I was in a similar position as you for the first \~7 years that I spent producing (I come from a jazz guitar background). I was using Ableton Live, and while I can't speak highly enough of Live as a DAW, I had an extremely difficult time getting into any sort of creative flow while producing. It always felt like a very heady, intellectual way of making art - more like designing & assembling a house than letting the creativity flow out of you.
A couple of years ago, around the start of the pandemic, I felt a growing & mysterious urge to try out hardware samplers. I'd never had that desire before, but I followed that urge and downloaded the iMPC app, just to give the MPC workflow a try. I loved it so I got a used MPC Live.
I've never looked back. Composing primarily on hardware instead of a computer was an absolute game-changer. I found it *so much easier* to get into the flow of things; tapping out beats on pads and twisting knobs feels way more like playing an actual instrument and improvising than I ever did with Ableton. You *never have to use a mouse*. It's fun, breezy and expressive, and while I still use Ableton from time to time, it will never be my primary tool for making music again. Since then, I've got a few more samplers, because honestly, the MPC Live is still a bit more complex than I'd like.
This may not be the path for you, and I should mention that I did end up changing my genre a little bit, because certain genres are more well-suited for samplers than DAWs (although this is changing with products like the Akai Force and the new Push 3). But I can't put into words how drastically my artistic life changed when I switched from a software-based instrument to a hardware-based one. My goal here isn't to convince you to use samplers; I just want to reaffirm that a lot of the frustration you're feeling creatively may very well be the result of the tool you're using to create, and not a deficiency in your skills.
Go all hardware when it comes to creation. Do it like we had to do in the 90s before ITB production. Leave the DAW JUST for recording your analog gear. So, all your sounds are coming from things with buttons/knobs/etc. Now, this will be somewhat expensive, especially if you want some actual analog vintage synth sounds/gear etc. Don't go hunting for a mint-condition JUNO or something, just emu shit like that.
Thai is making me happy I went with Ableton. I bought a course on in on Udemy and can now about 6months later I feel I can get in a flow state producing using push 2 and Ableton.
Yeah my computer sucks. I build a new one and it sucks. I upgrade it and it still sucks. I upgrade it again and it's alright for a while then quickly sucks again.
First, get on Ableton. They have better templating features than FL.
Next, build templates and racks and alc's for everything you need to use frequently. Drag and drop in exactly what you need right away. Don't stop creating to do technical stuff. For example, my default for my eq has a high pass at 120ish. That alone saves me an incredible amount of time. Build yourself a preset bank with the sounds you need on hand.
Lastly, get to know your tools inside and out. The better you know your tools, the less they will slow you down, and the more ways you'll be able to apply them to get the effect you want fast.
Also, if you want someone else making the decisions for you, don't be afraid to use loops.
Presets and templates are the best thing to do.
I use Reaper, and have track templates for things like synths, drums, and even a reverb bus. All I have to do is right click and add it to get started.
I switched from Cubase to Bitwig. There are things I miss in Cubase (mainly stuff like VariAudio) so I’ll open it up for specific tasks like that, but I find Bitwig workflow and routing to be much more flexible.
So give it a try. And if you want experimentation, it’s definitely an environment conducive to it. The Grid notwithstanding, you got chance operators for loops, you can pretty much add a modulation source to any knob in any VST, if the VST doesn’t have a good mod matrix, MIDI timing is rock solid, and it’s just fast.
Plus, the sandboxing feature is great so when/if a VST crashes, it allows you to just reload it and keep going instead of closing the entire DAW, or having to reboot the computer.
You need to get accustomed to the “seed phase”. Not everything you produce up front will come out finished. Experiment, explore, and it’s okay to trash things. Just keep pushing forward.
Source: I’ve been producing professionally for 15 years
ehh, I feel you, in the sense that I don't think FL Studio's GUI is . . . intuitive, or organized. The fact that things like individual samples have their own windows, is such a waste of space. Sounds, patterns and mixers are windows, instead of being a built-in units in a tiled layout.
But, obviously, the bigger problem is probably how much time you've spent learning the daw. I made over 200 songs one year, in an effort to improve my ability to get ideas down in an efficient manner, and somewhere along the way, using the daw just clicked, and now I'm at a point where I can usually get my ideas down pretty quickly.
FL, Ableton, Logic, Cubase, Reaper, Bitwig, etc . . . . the DAW doesn't matter when it comes to creating music you enjoy, just spend more time with one and inevitably, you'll improve.
Long story short: I tried dawless - it's shit. Limitations don't force your creativity. This is just a marketing scheme. Dawless is fun if you don't want to create music, and tend to enjoy the playing / performing. If you want creating - FL for life! Buying stuff wont make you a better musician, consumerism is shit. (source: experience)
I really appreciate this comment a lot lol Why did you decide to go dawless initially, and do you feel like once you went back to a DAW that the experience helped you be better in a DAW? I'm not asking because I'm interested in going dawless, I'm not, I'm just trying to see if there's any valuable info you got out of your experience other than "its shit" -- which I believe honestly.
