I use that on art but I just started music and I'm not sure if I'm gonna keep doing it, or even if I enjoy it, but I'd like to learn. it's kinda hard to restart at something like this again.
And for anyone getting into music theory, please always remember: music theory is not a set of rules. There are no rules. Music theory just helps you understand music on a more fundamental level.
So much this...in fact, it helps translate one part of music to another through a unified...well...theory. once you understand the foundation, you realize that the distance from one instrument or musical style is not far off from any other and that's super cool
I took music theory and got a 5 on its AP exam, but when I write music, I don’t restrict myself by saying “oh that doesn’t make sense theory-wise I can’t do that.” I use it as a tool or reference to try and find why something might make sense or how to harmonize something I come up with. It’s a tool, not a rule book.
Knowing the theory behind it, and honestly the history of how the theory developed and how different genres and trends relate to each other can also inform how you decide to mix genres and create interesting, cool stuff that might sound weird and alien. And also it makes it way easier to create music things within a given genre when you know what the "rules" are and what the "rule breakers" have done to develop that genre. :P
Depends on subject. I think wikipedia is good source for learning music. Learning about history, politics and religion there isn't the best idea. They really try to be neutral with things that are controversial for most people.
Wikipedia is a self-correcting body of knowledge. It gets more accurate with time. More popular subjects will be more policed for accuracy, though. The problem comes when you don't check the sources on something. Because you never know if some erroneous information has snuck in there due to some kind of editing nightmare or false information that got backed up by some false source. I like to think of Wikipedia as a large group of people sharing what they learned on the internet together. That can be good information, or bad information. But at least the idea is the bad information gets edited out in favour of better information... eventually.
Step 1: learn Step 2: practice Step 3: experiment Step 4: fail Step 5: practice more Step 6: experiment more Step 7: try harder Step 8: repeat everything for years
Something i realized recently is that so many things that people consider "talents" are actually *skills*, and they can be practiced. Songwriting, mixing, sound design, performance of a specific instrument, these are all skills, they can be practiced. That also means that you need to put the practice in!
Absolutely. I'm an artist, and whenever people see I can draw, they'll say that I'm talented and that they can't even draw a stick figure. My response has become to explain to them that I wasn't just born with artistic talent. This is a skill I've been working on for years now. When I was just starting out, I couldn't draw worth anything either. But now, with years and years of practice put in, my skills have increased to what they are today. And I still have a long way, and a lot of practice, to go.
@@PengyDraws I'm assuming with me? Could you please explain your disagreements? This reply looks confrontational because text is stupid with emotions but I'm just kindly and genuinely asking
Asith I'm sorta disagreeing with the OP, by extension with you because you agree with OP. Anyways, i have no doubt that you must work hard to become good at something, but even then, talent does exist. Not every artist who works exactly the same amount of time will produce the same level of quality. Some things are indeed talent. Talent just means you have to work less hard to do something, it's like an enzyme in a chemical reaction where it allows the reaction to go on without using so much energy.
Same, and for me this is just a mix and cut out of other songs and youtube videos its 21 seconds long with visuals and i am hella proud of it and made my friends smile from it haha
THIS is great advice. There is no magic formula to making music. You just have to learn as much as you can and start experimenting and working. I'm excited for future videos like this one.
How to play an instrument: 1. Make sounds 2. Make more of the sounds you liked, and fewer of the sounds you didn't like 3. Repeat (If all else fails, print out a fingering chart, watch a UA-cam video, or hire a teacher.)
omg yes totally agree. I took two computer music classes at college (one of them was more about using tools to make stuff, and the other one was heavily theory-based) and I see music from so many different perspectives now and it's the best.
It could be a year late, but I’ll ask. Although music theory could be helpful, it isn’t as helpful as many people would be touted to say. (One person said this in a live stream and it’s just true.)
A lot of the best music theory I ever learned was from independent songwriting. Just sitting down and slapping chords and harmonies together, and hearing what worked and what didn't, is a remarkably good way of learning the basics for what you want to make.
I feel like music equipment is like that one treadmill that you bought and then promised yourself to use it but it just sits in a corner silently mocking you for failing at it. I recently bought my first synth and all i do is aimless noise which is fun, but far from productive. It was the same with software. Not going anywhere with it.. This is the single most frustrating part as hobby musician. Is there any cure?
The main thing is getting over the steep learning curve at the beginning... once you do that everything else starts making sense... the manual helps A LOT!
Read the manual and watch a tutorial on how to make a specific type of track like lofi or something and it will give you a structure. Then you'll be able to do it yourself after a while
There's nothing wrong with spending a lot of time noodling. You're familiarizing yourself with your instrument and the sounds inside of it and how to get to them. If you're enjoying it, that's good. If you haven't already, you should start jamming with yourself, lay down some drum or bass loops somehow, (a looping app, record and play back, a daw, etc.) and then just mess around on top of it. Most likely you'll come up with a few different ideas which you can alternate or stack. Then loop that too and play with something else or with a different patch. This will help with motivation because it can be a lot of fun and getting stuck in a groove can be really relaxing, it kind of absorbs my brain. Again, at this point, don't beat yourself up that your loops and jams aren't finished tracks. If you find something you really like, record it and you can spend more time advancing it as your skills grow. (It's not a bad idea to record your jams anyway, as often as you can.) As you're moving along making loops and improvising and fitting stuff together, you can start working on making transitional elements and more and less intense parts that fit together (try cutting out some or all of certain tracks). Then just start practicing making whole tracks and tweaking how they flow from start to finish even if you don't think it's the best thing you could make. It's just practice. Record a background track with some changes and set a goal to build a whole track on it. You can always re-record the original base track with needed changes as you discover them. I'm only saying all of this because all of this has happened to me in the past few years and I'm just starting to finish a couple of tracks that I really like (your mileage will vary with time spent, I barely have time for music making). And it took a lot of time messing around making noises to find the noises that I wanted and get an understanding of how to make the sounds I want. And it took a lot of jamming on repetitive loops that don't mean anything to anyone but me. And it took a lot of letting go and stopping myself from pressuring myself about what's a "good use of my time." And that's the last part. If you don't like it, sell your synth and buy a bicycle or something. If you like it, you're on the right path, take it easy.
