This blog won't be a long one, but I thought it would be important to make one focused on a few tips for producers - experienced or new-coming - in case anyone is in need of these. Hopefully you utilize them, these are ideas I've both picked up myself and from watching dozens of tutorials on Youtube.
Tip 1: Pan Your Sounds Out
A lot of producers tend to not pan out their sounds, so everything tends to sound meshed in together. It's not always a bad thing, but panning out makes the beat feel more in-depth, and if done properly can help you when it comes down to mixing and mastering. If you have no clue what panning is, that means adjusting a sound to go through the left or right, or straight down the middle. Adjusting it will definitely make your beat pop out more - do this with both drums and instruments/synths/etc.
Tip 2: Using Distortion
Distortion is where you amplify a sound to where its volume is significantly increased, giving it a very fuzzy effect to it. Be careful whenever you apply this and double-check that your headphones aren't turned up to the max when you start applying this effect. Although it's used on a variety of sounds, distortion is most commonly used for 808s, guitars and basses. If mixed very carefully and correctly, it can successfully make your 808 or bass stand out without ruining the listener's ears (and your own, I hope).
Tip 3: Master What You Have
Too many people (including myself) have this mistaken impression that you need hundreds of dollars worth of equipment in order to make high-quality music. It really isn't necessary; I could name a few people that have some great production quality with some extremely disappointing music. It has never mattered what you use, but how you use it. When it boils down to it, everything does the same thing: Beats headphones do the same job as a pair of $20 headphones from Walmart; FL Studio does the same thing as Ableton; and stock plugins can provide the same sounds as a lot of other expensive plugins. Don't get caught up in the price tags, only to end up spending a thousand bucks on tools you don't need or can't use properly. And I'm not trying to discourage you from going out and purchasing new headphones or speakers or plugins - just understand that you should learn how to master what you have first before considering a shopping spree.
Tip 4: Get Your Priorities Straight
What's the point of producing without passion? Answer: There is none.
If you're mindlessly making beats solely for the purpose of fame, earning money, or getting placements with famous artists you shouldn't be making beats. If there is no true enjoyment of making music in itself, regardless if you're making sales or not, then you're not being true to yourself. That isn't to say that shouldn't be a goal; but you shouldn't have a false love for producing and only value its output. You should truly appreciate creating beats in itself first - before you love making money from it, before you go out and get popular rappers on your work, before you blow up and be a superstar producer. If you don't like making beats, then what is your purpose of doing it in the first place?
Hopefully you picked up a few things from this blog, and will apply some of these tips the next time you open your DAW up. Good luck to both newcomers and experienced producer with your beats!
