* You don't need more gear or genius mixing skills * Make your arrangement dynamic * Don't put too many sounds in the same frequency range * Make room for your vocals * Layer your main sound

How one sounds pro? Experience. How do you get experience? Make amateur level mistakes. ...

my prods sound amateur because im an amateur.

As soon as you mentioned the "if only I had better gear" (toolbox fallacy), that ad with the producer saying "if I had this when I was 20 I would have been a millionare". An interesting coincidence.

I’ve always thought my songs would sound a lot better if I had other people write, sing, play, mix and produce them.

Ok everyone, I wish i could write all the supporting evidence I have to say this but no one is going to read anything that would take that long. So here's the finishline. After 20 years I feel sure this is the secret "thing" no one can put their finger on, a person can ignore it, as many people do, but if anyone explores it and gets weird with it, it will change their life and they'll begin to get the best recordings of their life. I'll try to keep it short so bear in mind this concept isn't little and I didn't just pull it out of my butt one day. This is indirectly related to recording but nothing else will improve recordings more so I'm going to go there: It relates to everything in this video but I want to connect some dots. The obvious thing is emotion. The number of videos that talk about making music and don't say a single word about emotion should disturb us. Everyone knows that music is connected to emotion. Everyone knows performing music is better when it comes from a place of emotion. I'm sure that if you are in your emotions, that are connected to the song you're making, you'll even pick better samples. The reason we love the voice and spend so much time with the vocal track is that it's the sound source with the shortest distance (by far) for emotions to travel to where they can escape the body with an entire language of emotions to express. Here's the reason it's the obvious and the most hidden thing at the same time: No one seems to realize emotion is a skill. We can practice music for years and never practice emotion, so we can write this insane guitar part that no one can get into and we don't understand why. We can connect with our instrument but not with our heart so we don't understand why someone who is half is talented is twice as well-liked. People wrinkle their noses when you try to talk about emotional development like they run you out of town if you keep it up with your sappy frilly feely talkin'. We don't generally think about how becoming more emotionally intelligent can improve our music. We may believe the vulnerability and shame that may come from exploring emotions will derail us. We can think of a perfect take as powerful and perfect, that "I can't get too emotional, I have to think about everything like my breath control, staying in the pocket, listening to the click, staying in key perfectly, etc." We think and think and think and forget to feel. You can practice and sound emotional and it may sound good but, you're replicating emotion you heard instead of having it. I'll say this until I'm in the ground: any literature that helps you understand, process, emotions will help you make better music. Books that focus on emotional literacy will send your songwriting to the moon. Words will pour out like you're possessed. When you analyze music through the lens of emotion instead of skill you'll finally understand things you didn't before and it will hit you in waves and waves of "holy shit that's why I like _____ even though _____." We like things we connect with emotionally. If you like that off-key note or that missed guitar chord it's because that "mistake" had a context that gave it a noticeable feeling, and you connected with that feeling. Top Tip: if you like something that seems like many might define as a mistake in a song: analyze how it was delivered in context, why it struck you, what kind of emotion happened, and don't forget the answers. Write them down. When you like a mistake of your own find out why, and refine it. This is one way to build a signature style. The only thing skill is for is to emote better. To have more techniques to describe emotions in more detail. If you're understanding of how you feel is limited, it doesn't matter how good you are at the instrument: you have the tools to support the fine details that you don't know how to locate. That's like having a billion dollars worth of digging equipment and no map of where to dig. Bad approach: "I am going to illustrate the idea that I once had an emotion with my voice" Good music: "I'm going to let an emotion out with my voice." Arrangements and performance follow emotion as well. Good arrangements are more emotional. Good takes are more emotional. Expressing the emotion as much as possible is the only thing that really matters for recording your songs. When I love a song it's because of how it feels to listen to. If they are expressing emotion successfully it doesn't matter how talented they are or how good the recording is. I'd rather listen to an ok singer get big emotions out and be out of tune than a showcase of perfect control. Remember that too: 100% control: no emotions 100% emotion: no control you want to have enough control to get through it but ride that line of losing control. Chase that line down. The more you do it the closer to your emotions you will get because the more you will learn to go deeper into emotion while keeping control. It is a muscle to exercise and a skill to master. If you find a way to growing in your emotional connection and ability to control enough, to feel even more when you perform - you'll never find a skill to work on that improves your music more. This is super long and I left out tons of info that probably answers a lot of criticism and skepticism but this is basically what has felt like the key to all things music for me and probably always will. To close this all out, consider this: If you achieved just the bare minimum of skill in writing, playing, performing, and recording, then just went hard getting your feelings out better than anyone for the rest of your life - there is no comparison to how much better your material will be than if you did the opposite. You literally won't be able to get your feelings out better than anyone without all the skills flowing alongside. You'll learn because you need it. you need to get what's inside of you into the air, and skills will always climb with you to achieve that. You''ll write a lyric and say "that's not it and I MUST FIND IT!" instead of, "sure that works. next line." Emotions, on the other hand, will never follow your skills. You'll never learn all your modes then look up and way, "oh wow I finally understand all my feelings when that thing happened 3 years ago!"

