Every artist/producer has their own unique path in music. I want to provide a brief guide if you’re just getting started and the best ways to navigate the beginner’s music world. This post assumes that you have picked a DAW and that you have basic equipment to create music. If you don’t have any of these, I suggest creating a budget and doing a quick Google search on DAWs as well as studio headphones and monitors. You don’t need to spend a fortune to start creating music, so don’t worry too much on getting all the best equipment to start. But if you do have those things and are ready to start making music, here are a few pointers on how to get started.
Find the Genre of Music You Want to Create
If you are a beginner and want to get into sound design and music production, I suggest finding the genre of music you want to create. One of the biggest mistakes we make as beginners is watching or reading about every musical technique even if it’s not useful for our musical journey. You don’t need to limit yourself to one particular style forever, but the more narrow your focus, the easier it will be to find the right content. This may seem obvious, but each genre has particular samples, presets, and sounds associated with it which makes it unique. This is incredibly important in electronic music. A kick isn’t just a kick and a snare isn’t just a snare, each genre uses unique sounds because they have qualities that help shape that genre. That doesn’t mean you can’t experiment, but as a beginner it’s always best to learn the fundamentals before you can create anything truly unique and innovative. Find the producers that will help you the most on your musical journey. If you’re into EDM, then you probably won’t need to learn as much about making Trap style beats. Maybe you’ll eventually find those useful, but in the short-term you want to focus on what makes EDM unique.
Learn the Basics
Once you have established what genre of music you want to focus on, look for material that teaches you the fundamentals. You’ll want to learn as much as you can about your DAW, but you should understand that you don’t need to know everything right away. Learn the basics of your DAW such as how to create sounds and where to find samples, presets, VSTs, but you don’t need to spend hours learning all the ins and outs. Here at Synth Designer, I aim to give producers some of the most fundamental lessons out there. Things such as a basic understanding of ADSR (Attack, Delay, Sustain, Release) or how to create basic sounds using a synth. I also provide more advanced sound design tips and techniques that will hopefully provide you with inspiration for your music. My aim is to help you as much as I can, but I know I can’t cover everything, so I have links to help producers of every level. Check out my ‘Youtube Content Creators’ page in order to find some of the best content producers out there. Hopefully, all of these resources can help you along the way.
Create Music
This may seem like an obvious one, but the only way to get better at music is to start making it. You can learn about music all you want, but until you start making beats, or creating the sounds you want, you won’t get very far. Learn how to build songs at the most basic level. Most electronic music relies on loops of 2, 4, 8, 16 bars and builds on them throughout the song. Don’t feel the need to re-invent song structure, just follow a basic path to start and you’ll be able to finish songs a lot faster than you think.
Take Your Time + Love the Process
We all want to make music quickly, but these things take time. If you only have a few hours a week to dedicate to music, then it will probably take years before you think of yourself as ‘good’. But that shouldn’t deter you from pursuing music. We all have our own timelines and should enjoy the journey. Don’t forget, music should be fun and whether you’re learning just for yourself or want to do this professionally, you should enjoy the process.
Keep an eye out for many more posts on how to create great synth sounds in the near future.
Synth Designer
Synth Designer 
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