I had one of those moments of mental clarity this morning and started thinking about how much gatekeeping there is in music production and the industry in general. I’ve been truly producing for over 10 years now, playing instruments of all kinds since I was about 4 and istg, I remember being a kid tryna figure out Logic Pro in 2012 because I was obsessed with LMFAO at the time when they were big in electro house and from that, I grew quite a lot, Like, A lot…
(And with growth comes uncomfortably adapting to new ways).

Now I’m completely self taught, and I’ve spent so much time trying to figure things out that I wish someone had just explained to me earlier, Not because anyone owed me jackshit, but because I didn’t understand why people act like sharing knowledge somehow takes away from their own success.

There’s so much stuff you can learn without buying expensive plugins or courses (no, this is not an Ad I promise), Resampling your own sounds, layering with a purpose instead of stacking 10 things on top of each other thinking “dayum this is nasty” when 9/10 times, it sounds like shit and you’re just ear fatigued, using parallel distortion to add character without destroying the original, using automation to make basic loops and samples feel alive, learning how to actually use your EQ instead of cutting random frequencies because someone on YouTube (or YouTube comments in 2023…..) said so.

Even something as simple as referencing tracks properly and matching their volume before comparing them can change how you approach mixing. Half the battle is understanding WHY something works instead of blindly copying settings. And I’m being deadass, some of the biggest lessons I’ve learned have had nothing to do with production. You can make great music and still struggle to get people to hear it which is where connections, marketing, consistency, money (it costs $ to make money stupidly enough), and knowing how to present yourself all play a part. And I’ve experienced that myself through releasing music, getting playlist placements and working on other people’s tracks.

Now to clarify, I am NOT saying everyone owes you their secrets, presets, project files or years of experience but there is a difference between protecting your own sound and deliberately making people feel like they need to pay someone or know the right person just to learn basic shit..

Within that, I’ve painfully spent years learning, experimenting, making mistakes and figuring things out on my own and I’m still learning now. But one thing I’ve come to appreciate is that sharing knowledge doesn’t make your own skills any less valuable, Seriously, it doesn’t.

If anything, the more people understand music production, the more room there is for everyone to push things forward and develop their own sound.
There’s no magic plugin, secret formula, shortcut, course or sample that’s going to replace actually putting the work in. Sometimes you just need someone to point you in the right direction so you can figure out the rest yourself and I wish someone would’ve told me that when I first started!

Anyways, if you’ve got any production techniques or lessons you’ve learned over the years that genuinely changed the way you make music, share them. It don’t matter if they seem obvious to you because someone else might’ve been struggling with that exact thing for years and YOU could be their way of light in a dark tunnel 💙.

We recreated the Lead sound from 'Mike Rush' by Beyond on our free Synth Primer.

This remake is specifically recreating the patch heard at this timestamp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSgvD7fiSlQ&start=140 .Other parts of the song may vary the sound or notes.

And here are the key ingredients:

Voices: Mono
Osc1: Wave (Pulse), Width (50%), Vol (100%)
Unison: Osc (All), Voice Count (2), Detune Range (4 Cents)
Reset All Osc On Phase On Note Start: No

Amp Env: Attack (0ms), Decay (250ms), Sustain (0%), Release (20ms)

Filter Type: Type (Low Pass), Cutoff (55%)
Filter Env: Amount (25%), Attack (0ms), Decay (240ms), Sustain (0%)

Chorus: Mix (50%), Rate (Slow)
Delay: Mix (25%), Feedback (50%), Time (1/4 Note)
Reverb: Mix (30%), Size (Medium)

Find the full recipe and download the presets: https://www.syntorial.com/preset-recipe/mike-rush-beyond-lead/

No idea how to even classify this into a genre. This is more of a hit and hope than anything. Really recommend this artist, amazing productions, particularly this album.

Hello there! Lately I've been trying experimenting with future garage in the style of Andy Leech / Michael FK / Victoriya etc.

