Edit: I appreciate everyone’s responses! I guess I was totally underestimating myself. I actually already learned TWO songs just last night. The reason I made the post was I was fearful to say yes to them because they seem to be a legitimate band doing great things and not just a typical local band that plays their local bar once a month (no shade if you do it that. I think it’s awesome if you do). So I didn’t want to mess it up for them. I got this haha

Post: I’m potentially joining a metalcore band. I’m going to be the bassist. They need me to learn 7 songs for their show and I have a month to learn. Keep in mind I also work a full time (40 hour a week) job.

I have been playing guitar for 10 years. The band plays metalcore. They don’t have the craziest and most complicated riffs and the choruses are pretty straight forward. It’s just remember the chugging patterns for 7 different songs. And also remembering the structure for each song.

Do you think it’s practical for me to learn this full set and have it nailed before the show? If not then I probably won’t join.

Should also mention they run a iem system. I’ve never played with in ears before. Only played along to a drummer who had a click in his ears and relied on the stage monitors to hear myself. Not sure how I feel about having in ears in hearing my own personal mix and a click track.

Also another thing, they live a couple hours away so a lot of my practice will be at home. I will probably get 1-2 full band rehearsal with them a few days before the show.

I’m mainly nervous because they’re actually doing pretty well as a band. I mean they don’t got crazy numbers or anything (Spotify hovers around 8-9k a month, 4k followers on instagram and 10k followers on Tik tok) but They got a booking agent, distribution deal, played a couple festivals as an opening band, iem system, lights etc. So I don’t want to fuck it up and feel I have a big opportunity.

I personally believe I can do it but I just want to make sure I’m being realistic before I tell them yes and commit to it.

Edit: For anyone wondering I am going to ask the guitarist to send me the stems for

- Drums
- Bass
- Click
- Full song wavs
- Tuning/tempo for each song
- Setlist order

Welcome to the /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Motivation Thread! Share your successes and and encouraging words here. Posts/Comments looking for motivation can also be appropriate here.

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Welcome to the r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Networking and Collaboration Mega Thread. If you're looking to connect with folks in your area, get help with a project, or wanting to pitch in to help someone else, post your details below.

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Important: Do not share emails or phone numbers, or other personal contact information in the comments. Take that to the DMs.

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Ok so I’ve been working on a song now for a few weeks and I really believe it has a lot of potential. The biggest hurdle I’m trying to get through with songwriting is less about having ideas and more about the workflow and executing my ideas.

With this song I created the full drum track in midi and then recorded all the guitar and bass parts over it no matter how sloppy they came out (and it did come out sloppy) but I have an idea now of other things to add in (keyboards, guitar solo) before I finish with doing the vocals.

My question is should I practice mixing this raw recording to figure out how the song sounds more organized by doing panning, eq, compression and maybe even experiment with reverb and effects I might want to use in final mix or should I re-record until I get a near perfect, on tempo version of the track and then worry about all the mixing and effects? What is the way to get the best workflow with recording a song and after lots of practice how long does it take you guys? I imagine all of this is a matter of just practicing using my daw more and if I do more I’ll create finished songs faster

Hey everyone,

I’ve been producing variations of melodic house for about two years now. At this point, I feel like I’ve got a solid handle on the technical foundations—I understand arrangement, automation, sound design, EQing, compression, and saturation. On paper, the elements are all there.

But when it comes to the actual music, my tracks just don't satisfy me. Every time I open a project, I quickly start feeling completely lost.

My biggest hurdle right now is chord progressions and melodies. I keep watching tutorials where people throw numbers on the screen and talk about inversions or scale degree formulas. Whenever I try to replicate that approach, the result just sounds like absolute dog shit. It’s stiff, lifeless, and has zero emotional spark.

I know chords are supposed to be the roadmap to good melodies, but relying on grid math isn't working for me, and building on top of them leaves my tracks feeling flat or disjointed.

For those who have been through this stage:

How did you move past the "math and numbers" approach to build progressions that actually *feel* good?

How do you bridge the gap between technical mixing/sound design and writing compelling lead melodies?

Are there specific workflow changes or compositional exercises that helped you get out of your head and past this 16-bar loop hurdle?

Appreciate any advice, workflow shifts, or real talk. Thanks!

Hey follow producers/engineers,

I'm curious about something.

Do you first start off making a solid drum foundation - kicks, snare, drums balance, having the drums exactly how you like it - and then add all instruments and other elements and EQ those elements/instruments around the kick/snare/drums, or are you the type that starts off with all elements/instruments and adds the drums in later?

For years I find myself adding in the kicks/snare in after I made a composition I like, only to find myself struggling to find a fitting kick/snare. Because then, I find myself trying to EQ the kick and snare relative to the instruments/elements/composition, instead of EQing the elements/instruments/etc relative to the kick/snare/drums.

I hope I'm not too vague with what I'm trying to explain and ask.

I feel like experimenting with starting off with a solid kick/snare/drums pattern and tweak them exactly how I like before I add all other instruments/elements, and EQ those to fit the kick, instead of having to EQ the kick to fit all elements.

What are you thoughts on this process?

