I’m a musician and have been a musician for over 10 years. Only recently in the past 4 or 5 years have I really gotten into recording myself on a DAW and if I’m being honest, I’ve gotten to a point where I can really make some stuff I enjoy. It’s not always easy, but I can get some pretty banging tracks going.

this sub-lemmy is the only music related community I’ve seen so far, but I’m curious how many Lemmy users are also music makers? I produce in Ableton and Bitwig, and do everything from Alternative rock to ambiance, film scores, electronic synth stuff. Not going to share any links though because I don’t want this to come off as a self promotional post

Really just curious if maybe theres enough of us to warrant some sort of sub-community for music creation chat.

  • Jameson_Dagger@lemmy.one
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    1 year ago

    I think it should happen. Pushing your own music can feel spammy in the wrong community. People posting their own music often want a different kind of interaction as well such as critical feedback on the mix or writing that listening communities really don’t get into.

    • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.one
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      1 year ago

      I think your consideration for other people is tremendous, and I feel the exact same way. I watch podcast (60 Cycle Hum) and it took me a long time to get into listening to the user submitted songs at the end.

      Yet, I think it is important people be exposed to variety at every opportunity. Think about all the ambient music pushed upon you everywhere you go. All mainstream stuff, often the same handful of songs ad nauseam depending on the season, the same privileged mega stars hijacking your ears because the industry made them rich and DJs get paid to play them.

      It is okay to share music. Most people are already to timid to do so, so I rather not see anyone else get discouraged.

  • pushka@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I’ve really wanted to for ages , ,but I feel like it’s hitting a wall trying to get started , I just need to actually do it and prototype little things

    Share some stuff under this comment - I’m intrigued 💕

  • SwampYankee@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    Was playing guitar on and off for a decade and then started seriously practicing around the end of 2019. Got to the point where I was fluent enough that the melodies and chord progressions started just appearing out of the ether as I was noodling. I wrote one full song and have stubs of a few others, but now my hands have rebelled against me after 3 and a half decades of abuse. Don’t know if they’ll ever get back to normal, as I can’t even figure out what exactly is wrong with them.

      • SwampYankee@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        It’s kind of hard to explain. There’s some level of constant pain and certain activities will cause it to flair up. Some of those activities it doesn’t really bother me while I’m doing them, but the next day I will feel it and it takes weeks of rest, medication, stretches & exercises to get it under control again. Guitar is one of those, did a bunch of yard work recently that I think aggravated it. Oddly, typing doesn’t feel great while I’m doing it, but it doesn’t seem to cause the problem to flare up the same way more strenuous activity does.

        I’ve basically stopped playing guitar, and I try to stick to gaming with a controller, which sucks because my favorite genre for my whole life has been city builders.

        • Pantoffel@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          I’m sorry to hear that you’re in so much pain. I hope you can find the help that you need. It sounds like a doctor might have to take a look at it.

          • SwampYankee@beehaw.org
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            1 year ago

            Thanks, yeah, it’s not unbearable. The worst part is just the limitations it imposes on me. Doctors haven’t been much help so far, but I need to try again.

  • Pantoffel@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    Been playing bass again since the event, found out that I’d really missed making music and joined a band. Recently we recorded a few songs but we still have to mix them.

    I would enjoy a music-maker community for people to discuss their own and other’s creations, the process, advice etc.

    • Cromutorium@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      How did you find the band you joined? I’ve been looking to join one myself but have no idea where to look.

      • Pantoffel@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        The guitarist was good friends with other friends of mine, and so we met each other at parties, concerts, festivals and such. After finding out we share a taste in music we sort of decided to jam for the hell of it. That felt good, so he invited a good friend who is a drummer to join up.

        Since then we’ve been looking around for a singer through various ways - people we know, friends of friends, random strangers in bars.

        I find I’ve usually always come to find and do new things through friends and aquaintances. But if you don’t have any musicians in your personal orbit, you could try and find places that have open mic night or free jam sessions. Sometimes people will still post musician wanted ads in local record shops as well. And of course there is theoption of searching through the internet, through subreddits for example (or maybe here if the population grows enough.)

  • orbit@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    Fellow Ableton user here. There’s a new instance in need of users and communities over at lemmy.studio

  • Beto@lemmy.studio
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    1 year ago

    I’ve used Ardour and Bitwig in the past, these days I use Ardour because it’s open-source. But I also write a lot of music without a DAW, usually with the OP-Z.

    There’s a music production community in the lemmy.ml instance: !musicproduction@lemmy.ml. And I created my instance this week trying to focus on music-related communities, but there’s not much yet.

