If you’re just getting started in your musical journey, you may quickly find yourself overwhelmed by the amount of content available. Although I recommend many different content creators on this site, I don’t recommend beginners watch and read everything under the sun. One of the biggest mistakes I made when I first started was trying every technique and watching every tutorial I could find. My main suggestion for beginners is to pick one genre and focus all your energy on learning that genre.
A lot of artists will say that picking one genre limits their creativity. This is a fair point, however as a beginner you need to choose a clear path so that you can stay focused. Otherwise, you may find yourself becoming overwhelmed by the plethora of information out there. I know this from experience, as when I was a beginner I found it difficult to choose where to focus my energy in music production. Once I started to focus on Synthwave music I was able to narrow my focus and start to make the music I wanted.
The main reason why you’ll want to stick with one genre at the beginning is that genres often have specific sounds associated with them. This means everything from the drums to the synths (or other instruments) will have familiar tones across many songs. For example, a bluegrass song will most likely not feature super saw synths, while EDM probably won’t have banjos. More narrowly speaking, Synthwave often features what’s called ‘gated reverb’ on its drums. Knowing how to produce those sounds is an essential part of being a rounded Synthwave producer. It doesn’t mean you need to do it every time, but having that knowledge is an important part of being a Synthwave producer. However, knowing how to make trap beats may be interesting, but it won’t help you make Synthwave music.
Remember, a lot of content on the internet is narrowly focused and narrowing your search parameters will help you find relevant content. If you’re trying to create trap music, typing in “how to make beats” is too general and will lead you down many paths. But writing “how to make trap beats” will get you started on the right path. Not everything you’ll find will be relevant, but it will at least send you in the right direction.
So remember, if you’re just starting out pick a genre and stick with it for at least a little while. Don’t get caught up watching and reading about all the newest techniques and plug-ins that are used in every genre. Having a narrow focus will help you make the music you want faster and more efficiently.
Synth Designer 
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