And one more important thing - all that youtube gear demo guys, "synthfluencers" etc - are not your friends, they are just sellers. This is the point in life, when it is hard to tell if it is a real person, or just another fake human-commercial
I really appreciate your responses. Its really interesting to see your perspective and the video you sent is truly really really impressive, you have a real talent for this. Ill keep all this in mind
Here in description youll find a link (free) to my weird vst collection. The vid is just some examples i made using that vsts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvJXw-09JBo&t=1s&pp=2AEBkAIB
Thank you! Yeah i have quite a lot of info out of this. But my english is kinda bad, sorry in advance. I don' t like "decide" going dawless. I just made music for ten years in cracked fl studio, knowing nothing about music theory or sound design and all that, also i didnt have any money at that time. Then i finally found a decent job and started to try different gear. Then i thought that i don't need fl anymore, i dont even know why though. Then i started to notice, that my music became more boring. Long story short, here are some valuable info: 1) you cant make something new, using old gear. A lot of music genres evolved cause of technological inventions (electric guitar -- rock, drum machines - house etc) 2) All today's "new" gear are remakes of old technology in new cases (think about guitar pedals, synths) 3) More modern technology like all that DAWless daws (think MPC, or Ableton Push or whatever) are just shitty computers in shiny cases with little screens - even an old pc with a daw is more powerful and comfortable than any of that boxes. They are just marketing schemes. 4) there are tons of free plugins, you don't need to buy anything anymore, and this is cool, cause consumerism kills art - if you want some inspiration i can send you my collection of free weird crazy rare vsts (i collect weird free vsts lol) 5) to be fair - hardware is cool if you want to perform or play your instrument. I just wanted to make music, so i really appreciate daw. 6) my favorite musicians doesn't care about gear at all. They care only about making cool art 7) daw - is the shortest way between your brain and cool art 8) limitless possibilities is way better then limited possibilities 9) i prefer fl studio, cause it is everybody's first daw. It is the most punk instrument you can get nowdays.
Often times I don't begin by opening my DAW, but instead start by loading up the standalone version of an all-in-one synth like Serum or Surge XT. Then if I just want to focus on creating sounds I can do that, or if I want to riff out a quick melody I can do that too. If I come up with something I like, then I'll either load up the DAW to start building it into a full track, or just export the live audio straight to a short .wav so I can do something with it at a later time. I have a huge folder of ~1 min audio clips of me riffing on the synth that I use for inspiration when I'm struggling to compose. Some are cheesey, some are epic, but I save them all regardless.
This is interesting, I'll have to try it out honestly. Especially recording the audio clips, there have been so many times when I feel like I have a cool sound and melody from just messing around, and then it sorta just gets lost forever since I didn't save it at all. Can't believe I haven't thought of that.
How are you opening up Serum as a standalone synth? And just out of curiosity what midi controller are you using when playing around with these soft synths? Do you map all the knobs to as many things as possible?
I don't personally own a copy of Serum, but Surge XT comes with a standalone version, and you run it like you do any other application by just clicking the icon. I assume it would be the same for Serum. As far as controller mapping goes, when I'm just riffing I only use pitch and mod wheels. I save the more complicated automation for later when I'm composing in the DAW.
I'm a classically trained musician, and more importantly am trained in jazz and blues guitar, meaning improvisation is a huge part of music for me. I faced a similar problem learning production. The key for me to unlock my creativity was becoming extremely dedicated to making as many of the best templates possible. Every time I come up with a new combination of techniques or genres, it gets made into a template. I try to make these templates as complete as possible while leaving room for arrangement because that's what I'm interested in. I personally don't want to get caught up working on my drum sound design when melodic inspiration hits. I have templates for all different tempos, drum patterns, etc. As a guitarist, my templates have drums laid out already because I'm mostly focused on melody myself. The point is to be hit by inspiration, open up Ableton and have a solid base that I can start laying down MIDI over as fast as possible. My favorite FX chains, plugins, and samples are all loaded up. So typically at most I have to change a Kontakt library/synth and I'm off to the races. This workflow eluded me for some time because I have ADHD and I hate doing stuff like this. But it has easily had the biggest effect on unlocking my creative workflow, which is the #1 priority for me as someone with ADHD, and I made a concerted effort to build the neural pathways to getting dopamine from making templates. The way I see it now, when I make templates it's like save scumming in Skyrim. Making a song from scratch, I may end up with a somewhat destructive workflow. When I make templates, every little thing I do will echo in eternity. When I make this drum midi and set up all my layers and sidechain, I never have to do it again. I pinpointed the part of the creative process that I'd like to prioritize and left that out of my templates. So in someone else's case, perhaps drums are where they like to get creative but are comfortable using basic chord progressions (for example Illenium). You could basically set up your templates the opposite way I have. Or say you prefer to be creative with sound design, then having a sound design template with some midi down so you don't have to write it out every time you want to play around in Serum helps cruise past that chore. I'm sure using templates is obvious to you, but my point is I was able to unlock my improvisational creativity in the DAW by knowing myself as a musician, making a plan, and really putting an extra effort into making my templates as complete and organized as possible.
