How to Improve Your Music Production Skills

Michael Elliott | Posted on June 10, 2022 |

Becoming a proficient music producer isn’t something that happens overnight. Many individuals have spent years getting to where their productions are as high quality as you hear on the radio. The rule of 10,000 hours tends to hold more weight when creating music than in many other industries. So, let’s take a look at how to improve your music production skills.

The music industry can be fascinating. One is never done learning. There’s always something you can get better at. Find a new way of creating or learning a new tool to help you in your productions. As a music producer, if you stop learning, it’s often the onsight of your downfall.

If you’re looking to make a career in music production or just doing this as a hobby, you need to look for opportunities to improve consistently. A simple rule falls in the production community: “the better your productions, the more work you receive.”

The purpose of this blog is not to teach you to produce music. Hopefully, you already have a start. I want t to share with you a few ways you can improve on the skills you currently have.

So, let’s get into it. Here are six ways to improve your skills as a music producer in today’s industry.

Understand The Theory

Before you click off this blog because music theory is the most unflattering part of creating, give me a minute. I’m not saying you must be classically trained on piano and understand every inversion, scale and key signature. If you enjoy learning about theory, then by all means, go for it. You’ll find it’s much easier to write anything when you understand the rules.

However, a basic music theory understanding of how notes become scales, the popular scales, triad chords and what turns makes them minor and major will put you significantly ahead of where you currently are.

You’ll find yourself coming up with chord progressions and melody structures much easier and spending more time on actually producing. If you don’t want to take lessons in the traditional sense, plenty of free online resources will give you the information you need.

Don’t Stop Being A Fan

Think about what made you want to produce music. The answer is probably that you love music and are interested in listening to music for the rest of your life.

A great way to become a better producer is to listen to as much music as possible, not tutorials online on making music, but the body of work itself. You need to find music that is different from what you are currently listening to. This is why so many producers back in the day went digging for vinyl. They never knew what they were going to get.

Exposing yourself to new sounds, interpretations and melodies will get the creative juices flowing. Discovering what you don’t like and why you don’t like it is also vital when developing your sound and skills. Don’t be afraid to find bad music. It’s a road map to your sound.

Is It Your Speakers?

You would be surprised how many producers don’t like their work because it sounds bad, when in fact, a simple readjustment of their studio monitors or listening positions makes a world a difference.

Speaker placement is essential. It doesn’t matter how much money you spend on your monitors, if placed incorrectly, they won’t sound good.

You don’t want them against the walls. Keep them as far from the back wall of your desk as possible. Center your seating position at your desk and place the right and left speak an equal distance from your head at ear level.

In a perfect world, you want to create an equal lateral triangle between your head and both speakers. Taking the time to do this will usually yield favorable results you didn’t realize were possible.

Synthesis

This comes up in every producer’s career at some point. Synthesis is the art of creating sound using synthesizers.

Sure, when you open your favorite plugin, there are many presets available, and you can buy preset packs. But what if you hear something in your head differently. You’ll be significantly more creative and fulfilled by understanding how to use synthesizers to build the sounds you envision.

A great synthesizer to start with would be Sylenth 1 or Serum. Both have a relatively easy-to-use interface and are used by producers worldwide. By understanding how effects work, you can shape these sounds in any way you can imagine to get the results you’re looking for.

Please note that this is a long process. It took me about two years to fully understand how additive, subtractive, FM and wavetable synthesizers work, but it was worth it. If you invest the time now, your life will be significantly easier down the road.

Say Goodbye To Rules

Don’t sit down at your producing station and think, I’m going to make this type of song. It’s forced and not organic.

Try sitting down, thinking about your day, and how you feel. Just experiment with the sounds. Get lost and make something that seems cool to you, something that you would like to listen to. Making music to fit within a specific box is inorganic and rarely as captivating as a song created from an accident.

Go with your gut, not the charts. Get lost in your equipment and the music production process. Learn how it works and how far you can push it. These are the things that help producers improve.

Why Are You Doing This?

When we think of musicians, other than our peers that make music, the most popular artists in the world typically come to mind. If you simply go into the industry for monetary purposes, things may not go as smoothly as you’d like.

You need to produce music because it’s what you have to do, what you want to do and what you love to do.

Money should not be your primary goal. Once a fan base is established, monetizing your music, merchandise, and overall existence becomes much easier. However, the first goal should always be to make music, simply to make music.