Also, you said "recently bought". Progress takes time. If you picked up a guitar for the first time, would you beat yourself up for not immediately writing and playing an original piece? No, the first thing you'd have to do is spend some time plucking the strings, learning some strumming techniques, practicing some chords...
A big thing I would add is: Listening to as much music as possible that you find you enjoy. As many different kinds as humanly possible. Spotify playlists are your friend here.
Hey there, I just wanted to thank you. Ever since I got to college to study music, I've been feeling lost in my music. I stopped practicing my instrument because I just felt stuck in a rut, playing old songs, not coming up with anything new. I started watching your videos and the way that you look at music and instruments and art is so inspiring. Thank you
I really fell like every person on this channel has a connection. It's great that you treat your audience like normal people not like money machines and actually help people that just started making music instead of putting garbage in their hands and minds just to get money.
The most important thing I've learned writing songs is not to fight what your body wants you to write, you're gonna sound the way you sound, don't try to fight that, if you try to sound like someone else it's not gonna work, if you write death metal, you're gonna write death metal, if you write country you're gonna write country, don't try and fight it, embrace it, put your own spin on it, put that death metal twist on the country music you keep writing, sing like a country musician with those djent riffs that keep coming out, but don't fight it. That's my advice
My advice is to literally find something to make music on, whether it's a DAW or an instrument and just PLAY. Doesn't matter what. Just play SOMETHING.
Brilliant tips about compositing, Andrew! "Copying" others is the essential thing. Usually a beginner couldn't copy a composition (especially in sound details). So very often it will sound like a completely new composition... maybe with an "inspired by" flavor.
Pro tip for beginners: there are a lot of music theory and DAW courses on Udemy, and they regularly do promos so you can get a course for like $10 or 15, even the ones that are otherwise set for $100 and much more. Make sure you take a look at the course structure, chapters, if it actually holds a lot of material,... A lot of these are a mix of video lectures, follow-along tutorials and text info files. Access is for life, there's often great access to your tutor and a space where you can ask questions directly as well as browse through answered questions of others. Have fun!
As for learning music theory online, I would recommend a UA-cam series called "music theory distilled" that gives you a great foundation in music theory.
love it dude! Music theory I personally found impossible to teach myself, at least on paper, as soon as I had my guitar teacher and college tutor explain it to me and show it to me I figured out I actually knew the theory (practically), I just didn't know that I knew the theory. So I'd say don't be afraid to ask for help when it comes to learning it, you may find out you already know it but just need it contextualised
This is the kind of video - and series - I've wanted for a long time. I can never really pin down my tastes in music, so knowing this advice could be taken so many ways and being encouraged to learn as much as possible really speaks to me. I can't wait to see where this series takes you!
I'm a little late to the comment section, but I'd love a video with the topic of "Music as a means to an end". I know for you that might be a painful subject to talk about, but the reality if you're a "content creator" or someone who needs music to accent something, is that you don't have all the time in the world to become a proficient musician because you're chasing other pursuits. So, "how to make music for youtube videos" would be a great topic for me personally. I know obviously there is some learning, but what's the biggest bang for the buck in terms of time investment?
For sure firstly it's very much about identifying what it is that you want to create. Of course that might be a question you can't answer yet as someone who has just started, but it's regardless something I'd tell you to think about, at least on an intuitive basis. That sets out all the next steps that follow.
@@scout1404 Just download the trial, it has everything the normal FL Studio has. Only thing is you can't save your projects. Even then it is great for learning more about music production.
Thank you thank you THANK YOU. I’ve got the theory because I’ve studied classical music for years. It’s the tech knowledge I lack. This gives me the courage to jump into it.
This was really informative and inspirational. Thanks for helping out the music community like this you really didnt have to make this vid but im really glad you did. Just worked multiple jobs to get a midi and DAW and i was starting to get disappointed and discouraged but i feel like i can find a starting point with this info. Thank you man
Some very solid advice in here, a lot of stuff that I can actually verify from my own personal experience. I started out by just watching tutorials and following along in my DAW, along with listening and analyzing loads of my favorite music, even sometimes attempting "remakes". I haven't fully learned music theory yet even after 8 years of making music, but I'm getting there and I at least understand all the basic concepts. Still, even just knowing the basic concepts has helped me write better music. At the end of the day, the only way to get started doing something new is to start doing it. Some other advice I have from my own experience is to not get obsessed with the software you use when you're starting out. More specifically, don't go and buy/download a ton of plugins before you even understand how the basic tools work - and also don't go switching DAW's before you've mastered the one you started with. I learned the hard way that doing that really slows down the learning process and can hinder your creativity. So start with a limited toolset and learn those tools inside and out, learn how to get the absolute most out of them, before you go and start collecting a bunch of fancy software/gear.
for people wondering about how to learn music theory, ill speak from my own experience: i learnt knowing absolutely nothing, i didnt even think i would find it useful i was just curious. so i started by googling all these words i knew nothing about but heard a lot of, such as what are chords, difference between minor and major, how is a key made, what is an octave, and all those things. i would look through youtube videos, i would skip through articles and all that, and then i would test my learning by literally playing the simplest 3-note chords in an online virtual piano thing and then getting more and more advanced, finding new terms and concepts the deeper i searched, kinda following a trail.
"Spend as much time as you need on learning, and as much time as you can creating." Great advice. I'm trying to work out the best balance myself, it seems there's just so much to learn haha
I produce since 2013 now, I'm using Cubase and I make mostly electronic music like house and dubstep. Theory came very naturally for me, since I had very good music teachers in school, played piano and guitar before starting to produce and played in very different projects, like singing in a choir, playing in a cover band, playing in a big band etc. etc. etc. I was also always interested in the craft and technology behind it, learning that in parallel to everything. And now for a few years my focus has been on synths, software, hardware and modular. It's really been a journey for me, making stuff just to make it, not worrying about what anyone else thinks and just having a good time. There is no correct way.
