Advice for a newbie

[Exclusionzonedayton]

When you do release your music, don’t be upset if no one much buys it. Many people will trade over buying. A lot of people won’t buy something unknown unless there’s something that gets their interest. Keep doing it though. Don’t hesitate to give your music to people who show some interest too. Again, some people may not buy an unknown when they can use their money for something they know they will like. If a person likes the free one they may be more likely to buy or trade for the next one. Release the music for your self first. Eventually others will find it. Lots of great advice here in this thread already. I was lucky to have a lot of local people here to give me advice like this.

[Kenny]

Something that I wish had been a resource when I first started is the multitude of online tutorial videos on recording, mixing and mastering.
Very few, if any, are tailored to noise, but the knowledge I have gained from watching these have been invaluable in my understanding of recording sound. Many of them are definitely applicable to noise.

[D345]

If your set isn't up to your standards, and someone comes up and says "I really liked your set!" you can just say "Thanks!" instead of "Oh man, it sucked, my delay wasn't working right and I was getting the wrong feedback and blah blah blah blah..."

Almost every time I have told someone that their set was great, the response has been this! And I do it myself too, there's always something that doesn't go as planned. Maybe I should just lie and response that everything went just as I composed, because nobody else notices these "mistakes." But I don't think this blah blah blah is really an issue, I think it's just funny.

[housepig]

Almost every time I have told someone that their set was great, the response has been this! And I do it myself too, there's always something that doesn't go as planned. Maybe I should just lie and response that everything went just as I composed, because nobody else notices these "mistakes." But I don't think this blah blah blah is really an issue, I think it's just funny.

Well, I won't lie - if someone presses, I'll let them know that it wasn't quite what they were supposed to hear. But if someone dug what they heard - regardless if I thought it was "right" - why should I rain on their parade? I shared this with someone who was about to play their first show, and they were fretting about getting it right, and when I said "we don't know until you tell us that you messed up" a light went on in their eyes, and they stopped worrying so much.

And if the performer can laugh off the problems, great! Bring on the blah blah! I just know for myself, there have been times before I could laugh off when something didn't go right, and a simple "thanks" to someone's compliment would have been better than my rant about what went wrong.

[AlexVirtues]

ok, off the soapbox now. have fun. see you around town!

Preach, Bill, preach!
Those are all excellent tips that I wish I had known day one.

[Zalhietzli]

one last thing about live performance: nobody but you knows what it's supposed to sound like. So if something goes wrong, we as the audience won't know unless you tell us... and you aren't REQUIRED to tell us!
If your set isn't up to your standards, and someone comes up and says "I really liked your set!" you can just say "Thanks!" instead of "Oh man, it sucked, my delay wasn't working right and I was getting the wrong feedback and blah blah blah blah..."

Thanks for the reminder ! I've been doing noise and shows for 10 years and I am still guilty of this haha.

[Schud017]

Something that I wish had been a resource when I first started is the multitude of online tutorial videos on recording, mixing and mastering.
Very few, if any, are tailored to noise, but the knowledge I have gained from watching these have been invaluable in my understanding of recording sound. Many of them are definitely applicable to noise.

Any suggestions for resources? There's so much out there it can be hard to know where to start or what is applicable for my meager basement setup.

[Zalhietzli]

Something that I wish had been a resource when I first started is the multitude of online tutorial videos on recording, mixing and mastering.
Very few, if any, are tailored to noise, but the knowledge I have gained from watching these have been invaluable in my understanding of recording sound. Many of them are definitely applicable to noise.

Any suggestions for resources? There's so much out there it can be hard to know where to start or what is applicable for my meager basement setup.

I don't know what Daw you're using but Kenny gioia does great "quality of life" tutorials on reaper. It's not music or mixing theory, but more about "how to setup your daw for better efficiency and use its features".

[Remi]

I back the Kenny Gioia videos. I seriously dislike DAWs but they helped me lots with Reaper. His speech's flow drives me absolutely nuts, though.

[Zalhietzli]

I back the Kenny Gioia videos. I seriously dislike DAWs but they helped me lots with Reaper. His speech's flow drives me absolutely nuts, though.

This haha, 100%. Watching them at 1.25 or 1.5 speed helps.

[Remi]

I back the Kenny Gioia videos. I seriously dislike DAWs but they helped me lots with Reaper. His speech's flow drives me absolutely nuts, though.

This haha, 100%. Watching them at 1.25 or 1.5 speed helps.

Ooooh that's a brilliant idea I never thought of. I'll try it out next time I need to check one of his tutorials hahaha.

[Schud017]

Something that I wish had been a resource when I first started is the multitude of online tutorial videos on recording, mixing and mastering.
Very few, if any, are tailored to noise, but the knowledge I have gained from watching these have been invaluable in my understanding of recording sound. Many of them are definitely applicable to noise.