I like your style of just giving genuinely good advice without a million jump cuts and without trying to be endlessly quirky and funny... refreshing. Thank you sir!

"I don't want to be so harsh as to say why does it suck" Underbelly literally naming his channel "You suck at producing"

I like that your first point was basically “not knowing enough music theory”. Voicing and development is essential and even studying some basic theory will be a game changer for people without a more traditional music education

One thing I really want to be more mindful of is playing midi instruments on the keyboard instead of drawing midi or dragging midi chords from folders etc. If you're just starting out and wondering why your stuff is missing that feeling (ie: sounds like a fisher price toy) this is the answer in a lot of cases. I got a new piano vst today and just dragged chords in and I was pissed cause it didn't sound magical. But once I actually played the keyboard with my hands, it sounded great. Velocity dynamics and human errors are what give music life. Humanizing instruments has been the most impactful thing I've learned to implement, bar none. This comes naturally when your productions are based on recording physical instruments, but if you're just getting started with a DAW and MIDI, this is one of the first things you need to know.

Some more tips to remember: If you put shit in, shit will come out... Less is always more. In order to break the rules you have to know them first... Mute tracks instead of solo (to find the problem) Hope this helps

That recommendation about not overloading the low mids just saved a track of mine. Thank you.

I agree 100% with everything stated. However, I want to add that very often, our own ears decieve ourselves. After working and mixing the same track for 4 hours, you can't even differentiate what sounds good and what doesn't. I like to rest my projects for a few days, work on something else, and then come back at it with fresh ears. Most of the time, I can then objectively listen to my track and identify problems, because I have less emotional attachement to it.

"The most important thing is musicianship." Preach brother.. I'm fairly new to producing but have 30 years of studying saxophone and, before that, drums. I've been amazed at the amount of people who say they are serious about producing but have no interest in learning about the craft of being a musician. Pro tip: If you are serious about making music, music theory and musicianship is not optional!

actually one of the best videos about real music production on KZfaq songwriting, sounds/performances, arrangement, vocals = 99% of the job listeners will cope with a bad mix they won't cope with a bad song or a bad performance

I appreciate the fact that there are so many of you out there that just want to actually HELP home producers. That's amazing all on it's own. Thank you for helping people, so that the possibility of more good music can exist more prevalently.

Panning all the instruments across is essential. Even doubling a guitar track and panning it left and right, and slightly have them off time will create a powerful stereo sound. EQ, compression should be used as needed, and a peak limiter is also important.

Why doesn't this man have so much more credit. This deserves so much more attention thank you so much sir this is really the BEST channel I've come across and I've only been watching you for a day this channel is just a must have to produce music in a great way thank you so much. Best part about it is it's free. Great tips thank you so much

I really appreciate your honest, imperfect presentation. Your passion and way of explaining is perfect. The only vid Ive seen on the subject where you never even showed a screen shot of a DAW. You didnt need to. I feel like I learned more in this vid than the last 20 I have listened to. Hope that all makes sense. Thanks!

I never considered your point about layering vocals to create that 'mainstream' texture, rather than a single line! I'll think of that next time. :)

Thank you! I’ve been doing this for 30+ years and new “Producers” laugh and give me crap when I try to teach them the exact same thing. I’m glad you made this video. For being such a young man, you really have a massive understanding In arranging and sound which most of us know are the basis of production. Thank you so much for this and I wish you continued success in all you do. 😊🙏🤘

This is great and very true stuff. Having done a bunch of song recordings with various bands, it is very clear to be that we, and I, never understood what arrangement and composition really is. We could write songs, but then we jumped from essentially songwriting, via tracking, straight to mixing! No figuring out the dynamic flow, and often drowning out vocals with fat guitars or synths in the wrong octave. :-) Great stuff - I just subscribed

This is actually some really great, refreshing advice. I think people tend to forget that production is just about smoothing off sharp corners rather than completely rebuilding the source material, and if you take the latter approach of COURSE you’re going to make it a complete nightmare for yourself. If you start with well-recorded material that’s naturally well-separated because it’s sensibly arranged you’re just adding polish, and production becomes so much more rewarding and pleasant. Over the course of producing my own music, I’ve found that by FAR the greatest thing more than anything else by a huge margin that’s improved my mixes is just making sure what’s underneath all the plugins doesn’t sound like shit in the first place.