Andrew, I'm 17 and am in love with making music, ecspecially with EDM. Progressive and tropical house. Any tips on how to make enough money to live off of it right out of highschool. I'm going to college, hopefully for something with carryover. My parents don't believe I will ever make it and want me to get a degree for a job I will hate. Any advice, I don't care to be rich, just live comfortably even after struggling for a year or two out of college
One thing I’ve noticed is the more you learn music theory the easier it gets. I’m not an expert at all but I know most basics. It makes more sense the more you understand.
Dude, I can't tell you how helpful and encouraging you are to someone with zero musical knowledge. Your content is so clear and straight to the point, and you understand teaching from the student's perspective. Thank you so much.
The book Making Music by Dennis Desantis at Ableton is full of well organized, concrete suggestions for addressing challenges across the spectrum of music production; from starting to finishing. It's broken up into just a page or so on each idea so it's really easy to read. Also, it's a beautifully manufactured hardback book (in case you care about that sort of thing). I highly recommend.
Hey Andrew I'm a musician and have been for a couple decades plus some years lol but hey our music style is quite different but I want to say I'm really happy to have found your channel and subscribed. You are exstreamly helpful and very talented in what you do. And your advice is spot on. If people will listen to you they will learn so much more than they even realize at first. Keep up the good work and I look forward to watching more of your videos. Oh and its nice see that you aren't all about blowing up that ego. Stay humble and keep making that sound.. Peace!
Mr. Andrew sir........THE most valid and important (imho) thing you shared with this video is MANUALS-MANUALS-MANUALS !! I know everything is PDF now and you can find everything on UA-cam but seeing it in writing along with a visual representation helps to lock it into mind. Unfortunately, my vision is terrible because of an illness but I’m still making videos, still making music, and consider myself somewhat of an Ableton nerd 🤓. Producing music and trying to help others has saved my life. Literally. I was living in a homeless shelter 10 years ago. Being a learner has given me focus and direction. I have tried to show more personality and my more recent videos and try to think how Andrew would sound. I hope to inspire others as you have. Thank you
For me, understanding music production is my downfall, as I know nothing about it. Think I ought to look up some tutorials about that. I'm lucky enough to have a close friend who is excellent with music theory, so I just sk him any question I'm stuck on! Can't wait to get my creative juices flowing.
People don't seem to understand just like everything in life music takes time and effort. They don't always see the time spent in making music because most of the time you only get the end result. If you have to make everything yourself that's a lot to learn.
It's been 4 years of me steadily trying to understand music theory and Im finally at the point where I feel like the haed work it paying off. The moment you work out a problem using music theory from your own initiative is a really wonder moment
There’s so many different paths into making music.For me it was garage band that came with my iPhone.Spent hours on it to learn the basics,then I built a computer and got to studio 20.Now doing the same thing.Within 4 months I know how to make tracks,and now learning how to master and mix(which I think is the hardest part.Its just jumping head first in a start from something simple,and what ever you’re doing learn how to improve it.Key factor is time and wanting to make music because you love it.I love certain edm with beautiful pads,give me the chills.I take that love and run with it.
I find it very helpful when having two random chords with little to no relation to each other and then constructing a bridge between them experimenting with different methods. That's the beautiful thing about it. You may sometimes by accident (or by willfully ignoring rules) stumble about something interesting and then easily figure out how this works, why it works and how to expand on it.
Andrew bro you inspire me more an more with every video to create. Im on my journey with my music, with my channel, and I owe a lot of thanks to you. Appreciate u man!
OMG! Your baby video at the end!!! 😭😍 I have a photo of myself sitting at a piano with my dad when was about the same age. It only takes a moment for your life to feel inspired.
THE HARDEST THING ABOUT LEARNING ANY INSTRUMENT AD WELL AS MUSIC THEORY IS WHAT ORDER TI LEARN THE DIFFERENT CONCEPTS IN. on its own, each concept isn’t hard, but much like math or language, if you aren’t building a framework to connect each concept it is impossible to remember them each on their own. i spent probably 8 years noodling on the guitar and learning songs and watching youtube videos about theory. it took me four years to be good enough to be able to feel comfortable telling people i play guitar but then i started getting some chops and understanding in. at some point around 8 years in, everything just clicked all at once and a my playing and understanding went to the next level. would have been faster i think if i had taken lessons with a teacher. i really think it’s so important to learn in the right order. but i had a blast learning on my own and still get better every day. god i can’t imagine a life without music :)
Music theory helps you put words on things you've been figuring out randomly without realising it was a whole field in music theory. Like I remember noticing on my guitar how the major and minor scales were the same scale with a different tonal center and thought it was interesting, years before even hearing about modes
i’m like you. i don’t like sitting through tutorials, i want to go through trial and error. i will get frustrated and want to quit, but i’ll get back at it and keep learning. if i need to know how to do something, or i’m stuck, i’ll look it up and most likely i will find the answer and get through it. i’m super interested in digital music making and i want to get into it, so this really helps me. thanks!
I have some tips on lyrics (I believe I’m pretty good on lyrics): Listen to your favorite songs, if you’re uncertain on lyrics then go on genius and look up the song for the lyrics, and see the commentary (most have commentary, some have commentary by the artist themself!) It has helped me
I’m in my second year pursuing my degree in music. Music theory tests my inner gangster every single day. But, I’m the end I know all of this’ll be beneficial.
Honestly, from personal experience and from helping my best friends get started making music, FL Studio is an EXTREMELY good way to start understanding and making music.