I have some sorts of sounds figured out, but I can't get the vibe and the deep feeling they have on their songs

So I wanted to ask you guys. What things does sound this type of future garage how it sounds? Do you have any tutorial you know that is good? (I have searched, but I didnt find something like I want)

Any advice is welcome :)

Thanks in advance

Can anyone help me make some moves in the right direction towards finishing tracks? I'm getting a little older and the agressive high bpm rave music I used to listen to no longer fits my vibe. Starting to be interested by more chill melodic techno styles these days like Jon Hopkins, Four Tet. I'd like to be able to make more stuff like this but not sure where to start. Is remaking stuff the best way to get better or if you know any tips to get started? My brain likes good habits and routines and things rather than just getting lost and confused diving down rabbit holes if that makes sense. If anyone's got some great lessons from the other sides of those rabbit holes would be awesome to hear too thanks.

Edit. I'm coming back to producing after a long break and would like to get some wins in to build my confidence back up. Approx 4 years total experience.

Please post any and all [Feedback] or [Listen] type threads here. Any standalone threads that belong in this weekly post will be removed.

This thread is for works in progress only. It is not a place for self-promotion.

Rules:

1. Works in progress only. Do not post finished or released tracks. No links to Spotify, Bandcamp, SoundCloud profiles, or any other streaming/distribution platforms. Share a direct link to your track (e.g. an unlisted SoundCloud or YouTube link).
2. No self-promotion. Do not include links to your social media, artist pages, or any other promotional material in your post.
3. Make an effort to comment on other people's tracks. Others are much more likely to help you if you help them first.
4. Be specific when asking for feedback. Examples: "What do you think about this kick sample?" "How's the mix?" "The last measure feels a little off, any ideas?"
5. Be descriptive when giving feedback. Use timecodes to highlight specific moments.
6. Link to the feedback you've left in your top-level comment. This keeps the thread accountable and cooperative. Comments not following this format will be automatically removed.

Format your top-level comment like this:

Feedback for user1: [link]

Feedback for user2: [link]

Feedback for user3: [link]

Here's my track: [link],

I'm looking for feedback on x, y or z.

Hey there!

I've recently been thinking of creating an app that simplifies the mixing project by allowing the user to drop a reference and their stems get mixed towards that target (this wouldn't be some artificial intelligence slop, trained or generational, as a musician myself, I hate that stuff!).

Quick background check, I've been in the music production educational space for 5 years and I've noticed a lot of producers always struggle with one main thing, bridging the gap in sound between their tracks and the tracks they love.. That's almost always the "last 10%".

I know there's apps that claim to do that already, but they've got very complicated interfaces, you can still mess too much with the settings and they really don't get a, industry standard results.

I can develop software and I know the usual issues people meet in a mix and what are the usual gaps with reference tracks, so I want to give this a go.

I thought I'd post here first of all to get your thoughts on it, and also in case someone wants to connect, wanting to be part of the developing process as I'll need direct feedback and I'll probably need stems from real producers to test it and improve it (meaning changing its mixing rules, in all different scenarios etc.).

I don't have the big software houses budget so trying to build this from the bottom!

Hey all, ive been and on and off producer for 5 years giving it a solid crack and improving over the last 2. Ive been sending my dream label music for about 3 years with no reply, understandably they would recieve alot so cant respond to all, long story short I finally got a response over the weekend litteraly 2 hours after I sent in a Demo I was very happy with,

He had asked to make the DL available and queried me about where the vocal was from and do I have rights to use it

I responded and answered the questions including showing him the pack specifically stating royalty free etc,

Im wondering what is an appropriate time to follow up? Hes downloaded it so will he be reviewing further? Wanting to play it? i dont believe there is a huge A&R team but I know the label is No.1 in the genre and I love most If not all of their releases.

I know im kinda impatient and freaking out but any tips or someone who has experience would be much appreciated.

How can i make my vocal chops sound like Dion Timmer and Slushii's one?

Please post any and all [Feedback] or [Listen] type threads here. Any standalone threads that belong in this weekly post will be removed.

This thread is for works in progress only. It is not a place for self-promotion.

