Dubstepforum.com

Hello fellow producers.
I have been casually producing music for the past 10 years or so. I first started on an old Technics keyboard. It used floppy disks to store all the files. A rapper friend of mine gave me a copy of Fruity Loops version 4 and I started learning how to sample and use a DAW for all my music needs. After switching to a Mac I moved over to Reason version 4 I think. I learned how to create my own synths. I got an Axiom 25 and a demo of Live 6 shortly after. I started djing at house partys and small bars a few years back using Djay, and later, Traktor. I decided to Purchase a full version of Live 8 and Reason 5, which I used to learn the basics of Dubstep production.

I've decided that I would like to pursue a career as a music producer/performer. I'd like to make music for games, shows, movies, and also my own personal projects.
At present I work in a restaurant as a server while also running an online marketing site through Market America and Shop.com (which I would HIGHLY recommend to anyone looking for an extra income or a means to create a residual income).
I've recently moved to Orlando, about 15 minutes from the Full Sail Campus. I've met and befriended a few of the Recording Arts students and took a look at the school. They offer a Music Production program. It is only offered online however, and is very very expensive. Upwards of $60,000 or more.
I've checked out other online schools and production programs, but they are all generally very expensive between the tuition and software/hardware requirements.

I don't feel that I need any more software or really even hardware at this point (aside from a pair of monitors and a decent controller to perform live with).
I've used nearly all the Major DAWs, except maybe Cubase, and have settled on Live + ReWired Reason. I'm generally pretty creative and talented in the arrangement and design of my music but I really want to learn how to get to a professional sounding level of mixing and mastering, as well as all the other facits of music creation and production. I feel that when I play my songs for other people, whether they are friends, family or strangers, they overwhelmingly respond positively and generally enjoy the tunes I have compiled over the years.

I know that a lot of the members on this site are brilliant producers in their on right and I have had the chance to give and receive feedback from many of you in the past.

My question is, are there any video courses or comprehensive tutorials on Ableton live that will help me to learn the fundamentals, basics, and advanced production, mixing and mastering skills to get my music to a professional sounding quality?
I don't want to shell out thousands of dollars to go to an online school if I can learn this on my own with the help of a guide or program.

Have any of you had success in being self taught? Have any of you gone to a production school or certified training program and recommend it? I spend nearly all my free time making and mixing music anyway. I would like to put that time towards learning how to do it professionally as that is a career goal of mine.

Any thoughts or advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a bunch

Ciao

Im self learning right now and what i think has helped besides looking at videos is painly just doing it and getting better. Ive been producing for a short while and by simply messing around has helped but to help you guide you in the right direction what type of music do you want to make? I know lots of series videos on youtube and others you download online some cheap and others if you look in the right spots The videos help get a sense but nothing beats sitting down and practing like its an instrument. Working on your drums everyday for a week, then making lead melodies, then working an intro, after doing it over and over you do less thinking what do i put to make this sound to actually literally thinking of a sounding making it right then and there. Different generes require different skill set for production wise.

Oh lastly if you have the money join a course weather its something basic like theory or synthesis its still better than nothing. The best way really would be to do a real course sorta at full sail or some other campus. But thats if you have the time or the money. Im only in highschool and i just try to learn and produce when i can and hopefully major in audio engineering in college and that will help tons!

When I started originally I guess I was making some odd form of hip-hop which progressed into sample based hip-hop. It eventually turned into a strange mix of electronic, trip-hop style stuff that progressed into a fusion of hip-hop and dubstep. I started making just straight dubstep for a while and as of late I guess what style I'm making is somewhere along the lines of hip-hop based electronic glitch dubstep or something. I'm not really sure. I can't really make any one specific genre anymore.

I am really mostly interested in the mixing, mastering, and sound design aspect at this point. I can sit down and crank out an awesome song and it'll be really cool but the mixing is poor, the synths are thin, the automation is rigid. These are the things I need to learn.

here is an example of something I made a little while back if it will help clarify.

Soundcloud

Wow thats a lot of sub generes but thats good to put your hand in a bit of everything! I really dont know a lot about mastering or mixing at a professional level but the basic are all the same. Bring levels up and down, compress compress and compress everything ( I think thats really the key to making a full sound) and Eq to bring the right tones and take them out. Your song was pretty good, different style a little long and repetitive for my taste. There are actually tons of videos on youtube on mastering and mixing but the concepts the same. Have you plugins, lots of time, and good set of headphone or monitors. Lately ive download some of sonic academy videos and honestly say they really help. The whole song aspect that they do is great and helps to settle things down and get for a fell when to add this hear and there. You see soon what you need to add in certain parts like reverb on hats and crashes and rides, very high end sonds. Basses you want to cut some frequencies out because you literally cant hear them with human ears being so low. I think you need a basis to learn from and youtube is a good start to learn and visually see and then come hear and read some of the threads like the money shot or the huge dubstep one and then go spend the money on a video series for a full in depth tutorial( also other ways to get the videos without paying but not going into details). After getting your basic knowlege just practice! Like with piano or guitar( played guitar for years) You have very basic repetitive practices. So try one week for every day work on a drum loop by the end of the week youll be making them faster and have more time to mix and master them to sound fat and full. The mixing, mastering, and sound design aspect is literally just having a keen ear and knowing your plugins or mastering equipment well. Ive been trying to produce since last year summer and havent really released a full song besides one i did of a sonic video ill leave a link and thats what some of there videos teach and sound like. The internet is massive with information just got to look you dont have to spend thousand on classes, most good producers never had a background in music and are self learnt with lots of hours of hard work put in.

Heres my soundcloud to what i put on so far, the first is a demo tried attempt at dubstep( got frustrated and gave that song a brake its far from finished, might change everything) The other is the sonic academy one, its a Drum and bass video.
https://soundcloud.com/r3b-1