On the quality thing. I had mad "creators block" about a year ago, and I found myself starting projects, getting frustrated and never going back. I was abandoning everything I started, and I started to feel this constant wave of disillusionment and contempt towards my music and productions. I stumbled upon this video called "7 habits of highly effective artists" and I could not tell you what any of the habits actually were, but the main point I got was (the guy was a visual artist) "just draw one line, every day." The idea being that once you've set up all your stuff, even if you're feeling drained or unmotivated, you were there, creating something, and 9 times out of 10, you'd find yourself "drawing" more than one line. And, even though I wasn't stoked on all my projects still, I just kept making music every day, whether it was just a melody, a beat or a whole score, it was every day. And because I was doing it every day, I started noticing how things fit together. I'd do something in one project and realise how that technique or idea could be applied to another, and I realised that through the process of perseverance and practice, I'd gotten over the "block." My creativity went up, the production quality went up, and I was excited to be doing art again. It doesn't always take innate talent and know how, sometimes it'll take time and grit, and you'll come out stronger and better for it.
This is entirely off-topic. Completely. But for some reason, seeing that clip at the end had the effect of making me cry?? I don't know, it was just such a real clip, somehow wholesome? I thought how proud your parents must be, and how it would've been to watch you grow. And I'm just now realizing that I'm uh.. ready for a kid/family??
everytime It's the same thing.. > I get inspired > Then open FL Studio > Create a pattern > Try to add some instrument > It all sounds like amateur garbage shit > I close Fl Studio
Not that anyone will read this, but one thing ive heard in regard to learning, is not to forget the power of play. What i mean is that you should set a small daily amount of time to just goofing off and experimenting with no real end goal and no pressure on yourself to create something "good". Also go watch the "one thing" videos on Abletons website. lots of good stuff in there.
You DON'T need to learn music theory to make music. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. There are people who never learned music theory and are famous as a musician. That said, if you learn music theory it can help you understand things clearer but not all of us want to be technical about music. Some of us just use their ears and emotion or whatever "sounds good" as their only guide to make music. I, myself, took some music theory classes and it helped me but in the end who gives a sh*t if the end product sounds trash lol
So glad I stayed till the end there to watch that home video. Baby Andrew saying 'la shou' which means 'grab my hand' to play twinkle twinkle little star was everything!!
The advice ‘you will make bad things’ is SO IMPORTANT.
Lumi D yes!!!
I use that on art but I just started music and I'm not sure if I'm gonna keep doing it, or even if I enjoy it, but I'd like to learn. it's kinda hard to restart at something like this again.
Yes
One thing to remember is, good or bad, it's still a thing you made, which is cool.
Yup!
And for anyone getting into music theory, please always remember: music theory is not a set of rules. There are no rules. Music theory just helps you understand music on a more fundamental level.
pyromaniacbridge indeed.
They are simply tools to increase the efficiency on making music
So much this...in fact, it helps translate one part of music to another through a unified...well...theory. once you understand the foundation, you realize that the distance from one instrument or musical style is not far off from any other and that's super cool
I took music theory and got a 5 on its AP exam, but when I write music, I don’t restrict myself by saying “oh that doesn’t make sense theory-wise I can’t do that.” I use it as a tool or reference to try and find why something might make sense or how to harmonize something I come up with. It’s a tool, not a rule book.
Knowing the theory behind it, and honestly the history of how the theory developed and how different genres and trends relate to each other can also inform how you decide to mix genres and create interesting, cool stuff that might sound weird and alien. And also it makes it way easier to create music things within a given genre when you know what the "rules" are and what the "rule breakers" have done to develop that genre. :P
Step 1: Sit down at your instrument.
Step 2: Shout at your hands until your eyes bleed.
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit.
Same tho
this is why i subscribed
how every death grips song is made
What if I shout at my eyes until my hands bleed? Super profit?
Step 3: Worship the Satan
How I use my time creating music:
90% listening to other music
10% improvising
How does it work for you?
Subtle flex
Nice, I'm the 666th like, it feels weird though....
like avicii me too R.I.P Tim
Father of EDM
Exactly. You improve your taste so that it gives the quality and uniqueness. Training your brain about notes and rhythm and stuff unconciously.
"Wikipedia is great" 1 million school teachers gasp
Middle/high school. Although most will admit it is very usefut just cannot be a source in it's own.
Those teachers are the reason why civilization dosn't evolve.
honestly some of the music theory information on there is actually great, awesome reference material
Depends on subject. I think wikipedia is good source for learning music. Learning about history, politics and religion there isn't the best idea. They really try to be neutral with things that are controversial for most people.
Wikipedia is a self-correcting body of knowledge. It gets more accurate with time. More popular subjects will be more policed for accuracy, though. The problem comes when you don't check the sources on something. Because you never know if some erroneous information has snuck in there due to some kind of editing nightmare or false information that got backed up by some false source.
I like to think of Wikipedia as a large group of people sharing what they learned on the internet together. That can be good information, or bad information. But at least the idea is the bad information gets edited out in favour of better information... eventually.
Step 1: learn
Step 2: practice
Step 3: experiment
Step 4: fail
Step 5: practice more
Step 6: experiment more
Step 7: try harder
Step 8: repeat everything for years
Step 9: fail harder!
@@DJ-Ophidian lol
Learn what
my screen is too small - is your image of bach with sunglasses?
Thank you... i became lil pump
Something i realized recently is that so many things that people consider "talents" are actually *skills*, and they can be practiced. Songwriting, mixing, sound design, performance of a specific instrument, these are all skills, they can be practiced. That also means that you need to put the practice in!
Absolutely. I'm an artist, and whenever people see I can draw, they'll say that I'm talented and that they can't even draw a stick figure. My response has become to explain to them that I wasn't just born with artistic talent. This is a skill I've been working on for years now. When I was just starting out, I couldn't draw worth anything either. But now, with years and years of practice put in, my skills have increased to what they are today. And I still have a long way, and a lot of practice, to go.
There is no talent that is not a skill.
I'd disagree somewhat, but you do have a good point.
@@PengyDraws I'm assuming with me? Could you please explain your disagreements? This reply looks confrontational because text is stupid with emotions but I'm just kindly and genuinely asking
Asith
I'm sorta disagreeing with the OP, by extension with you because you agree with OP.
Anyways, i have no doubt that you must work hard to become good at something, but even then, talent does exist. Not every artist who works exactly the same amount of time will produce the same level of quality. Some things are indeed talent. Talent just means you have to work less hard to do something, it's like an enzyme in a chemical reaction where it allows the reaction to go on without using so much energy.