Any suggestions for resources? There's so much out there it can be hard to know where to start or what is applicable for my meager basement setup.

I don't know what Daw you're using but Kenny gioia does great "quality of life" tutorials on reaper. It's not music or mixing theory, but more about "how to setup your daw for better efficiency and use its features".

I've been trying to get into Reaper for editing (moving on from Audacity) so this will be helpful. Thank you!

[housepig]

I've been trying to get into Reaper for editing (moving on from Audacity) so this will be helpful. Thank you!

Quick suggestion for software (or anything, honestly) - while you definitely want to spend some time on the learning curve and knowing your tools, if a particular tool is frustrating you, it's okay to move on and try something else! I know a lot of folks who get stuck in "everybody uses X" and end up beating themselves against the wall trying to learn it, when another tool might fit your flow better.

There's a DAW called Waveform (previously Tracktion) that I used for years, and I'm coming back to now that it's available on Linux, and the nice thing is when they roll out a new version, the last version becomes the free version; full featured and free to download and use (I think you might have to set up a user account to get it). So might be worth it if Reaper isn't your jam.

I also think back to a DJ Shadow quote - "reading manuals isn't making music." Don't let the recording process get in the way of your creativity!

[Felicia Gaggins]

Tons of great advice on this thread.
I found it helpful to purchase a pair of headphones early on, mostly for live events and jam sessions. I can check my sounds before connecting to PA mixer.

[THE RITA HN]

Don't get hung up on thinking your material needs to be 'entertaining'. These genres were historically built on challenging (sometimes controversially) listeners.

[Remi]

I've been trying to get into Reaper for editing (moving on from Audacity) so this will be helpful. Thank you!

There's a DAW called Waveform (previously Tracktion) that I used for years, and I'm coming back to now that it's available on Linux, and the nice thing is when they roll out a new version, the last version becomes the free version; full featured and free to download and use (I think you might have to set up a user account to get it). So might be worth it if Reaper isn't your jam.

Isn't Ardour pretty much the equivalent of Reaper for Linux? My band mate who's a Linux freak uses it while I'm on Reaper and we often exchange stems without any issues.

[violentgrief]

I've been trying to get into Reaper for editing (moving on from Audacity) so this will be helpful. Thank you!

There's a DAW called Waveform (previously Tracktion) that I used for years, and I'm coming back to now that it's available on Linux, and the nice thing is when they roll out a new version, the last version becomes the free version; full featured and free to download and use (I think you might have to set up a user account to get it). So might be worth it if Reaper isn't your jam.

Isn't Ardour pretty much the equivalent of Reaper for Linux? My band mate who's a Linux freak uses it while I'm on Reaper and we often exchange stems without any issues.

Reaper is also available on Linux. Ardour isn't particularly user friendly in my experience.

If you're a mac user Garageband is a good start. Stephen Petrus of Murderous Vision uses that.

[Remi]

Right. I have no idea. I don't like using computers to make music. I spend all day on computers at work so I try to stay away from them at home

[housepig]

Reaper is also available on Linux. Ardour isn't particularly user friendly in my experience.

Good to know, hadn't checked on Reaper in a while. Agreed with Ardour - I like it but I don't love it, I find myself running into frustrations on simple tasks pretty frequently.

[GENITAL STIGMATA]

AS BASICALLY EVERYONE HAS SAID, LESS IS MORE. I STARTED WITH ONLY 3 PIECES OF GEAR AND GOT MILES OF DARK AMBIENT MATERIAL OUT OF IT BEFORE I SLID INTO THE CUTUP THING YEARS AGO AFTER BUYING MORE GEAR. EVEN THEN YOU CAN DO DECENT CUTUP WITH LESS THAN 10 PEDALS/SOURCES JUST DEPENDS ON HOW FAST YOU ARE.

ONE THING I LEARNED THE HARD WAY AFTER A FEW BOTCHED SETS IS THIS: FUCK THE ONESPOT DAISY CHAIN CABLE. AT FIRST IT SEEMS CONVENIENT BUT THEY ALMOST ALWAYS BREAK FROM THEIR SHITTY DESIGN CAUSING THEM TO TANGLE INEVITABLY (DON’T BOTHER ZIPTYING THEM EITHER YOU’RE DEFINITELY GONNA REGRET THAT WHEN YOU CAN’T GIVE IT MORE SLACK FOR NEW PEDALS). DEFINITELY INVEST IN ONE OR MORE POWER BANKS WITH INTERCHANGEABLE CABLES OF DIFFERENT LENGTHS SO YOU CAN POWER EVERYTHING OFF ONE OUTLET WITH THE OPTION TO CHANGE CABLES IF ONE FUCKS UP. THIS WILL SAVE YOU TONS OF HEADACHE AND YOU’LL BE ABLE TO TELL YOUR PEDAL IS FUCKED AND NOT YOUR POWER SOURCE EASIER SINCE THEY’RE NOT ALL HOOKED UP TO A SINGLE DAISYCHAIN.