Highly appreciate your knowledge on production and the way you convey it! It helps us immensely!🎼💯 Also, some points in your video gave me a boost that I already emphasize on the arrangement part haha. Thanks to your trustworthy guidance!

just discovering this channel as i surf youtube trying pick up as many tips as i can for my first ever cover i’m recording, wanting to eventually do some of my own music but learning Logic and production skills, I subbed and can’t wait to watch more videos and learn.

All this was crazy helpful. Already adding some of these tips and it’s made all the difference. Especially dynamics!

Definitely didn't click off the video because I don't just like this guy, I freakin' love you bro, thanks for the guidance!

On point! People fall for gear and plugins and all sorts of marketing trickery when a lot of times 80% of the "sounding good" can be achieved with good songwriting/arrangement. Everything else in my opinion is seasoning. All those effects, vsts and technique will only work if you have a good arrangement.

bro im literally sitting here arguing in my head with what ur saying cuz its so hard to hear but ur right lol. i forget that not everyone gets excited by the beat and i dont leave space for them vocals. good shit! ur videos have been very helpful so far dawg

i have to say out of all the "amazed", "surprised" and "disappointed" thumbnail faces I've seen over the years, your looks actually legitimate.

can you do an arrangement video showing how to make variations within the production?

I always find that thickening sounds by doubling parts with different instruments or soft synths is a great way to fill out your stereo image. Mixing isn't the answer to making a song great. It should sound amazing before hand, mixing is the polish!!

Thank you so much Nathan this has really helped now I need to put it all into pratice.

Just found this channel and I love the way you Transport Information, it’s really intriguing and understandable, thank you!

@3:15 - he's so right. I'm a computer geek, so I (like many others) thought I could VST and Plugin (ie. SPEND) my way into something that sounded good. Turns out it's not the mix, it's not the interface, it's not the mic. It's the natural sound of the room and the arrangement.

Really love your content! Learning a lot of new stuff! Thank you very much! keep up the good work!

Thanks Nathan, awesome vids... Greetings from the Netherlands !

I appreciate this, I’ve watched one of your videos about arrangements. I compose my music on my iPhone 📱

Thanks, man! ...this video has a lot of valuable takeaways, I am gonna be considering them when I am producing. 👍🔥🔥

You Rock Nathan!! Love watching your videos, soo helpful

Love your outlook on music and production, and your videos are always incredibly helpful. Thanks a lot, man ✌️

Just discovered Nathan's videos. I have been recording for over 30 years and his advice is spot on. All of it !! Especially his directions on arrangement, performance and quality of source. Great performances and arrangements mix themselves...and that is a fact! I will be looking forward to reviewing all your videos! Thanks!

These videos are so helpful! Thanks for these bro!

Just saved this video in my "videos I come back to from time to time" playlist.. Such a great vid, man!! Subbed..

Great vid Nathan! Very jam-packed with gems and gold! Keep it up, brother!

Why are you underated man..this is super life changing man

Subbed. Watched a lot of your videos already. Appreciate the way you do this. Respect!

It is really nice to hear the truth and only the truth sometimes!!!

Thank you so much for making such great valuable content I'm srsly considering signing up for your course now

I totally agree with what you said about arrangement. Too many "producers" nowadays pay no attention to the arrangement through the song. It's always just making a sick beat and looping 4 chords over and over again. My thing is that you can have a very simple chord progression to begin with but try to add variations to it. Even just using inversions or adding a 7th or 9th to chords would make it sound richer. But because DAWs are so powerful these days a lot of "home producers" never spend the time on music theory. They just learn the basic progressions and put no thought into it. Asking them to write a good harmony would be too much. For some reason in modern pop music people don't care about harmonies/melodies anymore. It's always just the beat. A song with a good arrangement never gets old because of the many different elements you can hear in it.

Excellent tutorial just liked and subbed!

thank you for this!

Great tips here!!

Hey. Great video....like many others I have watched over the past few weeks. Keep up the great work!!