The internet is so great.. I can't believe we have FREE access to learning like this, FREE!
Foreal
This should be the approach of people but people end up strangled in memes
@@vinitgaikwad8127 humor and laughter are also constructive
@@averyisinnature7564 but not necessarily every time
@@vinitgaikwad8127 true
It sounds stupid, but "JUST DO IT" is the best advice tbh
Masochistic Meese just do it post it on UA-cam and get hate. ( If you are a UA-camr it's not a good advice)
Masochistic Meese I came for music, not making clothes
Aint nothin to it but to do it
without inspiration nothing will work (for me)
pretty much like life we just do it. and came to be from..... ya know
Actually keep making music until your music gives you goosebumps
and don't stop! Cuz mine gives me goosebumps already xD
My music is kinda scary
Especially the music I put out on 3 am Halloween
@@soft_box9331 lol
@@PutYoRhymeOn ooooh
my first loop on an objective pov is ABSOLUTE DOGSHIT, but no me it does exactly what you described. It sounds so good to me
Fail, and fail fast.
*boy am I failing fast*
Just keep trying
Double king
Just wanted to get it too 1000 ha
How are you now?
Just go faster
I was happy of my first music piece (it was about 20 seconds) not because it sounds good but because I figured out how to do it.
Same, and for me this is just a mix and cut out of other songs and youtube videos its 21 seconds long with visuals and i am hella proud of it and made my friends smile from it haha
y.e.s.
thanks music dad
Narcissist Margarine
Lmao
this resonates
@@catdogis *finger guns*eeeeYYY
Lmao
Lul
I just want to make music that makes me feel the same way my favorite songs make me feel.
10 years later.
_We’re getting there_
Eyyy, nice!
Same !!!!
how's it going?
Step 1: Wiggle some air.
Samuel Cape I see we have an Adam Neely viewer here
Gavin Warner indeed!
Samuel Cape oh yeah, you alien!
I love you guys
Samuel Cape Nice
THIS is great advice. There is no magic formula to making music. You just have to learn as much as you can and start experimenting and working. I'm excited for future videos like this one.
Same bro, looking forward to the next vids
How to play an instrument:
1. Make sounds
2. Make more of the sounds you liked, and fewer of the sounds you didn't like
3. Repeat
(If all else fails, print out a fingering chart, watch a UA-cam video, or hire a teacher.)
fingering sus ayooo
As a french horn player, my life goal is now officially to become a metal french horn player xD
As a French horn player, I support this
As a horn i support you
I mean, French horns ARE metal so I guess you already are 🤔
@@guccigang6984 dont know whether to laugh or not xD
sending support from the trombone section
Music theory for computer musicians really helped me consolidate all my random knoledge
omg yes totally agree. I took two computer music classes at college (one of them was more about using tools to make stuff, and the other one was heavily theory-based) and I see music from so many different perspectives now and it's the best.
Nearly finished the book, it's awesome as a way to start making music. There are other great books on mixing as well you can find on Amazon :)
tibbarnogard did you study it in college?
It could be a year late, but I’ll ask. Although music theory could be helpful, it isn’t as helpful as many people would be touted to say. (One person said this in a live stream and it’s just true.)
A lot of the best music theory I ever learned was from independent songwriting. Just sitting down and slapping chords and harmonies together, and hearing what worked and what didn't, is a remarkably good way of learning the basics for what you want to make.
I feel like music equipment is like that one treadmill that you bought and then promised yourself to use it but it just sits in a corner silently mocking you for failing at it. I recently bought my first synth and all i do is aimless noise which is fun, but far from productive. It was the same with software. Not going anywhere with it.. This is the single most frustrating part as hobby musician. Is there any cure?
The main thing is getting over the steep learning curve at the beginning... once you do that everything else starts making sense... the manual helps A LOT!
Read the manual and watch a tutorial on how to make a specific type of track like lofi or something and it will give you a structure. Then you'll be able to do it yourself after a while
I bought cubasis 2 for AUv3 plugins but it’s a waste of money because the piano roll is awful
There's nothing wrong with spending a lot of time noodling. You're familiarizing yourself with your instrument and the sounds inside of it and how to get to them. If you're enjoying it, that's good.
If you haven't already, you should start jamming with yourself, lay down some drum or bass loops somehow, (a looping app, record and play back, a daw, etc.) and then just mess around on top of it. Most likely you'll come up with a few different ideas which you can alternate or stack. Then loop that too and play with something else or with a different patch.
This will help with motivation because it can be a lot of fun and getting stuck in a groove can be really relaxing, it kind of absorbs my brain.
Again, at this point, don't beat yourself up that your loops and jams aren't finished tracks. If you find something you really like, record it and you can spend more time advancing it as your skills grow. (It's not a bad idea to record your jams anyway, as often as you can.)
As you're moving along making loops and improvising and fitting stuff together, you can start working on making transitional elements and more and less intense parts that fit together (try cutting out some or all of certain tracks). Then just start practicing making whole tracks and tweaking how they flow from start to finish even if you don't think it's the best thing you could make. It's just practice. Record a background track with some changes and set a goal to build a whole track on it. You can always re-record the original base track with needed changes as you discover them.
I'm only saying all of this because all of this has happened to me in the past few years and I'm just starting to finish a couple of tracks that I really like (your mileage will vary with time spent, I barely have time for music making). And it took a lot of time messing around making noises to find the noises that I wanted and get an understanding of how to make the sounds I want. And it took a lot of jamming on repetitive loops that don't mean anything to anyone but me. And it took a lot of letting go and stopping myself from pressuring myself about what's a "good use of my time."
And that's the last part. If you don't like it, sell your synth and buy a bicycle or something. If you like it, you're on the right path, take it easy.
Also, you said "recently bought". Progress takes time. If you picked up a guitar for the first time, would you beat yourself up for not immediately writing and playing an original piece? No, the first thing you'd have to do is spend some time plucking the strings, learning some strumming techniques, practicing some chords...
