I’ll try to keep this as short as possible.

For some time now I am stuck in production, I feel like I can barely scrap together a 4 bar loop even, even if I do it I just don’t have ideas how to expand it, even if I do I feel it becomes overcrowded and elements mask each other so I give up.

I started my production journey around Feb 2022, trying it out from time to time, until around Dec 2022 when I was partying a lot and delved more into it. Around that time I was even able to finish tracks, some better some worse, I watched dozens of tutorials, channels, even bought courses over the time. At this point in my life I was unemployed, earning from game boosting so I didn’t feel much pressure from life.

As time went on, I was getting more pressure in life, so I spent the whole year of 2024 looking for a job and finally landed one in Feb 2025. Until then, my most productive year was 2023, where I realized I progressed a lot, still was partying a lot and tried out producing whatever genre of techno I liked at that time, acid, hard, industrial, groovy, hypnotic…

I even got a FLX4 in Mar 2025, as it was my dream to become a DJ since I was 12. Occasionally I turned on the controller and tried DJing. I bought a MIDI controller, an Edge, DT 990s and recently Adam 3’s. So I have all this gear, and generally I progressed in life so that I can follow my passion, but whenever I turn on Ableton and try making something, even scraping something up, I feel it’s lifeless, boring, same as always, and I’m not even talking about overprocessing, just I feel uninspired, kind of dead inside lol, and I can’t come up with good musical ideas.

When I listen to a loop, a quick arrangement or whatever I finished in these sessions, I feel that some of it has potential. A friend who is a known local DJ and has been releasing for some time, listened to some of my stuff and he was impressed by some tracks, so I’m not really that horrible, it’s that I feel it.

Identified problems
Now for what I know I lacked before I hit this downfall:
- I needed better arrangement skills, in a way I know referencing can help with this, but I feel like I can’t even get to the arrangement part now
- SOUND SELECTION - this one I was noticing more and more, as I love the sounds of a 303 and a 909, but using the stock ones or ones from the sample packs I have feels everything sounds the same? I hear 303s and 909s in tracks and they just sound different, so I need tips on how to actually get better at sound selection and making the iconic sounds feel more unique
- Sound design - I was usually experimenting until I figure out a sound that I like and feel is strong for the base idea of the song, I fail to make complex weird sounds I hear in tracks I listen to, it’s really hard to even explain what I mean by this
- Too much samples and plugins - yet I always default to the same stock sounds now, or stock plugins (or sound packs and 3rd party plugins that I liked and learned) which are great but it just feels the same?
- Losing interest in a track after some time, or losing interest/being anxious about learning a new plugin
- Experimenting too much leads me to a mess that in the end I just don’t like
- Tutorial hell which led me to being just bored of watching new stuff anymore, I lose focus after some time
- Not getting the result / sound / idea I want, basically achieving the vibe of the tracks I listen to, I can’t make something and put it in the same bucket or genre of the stuff I like, sometimes I feel like I’m trying to mix too much flavors of techno or EDM together
- Not being confident in my mixing - I am not confident if I’m making the right decisions, by that I mean “is the kick too loud? does it thump enough? are high hats not sharp and loud enough? are my mids interesting? is this too overprocessed? how much layers do I need?” etc. All of these questions push me back from producing because I feel the tracks are lacking and are not good enough for someone who likes techno and was to listen to it, would notice the tracks are amateurish
- Boring ideas / weak mids / weak tonal elements - I feel stuff is either too simple, which I then complicate it and it becomes cheesy or just too much basically, or it doesn’t fit the feeling O was chasing for the track

I could go on, but I think this is most of it.
I forgot to add earlier, I never had musical experience before.

I liked electronic music since I first heard it, and since I had access to the internet I was listening to everything under EDM so I fell in love with it.
I don’t want to be a copycat and copy what is trending. I don’t want to rely on tutorials or courses to achieve a sound or be confident in decisions.
If I make a hard techno track I want to make it because I feel it, not because X artist right now is popular and pushes that sound to the masses.

Thank you for reading, all tips are appreciated (except if it sounds good it’s good 😌)

Hi everyone,

I've been learning FL Studio for about a week and this is my first attempt at making a proper techno track. It's around 1 minute long and my goal wasn't to make a release-ready song—I mainly wanted to learn arrangement, kick, bass, and groove.

I'm not looking for compliments. I'd much rather hear what doesn't work.

I'd specially appreciate feedback on:

Kick (does it have enough punch?)

Bass (does it groove with the kick or feel weak?)

Hats and percussion

Overall groove

Arrangement and energy

Whether it actually sounds like techno or if I'm heading in the wrong direction

Please be as honest as possible. If something sounds amateur, tell me why and what I should focus on for my next track.Thanks for taking the time to listen!

My First Techno Track

Hello ive been listening alot to dax j and something that im asking myself is how i can get a 909 to sound so full

https://youtu.be/OaBXX3l-huU?is=Nfeo_bMIctw1pICb

https://youtu.be/sx_4I12AItE?is=sdPdH94QO430VNwz

Does anyone have some processing tips or other tips to make the 909 sounds really nice but not overly distorted

Would love to hear some tips!

