Project 6 - Creating Your Workflow

Welcome to Project #6 as we teach ourselves music production!

I realized as I worked through the last project, remixing a song, that working in Ableton is starting to feel much more natural and that I’m starting to get my feet under me, so I hope you are you. However, I also realized that even though I’m understanding Ableton better after some repetition, that I don’t have much direction when I sit down to start making music. It’s often difficult to get started, or I find myself not knowing what to add in next or what exactly is missing. So, to add some structure and direction into my music creation process, I thought it’s about time to organize my workflow and write it down, or at least a working draft to start with.

I created a separate workflow page at https://edmdreams.com/workflow/ to serve as a general guide if you are unsure what to do next. Feel free to use my workflow if it works for you, I’ll be refining my workflow and process as I learn and improve so I will be updating the workflow page as well.

To start my workflow template I followed along with “Workflow: A Guide For Music Producers” a Youtube Video by Catalyze Music Academy; which I’ve included below:

It’s a bit of a switch-up but no Ableton in this project, I made a MS Word document and wrote out the workflow steps above and I plan to continue learning from other guides and tutorials to help refine it.

Catalyze Music Academy’s video was really helpful and I found it helpful getting some guidance. However, he’s budgeted his time according to his schedule and his goals, so be sure to tailor your expectations and plans to your life and circumstances.

To follow-up with with some more insights I turned to Will Darling from EDM Tips, who put out some helpful information in his video titled “5 Music Production Workflow Tips” included below. The video’s page also contains a link to the EDM Tips website where you can download their “Ultimate EDM Speed Writing Cheat Sheet” which is really cool. I’m trying to really dive into production and to get to a point that I can make music that speaks to me, so I definitely intend to put these tips and tools to good use and I hope you do too!

If you are trying to teach yourself music production like I am, then you’ve likely gotten lost or stuck too. That’s why I’m bringing some structure into my production and education, to ensure that I have a reference to check when I’m stuck or lost. So, after looking over several different workflow templates I found and incorporating some of the tips and information from the videos above, I created my own basic workflow to keep me working efficiently and reorient myself if I don’t know what I should be working on. You can find my workflow at https://edmdreams.com/workflow/. If you’re new to making music too, then hopefully this helps keep you on track, now get out there and make some music!