A big thing I would add is: Listening to as much music as possible that you find you enjoy. As many different kinds as humanly possible. Spotify playlists are your friend here.
Thank you for linking the metal french horn player
damn i didn't know this was a thing till now. and glad
"♫ Comment what you want me to cover in the future! ♫"
uh... more baby andrew playing music please, duh
Dragon Venoms and it's red means recording. You'd think people would recognize him
✌🏿
@@joesssaucey yh ikr...
@@Rayski_ 2 years and no reply
It's Red MR! Dig your tunes, man.
Hey there,
I just wanted to thank you. Ever since I got to college to study music, I've been feeling lost in my music. I stopped practicing my instrument because I just felt stuck in a rut, playing old songs, not coming up with anything new. I started watching your videos and the way that you look at music and instruments and art is so inspiring. Thank you
I really fell like every person on this channel has a connection. It's great that you treat your audience like normal people not like money machines and actually help people that just started making music instead of putting garbage in their hands and minds just to get money.
The most important thing I've learned writing songs is not to fight what your body wants you to write, you're gonna sound the way you sound, don't try to fight that, if you try to sound like someone else it's not gonna work, if you write death metal, you're gonna write death metal, if you write country you're gonna write country, don't try and fight it, embrace it, put your own spin on it, put that death metal twist on the country music you keep writing, sing like a country musician with those djent riffs that keep coming out, but don't fight it. That's my advice
My advice is to literally find something to make music on, whether it's a DAW or an instrument and just PLAY. Doesn't matter what. Just play SOMETHING.
Months of questions answers answered in eight minutes! Thanks Andrew, can't wait for more!
Brilliant tips about compositing, Andrew! "Copying" others is the essential thing. Usually a beginner couldn't copy a composition (especially in sound details). So very often it will sound like a completely new composition... maybe with an "inspired by" flavor.
Pro tip for beginners: there are a lot of music theory and DAW courses on Udemy, and they regularly do promos so you can get a course for like $10 or 15, even the ones that are otherwise set for $100 and much more. Make sure you take a look at the course structure, chapters, if it actually holds a lot of material,...
A lot of these are a mix of video lectures, follow-along tutorials and text info files. Access is for life, there's often great access to your tutor and a space where you can ask questions directly as well as browse through answered questions of others. Have fun!
As for learning music theory online, I would recommend a UA-cam series called "music theory distilled" that gives you a great foundation in music theory.
I'm not a music artist(I do drawings and stuff) but I've been interested in music lately. This advice is really helpful to me, thank you.
love it dude!
Music theory I personally found impossible to teach myself, at least on paper, as soon as I had my guitar teacher and college tutor explain it to me and show it to me I figured out I actually knew the theory (practically), I just didn't know that I knew the theory. So I'd say don't be afraid to ask for help when it comes to learning it, you may find out you already know it but just need it contextualised
This is the kind of video - and series - I've wanted for a long time. I can never really pin down my tastes in music, so knowing this advice could be taken so many ways and being encouraged to learn as much as possible really speaks to me. I can't wait to see where this series takes you!
This is helpful even though I've been making music for years. Thank you, Andrew! ❤️
I literally just started playing about with Ableton Live this week so this couldn’t have come at a better time!
Literally same
Same but Avid Pro Tools First.
I'm a little late to the comment section, but I'd love a video with the topic of "Music as a means to an end". I know for you that might be a painful subject to talk about, but the reality if you're a "content creator" or someone who needs music to accent something, is that you don't have all the time in the world to become a proficient musician because you're chasing other pursuits. So, "how to make music for youtube videos" would be a great topic for me personally. I know obviously there is some learning, but what's the biggest bang for the buck in terms of time investment?
I'm even later.
I'm even later later.
I'm even later later later.
I'm even later later later later
*I broke the chain.*
This is awesome, I never know what the best way is to learn producing
For sure firstly it's very much about identifying what it is that you want to create. Of course that might be a question you can't answer yet as someone who has just started, but it's regardless something I'd tell you to think about, at least on an intuitive basis. That sets out all the next steps that follow.
I started with pirated fl studio
SiriuS A good chunk of us have :)
Where can u download pirated fl studio?
at the bay of pirates
@@scout1404 Just download the trial, it has everything the normal FL Studio has. Only thing is you can't save your projects. Even then it is great for learning more about music production.
i started with lmms
Step 1: Buy My Singing Monsters: Composer
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Profit
Step 4: Now you can actually afford FL Studio
Step 5: buy it
Step 6: profit more
But why not just reaper
I couldn't agree more with the section about learning music theory, you wouldn't believe how much more you can do after learning it.
Thank you thank you THANK YOU. I’ve got the theory because I’ve studied classical music for years. It’s the tech knowledge I lack. This gives me the courage to jump into it.
This was ridiculously helpful, and really awesome to watch... But BABY ANDREW!!!!! ;V; Thank you for sharing that. That was really touching. ;v;
This was really informative and inspirational. Thanks for helping out the music community like this you really didnt have to make this vid but im really glad you did. Just worked multiple jobs to get a midi and DAW and i was starting to get disappointed and discouraged but i feel like i can find a starting point with this info. Thank you man
Thanks for this series! As a hobby composer I‘m looking forward to the next videos. It will be really interesting!
Faceless Music Diary found you...again ^_^ why do we have such similar interests?
Some very solid advice in here, a lot of stuff that I can actually verify from my own personal experience. I started out by just watching tutorials and following along in my DAW, along with listening and analyzing loads of my favorite music, even sometimes attempting "remakes". I haven't fully learned music theory yet even after 8 years of making music, but I'm getting there and I at least understand all the basic concepts. Still, even just knowing the basic concepts has helped me write better music. At the end of the day, the only way to get started doing something new is to start doing it. Some other advice I have from my own experience is to not get obsessed with the software you use when you're starting out. More specifically, don't go and buy/download a ton of plugins before you even understand how the basic tools work - and also don't go switching DAW's before you've mastered the one you started with. I learned the hard way that doing that really slows down the learning process and can hinder your creativity. So start with a limited toolset and learn those tools inside and out, learn how to get the absolute most out of them, before you go and start collecting a bunch of fancy software/gear.
thanks for taking the time to make this even though it's an impossible question!
