What do you do if you want to master audio production skills?

Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen.

If you're really starting from scratch, learn the basics (there's plenty of free information out there) and start playing with free software like Audacity. LEARN TO LISTEN critically. It's probably worth investing in good headphones and speakers. I have Beyerdynamic DT-150 headphones and a pair of Yamaha HS7 speakers which are amazing to get started. Start cheap(er) for the rest and upgrade when you need to

1) Check your ego at the door, 2) Immerse yourself in professional production environments with top tier talent, & 3) Never be complacent.

I think of "produce" as having at least some connection to content, not just engineering. So... Produce to what seizes the ear, not what simply nails technical specs. The world is full of technically unexceptional audio that trounces many pieces of perfectly-engineered content in terms of magnetism. If you can seize ears while also delivering 24-bit 96kHz Dolby Atmos free of heavy-handed companders, great. But seize ears first. And do everything you can to make the talent/subject unaware of the recording gear and process. "Record Light Awareness" is toxic.

Sometimes you gotta fart, hard. Like REALLY HARD. Like my dad always said, go to linkedin for education or else you're wasting your time. I'm so thankful for these chat GPT prompts Linkedin keeps pushing me to answer

It's important to budget out your audio purchases because things can get expensive quick based on what you need. If you're thinking about buying software, then there are a lot of top-notch audio plugins that cost a pretty penny but there are equally good free alternatives.

All investments in gear should have a purpose. If you're gonna spend thousands on gear, please use it LOL. Whether a drum sound pack, a MOOG synth, or a nice microphone, etc, every piece of gear should have a purpose. They all will inspire you even more when you know what they are capable of.

One thing I have found helpful. Is to study. YouTube have plenty information.. With a specific daw you are using. Also the plug-in you are using to master a track.

For several years I trained software for TV news and practicing daily is THE most important thing if you're learning any new technology. Start by finding some sort of side project (not necessarily something you're going to air) to work on when it comes to learning new software. In addition to the 2, 3 or more different things you use daily slowly work in the new product/skills you're trying to master and then it just turns into your regular routine.

Alongside this, practise and experiment with your recording. The better your source audio, the better your end result will be. Learn about microphone placement, techniques use by vocalists and voice artists, setting levels, dealing with local acoustics and background sound, etc etc

Don’t let production get in the way of inspiration. I’m not a great mixing engineer, and I stress about that—but I try to let that go as much as I can. Creative value always holds more weight than production value. Both are important, yes, I’m constantly buying more plugins, more gear, but one thing I’ve realized is that if I’m not careful that stuff can distract me from what matters most: authenticity and connection with my audience. Some of my favorite songs have objectively bad recording quality, mixing, etc. but the songwriting is gorgeous so it doesn’t bother me. We live in culture where we obsess about perfection. But most consumers today will take authenticity over perfection any day.

Practice is important and I found that giving my self faux assignments helped me level up. An example would be, I would make up a client such as a indie rock band that wants me to produce a single for them and they need it in 1 week. After making the track i would send out to a peer for crituqee.If I completed the deadline and had good feedback I would treat my self to somwthing like a ice cream sundae.

Practice makes perfect. Ideally practice daily, attend classes if you have the means , and when all else fails get onto YouTube and learn, take notes and try to put what you've just learned into practice

I started recording on a Polaris 4 track cassette deck in the mid 80's. I still own it. This was a good place to start. I was convinced that I could create recordings of my original music that would help me move forward. Trial & error was a lot of my experience. Hundreds of thousands of hours no exaggeration. I never let the failures stop me from moving forward. Soon one of my best home recordings is on a jukebox in a popular bar in Lake Placid, NY. As I continued to release recordings I used other pro studios and I asked questions and watched the process attentively. I picked up the editing techniques along with some other studio tricks. Be willing to learn. I continue to listen and learn to this day! Be brave and try different things.

One of the best practices I've adapted is to compare your production to similar artists, but the best artists in that genre. See how your work measures up to people who are on the charts, and see what you can pick from it. Another good thing is to send music/instrumentals to other people that write/produce to get fresh ears. The more feedback, the better you can think how people perceive what you've made; not just how great you think it might be.

To effectively seek feedback and utilize it for enhancing your audio production skills, consider the following practical tips: 1. Choose the Right Platforms for Feedback 2. Present Your Work Properly 3. Engage Actively 4. Analyze and Apply Feedback 5. Build Relationships 6. Document Feedback 7. Participate in Workshops and Classes 8. Use Feedback Tools 9. Seek Professional Critiques PS: Hire a Coach: If possible, consider hiring a professional audio production coach for personalized feedback. This can be especially useful for advanced producers looking to refine specific skills.

99% of audio professionals who have already achieved what you aspire to have overcome the same challenges you are currently facing. And 99% of them would not have achieved half of what they did if they hadn't sought advice themselves. In my experience, the vast majority of people in the audio industry are very down-to-earth and ready to lend a hand whenever possible. So don't be shy and ask!