Rules:

1. Works in progress only. Do not post finished or released tracks. No links to Spotify, Bandcamp, SoundCloud profiles, or any other streaming/distribution platforms. Share a direct link to your track (e.g. an unlisted SoundCloud or YouTube link).
2. No self-promotion. Do not include links to your social media, artist pages, or any other promotional material in your post.
3. Make an effort to comment on other people's tracks. Others are much more likely to help you if you help them first.
4. Be specific when asking for feedback. Examples: "What do you think about this kick sample?" "How's the mix?" "The last measure feels a little off, any ideas?"
5. Be descriptive when giving feedback. Use timecodes to highlight specific moments.
6. Link to the feedback you've left in your top-level comment. This keeps the thread accountable and cooperative. Comments not following this format will be automatically removed.

Format your top-level comment like this:

Feedback for user1: [link]

Feedback for user2: [link]

Feedback for user3: [link]

Here's my track: [link],

I'm looking for feedback on x, y or z.

Edit: This is just how I type, none of it is AI ffs. Proper grammar still exists yk:(

I started producing music 12 years ago, and getting discovered genuinely felt more achievable back then. SoundCloud used to feel like a place where you could upload music, connect with people and slowly build an audience without having to become a full-time content creator.

Now, the scene feels oversaturated, and I don’t mean there are too many producers. I mean there’s too much focus on chasing fame, money and clout rather than actually caring about the craft.

Spotify’s catalog surpassed 100 million tracks in 2022, and now AI-generated music is adding another layer to an already crowded landscape. Meanwhile, independent artists are fighting algorithms, scammy promoters and endless pressure to produce content just to get a fraction of the attention they need.

I’ve spent hours making music and creating content only for it to get a palmful of views and likes before disappearing into the void.

Then you do it all over again, hoping something finally sticks.

Having connections and a supportive community can make a massive difference, but not everyone has that. Some of us are building everything from scratch while learning production, mixing, mastering and marketing on our own.

I’ve been doing this for 12 years because I genuinely love music. I’m not expecting anyone to hand me a fanbase, but it’s frustrating when marketing yourself seems to matter more than the music itself.

For those who’ve been producing for a decade or longer, have you noticed the same shift? I miss when discovering artists felt more organic, and you didn’t have to become an influencer just to get your music heard.

This recurring thread is where you may share or request services you have to offer to the edmproduction community. Post your programs and plugins, your mastering/teaching/coaching/artwork services, your website/tutorials, your preset/sample packs, your labels- anything but actual music itself.

Rules:

1. No posting music. No posting your soundcloud when you're looking for labels, no ghost production; nothing that constitutes you selling or sharing your own created tracks.
2. Spam will not be tolerated. Repeated postings for the same product/service in the same thread will not be allowed, but you are welcome to post again in newer threads.
3. Mark very clearly whether you're requesting or offering services, and if you're offering them, whether those services are paid or free.

As with the rest of the subreddit, final decisions over what constitutes an acceptable posting here will be at the sole discretion of the mods.

How do I replicate the sounds during the drop? (0:24 on the song). I’m very familiar with hip hop production, but have been trying to sound more like Jane Remover. I produce on Logic Pro.

​

I've been experimenting with pulsating 16th-note synth basslines and comparing two approaches. Sidechaining the bass to the kick or simply removing the first 16th note of every beat.

I've noticed that sidechain compression gives the bassline a smoother, more flowing, pumping feel. Removing the first 16th instead makes the transient of each remaining bass note much more noticeable.

I'm curious which approach others prefer, particularly for synthwave, chillwave and other atmospheric electronic music.

Do you tend to favour the smoother pumping effect of compression or the more pronounced note attacks of the second approach?

Hi all,

I've been diving into a lot of the old-school Skrillex growl recreations (this video is really cool if anyone else is interested). FM8's Talk-Wah is an important part of some of those sounds, and I'm trying to recreate that filter in Kilohearts's Filter Table plugin, just so I have it in a smaller more portable form, and so I can mess around with it more down the road

So far I've deduced that a saw wave in filter table does no filtering, so I figure I need to get the wave form of a saw wave filtered thru Talk Wah into Filter Table, but exactly how to go about it is eluding me a bit.

