The hardest part about
producing great music is often the simplest.
It's starting with a decent song that you can convincingly perform on a single instrument accompanied by a vocal.
Sure, there's lots of "music" out there that's instrumental and doesn't
follow that pattern. Musical motifs, soundscapes, movie scores etc, but in this case I'm talking about producing a song in the traditional sense of the word.
I don't know how often I get a song sent to me by a subscriber that I can't listen to for longer than five seconds because it just doesn't sound like a song.
It sounds like a bunch of sounds thrown together as an experiment and it leaves me thoroughly unimpressed and uninspired.
I believe that if you want to produce a great piece of music, you have to start with a good song.
And a good song doesn't need more than a single instrument, often a guitar or a piano, and the vocal melody.
Modern producers may take it a step further and create a full beat first, but if you strip it down you're still left with the chord progression, rhythm, and a
melody.
Everything else in your production builds upon that.
You might end up adding a bunch of 808s, techno beats, and arpeggiated synths, but if you don't start with the bare bones basics, that production will always sound
hollow.
So before you start overcomplicating your production, adding plug-ins and overdubs, start with a solid foundation of a great song.
It will make everything else easier.
Hope that helps,
Björgvin
P.S.
If you have songs already worked out in your studio but can't get them
over the finish line, here are some resources that will help.
Read Step By Step Mixing to discover the proven process for finishing your home studio mixes and enroll in Master Your Mixes to make them punchy and powerful.
Download the Audio Issues EQ and master the frequency spectrum with EQ Strategies - Your Ultimate
Guide to EQ.
Apply for 1-on-1 coaching inside the Home Studio Mastery program to get hands-on help to level up your audio skills.