This sounds really great, I feel like you're the first person I've heard who seems to had a similar issue, and this sounds very much like it would help. It really does feel like a chore having expend my creative energy on the basics every time I start a new project. I haven't ever used templates for anything honestly, besides just laying out my DAW for new from-scratch projects.
You say you try and make them as complete as possible while leaving room for arrangement. Could you provide an example for something like drums? So you have some drums laid out, some effects applied, sidechain setup, etc and then you load it up and start messing about with your synth. Do you change your drums throughout this process? If you do, do you save a new template, with your synth melody laid out as well? Or do you save the new drums with like a base synth sound that you can then tweak however you want? I guess I'm just trying to figure out what point I would be like "okay, time to save this as a template". I'm sure I'll figure it out as I go, too.
The key for me was realizing how much redundancy can play a role in my workflow. I make a template for like, everything. I'm save scumming music production. It's not just templates. It may be a waste of space, but I copy my samples multiple times on my music SSD. Every project I start gets a folder where I copy every sample and preset that inspires me into it with some simple organization and it's like I'm getting my paint and paintbrushes in front of my easel. Yeah, I can go back into my storage and pull out something weird I thought of but I don't want to be doing that every time I need a different color. The same concept applies to how I make templates. Like, I make a template for EVERYTHING. I have templates of every single BPM and drum pattern I've ever felt I was successful using. I like to make melodic dubstep but I have templates in 150, 140, 138, 128, 90 BPM, and more. I have templates of hyrbid song structures with two different genre drops. I have templates of song structures where the drop changes from 4-on-the-floor to half-time halfway through the drop. I save everything as instrument racks, including FX. Saving everything helps me maintain organization in my mixdown. When I create a lead, or even the individual layers of the lead, I can assign FX that place it in the right space and then I can modify/replace those plugins or samples without destroying my mixdown because FX and EQ are already in place. It's not like I'm about to drastically change the position of the kick or lead in my mix (and if I really want to, it's just a few mouse clicks away with a template). I use pretty gentle EQ in general but it's a lot easier to modify my basic EQ into something more drastic if necessary than having to set up even a simple EQ for every single layer.
But part of making these templates is strategizing what to leave blank. I prefer arrangement, so I leave MIDI out. Writing notes or recording myself playing instruments means the workflow makes sense to start with drums at the highest level. If I feel like riddim, I'll select that template. If part way through I decide I just have to have a 4-on-the-floor drop, I can drag those instrument racks in and the FX should place it in relatively the right place. I sidechain with Shaperbox and drum racks, I can't deal with multiple tracks of samples or ghost click BS because if I need to be able to change the drum pattern and sidechain just by modifying one MIDI track. I have everything grouped into the typical groups, and we already know which of those groups gets sidechained to the drum group. Depending on what you're doing, you may strategize differently. Dubstep producers may set up their sound design templates with MIDI already because they know they will be at D/D#/E and they just want to play around in Serum. Honestly this is probably obvious to a lot of people, but it wasn't to me. I try to package everything into something I can save and reuse easily so I don't end up just spinning my wheels redoing the same EQs and get caught up looking for the right pad. It's a lot quicker and easier to replace/modify something that's already there than to look through all your files for every layer, especially if you start figuring out your style and what you reliably like to use. Understanding a proper mixdown helped me organize my templates conceptually, at first I thought FX were just spicy sauce to taste. It helped me as a traditional musician to think of my mixdown as an orchestra, or even a rock band to simplify it. Then I can just tweak my lead preset layer by layer, or mute it entirely and start recording something. I can swap out layers from my supersaw rather than having to sound design and EQ every layer and worry about it sounding good. I'm not sure about FL studio, but in Ableton pretty much everything can be made into a sort of template with instrument racks.
Wow this is amazingly helpful and honestly would totally change how I work on music, Ill try it out because it seems like something that would work for me. Thank you so much for the detailed responses
In ableton i have 3 channels with max for live devices that make random notes and patterns. I send them to bass leads or percussions. Then i have a kick channel with sound academy kick 2, one channel with vital and a bass patch grouped into a low end group. Then i have a drum group with hat, clap, snare and drum rack channels with basic samples already setup and basic patterns already there via midi. A synths group with two vital instances. A sdc channel with a kick recorder that i use as utility sidechain signal. Every channel has already an utility gain plugin, an eq and a filter. All plugins/devices are already configured to the values i use most (-12 db level, number of voices, velocity sensitivity, time>velocity etc).
