Time and again I hear new producers say, "I don't have time to work on music" or "I can't figure out this arrangement for this song I'm working on." and inevitably songs never get finished. When the producer without time to work on music has time, they often find themselves starting a new project, or opening up a project they've been working on and getting immediately stuck … [Read more...] about Three Strategies to Finish Music Faster
Production
A Little Known Ableton Live MIDI Feature
Have you ever been jamming out on your MIDI device inside of Ableton Live and nailed a really good riff but forgot to hit record? Maybe you were just playing around but actually wanted to capture the performance you just improvised. This little known MIDI feature within Ableton Live has got you covered. Capture MIDI Ableton Live is always capturing MIDI data on armed or … [Read more...] about A Little Known Ableton Live MIDI Feature
The Ultimate File System Structure for Music Producers
If the files and folders on your computer has projects dumped all into one main folder with filenames like "BigBeatTechMix19v10", with 2021 coming to an end, I implore you to give a new organizational system to your songs. This organizational system while it does require maintenance and upkeep, it helps you keep track of what projects are in what stages of production. Old … [Read more...] about The Ultimate File System Structure for Music Producers
3 Saturation & Distortion Plugins That Aren’t A Waste of Money
Music production has changed a lot since I first started writing beats in FL Studio 4 back in the very early 2000s. I didn't really know what a VST plugin was, nor could I afford them being 11 years old and all. Computing power has increased significantly the last two decades, and ingenuity in programming has lead to some really awesome sounds coming from some plugins. Let … [Read more...] about 3 Saturation & Distortion Plugins That Aren’t A Waste of Money
Using Main Return Tracks with Drum Rack Sends
Using Return tracks can be a great way to add cohesion and help glue sounds together in the mix. Instead of having individual reverbs and saturators on channels, using one instance to process all of your tracks can also help save on CPU utilization. What happens though if you want to use sends and returns on an instance of Ableton's default instrument, Drum Rack? Ableton's … [Read more...] about Using Main Return Tracks with Drum Rack Sends