Where to start with production?

Anything that doesn't fit into other topics goes here!
I really want to give music production an honest try, but I don't really know how to start. I've been looking at tutorials on how to use LMMS and I've even bought a midi keyboard to make things a bit easier. Even though I'm getting more familiar with LMMS, things still feel overwhelming. I don't really know what things I will and won't be using in the long run, so I'm just going through a playlist of tutorials explaining what everything does.

Does anyone have any tips for a beginner who is just starting? Like a set of fundamental things that I should learn before putting things together?

To give you an idea of the kind of music I'd like to make, some of the artist i want to emulate are: Madlib, Flying Lotus, Dabrye, Samiyam, and Tall Black Guy.
I personally have found that attempting to learn too many concepts, often tends to end with me overusing them, overmixing, and overall just weakening a track rather than making it stronger. I am still trying to get over this.
I'd recommend trying to remix the tune of tracks you like, and slowly getting used to getting things done. Don't try to learn fundamentals of mixing or mastering or what they mean too fast, else you shall tire yourself out doing that as you work, and end up with mixes that sound like khichdi. (think oatmeal porridge, or whatever, as far as texture is concerned. Or thick coagulated soup. Whatever.)
Where in drawing one might tell you to start with shapes and ideally figure out perspective near the start, with music you need to get the hang of the interface and proceed on your own time.

Musikbear on his channel bearsoundz has explained several minor concepts, which it may be fun to try and emulate. So has Ian Sannar.
I wouldn't recommend looking into mastering concepts just yet, and I'd still suggest being hesitant about using EQ until you're used to at least working with LMMS and putting sounds together. I've made both the mistakes, and still struggle with overmixing. Everybody does, but you can reduce the impact [:

For the artists you're trying to emulate, try seeing what differentiates them in their "vibes" from other artists, whether there are any specific unusual elements you notice about their music. (You may need to put on a headset, close your eyes, and focus.)
Maybe they have interesting usage of noise for risers. Maybe they place nostalgic arpeggios that sound like they were made of an old piano, on the far left side, or something absurd like that. (You'll pick up this terminology as you go along, looking at tutorials and messing around the interface.)

But the point is, the best way to learn to work with LMMS is to use LMMS. Everyone has a specific style and workflow that works best for them, and you want to find your own. So take my advice with a pinch of salt... (:

Me, I'd recommend: (Note: look up the terms and how to use them if you need help. Get back to us, we're glad to help. Make sure you are comfortable with the understanding of something if not usage, before moving forward. :)

Zero, be ready to pick up things which you don't expect to pick up. There are a lot of things I haven't listed out here because I can't think of them. And feel free to deviate, this is just my recommended guideline.

Starting to use presets first, for making tunes and basic tracks. Get very comfortable with this. Basics like volume, panning, usage of beat/bassline editor, etc. You may need documentation in the start, to know where to look for these options.

With this, basic volume balance: make sure the volume doesn't cross into the red region on the "FX-Mixer" main volume level display.
Then understand the EQ, and start synthesizing your own instruments and understanding the synth interface (bells are easy. Mix mode can be confusing, I still randomly click around). Understand that your tracks will sound different on different devices, and make sure what you're trying to make prominent is prominent. (LMMS has an excellent inbuilt parametric equalizer.)
Note: feel free to mess a little bit with synthesizing later. It can still be very confusing at this stage, and it was rather intimidating to me even then, so you could want to do it after figuring out how to, say, use reverb or something.
You might want to look into automation around this point. Try volume automation. Get comfortable with using it.

At this point or the next, you may want to look into effects that add "odd elements" to a mix, like distortion, echo, etc.

Then mixing like usage of EQ, reverb, panning to give depth to a mix, and what the knobs do. Also different components of a mix: bass, leads, arpeggios, percussion, chords, risers and other effects, vocals (I've probably missed out a few...). You can use as many or as few of these as you want. But sometimes it's nice to know what options you have and impose limitations on yourself, because they can actually increase your creativity within that.

Then you can, if you want, worry about compression and limiting, etc.