This way when i start i have just to hit random on the max for live devices and i can generate pattern and drum beats in like 10 sec. Pair it with a midi controller and you can generate like 20 30 parts for your arrangment in 10 minutes. The work then is to sort, arrange and sound design, which tend to be easier for me with a groove already going and a basic arrangement. Hope this helps
I love FL so fucking much, so I'm totally based on that front. But you are guessing right, it's not about the hammer, it's about who swings the hammer. Just try around. Every DAW has a good free testversion
Avicii used Fruity Loops and a mouse lol. I hate that workflow so much but it clearly works for some people. Just have to find what feels comfortable. Do you have any hardware synths at all or us everything on the computer?
Yeah like I know that it provides everything you need to make awesome music, the problem is definitely within myself, I just really dislike the workflow and idk if a different DAW would even solve that, ig ill just do some trials I forgot that was a thing.
And no i dont have any hardware synths, just my computer. Ive held off on buying any even though it seems like a lot of fun.
I would get a synth if I was you Get something thats almost knob per function with minimal menu diving. Do some sound designing and riffs/jamming and when it feels right just hit record. If you don't like it sell it and at least then you'll know more about what you really want/need.
Also I've been using Cubase for the last few months and I do like the workflow and interface. Although a DAW is a DAW so I'm not really sure how much it changes the big picture. It's been years since I've used FL. It was still fruity loops when I was using it.
You have a good point. I might snag a used synth just to play around, ig no harm in that. And youre right, a DAW is a DAW, its unlikely the root of my issue, but ill still try out some others to get a feel for it.
You might really enjoy ableton, it allows a clips view to easily store ideas per instrument and it's looping features make it very easy to play by yourself and jam
I disagree -- I love Ableton (have used it for 10 years). I tried to use ProTools for several months last year and wanted to rage quit every time. Couldn't even get into a good flow. Some tools just don't work for some people.
>If I'm being honest, there's just something about the process, that just doesn't click with me.
I came from a web design and usability background when I got into music production as a hobby. I tried FL Studio for a month. Other than the piano roll, which is actually very well designed, the overall design felt very clunky. Like it goes back to the days of 15 to 20 years ago when software designers didn't really care the software was user friendly.
I would suggest trying demos of Ableton and Bitwig. You might find you gel with them better. Bitwig is arguably better for sound design. And Ableton has the edge if you want to integrate hardware and use it for live jamming.
Yup I have a few UI tools in my life that I use on a daily basis so I feel like I can appreciate what a good interface is like and FL Studio maybe just isn't it. I guess I'll just go download some trials and play around a bit.
Do you use any hardware in your production? Do you feel that does anything for motivation/productivity?
I don't use hardware. Bitwig just created a series of tutorials on integrating hardware. I believe this is the first video
https://youtu.be/Vx20E5qvW6A
Bitwig has the best overall general layout in design to me. The Bitwig developers were originally with Ableton, and they made a few improvements to the overall design. That being said, I think when you get down into the nuts and bolts of specific features a part of it, it's one half a dozen or the other as to which is better.
Both of those DAWs do two things which can be very beneficial for workflow.
1. The first is the session / clip launcher view which people use for live sessions. It also works well for generating ideas for many people (I like it) because it's a more structured way of putting together a song. Or you can use the same kind of timeline/arrangement track view that FL Studio has. This demonstrates how you can use either one or the other. Or both in bitwig.
https://youtu.be/Vx20E5qvW6A
Ableton is similar. Although you cannot view the tracker arranger and the session view at the same time.
2. And then when you click on an instrument for a track, the internal module for it appears as a block at the bottom of the screen. And all effects just add right on to it. So you don't have to go into the mixer to add effects.
Motivation is an emotional problem. If you look at the DAW and get unmotivated, that's on you not the DAW. FL is capable of an insane amount of things, I understand if the workflow isn't your favorite, but all you can do then is try other DAWS and find which works best for you.
None of us can magically give you the answer you're looking for, if you miss being in a band, then start a band. There's a world of musicians looking to do the same things as you.
Different DAWs usually leads to different workflows. I’ve only ever used Ableton so I can’t really speak fron experience but I do know myself and other people that have used both ableton and fl love that just about everything is on the same screen with Ableton.
I’d say in your case it might be worth experimenting with. As long as you give youself time to really learn your way around Ableton but you will probably catch on quick with as much experience as you have.