  • walkingears@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I started writing music when I took a college class that required us to download Finale Notepad, a free composition software. Back in those days I just wrote tiny little “sketches” and fragments of ideas, but more than ten years later and I’m now writing full compositions, usually classical-inspired, but sometimes in other genres and styles. I switched to writing in Musescore which is also free but has better digital instruments and also has more versatility

  • bread@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I’m trying to expand my interest and making music is one of them but I just don’t know where to start lmao

    • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.one
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      1 year ago

      I think it is super confusing when it comes to recording on a computer. The sheer amount of stuff you need to get is overwhelming. Plus, depending on your operating system and software it can be a nightmare.

      I have a friend who got TASCAM DP-006 6-Track Digital Pocketstudio (sorry for what seems like an advertisement, I just like being precise) and it bypasses all the bullshit obstacles that goes into just recording stuff. It run on batteries, has a microphone and stereo jack input. Super easy to use.

      I am seriously considering getting one, but I already have a couple of computer based solutions I feel like all I do is spend my money. Still, it might be what I need to finally learn what I actually sound like, and finally start improving.

  • MK Rexx@lemmy.studio
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    1 year ago

    I play bass and guitar in my bedroom and produce mainly electronic rock music with just LMMS as a hobby from high school and I’m kind of getting back to it.

    this sub-lemmy is the only music related community I’ve seen so far

    I have the opposite problem, I have seen multiple Music communities in their own instances and don’t know which to subscribe to. There’s also musicproduction@lemmy.ml and a number of commmunities for specific niches (such as specific DAWs, fandoms, platforms). They are mostly not as active as this one so it would be cool if we check them out.

  • ericskiff@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I’d be down for a music creation community! I mostly make chiptune/video game music, but I’ve got a background in composition and musical theater, and I’m working on a pop song of all things currently :)

    https://ericskiff.com/music

    • mrcleansocks@beehaw.orgOP
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      1 year ago

      I haven’t been able to find anything like this yet.

      One thing I’ve noticed about a lot of Reddit music sharing communities is that they tend to be pretty devoid of useful feedback/community generally. People want to just drop their content and bounce.

      If Lemmy were to have an instance for a music sharing community, I think it would need to be pretty heavily moderated.

      • rustyspoon@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        I think it’s tough to make a community like that which doesn’t just turn into a self advertising platform. I also think it’s harder to drive interest for a general community as opposed to more niche communities centered around a single genre. For example on Reddit, people often share their music in the hardcore community and lots of people listen / give feedback, moreso than I would see on “we are the music makers”

  • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.one
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    1 year ago

    I don’t make music, I make occasionally rhythmic and melodic noise.

    I honestly would love to get into making music. I have been playing guitar badly for like 2 decades, and I would love to record the abominations I come up with.

    Hell, besides owning a Focusrite Solo, I got a Boss GX 100 that I adore, which is just so amazing compared to the Zoom multieffects I messed with before.

    I need to figure out how to dual boot linux so I can use a distro dedicated for music making, with Jack setup and a realtime kernel.

    I also like messing with synths. Not great with keys, but who needs to be on a chromatic instrument?

  • Emmy@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    I play an instrument (the violin, to be exact), but I do also make electronic music on a DAW. I enjoy it a lot, though have ultimately been doing it as a hobby for a few years. I’d love to get it to the next level and be able to chat with other producers/composers though!

    • vrihaspati110@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      Let’s just say, I am a dumb person but I want to create my own music but I don’t know ABCD of music, what are some cheap and beginner friendly online courses that I can take.also, what software shall I use?

      Sorry about my English, I am not a native speaker.

      Thank you.

      • rustyspoon@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        Software: Garage Band is great of you have a Mac. Audacity is… worse, but free. Or if you’re just making music for yourself, you could probably get away with pirating FL Studio… (of course if you’re willing to spend a lot of money, there are much better/more “ethical” options).

        For learning resources, it’s very genre dependent. YouTube is great, and you’ll find a lot of really general advice on how to use the software, how to make things sound good, etc.

        But I feel like the best advice I could give is to actively listen to whatever music you enjoy, try to figure out what it is that you like about it, and see if you can replicate it. Imo the best way to learn is by copying.

        • vrihaspati110@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          I am on windows, piracy is not a problem for me but there is this software cakewalk which is free but I don’t know if it is good or shady.

          • rustyspoon@beehaw.org
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            1 year ago

            Looking at Cakewalk right now, I would definitely recommend it over Audacity (which is pretty bare bones). Cakewalk looks a lot more like a full featured DAW with more capability. Doesn’t seem shady to me, and if it’s free it can’t hurt to try it

  • Opteryx@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I used to make free open source music with MOD trackers. I’ve tried to figure out DAWs but find them confusing. I made a few songs with Bosca Ceoil which was a lot of fun.

    Nowadays I put my creative energy into DJing. I’d love to produce again but honestly I’m just too tired.