I think, one thing you'll learn eventually, by the time you're far too used to complexifying tracks as much as possible to stop, is that short is sweet and simplicity is key. Perhaps it would advantage you to keep this in mind from the start itself.

That being said. All the best with music!
Monospace wrote:
Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:16 am
I personally have found that attempting to learn too many concepts, often tends to end with me overusing them, overmixing, and overall just weakening a track rather than making it stronger. I am still trying to get over this.
I'd recommend trying to remix the tune of tracks you like, and slowly getting used to getting things done. Don't try to learn fundamentals of mixing or mastering or what they mean too fast, else you shall tire yourself out doing that as you work, and end up with mixes that sound like khichdi. (think oatmeal porridge, or whatever, as far as texture is concerned. Or thick coagulated soup. Whatever.)
Where in drawing one might tell you to start with shapes and ideally figure out perspective near the start, with music you need to get the hang of the interface and proceed on your own time.

Musikbear on his channel bearsoundz has explained several minor concepts, which it may be fun to try and emulate. So has Ian Sannar.
I wouldn't recommend looking into mastering concepts just yet, and I'd still suggest being hesitant about using EQ until you're used to at least working with LMMS and putting sounds together. I've made both the mistakes, and still struggle with overmixing. Everybody does, but you can reduce the impact [:

For the artists you're trying to emulate, try seeing what differentiates them in their "vibes" from other artists, whether there are any specific unusual elements you notice about their music. (You may need to put on a headset, close your eyes, and focus.)
Maybe they have interesting usage of noise for risers. Maybe they place nostalgic arpeggios that sound like they were made of an old piano, on the far left side, or something absurd like that. (You'll pick up this terminology as you go along, looking at tutorials and messing around the interface.)

But the point is, the best way to learn to work with LMMS is to use LMMS. Everyone has a specific style and workflow that works best for them, and you want to find your own. So take my advice with a pinch of salt... (:

Me, I'd recommend: (Note: look up the terms and how to use them if you need help. Get back to us, we're glad to help. Make sure you are comfortable with the understanding of something if not usage, before moving forward. :)

Zero, be ready to pick up things which you don't expect to pick up. There are a lot of things I haven't listed out here because I can't think of them. And feel free to deviate, this is just my recommended guideline.

Starting to use presets first, for making tunes and basic tracks. Get very comfortable with this. Basics like volume, panning, usage of beat/bassline editor, etc. You may need documentation in the start, to know where to look for these options.

With this, basic volume balance: make sure the volume doesn't cross into the red region on the "FX-Mixer" main volume level display.
Then understand the EQ, and start synthesizing your own instruments and understanding the synth interface (bells are easy. Mix mode can be confusing, I still randomly click around). Understand that your tracks will sound different on different devices, and make sure what you're trying to make prominent is prominent. (LMMS has an excellent inbuilt parametric equalizer.)
Note: feel free to mess a little bit with synthesizing later. It can still be very confusing at this stage, and it was rather intimidating to me even then, so you could want to do it after figuring out how to, say, use reverb or something.
You might want to look into automation around this point. Try volume automation. Get comfortable with using it.

At this point or the next, you may want to look into effects that add "odd elements" to a mix, like distortion, echo, etc.

Then mixing like usage of EQ, reverb, panning to give depth to a mix, and what the knobs do. Also different components of a mix: bass, leads, arpeggios, percussion, chords, risers and other effects, vocals (I've probably missed out a few...). You can use as many or as few of these as you want. But sometimes it's nice to know what options you have and impose limitations on yourself, because they can actually increase your creativity within that.

Then you can, if you want, worry about compression and limiting, etc.


I think, one thing you'll learn eventually, by the time you're far too used to complexifying tracks as much as possible to stop, is that short is sweet and simplicity is key. Perhaps it would advantage you to keep this in mind from the start itself.

That being said. All the best with music!
Thanks man, I really appreciate your help. I'm gonna start by trying produce remixes along with familiarizing myself with more of the terminology so that I can ask more specific questions later down the line. I'll definitely be referring back to your post as I feel my way around since there's so much to take in.

So far, I've learned how to navigate the interface pretty well, I just need to get a better idea of how certain things work. It's been fun and I'm excited to see were this goes.