What do you guys think how long does it take to be able to produce decent electronic music? (including everything: arrangement,mixdown,mastering, etc.)
Is there a need to be talented?
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This isn't really the correct forum for this question, as it is devoted to sound design for film/games/tv...not music. So, you probably won't get terribly relevant answers.– Shaun FarleyAug 19, 2014 at 16:21
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2 Answers
I'm not sure if you're intending to produce music for a living or because you'd enjoy the creative aspects of it, but speaking as someone who's done both it sounds to me like either you have little regard for the genre or are assuming that everyone else does.
In short: Yes, there is a need to be talented. Why would there not be? Any sucessful career requires a certain degree of aptitude or skill to set yourself aside from others who'd outdo you. The idiom goes: If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. If it's not worth doing right, it's not worth doing at all.
Don't know what 'decent' music is. I know what I like, and I know what sells. I don't know what you like, or what you'd buy. I could expand more on this but I reckon I've already put too much thought into this.
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That is a question if philosophy. The truth is you might never know if it is. Life is full of risks and regrets, but the freedom to try something without fear of failure is a privledge that countless men and women have been born without, and still are to this day. Aug 22, 2014 at 0:03
10000h in front of a mixer > talent. 10 years, 3h every day or 3 years, 10h a day :)
- Get a day job because the chances to earn a living with music are very very little.
- Move to a location where the scene of your genre is very active. Go to partys and try to get to know the people of the scene.
- Buy a DAW like ableton, cubase, logic
- Buy good studio monitors and a pair of studio headphones (Spend cash here and inform yourself about speakers in high quality magazines. Be careful there is a lot of wrong knowledge out in the web),
Treat your rooms acoustics by dampening early reflections and room resonances (you want to spend at least the same amour you spend for your studio monitors, otherwise they won't help you)
Learn your instruments (mostly samplers, drum machines, synthesisers and collect all the drum samples you can find),
- Learn basic music theory (rhythm, intervals, harmony, etc.)
- Learn to DJ, this will help you with the next step and this will help you to earn some cash with music
- Learn basic electronic music arrangements
- Learn to build up a good gain structure, balance
- Learn EQ, saturation and compression,
- Learn reverb, delay and modulation fx
- Learn to automate all the above.
- Learn to use sound effects and other transition noises
- Learn to use group and parallel processing
- Learn to use a master compressor while production
These should be some good milestones for learning the whole process. Be sure to take your time on each step.
It is a lot of work to become a electronic musician. There are some shortcuts by getting to know people of the scene. But on the long run you want to become a good engineer and musician to deliver quality electronic music, because this is what counts the most.
Good Luck!
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-1 because you can have someone 110% totally proficient, but if they don't have talent, it won't matter one bit because they won't know how to use that skill. Yes, experience does matter, but if you don't have musical ability, then no amount of sitting in front of a board or learning technical skill will make a bit of difference. I'd much MUCH rather have someone talented with no skill than the other way around because I can work the former in to something good, where as the later will never perform well.– AJ Henderson ♦Aug 20, 2014 at 4:58
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I've got to +1 this answer to level it back to 0 again, because if you're not prepared to go through at least the first half of that list & just want an easy ride, instant-gratification journey, then music/sound design isn't for you in the first place, talent or no.– TetsujinAug 20, 2014 at 18:02
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Thanks Tetsujin, thats what I wanted to say. @ AJ sorry if my answer was not 100% precise. With "10000h in front of a mixer mixer" i was not only meaning the technical side, i also meant the music side (Music theory, arrangement, etc.), why I listed those things first. The technical side comes afterwards I totally agree. Aug 20, 2014 at 19:22