Creative Block: What It Is and How to Beat It

Creative block. Writer’s block. Mental block. Whatever you want to call it – it’s an issue that plagues producers all too often. But how do you deal with it? Today, I’ll dive into this common problem, and give you some strategies you can use to overcome it. Note: this blog post is an excerpt from […]

Are There ‘Best Practices’ in Electronic Music Production?

It’s 2000 and the new year has ticked over. You’re out with your friends, enjoying the early hours of the morning. “Ah well, time to go home,” you say to your buddies. “What? You can’t leave now!” your mate John replies. “Why not? It’s 2AM?” you ask. “We’re going all night, baby!” your other friend […]

Creativity: A Guide for Electronic Music Producers

Every producer wants to be more creative. It’s integral to what we do – making music. Easier said than done though, especially when life gets in the way. To be truly creative, we need to understand the essence of creativity, and how to use it to make us better producers. Let’s go. Note: this blog […]

Workflow: The Complete Guide for Music Producers

Workflow is the backbone of any good producer. You can’t come up with good music without it. Plus, you already have one, whether you like it or not. But what actually is it, and how do you optimize it? Let’s tackle workflow. Note: this blog post is an excerpt from my book, The Producer’s Guide […]

Sound Design Basics: Getting Started Using The 3 Rs

Sound Design - The 3 R's

Sound Design is what makes music production fun. It might be why you chose to pursue production rather than a traditional instrument. But when you start, it’s overwhelming and frustrating to learn. Sound design tutorials aren’t enough. In fact, when I started out, I literally spent hours aimlessly staring at my synth (Massive), trying to […]

Music Production Resources – The Ultimate List

When I started making music, the biggest challenge was finding good music production resources to improve my craft. I was subscribed to a few YouTube channels and had found a couple of blogs. But there was a lot missing, and I didn’t know where to find it. Do you know what I wish I had […]

The Importance of a Fader-Only Mix (And How to Do It)

When mixing, we often think of EQ, compression, reverb, delay, distortion; this plugin and that plugin, this technique and that technique. These are all important, particularly EQ and compression. They’re used to fix problems in the mix, and enhance it. But they’re useless if your mix isn’t balanced. It’s like adding delicious icing to a disgusting cake. You might cover […]

10 Music Production Experiments That Will Make You More Creative

[blockquote cite=”John Cleese” type=”center”]Creativity is not a talent; it’s a way of operating.[/blockquote] When you’ve been making music for several years, it’s easy to get stuck in a lull. You go through the motions, doing everything that you’ve always done the way you’ve always done it. This is fine, but it becomes boring. You start to lose the […]

50 Rut-Busting Workflow Tips (For Improved Productivity)

50 Workflow Tips

Us music producers tend to argue about a lot of things. Whether it be the topic of sound design versus presets, which DAW is the best, or that everyone should produce drum and bass because it’s the most difficult genre. We’ve heard it all. But there’s one thing most music producers will agree on, and that’s the […]

The Art of Subtractive Music Production

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Struggling to arrange your song? Subtractive music production is a great way to push past that initial loop stage (even though you normally start with a loop), and really get your arrangement down-packed. What is Subtractive Music Production? Subtractive music production is, in short, creation and elimination. The concept of it all is to let […]