I think I could do it pretty easily if it was just a matter of making a wavetable for a synth, but getting the filter to emphasize all the right frequencies is a bit tricky. I've been either getting results that are either a bit high or a bit low, and a bit off in some small ways.

The documentation doesn't really get into how to make filter tables, it just describes what they do. If anyone has any tips or ideas on how to best get it to work, I'd love any input.

EDIT / UPDATE:

Almost immediately after posting this, I figured out something kind of close. I put a saw wave (from Serum) thru the Talk Wah, added a sweep on the Body control, and bounced that. I loaded that as a wavetable into Serum, tweaked it until the frame size was right, and then saved it and loaded it into filter table.

In Filter Table, it's pretty close. I have to bump the cutoff up, because at the default position it was emphasizing frequencies an octave lower than I wanted, but with the cutoff moved up it's getting close. There's still a bit missing from the high and the low end that I can't figure out, but it's enough that I can start playing with it in sound design.

I'd still love pointers from anyone who has experience playing with Filter Table (or any similar tools), but I think I got it close enough for me to start testing it in context. I'll update here if I find anything else significant.

Please post any and all [Feedback] or [Listen] type threads here. Any standalone threads that belong in this weekly post will be removed.

This thread is for works in progress only. It is not a place for self-promotion.

Rules:

1. Works in progress only. Do not post finished or released tracks. No links to Spotify, Bandcamp, SoundCloud profiles, or any other streaming/distribution platforms. Share a direct link to your track (e.g. an unlisted SoundCloud or YouTube link).
2. No self-promotion. Do not include links to your social media, artist pages, or any other promotional material in your post.
3. Make an effort to comment on other people's tracks. Others are much more likely to help you if you help them first.
4. Be specific when asking for feedback. Examples: "What do you think about this kick sample?" "How's the mix?" "The last measure feels a little off, any ideas?"
5. Be descriptive when giving feedback. Use timecodes to highlight specific moments.
6. Link to the feedback you've left in your top-level comment. This keeps the thread accountable and cooperative. Comments not following this format will be automatically removed.

Format your top-level comment like this:

Feedback for user1: [link]

Feedback for user2: [link]

Feedback for user3: [link]

Here's my track: [link],

I'm looking for feedback on x, y or z.

I’m trying to avoid the common trap of making an EDM production of a house track too washy while still getting those nice transitional and breakdown moments

How many (reverb/delay washes, noise washes, or washy pad/ride layers) do you usually place in a track you're producing, and in which sections?

Genre: House, by the way.

Thoughts? Right now, I’m just adding it after intro tension buildup around bar 32.

Hi all,

I'm writing this as a reaction to finding numerous answers to beginner questions suggesting something along the lines of "use multi-band compression" or "split high and low end" ...

This message is to all beginners (we've all been there, you get a bunch of tips, you still don't understand signals, you're confused what people are hearing in tutorials, but you don't, etc).

TLDR:

if ↓

neither of phase-shifting, group-delay, linear-phase, comb-filtering mean anything to you in the context of EQ/filter/multi-band/band-splitting

then ↓

stay away from multi-band processing for now. imagine it's something that's not yet invented.

More:

It's not obvious at first, but (most) EQs, filters, band-splitter not only change the frequencies of input signal, but also the phase of frequencies near the EQ/filter bands or crossover frequencies. Those (few) that don't change phase (linear phase EQ/filter/band-splitting) cause latency (i.e. your sound cannot be computed instantly, only a problem if you are playing live or jamming) and cause pre-ringing (some buildup of sound before transients that isn't there before).

If this wasn't yet accessible to you with current knowledge, know that using multi-band processing can damage your signal in many ways that are not an obvious part of what you're trying to achieve. Example, you use multi-band processing to split your bass into 2 or 3 bands and process them differently, next thing you know you got comb-filtering in crucial frequencies (a not so pleasant interference effect) or your transients got smeared.