Listen to what others who you admire are doing to get the sounds you like. Make sure to use your best gear, but that does not always the most expensive one. Search outside of your common bank of knowledge, seek new perspective on sound.

Use your ears… learn to trust your listening. ????♂? Search outside of your common bank of knowledge, seek new perspective on sound.

Mastering is the last phase in music production. These are the tracks that will be published and heard by listeners, therefore, it is one of the most important steps. Once the audio tracks have been edited and we have achieved the desired sound, it is time to master them. Some points to keep in mind: - We must ensure that all tracks have the same sound level so that the sound is homogeneous in all our work. - Correct those small errors that passed the editing stage. - Save our tracks with the best possible quality, since all copies will be made from our mastering. In just a few steps we can make our Master copy sound incredible.

Sticking to only one discipline can be so limiting to your journey as an audio professional. Foley, sound design, music composition, and many other audio facets are intertwined and can strengthen the quality of your work if you have the skills to combine them.

Learn from online tutorials and courses.There are many online resources available that can help you improve your audio production skills, such as YouTube tutorials, online courses, and webinars. Take advantage of these resources to gain knowledge and stay up to date on the latest techniques and trends in audio production.

Work with artists, audio engineers and editors whenever possible to understand their approaches and how you might be able to facilitate them better. Actively seek out their workflows and how you could improve yours.

Make sure to always and forever fart with your friends. whether that friend is a director or CD doesn't matter; for farts are the song of our people.

The first thing I would learn is what is sound, what are frequencies, identify them, how do you manipulate them with eq. Once you know that, learn about the tools used for processing sound. Learn about DAWs (Digital Audio Workstation), learn about processing F/Xs, reverb, delay, chorus, and again EQ. Learn how to equalize instruments and use reverb in order to place them in space so your mixes make sense. Then, start mixing simple songs with very few instruments. Listen to your mixes in different types of speakers. But, most importantly, watch other people doing it. This is very important. These days, it’s very easy to find resources to do that. If you can afford it, find a mentor.

Collaboration brings more value to both you and the community you're involved in. As an engineer and a producer who works out of a studio, I'm often giving and gaining more knowledge, as well as improving my own skills by collaborating with others around me. Most of the time, collaboration allows you to focus on not just your strengths, but your weaknesses as well. From those experiences, everyone empowers each other as well as apply the information shared within their fellow peers

-Ask plenty of questions, whether they be small or larger details about the workflow, techniques or good practice -Show what level you're at with your audio skills, and be willing to accept feedback. If you look up to the person you're listening to, you should be willing to absorb honest feedback on your work and skills. This allows for space to learn and improve your craft.

Imposter syndrome: I remember a distinct experience of sitting in my first music theory class, and the guy next to me had perfect pitch. Like he was actually calling out notes and chords as the professor played them on the piano. I never saw that guy again the whole semester, because he stopped coming to class haha. The stuff was so easy for him, and most of my other classmates, and here I was struggling to understand the most basic concepts. Anyway, the point here is I wish I would’ve spent less time comparing myself to others. I’ve had a great career so far, I’ve won some awards, worked on some really cool projects. If I’d quit just because I struggle at music theory when others picked it up naturally, it would’ve been a huge mistake.

Listen to the same song from different POV. As a musician, as an arranger, as an engineer and as a producer. Different details can come up when you change the POV, but it’s important to take notes about the differences between genres. You may hear that in Reggae they use a lot of compression in the drums, but in a specific song. That means that the engineer took a different road when mixing it. As a musician you may hear unexpected instruments like a Banjo in EDM to give it a new sound. And as a producer you may hear that the recording has several layers of keyboards or vocals to make it wider and fuller. All those tips can be implemented in your song, but as always, first listen from others!

Since the field of audio production is constantly evolving, it is highly recommended that you stay updated with the latest trends, technologies, and techniques. Mastering audio production requires consistent practice. Take notes on the work of others that inspire you, and remain curious and open to new ideas, without worrying much about making mistakes along the way. Experimenting is the key in refining your skills.

I think to improve your skills in production audio you should make the same steps you do with other skills. First —?observation. You should listen a lot and analyze what you like and why f.e. Serial is great show. Second, find a good book. There're a lot of literature for the beginners. Third, practice. Practice a lot. Finally, just love the process. Imagine you're Kanye West or Pharrell (name who you like) when you doing your audio show or music. If there's no satisfaction during the routine time, it'll be difficult to produce good stuff.

Learn to reference. Find the genre you're mixing, listen to s Spotify playlist of the top songs in said genre. Note the balance, the tone, how the bass and kick relate, where the vocals sit etc. Then when mixing your song, reference constantly the songs that are close to the same vein. This will help you craft a competitive mix. Imagine if your song made it on one of those playlists, would it compete and sound like it fits, or would it be skipped since it was off the mark. Have fun!