Thank you SO MUCH for this video. It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for. You, my friend, are a lifesaver. 👍🎸🎵🎹🥁 🎤🤘🏻😎
okay songwriting : I'm talented
producing : I'll improve myself
voice : a zombie
Me
Songwritting: IM so bad that it actually hurts 😭😭😭😭
Producing: I guess im learning lmao
Voice:An ok voice I think
Songwriting: learnable skill
Producing: learnable skill
Singing voice: learnable skill
@@blackcitadel37 yes to all of those except singing
Some voices are just not for singing, and that doesn't need to be a sad thing
for people wondering about how to learn music theory, ill speak from my own experience:
i learnt knowing absolutely nothing, i didnt even think i would find it useful i was just curious. so i started by googling all these words i knew nothing about but heard a lot of, such as what are chords, difference between minor and major, how is a key made, what is an octave, and all those things. i would look through youtube videos, i would skip through articles and all that, and then i would test my learning by literally playing the simplest 3-note chords in an online virtual piano thing and then getting more and more advanced, finding new terms and concepts the deeper i searched, kinda following a trail.
"Spend as much time as you need on learning, and as much time as you can creating." Great advice. I'm trying to work out the best balance myself, it seems there's just so much to learn haha
Umm, Mr. Huang, you sounded bangin' 15 years back too.
That old Andrew answers your questions theme was great!
glad I wasn't the only one who noticed
I produce since 2013 now, I'm using Cubase and I make mostly electronic music like house and dubstep. Theory came very naturally for me, since I had very good music teachers in school, played piano and guitar before starting to produce and played in very different projects, like singing in a choir, playing in a cover band, playing in a big band etc. etc. etc. I was also always interested in the craft and technology behind it, learning that in parallel to everything. And now for a few years my focus has been on synths, software, hardware and modular. It's really been a journey for me, making stuff just to make it, not worrying about what anyone else thinks and just having a good time. There is no correct way.
Andrew, I'm 17 and am in love with making music, ecspecially with EDM. Progressive and tropical house. Any tips on how to make enough money to live off of it right out of highschool. I'm going to college, hopefully for something with carryover. My parents don't believe I will ever make it and want me to get a degree for a job I will hate. Any advice, I don't care to be rich, just live comfortably even after struggling for a year or two out of college
Never give up man, believe in urself
Just keep going man!! Share your spotify so I can listen!
keep going and don't be afraid to work for years before you find success
This is so amazing! Thank you so much Andrew❤️ I've started a music theory program almost as soon as you posted this vid!
One thing I’ve noticed is the more you learn music theory the easier it gets. I’m not an expert at all but I know most basics. It makes more sense the more you understand.
Dude, I can't tell you how helpful and encouraging you are to someone with zero musical knowledge. Your content is so clear and straight to the point, and you understand teaching from the student's perspective. Thank you so much.
The book Making Music by Dennis Desantis at Ableton is full of well organized, concrete suggestions for addressing challenges across the spectrum of music production; from starting to finishing.
It's broken up into just a page or so on each idea so it's really easy to read. Also, it's a beautifully manufactured hardback book (in case you care about that sort of thing).
I highly recommend.
Hey Andrew I'm a musician and have been for a couple decades plus some years lol but hey our music style is quite different but I want to say I'm really happy to have found your channel and subscribed. You are exstreamly helpful and very talented in what you do. And your advice is spot on. If people will listen to you they will learn so much more than they even realize at first. Keep up the good work and I look forward to watching more of your videos. Oh and its nice see that you aren't all about blowing up that ego. Stay humble and keep making that sound..
Peace!
The metal french horn player has earned you a like. I snorted. Nothing bad, but I actually laughed
Mr. Andrew sir........THE most valid and important (imho) thing you shared with this video is MANUALS-MANUALS-MANUALS !! I know everything is PDF now and you can find everything on UA-cam but seeing it in writing along with a visual representation helps to lock it into mind. Unfortunately, my vision is terrible because of an illness but I’m still making videos, still making music, and consider myself somewhat of an Ableton nerd 🤓. Producing music and trying to help others has saved my life. Literally. I was living in a homeless shelter 10 years ago. Being a learner has given me focus and direction. I have tried to show more personality and my more recent videos and try to think how Andrew would sound. I hope to inspire others as you have. Thank you
For me, understanding music production is my downfall, as I know nothing about it. Think I ought to look up some tutorials about that. I'm lucky enough to have a close friend who is excellent with music theory, so I just sk him any question I'm stuck on! Can't wait to get my creative juices flowing.
People don't seem to understand just like everything in life music takes time and effort. They don't always see the time spent in making music because most of the time you only get the end result. If you have to make everything yourself that's a lot to learn.
beginner: *** searching how to start making music ***
Andrew Huang: puts ableton push in the thumbnail
It's been 4 years of me steadily trying to understand music theory and Im finally at the point where I feel like the haed work it paying off. The moment you work out a problem using music theory from your own initiative is a really wonder moment
Andrew: It's extremely rare to have a complete non-sequitur between two sections in a song
*Bohemian Rhapsody has entered the chat*
There’s so many different paths into making music.For me it was garage band that came with my iPhone.Spent hours on it to learn the basics,then I built a computer and got to studio 20.Now doing the same thing.Within 4 months I know how to make tracks,and now learning how to master and mix(which I think is the hardest part.Its just jumping head first in a start from something simple,and what ever you’re doing learn how to improve it.Key factor is time and wanting to make music because you love it.I love certain edm with beautiful pads,give me the chills.I take that love and run with it.
What theory you need to know and use in the beginning?
Use notes in one key(but not always).
You may match selected tempo(sometimes).
That's all.
I find it very helpful when having two random chords with little to no relation to each other and then constructing a bridge between them experimenting with different methods. That's the beautiful thing about it. You may sometimes by accident (or by willfully ignoring rules) stumble about something interesting and then easily figure out how this works, why it works and how to expand on it.
