Becoming a production guru

[ezdrummer49]

I'm an aspiring pop singer/songwriter who has used pro tools for 10 years. My goal is to produce my songs as quickly as I write them, churning out songs that sound as though they wre produced in a million dollar studio, beautifully mixed and mastered.

Unfortunately, after years of experimenting and watching instructional videos, my songs still sound like they were made by a beginner. My question is how to get that good.

Having just graduated college, I have a job in NYC with long hours so I can't commit to multi-week course or anything, at the moment. Though I can commit my weekends.

Any suggestions would be appreciated enormously. Many thanks!

[albee1952]

Watch lots of youtube videos. Maybe join pro-tools-expert.com to access their videos(which are generally better than many of the youtube freebies). Pick some artists in your genre and really listen to the ORIGINAL CD tracks(do NOT use mp3's as your benchmark). Once you learn to recognize what is different about your stuff, as compared to your favs, THEN you can start to learn HOW to make your product better. Of course, "better" can have lots of meanings, including:
better songs(a great recording of crap is still crap)
better performance(see above)
better recording quality(a good sounding room and accurate monitoring matter)
better mixing choices(knowing AND hearing the difference)
better mastering(if you DIY)(see better mixing)
......etc
This isn't something you learn over night, or learn from a book. It takes a lot of dedication. Dive in and dig deep

[zedhed]

Learning Pro Tools is one thing, Learning Audio Engineering is another.

IMHO, many people put the cart before the horse by focusing on Pro Tools first with little to no knowledge of even the fundamentals of AE.

Put effort into learning (at the very least the basics) Audio Engineering first. Learning any program will then be easier and more importantly, most productive.

Being a musician as well is of course a whole other level. To get good at anything takes time patience and commitment (some would say obsession). If you want to be the best, times that amount by 10!

Remember: In a professional environment, the fun hasn't begun, before the work's been done.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by ezdrummer49

My goal is to produce my songs as quickly as I write them, churning out songs that sound as though they wre produced in a million dollar studio, beautifully mixed and mastered.

Wouldn't we all like it if it was so easy :) The hardest part of the million dollar studio is that there are so many toys to play around you really need to know which one to pick...

[GregV]

I am SO in agreement with zedhed!
There are many computer "tricks" that I don't know... BUT I grew up recording and mixing on a 4-track reel to reel. I did live sound professionally. Those skills cannot be replaced with plug ins and "how to" videos.
Please don't misunderstand me... In no way do I suggest that I am some incredibly skilled engineering marvel! Far from it.
But 97.4% of the time people have trouble with their mixes it's because they just have no idea about the basics of engineering. (You can quote me on that statistic by the way! Ha Ha)

Each instrument requires it's own frequency range. Can you sing 400Hz? Do you know what 2.5kHz sounds like?
I suggest what my esteemed colleagues suggest... But also, read about how people used to compensate for the need to "bounce down" tracks. Volunteer at your local bar to do sound for bands on the weekend. Where did that feedback come from? And why? What frequency is it? How do you kill it without sucking the life out of everything else?
This is all critically important to creating harmonious mixes.
I hope that helps

[sw rec]

My first thought would be, why "as quickly as possible?" I've cranked out a song in an afternoon to be sure (okay, it was a sound-alike jingle) but I've also had a song, start to finish, take a couple of WEEKS, just from paying attention to the smallest of details. IMHO, this isn't the sort of business that rewards "slam-dunk, done is better than good" work. Take your time, be picky, even about the little stuff. And NEVER stop learning.