggest flaw is that its missing a bass. you also need to vary the melody and add more layers to keep it interesting. your ears get sick of a repeated phrase after a few times if 0 variation is added.

[@z_z878]

Yeah, I need to remember to use bass more often. And yeah, I definitely need to change up my melodies and other things to make my projects more interesting. Thanks for the feedback!

[@Mcguy215]

@@z_z878 good luck!

[@Macat004]

I’m surprised, 9days? To get to this level it took me maybe 1 year or something

[@kaasbaaskoning]

Nice, like you said yourself, maybe a bit repetitive, probably because the melody is only a 2 bar loop, usually 4-8 bar loops with a little variation here and there (could be a single note change, an instrument or effect changed/added, an octave shift, etc.)

[@z_z878]

Thanks for the tips! I'll try to use them going forward and I'll remember to make my melodies longer. I'll also try to use some of your suggestions for changing up the melodies, thanks again!

[@HadleeHalide]

damn good for day 9

[@z_z878]

Thank you!

[@EzekielJones-lm2im]

Love the melody

[@z_z878]

Thanks! I'm glad you like it!

[@altcat]

i think the drums work nd r rly nice...

[@z_z878]

Thanks! I'm glad you think so!

[@vatadb]

dr.giggletouch is that you?

[@z_z878]

lol, how’d you know?!

[@vatadb]

hahahah, but fr keep it up, mix up the melody, work on reverb automations, and other synths and sound to your melodies. 🙏 love bro

[@lepercolony8214]

I'm hearing some strange wind-like harmonic sounds in here, there's also like a sample of a river or something else making little splash sounds? The melody itself has a sort of skipping rhythm to it, kinda mischievous, kinda impish. The whole thing gives a playful, pastoral atmosphere, basically, like I'm out in a field with nothing to do but goof around. But then there's the beat. Everything else contributes to the main vibe here, but the drums feel really out of place. To be clear, it's perfectly fine to have some parts of the song clash with other parts; what's important is that the relationships between elements of a song, whether natural or incongruous, should feel *deliberate.* The beat not only doesn't fit with the rest of the track, but more importantly, I don't get the sense that you made the beat the way that it is *on purpose* . It's more like they're there because you think a song needs a beat, but a song doesn't *need* any particular element to be good. Maybe your next direction should be to sketch out songs with no drums at all. Maybe even go a little further by doing some subtraction: How much can you *remove* from one of your song sketches before it feels "incomplete"?

[@z_z878]

I like your take on the the atmosphere of the song! I'll try to be more deliberate with the drums going forward. And yeah, you're right about me sorta thinking a song needs a beat, like I understand they don't but so far I've been putting a beat in everything I've made so far because when I first decided I wanted to do music production, I wanted to make beats, so it's something I've been doing, even though some songs / melodies would likely be better without a beat. And now that I've done some production, I'm definitely interested in making a song without drums but I also kinda want to continue improving my drum patterns for the moment, so it'll probably be something I do a little bit more in the future. I also like your idea of seeing how much I can remove from my song sketches before it sounds incomplete because I definitely have a tendency to add some unnecessary patterns and sounds (also, this is my first time hearing this term and I feel like it's a great way to describe what I've made so far, so thanks for that!). And thanks for the feedback!

[@luwyiki]

Might be your best work so far, while the melody is repeated a lot, honestly you did a really good job of timing all your other instruments, it ends up being quite a bit catchy :P Could have something more meaningful in the background happening or some accompanying melody One thing I keep seeing though is that although it does sound nice but I guess it just doesn't feel like much in the song ends up really changing, it's all just seems to be a long pattern sequence with things accompanying it, without it going anywhere too significant ^^' Either way, you've definitely improved, well done on this one c: You've definitely started getting better at figuring out what goes well together and what doesn't, that's for sure :P

[@z_z878]

Thank you! Yeah, I still need to work on changing up the melody. I kinda get complacent after making one melody and focus all my effort on building on top of it, when I should probably spend more of my time on trying to change the melody. Yeah, I agree now that I listen again that a different sound (instead of pattern 14) or additional sound in the background could work well. Yeah, I need to work on changing up the songs for sure, like you've said it's pretty much just same patterns playing over and over again and doesn't go anywhere. I think this is probably a by-product of making songs daily in a limited amount time (typically 2-3 hours) and focusing on quantity over quality (at least for the time being, while I'm starting out), and hopefully as I get faster and better, this will start to be less of a problem. But like I said, I'll definitely try to work on it! And thanks again! I appreciate your feedback!