Please share any anecdotes or lessons you learned the hard (or easy) way during your journey.

I myself used to split my processing through multi-bands thinking I was being meticulous while ignoring how every split is contributing to further damaging my signal chain. Same with steep EQ curves and DRY/WET knobs. Not knowing how filters work on time-domain was sponsoring my early comb-filtered hollow smeared mixes for years.

Please post any and all [Feedback] or [Listen] type threads here. Any standalone threads that belong in this weekly post will be removed.

This thread is for works in progress only. It is not a place for self-promotion.

Rules:

1. Works in progress only. Do not post finished or released tracks. No links to Spotify, Bandcamp, SoundCloud profiles, or any other streaming/distribution platforms. Share a direct link to your track (e.g. an unlisted SoundCloud or YouTube link).
2. No self-promotion. Do not include links to your social media, artist pages, or any other promotional material in your post.
3. Make an effort to comment on other people's tracks. Others are much more likely to help you if you help them first.
4. Be specific when asking for feedback. Examples: "What do you think about this kick sample?" "How's the mix?" "The last measure feels a little off, any ideas?"
5. Be descriptive when giving feedback. Use timecodes to highlight specific moments.
6. Link to the feedback you've left in your top-level comment. This keeps the thread accountable and cooperative. Comments not following this format will be automatically removed.

Format your top-level comment like this:

Feedback for user1: [link]

Feedback for user2: [link]

Feedback for user3: [link]

Here's my track: [link],

I'm looking for feedback on x, y or z.

as the title says. preferably something under $5, or free. any recs?

Please post any and all [Feedback] or [Listen] type threads here. Any standalone threads that belong in this weekly post will be removed.

This thread is for works in progress only. It is not a place for self-promotion.

Rules:

1. Works in progress only. Do not post finished or released tracks. No links to Spotify, Bandcamp, SoundCloud profiles, or any other streaming/distribution platforms. Share a direct link to your track (e.g. an unlisted SoundCloud or YouTube link).
2. No self-promotion. Do not include links to your social media, artist pages, or any other promotional material in your post.
3. Make an effort to comment on other people's tracks. Others are much more likely to help you if you help them first.
4. Be specific when asking for feedback. Examples: "What do you think about this kick sample?" "How's the mix?" "The last measure feels a little off, any ideas?"
5. Be descriptive when giving feedback. Use timecodes to highlight specific moments.
6. Link to the feedback you've left in your top-level comment. This keeps the thread accountable and cooperative. Comments not following this format will be automatically removed.

Format your top-level comment like this:

Feedback for user1: [link]

Feedback for user2: [link]

Feedback for user3: [link]

Here's my track: [link],

I'm looking for feedback on x, y or z.

I recently had an idea for a plugin where you can load samples into different frequency bands instead having to manually eq them.

Come to realise, this is quite simple to put together in any daw. All you need is a plugin that splits a sound into different bands, then you just mute the bands you don't need. Even better if you use an IIR filter, though technically you can use any filter and make your own splitter set up. That is unnecessary if you already have access to multiband splitters with IIR capability.

So say you're layering kicks. You want everything below 200 hz from one kick, and everything above 200 hz from the other. So you use two instances of your multiband splitter, load your kicks and just mute the bands you don't want.

The cool and useful thing about this is you can link the split point of the two plugins and mess around with it while you audition kicks.

For kicks at least, I've found it works very well. And other than initial set up, it definitely make the process of Frankensteining kicks together a lot simpler since frequency masking between the sounds is impossible and you're only getting the frequencies that you want from each sound.

I realise it is quite an extreme method and sometimes you want some overlap between sounds, but still something to mess around with that could turn 10 kicks into hundreds.

Hey r/edmproduction!

To celebrate the release of my new house project EP which dropped today I've got a free Sample Pack to share with you all fine people. 27 sounds including Basses, Chords, Kicks, Snares, Percs, & Top Loops.

If you like these sounds and want to check out my stuff you can find more here:

https://linktr.ee/smokinloud.wav