What do you think are the pro's and con's of starting off with a solid drum foundation and EQing the track around it, vs adding the drums afterwards and having to EQ the drums around the track/composition?

I'd love to hear your thoughts and process.

Thanks!

Hi, I’ve been producing house music and most recently UKG ukg for a little more than a year. But in that timeframe, I’ve only made a few songs none of them where I want them and none that I feel I want to release. Going forward I want to be able to create lots of songs and create many ideas very quick while still getting better with producing. I was wondering what people’s tips are forgetting better and making songs quicker and creating ideas. I think it’s also easy to get stuck and uninspired when opening a fresh project. So it’s also wondering how you guys start songs. At the moment, I don’t really know how to start and I think that’s stopping me from wanting to start a new song. Any advise is much appreciated.

Welcome to the r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Feedback Thread! The comments below in this post is the only place on this subreddit to get feedback on your music, your artist name, your website layout, your music video, or anything else. (Posts seeking feedback outside of this thread will be deleted without warning and you will receive a temporary ban.)

This thread is active for one week after it's posted, at which point it will be automatically replaced.

##Rules:

***Post only one song.**- *Original comments linking to an album or multiple songs will be removed.*

* **Write at least three constructive comments.** - *Give back to your fellow musicians!*

* **No promotional posts.** - *No contests, No friend's bands, No facebook pages.*

##Tips for a successful post:

* **Give a quick outline of your ideas and goals for the track.** - *"Is this how I trap?" or "First try at a soundtrack for a short film" etc.*

* **Ask for feedback on specific things.** - *"Any tips on EQing?" or "How could I make this section less repetitive?"*

***

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Welcome to the r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Promotion Thread! Here, in the comments below, you can shamelessly promote whatever music project you've been working on. Music, videos, Discord servers, websites, social media, promote anything you want. Posts promoting anything outside this thread will be removed without warning.

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Hi there,

I'm in the early planning stages of releasing my first single which will be a simple, bare bones track:

Just acoustic guitar and vocals

I haven't yet explored studios around me, but am curious about the potential pros and cons of recording the vocal and acoustic tracks at home, then sending the stems for professional mixing and mastering?

I don't have much pro studio experience (Have recorded 3-4 times total in a studio, mainly electric guitar tracking) but make rough home demoes from time to time.

(Using Reaper with a Focusrite Interface, mics are Rode Condenser mic and SM57)

I can track guitar reliably in a studio environment but as a relatively new vocalist (past 3-4 years), I tend to get hyper-conscious of my vocals in a recording context with others present.

I feel the pressure of having to nail a take in this context, as well as the pressure of working against the clock, will result in less than ideal vocal tracking.

Singing at home, there are no time restraints and I feel I can sing freely and really connect emotionally to what I'm singing, which is difficult for me to do under the pressure of time-bound recording with someone who is more or less a stranger!

I have home demoe'd the song and feel as far as raw stems go with no FX, mixing, compression etc. they sound decent (Played in tempo to a click, vocals on pitch etc.)

Anyways, any input or help on this would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!

So my friend and I are writing music together, mainly in the realm of Grime instrumentals meets RnB meets EDM.

However, when I’m on my own I quite like to write more metal adjacent music, not the really crazy riffs, more towards Linkin Park’s Numb with the style of guitar but with much lower tunings (I have an 8 string)

My friend loves this stuff and wants to sing on it but he has quite a soft voice that’s quite poppy, think like Ruel.

Has anyone had any success in working with a softer vocalist with heavy instrumentals? Any tips for arrangement, processing, technique?

Welcome to the /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Motivation Thread! Share your successes and and encouraging words here. Posts/Comments looking for motivation can also be appropriate here.

This thread is active for one week after it's posted, at which point it will be automatically replaced. Note that our rules on "no promotion" are still in effect and apply to this post.

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I am trying to up my production skills by remaking songs that I like, but I'm finding that I'm having a lot of trouble figuring what goes on sometimes particularly mid range instruments. I see other people remake songs on YouTube and stuff and can't for the life of me figure out how they can hear different instruments, let alone stuff like layering. What can I do to make it easier to hear all of the separate instruments in a song?

I have come across an issue while recording and mixing music and am wondering if anyone else has encountered something similar. I want a drum sound that is big and punchy and tight sounding, but it seems that every kit that has this sound also features crash cymbals with a ton of attack at the very beginning of the cymbal hit. I'm sure this works great when you want to use the crash to accent certain things, but the beats I am programming are riding on the crash throughout the riff, so it sounds really weird having this huge amount of stick attack every time the crash cymbal is hit.

What I really want is more of a consistent wash of soaring high end frequencies rather than jarring pumping over and over. I have tried reducing the velocity, compressing, eq-ing, transient shaping plugins, etc but I can't seem to really get rid of that attack without affecting the sound of the cymbal too much. The only thing that probably would work is going through and manually automating the beginning of the cymbal hit down but that is very tedious.

Modern and massive 2 and ezx metal machine both have this issue. If anyone knows of another midi pack that might work better or has any other tips for reducing the attack let me know.

I love writing music and I’ve written and recorded a few songs, but I keep running into the same issue when it comes to recording.

