producing?

[hoddi]

hey, remembering back to when I first joined and the fact that I play instruments was mentioned and people were saying how you can combine this with mixes and shit... very confused, remember I'm only just starting out and also I'm pretty sped on the whole 'how it works' side of stuff, I pretty much just fuck around with it all and see what works and what doesnt. sooooo getting to the point, how does the adding of instruments usually work with the mixes? is it recording a version of a song and mixing it into stuff? or putting it into the origional song or what? and this would be producing right? or because your mixing does it make it dj'ing? thanks

[Jaz]

learning an instrument before taking up DJing/Producing will only help mixing a little bit, but as for producing it can help alot

1st off mixing, it can help you learn song structure, learning piano or guitar for example you learn that songs usually go in 4,8 and 16 bars so without even hearing a song you can usually predict when a chorus is due to start or when a build is about to hit its peak/drop...for instance i learned violin when i was a little fella in primary school n that taught me a little song structure but mainly how to read music...then i learned guitar all threw high school n that helped the most

now as for producing, that is kinda self explanitory, almost all serious producers will have a keyboard of some sort so if you know how to play the piano that will obviously help alot, the same with any other instrument i guess, for example if you can play the chello and want it in your song then u can record it via mike rather then using a plug in instrument in something like ableton...

some of my examples are a little dodgey but you should get the idea, it all helps a little bit depending on how you apply it

[JonnyB]

djaz had the right idea.

knowing how to play instruments can help a great deal with producing, as producing is making music as well.

knowing piano and all chords is probaly the biggest advantage as you can use your keyboard to record your midi notes. and you will already have an understanding of what notes and chords fit together and shit instead of pasting them in and hopeing for the best (what i do )

drumming is also a great thing to know for production as you will be creating all your own drumbeats eventually. will just help you get past the basic 4x4 drum beats with more experimentation etc

[hoddi]

mmk, awesome thanks for the help, im rly only projecting into the future as just getting the hang of simple stuff but my brain is moving faster than my ability and level of dj'ing is but going to hav something up by 5 wks time (well thats my goal) not sure what i will make/put up tho but thats the plan

[JonnyB]

what program are you using?

[hoddi]

im using serato itch, not doing/havnt done any producting yet

[dim]

I pretty much just fuck around with it all and see what works and what doesnt.

^this is pretty much the best way to approach it all mate.

A lot of folk I know use one of the following methods as a starting point:

you can try plugging an instrument in and playing over you're djing by doing solos and stuff?

or you can record a riff or hook to use as a loop as the basis for your own tracks, then dj beats etc along to it and build up the other elements of your own song.

or you can use your own instruments to build up your own song then just dj with it.

Basically: think of the dex as another musician in a band you're playing with it, but with the advantage that they will only do what you want.

There is a lot of crossover between the above three starting points and there are no rules so you see: fucking around with it is by far the best method.

[street]

drumming also helps heaps structure wise, and being able to get the phrasing of your tracks all good, plus knowing where to put fills in and maybe just subtle things like hi-hat patterns to give the beat a bit more variety.