15 ways to produce music FASTER
new song - https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/ste...
Here's a video of 15 tips and tricks to produce music faster! This is a super important skill no matter if you're an artist, beatmaker, or beginner producer. This list is helpful, no matter what level you're at!
► SAMPLE PACKS
https://varsitybeats.com
► SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram - / varsitybeats
Twitter - / beatsbyvarsity
0:00 - Why you should produce faster
0:44 - 15. Song templates
1:13 - 14. Reference tracks
1:37 - 13. Don't focus on your weaknesses
2:05 - 12. Learn the shortcuts
2:35 - 11. Set time limits
3:00 - 10. Label when you're stuck
3:36 - 9. Never make the same thing twice
4:41 - 8. Organized inspiration
5:09 - 7. Don't mess with knobs
5:40 - 6. Keep the momentum
6:12 - 5. Keep it simple
6:39 - 4. Curate your favorites
7:18 - 3. Clear vision
7:51 - 2. Active listening
8:40 - 1. Find your weakest link
9:39 - new music! link in description
🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊
15. Song templates - Lay out unused instruments and empty midi sections in approximate areas and save as a template. When you come back to start a song, you can pull up something that is ready for your ideas.
14. Reference tracks - Find a song that you like the bpm and flow/progression. Load it into your DAW and use it as inspiration for instrumentation and song structure.
13. Don't focus on your weaknesses - If you can't get something right on your own, you can "hire it out". Some examples are: buying better drum sounds, using melody loops, loading in MIDI chord progressions if you're not good with theory, buying preset packs to save time on sound design. If you're on the fence about this, look up "I thought using loops was cheating..." for a perspective on this conversation.
12. Learn the shortcuts - Nice and simple, it's faster to use the keyboard than to click in.
11. Set time limits - Here's my interpretation of Parkinson's law: If you give yourself 30 minutes to make a beat, then it will take the whole 30 minutes. If you give yourself a couple days to make a beat, it will take a couple days. I believe that work expands to the time you give it, that's why it's important to set time limits.
10. Label when you're stuck - When you're stuck, take a step back and think about where the song actually needs to go. What is the goal in mind for the song and what exactly is standing in the way? Self-reflection vs. mindlessly wandering
9. Never make the same thing twice - If you make something that is good, turn it into a preset, loop, patch, midi file, one-shot. That way you don't have to remake the sound when you want it again, wasting time doing a thing twice.
8. Organized inspiration - Whenever you find a sound that gets you inspired to make music, save it in an easy to access folder. This way, you'll never be stuck with a blank canvas. Same goes for songs and an inspiration playlist. Whatever song makes you excited to make music, put that in there.
7. Don't mess with knobs - Learn what the knobs do to achieve the sound you want. Start with: compressor, multiband compressor, distortion, EQ, sidechain, reverb, delay
6. Keep the momentum - Have placeholder sounds ready that are at least 80% of your desired sound. Be able to move to the next thing as quick as possible. See Sol State's video:
• How Duda Changed Deadmau5 Kicks FOREV...
5. Keep it simple - Pay attention to when you're adding in a lot of background sounds. Don't waste time on things that will eventually be cut for clarity. If you get the urge to add, take a step back and analyze what the song needs.
4. Curate your favorites - It takes a long time to search through samples. Save time by making drum racks of your favorites. Tip is from the Chainsmokers:
• The Chainsmokers on making Roses – Th...
3. Clear vision - Force yourself to say out loud what you actually want to do before you do it. Having a clear idea for a song keeps you from spending time adding things that don't actually make the final cut.
2. Active listening - Fill up your mental bank with observations from other songs, especially in the areas that you want to focus on. You never know when this could be useful.
1. Find your weakest link - Timed challenges expose where you're really slow. Try making a beat in 10 minutes and see what's slowing you down. Figure out ways to solve these problems and repeat! If setting up your drums takes a long time, add them into your song template. If you spend the majority of your time looking for samples, make a favorites folder.
I hope this video was helpful! Let me know if there's any tips that you would add!
Did I really just make 15 points just so I could add in that foot lettuce meme?
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► SETUP
🖥 Software: Ableton Live
🎹 Main Synthesizer: Serum by Xfer
🎸 Guitar: Fender Stratocaster
🎤 Mic: Shure SM57
If you have any questions about anything in the video, feel free to leave a comment!