I remember back in the days when i first started making my own recordings, I spent a lot of time wondering why my music wont just sound fine than i spent actually creating.While Discussing with some of my fellow Producers, i also realized that a lot of them had similar experiences.
Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with the urge to create a grammy award winning track on the first attempt with FL studio.
But right now what i wanna discuss is not particularly a technical Procedure but it's actually some type of habit we as recording musicians can inculcate into the general creative process, which will eventually improve the quality of your music/ or Production as the case may be.
1. KNOW THE LIMIT OF YOUR GEAR
The sky is not the limit for your gear when you just start your home studio. No prophesy will save you when you begin to "overdrive" the life out of that N500 microphone. My first mic was a behringer ultravoice xm500, which is a dynamic mic, but i was always trying to match it's output with that of other vocal tracks that were recorded with condenser mics.That's a major setback that can affect your Production workflow. My advice is; know the point where your gear starts to sound kinda bad, come back a lil from there, and proceed with your creative Process. Notice when that annoying distortion comes in or when the circuit starts buzzing loud enough to annoy a dead soul!
2. HAVE AS FEW PLUGINS AS POSSIBLE
Your plugins wont take you anywhere somebody hasn't been. Back then i used to think to have all the plugins in the world was a fast way to great production, Big lie. For me more plugins brought more complication and less productivity. My advice is for you to get specific plugins for specific purposes and may be one backup at most. like for example a compressor plugin you understand, and may be a backup compressor plugin with additional functionality like sidechain(if you must). To put it plainly, be a Good guy, have a girlfriend, and have a backup, just one, if you must.
3. GET A LIFE...........(SORRY KEYBOARD)
Dont tell me you are a Fruity loops guru, or that you've been typing for the CIA for 30 years. There's an inevitable change you will experience when you have a keyboard in your setup. whether you learn to play it or not, it will teach you a lot. you could have somebody come over like a few days of the week, and give you some coaching. or you could get materials all over the net and start.
Learn to know the keys on the piano, learn major chords, learn minor chords, learn some chord progressions. and Learn how to transpose. give it sometime its not really difficult. Typing every single thing into the sequencer can limit you a lot especially when you eventually discover. To whomever it may concern, don't worry, i was there at some point but i found light and so have you.
DISCLAIMER!
I wanna tell you that these are no "Laws" but this are just some of the things i learnt through my experience in my home studio over the years. And by the way you can get all my info Here, If you try following this 3 steps judiciously, and still cant notice a general improvement in your music and Production in the shortest time, my address is written clearly, Arrest me!
