If you’ve been working gigs in your area for a while and have always wanted to make it big in the industry, there’s a strong chance that you’ll have to learn how to produce tracks. The vast majority of well-known DJs on the planet also know how to produce. As a matter of fact, most of the top DJs got where they are through their production.
The good news is that learning how to produce is not that complicated. All you need is the right foundation with the right tools, and to be ready to work on your music until you get to the level you need. Let’s take a look at how you can transition from DJ to music producer in four steps.
Get the Right Tools
The first thing you’ll have to do is get the right set of tools and learn how to use them. Before you start looking at some of the most advanced Digital Audio Workstations out there, we would suggest hat you at least learn the basics of playing a keyboard and pick up FL Studio. You could get keyboard lessons from someone in your area or online and there are plenty of videos on YouTube that will give you a foundation on how to use FL studio.
If you realize that you have actual skills, then you can start looking at advanced professional DAWs like Cubase, Pro Tools, and Ableton Live. We also suggest that you pick up a few plugins to enhance the quality of your productions and recordings. One we suggest you look into is Antares Auto-Tune.
Others include Stereo Delay and REVerence for Cubase, Valhalla Supermassive for Ableton Live, and Aphex Aural Exciter and Big Bottom Pro Bundle for Pro Tools.
Go to a Sound Academy
This step is optional, but we strongly suggest that you get a formal education in music production. You don’t need to get a music degree from a university, however; there are world-renowned schools like Icon Collective in LA that offer music production courses starting at $2995 that you can complete in a few months either on-campus or online. Or you could go to a school like Point Blank which will allow you to get just the skills that you need without taking a whole course.
Start Experimenting
Now that you have a foundation, you can start experimenting on tracks. The best way to do this is to replicate popular records from artists you pattern yourself after. Look for a popular song that sounds like what you would like to make, and check if you can find a video of a producer replicating it on YouTube. This will give you lots of insight into how these tracks are actually made. Then you can try some of the tricks you’ve learned to make professional remakes of popular tracks.
Make Your First Track
Once you know how a track is made, you can start working on your first original track. You don’t need to go crazy here. Anything over two minutes should be more than okay. Try to go with
something simple and consider hiring a vocalist to make the track stand out. You can then release it through Soundcloud and start gathering constructive criticism so you can improve.
This is all you need to know if you want to start producing your own tracks as a DJ. Learn the basics, get advanced knowledge, and experiment on a few tracks until you master your craft.