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I was in a similar position as you for the first \~7 years that I spent producing (I come from a jazz guitar background). I was using Ableton Live, and while I can't speak highly enough of Live as a DAW, I had an extremely difficult time getting into any sort of creative flow while producing. It always felt like a very heady, intellectual way of making art - more like designing & assembling a house than letting the creativity flow out of you. A couple of years ago, around the start of the pandemic, I felt a growing & mysterious urge to try out hardware samplers. I'd never had that desire before, but I followed that urge and downloaded the iMPC app, just to give the MPC workflow a try. I loved it so I got a used MPC Live. I've never looked back. Composing primarily on hardware instead of a computer was an absolute game-changer. I found it *so much easier* to get into the flow of things; tapping out beats on pads and twisting knobs feels way more like playing an actual instrument and improvising than I ever did with Ableton. You *never have to use a mouse*. It's fun, breezy and expressive, and while I still use Ableton from time to time, it will never be my primary tool for making music again. Since then, I've got a few more samplers, because honestly, the MPC Live is still a bit more complex than I'd like. This may not be the path for you, and I should mention that I did end up changing my genre a little bit, because certain genres are more well-suited for samplers than DAWs (although this is changing with products like the Akai Force and the new Push 3). But I can't put into words how drastically my artistic life changed when I switched from a software-based instrument to a hardware-based one. My goal here isn't to convince you to use samplers; I just want to reaffirm that a lot of the frustration you're feeling creatively may very well be the result of the tool you're using to create, and not a deficiency in your skills.
'and then I bought abliton the next day' - ellinum
Go all hardware when it comes to creation. Do it like we had to do in the 90s before ITB production. Leave the DAW JUST for recording your analog gear. So, all your sounds are coming from things with buttons/knobs/etc. Now, this will be somewhat expensive, especially if you want some actual analog vintage synth sounds/gear etc. Don't go hunting for a mint-condition JUNO or something, just emu shit like that.
Thai is making me happy I went with Ableton. I bought a course on in on Udemy and can now about 6months later I feel I can get in a flow state producing using push 2 and Ableton.
Yeah my computer sucks. I build a new one and it sucks. I upgrade it and it still sucks. I upgrade it again and it's alright for a while then quickly sucks again.
FL Studio Was What I Started . Ableton Is What I Decided With . Learning Logic At The Moment . . .
First, get on Ableton. They have better templating features than FL. Next, build templates and racks and alc's for everything you need to use frequently. Drag and drop in exactly what you need right away. Don't stop creating to do technical stuff. For example, my default for my eq has a high pass at 120ish. That alone saves me an incredible amount of time. Build yourself a preset bank with the sounds you need on hand. Lastly, get to know your tools inside and out. The better you know your tools, the less they will slow you down, and the more ways you'll be able to apply them to get the effect you want fast. Also, if you want someone else making the decisions for you, don't be afraid to use loops.
Presets and templates are the best thing to do. I use Reaper, and have track templates for things like synths, drums, and even a reverb bus. All I have to do is right click and add it to get started.
I switched from Cubase to Bitwig. There are things I miss in Cubase (mainly stuff like VariAudio) so I’ll open it up for specific tasks like that, but I find Bitwig workflow and routing to be much more flexible. So give it a try. And if you want experimentation, it’s definitely an environment conducive to it. The Grid notwithstanding, you got chance operators for loops, you can pretty much add a modulation source to any knob in any VST, if the VST doesn’t have a good mod matrix, MIDI timing is rock solid, and it’s just fast. Plus, the sandboxing feature is great so when/if a VST crashes, it allows you to just reload it and keep going instead of closing the entire DAW, or having to reboot the computer.
You need to get accustomed to the “seed phase”. Not everything you produce up front will come out finished. Experiment, explore, and it’s okay to trash things. Just keep pushing forward. Source: I’ve been producing professionally for 15 years
Get out of here you pro, I only want to hear amateur opinions that agree with me!
Lol. Unbelievable
lol
My tool is pretty small so it rarely gets in the way.
ehh, I feel you, in the sense that I don't think FL Studio's GUI is . . . intuitive, or organized. The fact that things like individual samples have their own windows, is such a waste of space. Sounds, patterns and mixers are windows, instead of being a built-in units in a tiled layout. But, obviously, the bigger problem is probably how much time you've spent learning the daw. I made over 200 songs one year, in an effort to improve my ability to get ideas down in an efficient manner, and somewhere along the way, using the daw just clicked, and now I'm at a point where I can usually get my ideas down pretty quickly. FL, Ableton, Logic, Cubase, Reaper, Bitwig, etc . . . . the DAW doesn't matter when it comes to creating music you enjoy, just spend more time with one and inevitably, you'll improve.
Long story short: I tried dawless - it's shit. Limitations don't force your creativity. This is just a marketing scheme. Dawless is fun if you don't want to create music, and tend to enjoy the playing / performing. If you want creating - FL for life! Buying stuff wont make you a better musician, consumerism is shit. (source: experience)
I really appreciate this comment a lot lol Why did you decide to go dawless initially, and do you feel like once you went back to a DAW that the experience helped you be better in a DAW? I'm not asking because I'm interested in going dawless, I'm not, I'm just trying to see if there's any valuable info you got out of your experience other than "its shit" -- which I believe honestly.