Classic advice Nathan, thanks. This is by far one of the best takes on music anywhere. You can watch all the gear vids you want, but this is of the utmost. "Garbage in, garbage out". My new goal is now -6 instead of -3db. I hated the sound of my voice until I heard that Hendrix did also. Now I let 'er rip! Respect, fam.

Great info bro

Thank you! 🙏This is what needed to hear right now!

This was great. I need to work on my arranging... it's a whole other skill set, needs work! Great vid man

Gracias Hermano.! 🙏🏼 Awesome info, it all makes sense 🧠 Thank You 😊

Such amazing video. Loved how you put emphasis on the musicianship as well. 👍👍

Great Video, made a lot of sense. Re-assuring, I am doing this stuff on the whole, the not exceeding -6db tip was new to me, and you confirmed some processes I do that I had just chosen to be a sensible way, that actually really helps, I must be doing something right (actually just finished an EP 1 week ago, came out great, I had to learn a lot of this stuff recently). Subbed

New subscriber here. I'm also a new user of Logic Pro X, and your videos have been a big help in understanding and getting the most out of this new environment. I've always been fairly unhappy with my final tracks, so in addition to a new DAW that is leaps and bounds better than what I was using before, you're providing some really good insight here from a production standpoint. Your expertise is much appreciated!

Dude I think you explain things awesomely. Hats off brother 👍😀

Very good advice my friend Love the end. The STATIC MIX is the KEY to a fantastic mix!

Good advice, I've been a Sweetwater customer for decades. No one does it better!

Nice video, very useful!❤️

This should have way more views... You're so on point it's crazy lmao! Subscribed.

Great video and details, thanks!

Great insights !!!

new sub my boy 🔥

Great video!

Great video, Nathan! The "no space left for the vocals" problem is a big one. What I currently do is I try to record good scratch vocals and I almost never mute it when building the arrangements and selecting sounds, because it doesn't make sense to have them work well on their own: they need to support the vocals. This thought process helps a lot with mixing as well because you already start the mixing process with vocals having the right space.

Thank you for the video man. Im really struggling in the quality and arrangement section so this helped.

Thanks for all the tips ❤️

SO Nice!! Thanks 🙏🙏🙏

Thank you very much for the tips, really appreciate it

I dont even have a midi keyboard and I never bought any samples but I get really good feedback right now and I love a lot of the tracks im working on

Man your the best instructor I've ever seen that help and encourage young Music producers like me. Can't wait to save some money and sign in to your "Producer accelerate program"...... God bless you Nath❤️

Still useful! Thanks for posting, going to apply these points to my songs~

really great!

Clearly you are a Master. Thank you so much for giving us so many important details about this. god bless you bro!Youre the man!

I know this is my second time commenting on your videos but I'm just so blown away!! I can't believe I didn't find you earlier omg, I just wanna know where your millions of subs are man

I'm extremely happy that I found this video today. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Definitely earned a sub from me

Good advice right there.

This is a very good list for a check on yourself for every production. We can all get lost in the weeds sometimes. It's the curse of creative excitement

My production sounds amateur because I'm a lousy singer! 🤣

Thanks for the heads up bro 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿

Thank for confirming and clarifying some of the common mistakes . I knew most of it but still nice to know that im doing it right.

Thanks Nathan! I'm really loving your videos!

Arrangement, arrangement, arrangement! Good stuff!

youve said what many people in the industry fail to explain thank you, great video!

Awesome video as always man!

You are such a great help and thank you for your time and advices!!!! Big respect bro!!!

i'm in my 3rd year on electronic music production and still feel my mixdowns arnt 100%, in the music i make (DnB) were taught to have sections such as build ups, drops and breaks so i feel like not everyones problem is structure in itself. rate your vids highly

Very helpful, thank you Nathan!!

You made it clear bro

awesome info!!!

Bravo brother! Spot on

The most important info in this video is what you take up in the end. Your gear and your capacity with the mix is just the last part of making good music. Putting the energi on the melody and the lyrics is a very fine time investment! 😇

A thing that helped me with my anguish about how I sound was simply thinking "oh well, of course this song i heard in itunes sound better than mine, i have a home studio not a sweeden mixing room with 3 audio engineers to place my mics and set my amps and other 5 professional producers surrounding me to help." when i putted that up in my mind i started to get way more satisfied with how i sound. all tho its not how i want to sound yet. Other thing is to get inspired by other home studio owners and not the big audio engineers and huge artists that have access to them, aim lower.