Greetings, coming from a festival gig where Ableton on my macbook pro gave the fuck up just before the gig and I had to built a 3 hours set 100% improvisation.

that leaves me thinking back a lot, also in the same occasion I have witnessed serious Djs building tracks on the fly with 3 players and a MASSIVE use of looping.

WOuld love to get a bit skilled on these instruments myself too, but facing the economic gap

between me and € 3K for a state of the art Pioneer console,

let me hear your experiences with CDJs (and computerless controllers) in the studio

before i get into debt :D

Hi everyone, I'm looking for the original version of K-Devices' Shaper m4l device - looks like it's been discontinued and can't find it online anywhere. Does anyone still have a copy or know where I can grab it?

hiii i love tribe music and i would love to learn to make some, but i couldn't find good tutorial, good recomendation or even good sample online. i have a good setup ( rd-9, 303, poly D and a SH4D ) but i cant reach the groove of the tribe, i know like the basic theory of this genre but that don't feel good, where can i find a good tutorial to improve and to understand better the aspect of the genre

What are you struggling with in your music right now and what do you think needs to happen so you can make music you actually like?

​

Hey guys I have. A question.. what gives a sound that radio ready quality.. going from for example a raw synth patch or a drum sound to getting it to sound like the thing you hear on a record? I wish to know if you say for example compression and saturation that you explain what the purpose applying that processing.. what does that do to achieve that record quality sound?

Thank you in advance.

Last few months I've been producing almost every day, doing at least couple of tracks each day.

Even though I can clearly see improvements in my production over time, I often come back to my tracks a few days later and think "wtf was i even doing"

Feels like 90% of what I make ends up in trash, while only few of them are worth keeping.

Curious how other producers feel about their own work, how many tracks that you make actually see the light of day?

Hi everyone.

I hope you're all doing well

Would you like to help exactly recreate the Bass in the extended intro of Consciousness by Anyma, Chris Avant-Garde, as you hear in this screen recording?

I’ve been trying to make the following bass line in soft synths like Serum 2 using a combination of sawtooth, pulse-triangle wave tables, and saturation. But I can get it right.

I’m starting to think this sound is either a heavily processed Bass Guitar or a Synth Patch made with analog gear.

I’d love to know your thoughts, and if you'd like to lay down some details on how to create this sound, I’ll be all ears

https://reddit.com/link/1uyldyh/video/uo5xsx68wodh1/player

Hey guys,

I'm a complete beginner and I want to get into music production. My main goal is to produce Techno, Minimal, and Afro House.

I'm stuck between Ableton Live and FL Studio. Which one would you recommend for these genres, especially for a beginner?

Also, what should I focus on first? Drums, arrangement, music theory, sound design, mixing?

And where should I learn from? Any good YouTube channels or courses that teach from zero without making things too complicated?

Any advice for a complete beginner would be really appreciated. 🙏

Thanks!

Please use this thread to post your tracks for feedback.

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Hello everyone ..

Im looking to add a second monitor specially to get my midrange right and was looking into the avantone CLA 10s and the auratone 5c.

There is remarkable price differnce between the both and i m a bit lost on which one to get .

My room is well treated and I have the kali audio In8s as my main monitor

Any thoughts ?

This is one of my first sessions jamming in my new dawless set up. tips are welcomed

Has anyone completed both Underdog’s Foundations Level 2 and Triangle Method?

I’ve completed Foundations Level 1 and now want to choose between Foundations Level 2 and Triangle Method.

My main goal is to better understand the principles of music and electronic composition, not just learn more Ableton techniques.

Which course did you find better, and which would you recommend?

I've been automating my main synths and also subtracting/adding layers but I feel like my music still sounds too loopy and repetitive. Are there ways to avoid this? I feel like when I write new variations for patterns it ends up sounding cluttered.

Hello friends, I am looking for tips on how you keep yourself organised with saved files during mixing sessions.

For example, if the lowend of your mix is at 6/10 and you want to improve it to 9/10. How do you ensure that you still have the original 6/10 file to work on as a baseline in case you go too crazy and screw up the mix till it becomes a 2/10?

For me. I save the original 6/10 mix under the name "DO NOT TOUCH". And now I have

MIX 1 - DO NOT TOUCH
MIX 1A - DO NOT TOUCH
MIX 1B - DO NOT TOUCH
-.-

How about other tips?

Thank you in advance

I recently got back to making music. I have 4 synths hooked up with Ableton live where I can sequence and record multitrack.

The idea is to finish music and release it. So get past the noodling stage. I have the first part of the process figured out. I can sit down, jam and come up with good ideas and the basics of a track. But now I have to figure out the recording and arranging parts without over-complicating things.

How do you deal with external gear? Do you record things at some point, use it as samples and move on? Or sequence with midi and don’t touch the gear until the track is done? Or do you save presets in each synth if possible, so you can take a break and work on something else?

Please share your workflow.

I've created a 303 emulator, however, I need testers so I can put it live on the Play Store. I know this sounds shady, but I need 12 testers, so if you're interested, shoot me a DM with your email. When I have 12 total, I will send out the invites.

Here is a screenshot of what I'm working on.

Once it's live on the store, it will also be free, so I'll keep you all posted on this

(I've also never made an app, and idk if I'm doing it right. It seems far complex to get it onto the play store)