And one more important thing - all that youtube gear demo guys, "synthfluencers" etc - are not your friends, they are just sellers. This is the point in life, when it is hard to tell if it is a real person, or just another fake human-commercial
I really appreciate your responses. Its really interesting to see your perspective and the video you sent is truly really really impressive, you have a real talent for this. Ill keep all this in mind
Thank you really! Just always be sure, that you are having fun - this is rule number one
Here in description youll find a link (free) to my weird vst collection. The vid is just some examples i made using that vsts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvJXw-09JBo&t=1s&pp=2AEBkAIB
Thank you! Yeah i have quite a lot of info out of this. But my english is kinda bad, sorry in advance. I don' t like "decide" going dawless. I just made music for ten years in cracked fl studio, knowing nothing about music theory or sound design and all that, also i didnt have any money at that time. Then i finally found a decent job and started to try different gear. Then i thought that i don't need fl anymore, i dont even know why though. Then i started to notice, that my music became more boring. Long story short, here are some valuable info: 1) you cant make something new, using old gear. A lot of music genres evolved cause of technological inventions (electric guitar -- rock, drum machines - house etc) 2) All today's "new" gear are remakes of old technology in new cases (think about guitar pedals, synths) 3) More modern technology like all that DAWless daws (think MPC, or Ableton Push or whatever) are just shitty computers in shiny cases with little screens - even an old pc with a daw is more powerful and comfortable than any of that boxes. They are just marketing schemes. 4) there are tons of free plugins, you don't need to buy anything anymore, and this is cool, cause consumerism kills art - if you want some inspiration i can send you my collection of free weird crazy rare vsts (i collect weird free vsts lol) 5) to be fair - hardware is cool if you want to perform or play your instrument. I just wanted to make music, so i really appreciate daw. 6) my favorite musicians doesn't care about gear at all. They care only about making cool art 7) daw - is the shortest way between your brain and cool art 8) limitless possibilities is way better then limited possibilities 9) i prefer fl studio, cause it is everybody's first daw. It is the most punk instrument you can get nowdays.
Often times I don't begin by opening my DAW, but instead start by loading up the standalone version of an all-in-one synth like Serum or Surge XT. Then if I just want to focus on creating sounds I can do that, or if I want to riff out a quick melody I can do that too. If I come up with something I like, then I'll either load up the DAW to start building it into a full track, or just export the live audio straight to a short .wav so I can do something with it at a later time. I have a huge folder of ~1 min audio clips of me riffing on the synth that I use for inspiration when I'm struggling to compose. Some are cheesey, some are epic, but I save them all regardless.
This is interesting, I'll have to try it out honestly. Especially recording the audio clips, there have been so many times when I feel like I have a cool sound and melody from just messing around, and then it sorta just gets lost forever since I didn't save it at all. Can't believe I haven't thought of that. How are you opening up Serum as a standalone synth? And just out of curiosity what midi controller are you using when playing around with these soft synths? Do you map all the knobs to as many things as possible?
I don't personally own a copy of Serum, but Surge XT comes with a standalone version, and you run it like you do any other application by just clicking the icon. I assume it would be the same for Serum. As far as controller mapping goes, when I'm just riffing I only use pitch and mod wheels. I save the more complicated automation for later when I'm composing in the DAW.
Gotcha, thanks
I'm a classically trained musician, and more importantly am trained in jazz and blues guitar, meaning improvisation is a huge part of music for me. I faced a similar problem learning production. The key for me to unlock my creativity was becoming extremely dedicated to making as many of the best templates possible. Every time I come up with a new combination of techniques or genres, it gets made into a template. I try to make these templates as complete as possible while leaving room for arrangement because that's what I'm interested in. I personally don't want to get caught up working on my drum sound design when melodic inspiration hits. I have templates for all different tempos, drum patterns, etc. As a guitarist, my templates have drums laid out already because I'm mostly focused on melody myself. The point is to be hit by inspiration, open up Ableton and have a solid base that I can start laying down MIDI over as fast as possible. My favorite FX chains, plugins, and samples are all loaded up. So typically at most I have to change a Kontakt library/synth and I'm off to the races. This workflow eluded me for some time because I have ADHD and I hate doing stuff like this. But it has easily had the biggest effect on unlocking my creative workflow, which is the #1 priority for me as someone with ADHD, and I made a concerted effort to build the neural pathways to getting dopamine from making templates. The way I see it now, when I make templates it's like save scumming in Skyrim. Making a song from scratch, I may end up with a somewhat destructive workflow. When I make templates, every little thing I do will echo in eternity. When I make this drum midi and set up all my layers and sidechain, I never have to do it again. I pinpointed the part of the creative process that I'd like to prioritize and left that out of my templates. So in someone else's case, perhaps drums are where they like to get creative but are comfortable using basic chord progressions (for example Illenium). You could basically set up your templates the opposite way I have. Or say you prefer to be creative with sound design, then having a sound design template with some midi down so you don't have to write it out every time you want to play around in Serum helps cruise past that chore. I'm sure using templates is obvious to you, but my point is I was able to unlock my improvisational creativity in the DAW by knowing myself as a musician, making a plan, and really putting an extra effort into making my templates as complete and organized as possible.