INSPIRED
That clip at the end was really wholesome. Shows us that we all start somewhere.
Physically gagged when you said "reading the manual"
I like how he actually addresses his rambled answer and tried to give us a better answer, shows he’s human
Andrew bro you inspire me more an more with every video to create. Im on my journey with my music, with my channel, and I owe a lot of thanks to you. Appreciate u man!
SKYrise tru
OMG! Your baby video at the end!!! 😭😍 I have a photo of myself sitting at a piano with my dad when was about the same age. It only takes a moment for your life to feel inspired.
THE HARDEST THING ABOUT LEARNING ANY INSTRUMENT AD WELL AS MUSIC THEORY IS WHAT ORDER TI LEARN THE DIFFERENT CONCEPTS IN. on its own, each concept isn’t hard, but much like math or language, if you aren’t building a framework to connect each concept it is impossible to remember them each on their own.
i spent probably 8 years noodling on the guitar and learning songs and watching youtube videos about theory. it took me four years to be good enough to be able to feel comfortable telling people i play guitar but then i started getting some chops and understanding in. at some point around 8 years in, everything just clicked all at once and a my playing and understanding went to the next level.
would have been faster i think if i had taken lessons with a teacher. i really think it’s so important to learn in the right order. but i had a blast learning on my own and still get better every day. god i can’t imagine a life without music :)
Thanks Andrew, I love the engagement with your fans aspect of your channel so much!
The easy way to learn all of this stuff is simply enjoying the process.
If you dont enjoy the process then it will be really hard for you.
Music theory helps you put words on things you've been figuring out randomly without realising it was a whole field in music theory. Like I remember noticing on my guitar how the major and minor scales were the same scale with a different tonal center and thought it was interesting, years before even hearing about modes
Never forget that it's normal to make bad things, that's how you improve
i’m like you. i don’t like sitting through tutorials, i want to go through trial and error. i will get frustrated and want to quit, but i’ll get back at it and keep learning. if i need to know how to do something, or i’m stuck, i’ll look it up and most likely i will find the answer and get through it. i’m super interested in digital music making and i want to get into it, so this really helps me. thanks!
"OOOOOOOOOOOOH NOOOO" Welp, time to make that my alarm.
I have some tips on lyrics (I believe I’m pretty good on lyrics): Listen to your favorite songs, if you’re uncertain on lyrics then go on genius and look up the song for the lyrics, and see the commentary (most have commentary, some have commentary by the artist themself!) It has helped me
I’m in my second year pursuing my degree in music. Music theory tests my inner gangster every single day. But, I’m the end I know all of this’ll be beneficial.
Honestly, from personal experience and from helping my best friends get started making music, FL Studio is an EXTREMELY good way to start understanding and making music.
just buy all the most expensive gear you can find and you will be a pro i no time
That isnt true.
That's true, messi sucked in football until his dad bought him the best football boots
Yes
@@atletivideoshd2917 😂🤦🏻♀️
an inspiring reminder to all of us struggling to make the music stuff work. thanks, Andrew!
...don‘t miss 8:14
I paused it after 2-3 notes in cause I thought it was the death march song lol
hi:)
Faceless Music Diary z
Reeto hi Reeto! :D
Faceless Music Diary y
I've been waiting for this video for so long. Thank you Andrew
IS THAT YOU AS A BABY
Every skilled artist has a humble beginning.
On the quality thing. I had mad "creators block" about a year ago, and I found myself starting projects, getting frustrated and never going back. I was abandoning everything I started, and I started to feel this constant wave of disillusionment and contempt towards my music and productions. I stumbled upon this video called "7 habits of highly effective artists" and I could not tell you what any of the habits actually were, but the main point I got was (the guy was a visual artist) "just draw one line, every day." The idea being that once you've set up all your stuff, even if you're feeling drained or unmotivated, you were there, creating something, and 9 times out of 10, you'd find yourself "drawing" more than one line. And, even though I wasn't stoked on all my projects still, I just kept making music every day, whether it was just a melody, a beat or a whole score, it was every day. And because I was doing it every day, I started noticing how things fit together. I'd do something in one project and realise how that technique or idea could be applied to another, and I realised that through the process of perseverance and practice, I'd gotten over the "block." My creativity went up, the production quality went up, and I was excited to be doing art again. It doesn't always take innate talent and know how, sometimes it'll take time and grit, and you'll come out stronger and better for it.
This is entirely off-topic. Completely. But for some reason, seeing that clip at the end had the effect of making me cry?? I don't know, it was just such a real clip, somehow wholesome? I thought how proud your parents must be, and how it would've been to watch you grow. And I'm just now realizing that I'm uh.. ready for a kid/family??
💖💖
Thank you so much Huang. Feels like your advice is exactly what I needed at 4:40am.
Where was the 820 video!?
I am not one for "signs" but making music has been on my mind a LOT recently and this pops in my sub box, gives the needed motivation! Thanks!
everytime It's the same thing..
> I get inspired
> Then open FL Studio
> Create a pattern
> Try to add some instrument
> It all sounds like amateur garbage shit
> I close Fl Studio
I’m sorry this happens to you.How long have you been making music?
@@AaronRaglandTV Idk since summer but I've opened it maybe 20 times
Not that anyone will read this, but one thing ive heard in regard to learning, is not to forget the power of play. What i mean is that you should set a small daily amount of time to just goofing off and experimenting with no real end goal and no pressure on yourself to create something "good". Also go watch the "one thing" videos on Abletons website. lots of good stuff in there.
You DON'T need to learn music theory to make music. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. There are people who never learned music theory and are famous as a musician. That said, if you learn music theory it can help you understand things clearer but not all of us want to be technical about music. Some of us just use their ears and emotion or whatever "sounds good" as their only guide to make music. I, myself, took some music theory classes and it helped me but in the end who gives a sh*t if the end product sounds trash lol
So true!
So glad I stayed till the end there to watch that home video. Baby Andrew saying 'la shou' which means 'grab my hand' to play twinkle twinkle little star was everything!!