[@luwyiki]

@@z_z878 " I think this is probably a by-product of making songs daily in a limited amount time (typically 2-3 hours) and focusing on quantity over quality" Definitely the right choice to make to learn quickly, honestly for the time you give yourself you make something really nice to work off of later. A bit hard to make anything good too quickly, you're building a good structure which you can polish and tweak later, with the time you have you're doing well especially for your 9th day

[@z_z878]

@luwyiki I'm glad you think so! Part of me wanted to make my first song really good no matter how long it took, so I could be seen as being really good at the start lol. But, I think this way is probably better in the long run and a more effective way to learn, plus I think it's an easier way to see and keep track off the progress I've made. And yeah, it'll be cool when I'm a lot better to try and improve upon these early songs. Yeah, it's nice to know what I need to fix and do differently and it gives me something to focus on, but I also think I just need more practice and time producing and hopefully the things that I struggle with now will start to become second nature. Another thing that I struggle with is perfectionism and remembering that progress isn't linear because there have already been days where making a song comes to me easy and I like the end result and other days where I struggle to make something I like. I just need to remember that if I keep putting the effort in, I'll keep improving and hopefully more consistently make something I'm proud of. And thanks!

[@VicBeats12]

its really good but still i feel like too much happening with the drums

[@z_z878]

Thanks! And yeah, I need to work on making my drum patterns simpler. Thanks for the feedback!

[@Orsonster]

Nice.

[@z_z878]

Thanks!

[@kokosechsech2559]

bro is improving

[@z_z878]

Thanks! I’m glad you think so!

[@8064goldenstar]

You should replace the drums with amen break its an easy fix and it can sound better

[@z_z878]

I'll look into amen breaks and try to incorporate them in the future. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@hw4nge]

💪

[@querq6070]

i thinks it's better to not overthink your drums and maybe stick to recreating already existing patterns to learn the structure of a beat (for your first few months of music creation). whatever you did here is way to chaotic and lacks organisation and doesn't sync with the melody. what really helps is too put more emphasis on the upbeats and accent the melody with fills and variation. keep up the good work

[@z_z878]

Yeah, I need to work on my drums and not making them too busy. I like your idea of recreating already existing patterns, that would probably be helpful, so I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the tips! And I'll try to keep it up!

[@videoarchiveyt]

would love it it you kinda mode it bit more slower

[@z_z878]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@Mush207]

The melody feels too repetative but the drums are alright.

[@z_z878]

Thanks for the feedback! I'll try to change up my melodies more in the future!

[@lil_ch14ki90]

hmu if you want some tips, you def got some potential, just need to learn some basics

[@z_z878]

I always appreciate tips! Did you want to talk on like discord or something, or just for me to respond here?

[@hw4nge]

​@@z_z878 if you dont mind dropping your discord lol

[@z_z878]

@@hw4nge If either of you have tips that you think might benefit others, l'd appreciate and prefer if you left them on the videos (that way it could help others who stumbles across these videos and help them in their journey as well). But I also went ahead and made a discord server because someone else asked for one on a different video, so feel free to join and message me there if you prefer. Here's the link: discord.gg/ZE2xzMsW (anyone's welcome!) (link will be in the description of my videos as well)

[@hw4nge]

@@z_z878 will do 👍

[@therealmetastar]

not the worst, try some scales

[@z_z878]

Thanks, I'll look into scales

[@DJ_Narcan]

Not bad but you are making a rookie mistake. Resample everything. For a variety of reasons, always resample everything. Write a piece, record it, put the sample in the playlist. If someone says you don't have to then they don't know what they're talking about. Look at some pro projects. Don't quit

[@z_z878]

Ok, that's good to know! I've seen some people's songs who upload in a similar format to me (and make way better music than me) and they all show the midi and don't seem to resample. I also feel like the midi gives a better visual of what is going on in the song, which is probably good for me who uploads my songs as videos. But I'm sure at some point down the line (when I'm a bit better lol, I'm still very much a novice), I'll have more of a reason to resample. Thanks for the advice though, I appreciate it!