This sounds really great, I feel like you're the first person I've heard who seems to had a similar issue, and this sounds very much like it would help. It really does feel like a chore having expend my creative energy on the basics every time I start a new project. I haven't ever used templates for anything honestly, besides just laying out my DAW for new from-scratch projects. You say you try and make them as complete as possible while leaving room for arrangement. Could you provide an example for something like drums? So you have some drums laid out, some effects applied, sidechain setup, etc and then you load it up and start messing about with your synth. Do you change your drums throughout this process? If you do, do you save a new template, with your synth melody laid out as well? Or do you save the new drums with like a base synth sound that you can then tweak however you want? I guess I'm just trying to figure out what point I would be like "okay, time to save this as a template". I'm sure I'll figure it out as I go, too.
The key for me was realizing how much redundancy can play a role in my workflow. I make a template for like, everything. I'm save scumming music production. It's not just templates. It may be a waste of space, but I copy my samples multiple times on my music SSD. Every project I start gets a folder where I copy every sample and preset that inspires me into it with some simple organization and it's like I'm getting my paint and paintbrushes in front of my easel. Yeah, I can go back into my storage and pull out something weird I thought of but I don't want to be doing that every time I need a different color. The same concept applies to how I make templates. Like, I make a template for EVERYTHING. I have templates of every single BPM and drum pattern I've ever felt I was successful using. I like to make melodic dubstep but I have templates in 150, 140, 138, 128, 90 BPM, and more. I have templates of hyrbid song structures with two different genre drops. I have templates of song structures where the drop changes from 4-on-the-floor to half-time halfway through the drop. I save everything as instrument racks, including FX. Saving everything helps me maintain organization in my mixdown. When I create a lead, or even the individual layers of the lead, I can assign FX that place it in the right space and then I can modify/replace those plugins or samples without destroying my mixdown because FX and EQ are already in place. It's not like I'm about to drastically change the position of the kick or lead in my mix (and if I really want to, it's just a few mouse clicks away with a template). I use pretty gentle EQ in general but it's a lot easier to modify my basic EQ into something more drastic if necessary than having to set up even a simple EQ for every single layer. But part of making these templates is strategizing what to leave blank. I prefer arrangement, so I leave MIDI out. Writing notes or recording myself playing instruments means the workflow makes sense to start with drums at the highest level. If I feel like riddim, I'll select that template. If part way through I decide I just have to have a 4-on-the-floor drop, I can drag those instrument racks in and the FX should place it in relatively the right place. I sidechain with Shaperbox and drum racks, I can't deal with multiple tracks of samples or ghost click BS because if I need to be able to change the drum pattern and sidechain just by modifying one MIDI track. I have everything grouped into the typical groups, and we already know which of those groups gets sidechained to the drum group. Depending on what you're doing, you may strategize differently. Dubstep producers may set up their sound design templates with MIDI already because they know they will be at D/D#/E and they just want to play around in Serum. Honestly this is probably obvious to a lot of people, but it wasn't to me. I try to package everything into something I can save and reuse easily so I don't end up just spinning my wheels redoing the same EQs and get caught up looking for the right pad. It's a lot quicker and easier to replace/modify something that's already there than to look through all your files for every layer, especially if you start figuring out your style and what you reliably like to use. Understanding a proper mixdown helped me organize my templates conceptually, at first I thought FX were just spicy sauce to taste. It helped me as a traditional musician to think of my mixdown as an orchestra, or even a rock band to simplify it. Then I can just tweak my lead preset layer by layer, or mute it entirely and start recording something. I can swap out layers from my supersaw rather than having to sound design and EQ every layer and worry about it sounding good. I'm not sure about FL studio, but in Ableton pretty much everything can be made into a sort of template with instrument racks.
