7 Biggest Mistakes Most Producers Make

What’s your biggest struggle with music production? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll see if I can help!

7 Biggest Music Production Mistakes:

1. Being obsessed over being original too early on.
Don’t try too hard to be original when you’re starting out. Listen to music you love. Try and replicate it….you’ll learn so much. Your own sound will develop over time.

2. Spending too long on one track.
If you spend 6 months on one track, you will:
a) get disheartened
b) lose objectivity on it (does it still sound good?)
c) lose the opportunity to write 6 or 12 tracks in that time. That would equal 12 x more melodies written, 12 x more bass lines written, 12 x more beats programmed, etc. Think how much better you’ll be after finishing 12 separate tracks EVEN if they’re not perfect!

3. Not finishing tracks.
This is similar to point 2 (but not quite). You might write 12 track IDEAS in 6 months, but if you don’t actually FINISH them, you are doing yourself a disservice. No one will hear them, you can’t release them, and you won’t have the experience of pushing through the painful parts to a finished project. Don’t be a dabbler. Be a finisher.

4. Getting hung-up on new plugins.
Whilst some 3rd party plugins are advisable, you only need a few (and if you’re starting out, you don’t even need those). Learn your plugins inside and out, and how to get the most from them. Then, when you finally invest in a few third party premium plugins, your skills will largely translate to them.

5. Not using auxiliary channels.
If you want to get some extra control over your spatial effects (like reverb and delays), learn to use auxiliary channels. You’ll be able to create so much more clarity in your mix by doing things like EQing and compressing your reverb separate from the dry signal.

6. Not checking your mix in mono
Loading in presets from fancy synths and samplers can sound GREAT, but they often have lots of stereo effects included that can sound muddy when summed to mono (on a phone speaker, for instance). This is no good, so you want to check your mix in mono often, to make sure it still has clarity and punch.

7. Not referencing other music
This is a KEY skill to learn. If you referencing other music often during the production, mixing and mastering processes, you will have a benchmark by which to measure your own music. I don’t know even ONE accomplished producer who doesn’t reference other music extensively.

So there you have it!

Mine is getting obsessed with small details before getting the main idea finished. 🙈

What’s your biggest struggle with music production? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll see if I can help!

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[EDMTips]

What’s your biggest struggle with music production? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll see if I can help! 😎

[MormonPJesus]

1. Obsessing over being original
2. Obsessing over one track for months
3. Not finishing tracks
4. Getting hung up on new plugins
5. Not using auxiliary channels
6. Not checking your mix in mono
7. Not realizing the importance of referencing

[dancingwithturtles]

#2 is gold for me. I have trouble letting go of projects. I'm getting better at it, but thanks for the reassurance that I need to finish projects faster :D

[DiscoTuna]

Such a good video and set of messages. Rewatching this after having been playing with music production for about 4 months, and it all makes even more sense than the first time I listened to it when I was even greener. The point about 'finishing is better than perfection' as that way you clock up so much more across-the-board-practice is soooo true. Take this man's courses - he is your accelerator.

[ko_x]

Straight on the point, as you always do. Thanks a lot :-)

[blindsight_music_]

5:02 mans just summed up my entire existence 😪😪

[autumnfall]

I appreciate everything you share with us 👍👍👍. Great work.

[bretthart]

Excellent tips. I'm guilty of all of the above. Finishing tracks is probably my biggest downfall. thanks for your content

[ivomatos]

this might just be your best video on yt... thanks a lot :)

[Kale_Myself]

Thank you, this was an awesome video! I’m struggling with composition and knowing what I need in a certain part of my song, like breakdown, or pre chorus. I have a difficult time understanding how to keep energy moving in a logical manor in my track as well. Transitioning from drop to breakdown section or chorus to build.

[anapacheco]

Thanks so much for your thoughtful and detailed videos! On to the soft!

[markemerson]

Oh boy nailed it with the the unfinished 8 bar loops. Too many.

[gitanjalirai]

Thanks for you edm pack sir, it helps me a lot

[mikelomazz]

Another great video and with over 27k views, I still can't believe you've "only" got 87k subs man! So, from the list, I've cured myself of a couple of them over the 18 months or so I've been learning the craft! #2, 6 &7 are probably my worst ones these days and the fact that I predominantly mix with headphones and export to Soundcloud so I can play on the big Sonos (this is not the most neutral sounding speaker in the world but represents quite well what it'd sound like in a club - or at least it goes way loud anyway!).

[musicbySTIX]

I really needed this video! Thank you so much, man! 😸🙏🏻

[rahulmahesh]

Subscribed, your videos are really knowledgeable, Thank you.

[Cat-hwvh]

Very good! Not producing enough quickly is my biggest problem. Also not finishing tracks. The amount of time you lose by going back to work on old sketches....
Fred from Queen, said if it wasn't coming together after twenty minutes he'd forget it as it wasn't likely to happen.

[sarahburton]

The mono tip has changed the game for me! Thank you so much, great tips 🙏🏻

[CarinaSol_Trance_Techno]

Number 2 that's Me all the time, since months on the same tracks, it doesn't sound like it did in the beginning, or how they were meant to be - even worse - sometimes I destroy them as you said while trying to optimise them, so they get worse instead and the next day I think - oh no what did I do - it was almost finished and now it sounds rubbish. Luckely I do new versions on a regular basis, so that I can go back one or two versions if I don't like how it ended up. Have the feeling, I will never finalize those tracks

[briancase]

This is great advice, but: Bottom line: surrender to the process. No amount of "don't make the mistakes that I did" videos (there are tons of other videos that say the same thing) can save you from having to put in the time, pay your dues. Just accept the fact that you will need time (years). Because if this weren't true, there would be legions of producers with one year under their belt getting signed and making Grammy nominated hits. There aren't, and you won't be one just because you take this advice to heart. Having said that, this is great advice. Use it to make faster progress. Thanks.