Learn Music Production online – Learning music production today can feel overwhelming. You are faced with countless choices: which Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) to use, what tutorials to watch, and how to create a song that doesn’t sound like “Amateur music”. Many new producers fall into a trap of believing that the key to sounding like their favorite artists, is to simply open a bunch of synths and slap on as many plugins as possible. But this approach is like trying to build a house without a blueprint.
Drawing on years of experience and having mentored over hundreds of students at We Are Sushi Music, here is a six-step framework to help you learn music production and level up faster than ever before.
Learn Music Production – Step 1: Change Your Mindset
Before you touch a single knob or slider, you need the right mindset. The wrong mental approach can accelerate frustration and slow your progress to a crawl. The right approach to learn music production will accelerate your learning.
Patience Over Shortcuts
You may watch a tutorial to learn music production and completely understand the concept, but when you try it in your own song, it just doesn’t work. The reason is simple; your brain understands the concept quickly, but your ears need practice, time, and repetition to learn it. Music production has no shortcuts, and the sooner you accept this, the easier it will be to enjoy the ride.
Emotion First, Technicalities Second
For a long time, i have thought mastering sound design was the key to becoming a better producer. But soon i realised that songs are more than just sound design. Your job as a producer is to be a storyteller and learn music production deeply. If your music doesn’t make people feel something, the technical details don’t matter.
Think Like a Listener
While you’re a producer, you should think like a listener. Consider the environment where your music will be heard, whether it’s a long car ride or a nightclub. The listener isn’t going to be impressed by your multi-band compression or Saturation. They care about the emotional connection, the right transitions, the perfect melody, and the groove of the drums. Remember, your listener isn’t impressed by how you made the song.
Visualise Your “Why”
Music production is a challenging journey, and it is easy to give up without a strong reason for doing it. Your “why” can be anything from wanting to share music with friends to playing at festivals or helping other producers. Your reasons will and should evolve, but it’s crucial to have them and know what you are aiming for.
“Now, with all this technology, everybody can make music.”
– Scott Storch
Learn Music Production – Step 2: Master Your Tools (The Correct Way)
Choosing Your DAW to learn music production
Beginners often get stuck wondering which DAW to choose. The honest answer? It doesn’t matter. They all work. The most important thing is to pick one and stick with it. Don’t jump around; learn music production software like an instrument. You must learn the software before you can make music in it. Thanks to YouTube and online courses, learning the basics of a DAW can be done in just a couple of weeks.
Why Stock Plugins Are Your Best Friend
As a beginner, you should focus on mastering your stock tools like EQ, compression, synths, and spatial effects. Learning these core concepts first will provide the foundation to understand the value of more advanced tools later. All the advanced plugins are just the combination of eq, compressor, saturation and time effects combined. Learn the basics and it will improve your understanding of advanced plugins and their usage. If you do not understand basic parametric EQ you will not be able to utilise Pultec EQ efficiently.
Learn Music Production – Step 3: Focus on the Core Pillars of Production
Instead of getting lost in thousands of presets or endless sample packs, focus on these five core pillars to learn music production.
Pillar 1: Songwriting
We are making songs, after all. If you didn’t grow up playing an instrument, it is important to learn the basics of music theory. Understand how to write a song in a specific key and scale and how to build chords within that framework.
Pillar 2: Arrangement
This is where most beginners struggle. It’s easy to create a 15-second loop, but keeping it fresh for three to four minutes is difficult. A great strategy is to study the songs you already like. Drag them into your DAW and analyse how they use tension and release, and how they structure their energy. Try to recreate that beat and chord progression to understand what was going on in the original composer’s mind while composing the song.
Pillar 3: Sound Selection
Great producers don’t fix bad sounds; they start with great ones. When layering synth sounds, choose sounds with different characteristics like frequency or stereo space to avoid masking. Don’t be afraid to use drum loops, especially as a beginner. They can teach you the patterns, rhythms, and layering needed for your genre. Use drum loops at start and when you get the chord progression and melody sounding perfect change the beat to your linking.