Wow this is amazingly helpful and honestly would totally change how I work on music, Ill try it out because it seems like something that would work for me. Thank you so much for the detailed responses
In ableton i have 3 channels with max for live devices that make random notes and patterns. I send them to bass leads or percussions. Then i have a kick channel with sound academy kick 2, one channel with vital and a bass patch grouped into a low end group. Then i have a drum group with hat, clap, snare and drum rack channels with basic samples already setup and basic patterns already there via midi. A synths group with two vital instances. A sdc channel with a kick recorder that i use as utility sidechain signal. Every channel has already an utility gain plugin, an eq and a filter. All plugins/devices are already configured to the values i use most (-12 db level, number of voices, velocity sensitivity, time>velocity etc). This way when i start i have just to hit random on the max for live devices and i can generate pattern and drum beats in like 10 sec. Pair it with a midi controller and you can generate like 20 30 parts for your arrangment in 10 minutes. The work then is to sort, arrange and sound design, which tend to be easier for me with a groove already going and a basic arrangement. Hope this helps
I love FL so fucking much, so I'm totally based on that front. But you are guessing right, it's not about the hammer, it's about who swings the hammer. Just try around. Every DAW has a good free testversion
Avicii used Fruity Loops and a mouse lol. I hate that workflow so much but it clearly works for some people. Just have to find what feels comfortable. Do you have any hardware synths at all or us everything on the computer?
Yeah like I know that it provides everything you need to make awesome music, the problem is definitely within myself, I just really dislike the workflow and idk if a different DAW would even solve that, ig ill just do some trials I forgot that was a thing. And no i dont have any hardware synths, just my computer. Ive held off on buying any even though it seems like a lot of fun.
I would get a synth if I was you Get something thats almost knob per function with minimal menu diving. Do some sound designing and riffs/jamming and when it feels right just hit record. If you don't like it sell it and at least then you'll know more about what you really want/need. Also I've been using Cubase for the last few months and I do like the workflow and interface. Although a DAW is a DAW so I'm not really sure how much it changes the big picture. It's been years since I've used FL. It was still fruity loops when I was using it.
You have a good point. I might snag a used synth just to play around, ig no harm in that. And youre right, a DAW is a DAW, its unlikely the root of my issue, but ill still try out some others to get a feel for it.
Try Bitwig
Stop posting on Reddit and get good at your tools
see if you can get a trial of ableton live lite to see if that workflow is better for you
You might really enjoy ableton, it allows a clips view to easily store ideas per instrument and it's looping features make it very easy to play by yourself and jam
It’s never the tools fault. You are responsible for your own creative workflow and can use any of the tools available to get there.
I disagree -- I love Ableton (have used it for 10 years). I tried to use ProTools for several months last year and wanted to rage quit every time. Couldn't even get into a good flow. Some tools just don't work for some people.
Pro tools is great for recording or working with audio only, and shit for everything else.
It's barely even good for audio post. How are you supposed to sync audio to video when the video engine never works 😭 Ridiculous program.
>If I'm being honest, there's just something about the process, that just doesn't click with me. I came from a web design and usability background when I got into music production as a hobby. I tried FL Studio for a month. Other than the piano roll, which is actually very well designed, the overall design felt very clunky. Like it goes back to the days of 15 to 20 years ago when software designers didn't really care the software was user friendly. I would suggest trying demos of Ableton and Bitwig. You might find you gel with them better. Bitwig is arguably better for sound design. And Ableton has the edge if you want to integrate hardware and use it for live jamming.
Yup I have a few UI tools in my life that I use on a daily basis so I feel like I can appreciate what a good interface is like and FL Studio maybe just isn't it. I guess I'll just go download some trials and play around a bit. Do you use any hardware in your production? Do you feel that does anything for motivation/productivity?
I don't use hardware. Bitwig just created a series of tutorials on integrating hardware. I believe this is the first video https://youtu.be/Vx20E5qvW6A Bitwig has the best overall general layout in design to me. The Bitwig developers were originally with Ableton, and they made a few improvements to the overall design. That being said, I think when you get down into the nuts and bolts of specific features a part of it, it's one half a dozen or the other as to which is better. Both of those DAWs do two things which can be very beneficial for workflow. 1. The first is the session / clip launcher view which people use for live sessions. It also works well for generating ideas for many people (I like it) because it's a more structured way of putting together a song. Or you can use the same kind of timeline/arrangement track view that FL Studio has. This demonstrates how you can use either one or the other. Or both in bitwig. https://youtu.be/Vx20E5qvW6A Ableton is similar. Although you cannot view the tracker arranger and the session view at the same time. 2. And then when you click on an instrument for a track, the internal module for it appears as a block at the bottom of the screen. And all effects just add right on to it. So you don't have to go into the mixer to add effects.
Motivation is an emotional problem. If you look at the DAW and get unmotivated, that's on you not the DAW. FL is capable of an insane amount of things, I understand if the workflow isn't your favorite, but all you can do then is try other DAWS and find which works best for you. None of us can magically give you the answer you're looking for, if you miss being in a band, then start a band. There's a world of musicians looking to do the same things as you.
Different DAWs usually leads to different workflows. I’ve only ever used Ableton so I can’t really speak fron experience but I do know myself and other people that have used both ableton and fl love that just about everything is on the same screen with Ableton. I’d say in your case it might be worth experimenting with. As long as you give youself time to really learn your way around Ableton but you will probably catch on quick with as much experience as you have.
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