PLAY/REDORD WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR, AND KEEP YOUR PLAYBACK MEDIUM IN MIND...SOME THINGS THAT SOUND SICK ON YOUR RIG MAY SOUND WAY DIFFERENT ON A TAPE FOR INSTANCE IF THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE GOING FOR

AS FAR AS RECORDING, LEARN HOW TO WORK A COMPRESSOR AND LEARN TO LOVE THEM. IF YOU’RE LIKE ME YOU RECORD INTO A DAW OF SOME KIND AND I ALWAYS HAVE FILTER>COMPRESSOR>EQ>COMPRESSOR ON THE MASTER TRACK, SOMETIMES AN EXTRA FILTER OR EQ AT THE END TO ROLL OFF CERTAIN FREQS AND THIS CHAIN MAKES EVERYTHING PACK THAT PUNCH A LOT OF MIXES ARE MISSING

HOUSEPIG SAID A BUNCH OF STUFF I WAS GOING TO POINT OUT IN REGARDS TO BRINGING SHIT TO GIGS FOR PREPAREDNESS/BENEFITTING OTHERS LACK THEREOF. LOTS OF GOOD POINTS IN THAT POST

[thedemonfeedback666]

Another good tip is that if you can’t solder, when a cable breaks throw it away. I used to have the bad habit of throwing shit cables back into my cable bin with the intention of repairing them, then never doing it. Then it would come time to record or play a show and all my cables would be ass. Then again, I assume you’re not an idiot like I am lol

[Zalhietzli]

Another good tip is that if you can’t solder, when a cable breaks throw it away. I used to have the bad habit of throwing shit cables back into my cable bin with the intention of repairing them, then never doing it. Then it would come time to record or play a show and all my cables would be ass. Then again, I assume you’re not an idiot like I am lol

That makes me think of another advice : learn to solder. Wether it's just fixing your cables or making a contact mic, building/repairing pedals/modules or designing your circuits... It's cheap, quite easy, and it opens a lot of possibilities.

That said, I am also guilty of the dumb faulty cable put back in the bin.

[housepig]

That makes me think of another advice : learn to solder. Wether it's just fixing your cables or making a contact mic, building/repairing pedals/modules or designing your circuits... It's cheap, quite easy, and it opens a lot of possibilities.

That said, I am also guilty of the dumb faulty cable put back in the bin.

This 100%. Best soldering tip I got (after years of doing it not so well) - heat the connection, apply the solder. If the connection point is the right temperature, the solder will flow onto it when you touch it to the joint. You're not using the iron to melt the solder on the joint, you're heating the joint so the solder melts itself. With a halfway-decent iron, if you hold it on the joint for 3-4 seconds, remove the iron and touch the solder to the spot, you're good.

But yes, I too am having to clean out a bin of questionable cables this weekend.... :)

[Kenny]

Something that I wish had been a resource when I first started is the multitude of online tutorial videos on recording, mixing and mastering.
Very few, if any, are tailored to noise, but the knowledge I have gained from watching these have been invaluable in my understanding of recording sound. Many of them are definitely applicable to noise.

Any suggestions for resources? There's so much out there it can be hard to know where to start or what is applicable for my meager basement setup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmEwSLu ... usicSchool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUbACke ... usicSchool

yeah not really noise-related, but both of these were really useful for me especially thinking about effect chains and sound separation.

[WCN]

When it come to releasing/sharing your recordings, give yourself time. Don’t upload every track you make to bandcamp right away. When you have a recording you are truly happy with, release it yourself. Make 50 tapes/CDrs and send them in the mail to artists and labels you truly admire and respect. Write them an honest individual message, do not copy paste that you are looking for a label to release your work. Most will be keen on trading, but even if they aren’t, ask for their address and send it to them. This route requires investing a bit of money, but that act alone will show dedication and seriousness about what you’re doing and set yourself apart from a massive sea noise that no one is listening to. This may sound elitist, but once you have made some contacts, stay choosey about who you work with. Don’t accept every offer for a split or label release if you don’t feel they are up to your personal standards of artistic quality. There are a lot of labels out there who practice no quality control, so don’t be afraid to be exclusive. Right or wrong, listeners/labels will be more interested in taking the time to listen to your work if they see you have been thoughtful about who you work with and what you release, than if you have spattered a huge volume of your work across the internet with anyone who would take it.