Pillar 4: Mixing Basics
Focus on the basics, because “being advanced means you’re really good at the basics”. Your most powerful tool is volume. Make important sounds louder and less important sounds quieter. After getting your volume levels right, then move on to EQ, compression, and spatial effects.
Mixing is as simple as difficult it seems at beginning. Stick to the basics to learn music production fast.
Pillar 5: Automation
Automation creates change over time and brings emotion to otherwise monotonic sounds. Use it on filters, volume, reverbs, and delays to create tension, release, and keep the listener engaged from start to finish. A simple low cut or high cut filter automation does wonders.
Learn Music Production – Step 4: Finish Your Music ideas into Full Songs
I remember my early days in music production where i only knew how to create a 4 bar hook. This is like going to the gym and only doing cardio; you’ll have a good stamina however the muscle growth will be minimal. You get good at what you practice. By finishing a song, you force yourself to get better at all the little things that go into it. Finishing songs is the full-body workout that develops every muscle of your production skills.
Finishing songs is crucial for improving your skills, developing a good workflow, gaining recognition, and avoiding wasted effort on unfinished song ideas. Completing songs allows you to practice the entire music production process creatively, including crucial steps like Music theory sound design, arrangement, mixing and mastering, rather than just starting the musical ideas. It also provides actual work to build a portfolio and get recognition, helping you establish yourself as a music creator in the community and industry.
Learn Music Production – Step 5: Connect and Collaborate
Music production can be a lonely journey. Finding other like-minded people is crucial to your success and musical journey.
Become Part of the Scene
Get out from behind your computer. Go to live events, connect with local musicians and artists, and support them. Don’t be shy; most people in the scene are introverts, just like you. Prioritise building strong relationships with people, as these connections are the most valuable assets you will ever acquire.
Join a Community
Look for a program or community that offers real feedback, mentorship, and accountability. It gives your musical idea a new realm and sometimes it is a perfect fix to the Artist’s block where one experiences a lack of inspiration or motivation, or struggles to translate ideas into a finished piece.
Find a Mentor
A mentor is a “cheat code” to improvement. They are years ahead of you and can help you fix your specific problems. They can help you avoid the beginner issues and traps one generally gets into without any guidance. It only increases frustration and false assumptions that you can not do it.
Collaborate with Others
Work with other producers or singer-songwriters. You will learn a tremendous amount by seeing how others approach the creative process. There’s no one right way to do things. Studying the songwriting process of others can expose you to creative methods you’d never consider on your own.
Learn Music Production – Step 6: Build Your Artist Value
Create a Personal Brand It’s never been easier to reach a worldwide audience with social media. Make music, document your process, and share your journey. People will follow you and your progress. Build fanbase by making people feel connected to your journey.
Learn Complimentary Skills Expand your skill set beyond the DAW. Learn content creation, video editing, Digital marketing or how to publish your songs. The more you can do, the more opportunities will open up for you. You will have to be a ‘One man Army’ till you find your A-Team.
Be a Professional Even when you’re just starting, carry yourself in a professional manner. Be reliable, easy to work with, and hit your deadlines. While music is important, your attitude is one of the easiest things you can control and is a major deciding factor in whether people want to work with you. Trust me, I have seen less skilled people get more work than the super talented ones, simply because they are easy to work with and flexible in their approach
Conclusion
Learning music production is not about using too many plugins. It’s about having the right mindset, practicing consistently, and mastering the basics. When you focus on audio engineering, finish your songs, and work with other artists, you grow faster and build real value as a creator. At We Are Sushi Music, our music production courses and mentorship programs help you learn music production the right way and turn your passion into professional sound.
Feeling stuck with your music production?
Check out www.wearesushimusic.com – we are here to help you move forward. Learn Music Production from us.