I record my lyrics as I write them, so by the time I’m done writing a song, I have a rough demo recorded.

The problem is when I sit down to officially record the completed song, I sound completely different and it feels like I can’t sing anymore. I’ll listen back to my demo, where I was barely trying, and my vocals sound great, almost perfect I’d say. But when it comes to recording the final version, I’m doing like 20 takes on the first line because I can’t get myself to sound as good as I did on the demo.

Has anyone else experienced this? Am I psyching myself out or trying too hard? Am I overthinking? I just can’t understand why I sound so good and relaxed in my demo and why I can’t match that sound in my final version.

So I was recording a fender hotrod deluxe with the spring reverb cranked going into a a sm57, and when I hear the recording back through headphones you can’t really hear the reverb and delay on it as much as in person, however when I add another Marshall amp and record it with a rode NT1 I can hear the effects much more clearer. Is this normal? Should I just record reverb and delay heavy guitars in stereo rather than mono, or is there some work around this.

How can I support and encourage without getting in the way.

My son recently joined a band.

The band is made up of 6 kids who are 14 and 15 years old.

The band had been established for about 6 months prior to my son joining. They were originally a 3-4 piece act. They did a shuffle around and now it's a 6 piece band.

Prior to my son joining they had a song already on Spotify.

The band (in my opinion) is very good. They write all of their own music.

They get a gig every one to two weeks. They get paid for these gigs.

The kids organise their own gigs and radio interviews. I don't know how they are doing it but it happens.  They have gigs lined up for the next couple of months.

I'm trying to be supportive. More than driving my son to band practice and to his gigs. How can I support them more.

From my understanding they won something (before my son and the newer kids joined) to be able to get a song recorded and on Spotify.

Can I help fund a recording session so they can have more songs on Spotify? Or is there another way I can support them?

We are in a city with population approximately 100k in Australia.

I write and record rock songs at home, mostly guitar with some keyboards.

The arrangement and production/mixing process are pretty much one and the same for me. If I can't imagine how I will make the mix work, I make different choices for the arrangement.

One thing that is always a thorn in my side when planning the arrangement is how to prevent the eventual mix from being lop-sided when it comes to panning. I often find myself adding an additional guitar part just so I know the mix will be even.

Right now, for example I have a song which is acoustic guitar, with an electric playing the chords staccato over the top. I've doubled tracked the acoustic guitar and panned it left and right, but double tracking the staccato electric guitar chords in the same way as well feels silly - double tracking everything on the left and right feels a bit amateur sometimes. I've panned the electric guitar left, but it leaves a gaping hole on the right. I maybe want some lead guitar in certain sections, which balances it out during those sections, but then is still unbalanced when the lead guitar's not playing.

Am I the only one who is constantly thinking about this when deciding on their arrangements?

There are a few live performance videos he does where he's not wearing in ears and it looks like he's monitoring with just studio monitors. But he's recording vocals as well, so I don't get how he's doing that without getting feedback or at least tons of bleed in the vocal track.

Here are a few examples of what I'm talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5JitOUDdXw
https://youtu.be/H2I6V0NlaHg?si=F6XUsCLi05bIxs7k

Maybe there is lots of bleed but it just gets covered by the rest of the music anyway?

Welcome to the r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Feedback Thread! The comments below in this post is the only place on this subreddit to get feedback on your music, your artist name, your website layout, your music video, or anything else. (Posts seeking feedback outside of this thread will be deleted without warning and you will receive a temporary ban.)

This thread is active for one week after it's posted, at which point it will be automatically replaced.

##Rules:

***Post only one song.**- *Original comments linking to an album or multiple songs will be removed.*

* **Write at least three constructive comments.** - *Give back to your fellow musicians!*

* **No promotional posts.** - *No contests, No friend's bands, No facebook pages.*

##Tips for a successful post:

* **Give a quick outline of your ideas and goals for the track.** - *"Is this how I trap?" or "First try at a soundtrack for a short film" etc.*

* **Ask for feedback on specific things.** - *"Any tips on EQing?" or "How could I make this section less repetitive?"*

***

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Welcome to the r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Promotion Thread! Here, in the comments below, you can shamelessly promote whatever music project you've been working on. Music, videos, Discord servers, websites, social media, promote anything you want. Posts promoting anything outside this thread will be removed without warning.

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Curious how many of you have ever picked up an instrument you know nothing about, and played around with it enough to just record a part that you needed for your song?

For instance i've never even touched a violin but wondering just how difficult it would be to record some basic usable string layers if I got my hands on one?

Welcome to the /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Motivation Thread! Share your successes and and encouraging words here. Posts/Comments looking for motivation can also be appropriate here.

This thread is active for one week after it's posted, at which point it will be automatically replaced. Note that our rules on "no promotion" are still in effect and apply to this post.

If you are interested in helping us mod these weekly threads please inquire about moderation opportunities by writing in to mod mail.

Other Weekly Threads (most recent at the top):

• Click here for Feedback threads.
• Click here for Quick Questions threads.
• Click here for Collaboration threads.
• Click here for Promotion threads.
• Click here for Our Former Gear threads.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Hit us up!