How steep is the learning curve for someone who has never made beats before?

[u/NaturalFreshAir]

Looking to learn how to make some hip-hop style beats just as a fun hobby to get into. How long would you say it took you (or the average person) to really start feeling comfortable using Logic Pro when starting with zero experience?

Thanks

[u/blurr1974]

Start with Garage Band. Use it until the program limits your creativity. Save your self a couple hundred bucks and if you've decided it's a hobby you want to invest in, then get Logic Pro.

[u/blurr1974 → u/blurr1974]

And there's no shame in using Garage Band. It's a very thorough and slick program that will probably blow you away as a beginner. It's very useful and capable of producing professional sounding recordings.

[u/NaturalFreshAir → u/blurr1974]

I will look into that as well. Thanks!

[u/verbherbaceous → u/NaturalFreshAir]

Garage band to Logic Pro is also very easy especially if you have an iPad

[u/blurr1974 → u/NaturalFreshAir]

Making the jump from Garage Band to Logic or any other DAW will be a lot easier than trying to jump into a pro-grade program from the jump.

I personally started with a Tascam 4 Track back in 92 or so. Graduated up to a Roland VS 1680 in the late 90s. When home computers became less of an appliance and more of a personal item in the early 2000s I moved to Garage Band. Wound up loving it so much I put myself through Berkley Music's audio production program they offered remote.

Which is a long way to say, as hobbies go, it can get expensive fast. :)

[u/NaturalFreshAir → u/blurr1974]

I can imagine! I appreciate the suggestion man

[u/ownleechild → u/blurr1974]

And Garageband is available for iPhone too.

[u/Dull_Reindeer1223 → u/blurr1974]

I agree but not only due to the price but because garageband is a stripped down version of logic pro so there's less to get bogged down with. Just simply make your music and that's that.

I transitioned to logic pro recently and it is different but glad I used garageband first

[u/whitesweatshirt → u/blurr1974]

Not a bad take tbh

[u/TheApesWithin]

It’s a lifelong process, but it’s entirely worth it.

One discovers who they are in art :) you will surprise yourself with how good you can become

[u/Cement-]

To get comfortable with the basics it will only take a few months if you spend a bit of time every day learning how to use your DAW (logic) and basic audio stuff like EQ and compression

[u/NaturalFreshAir → u/Cement-]

Good to hear. Thanks!

[u/wrinklebear]

Music production is an infinitely-deep well. The learning curve is endless, so if it's something you're interested in, dive on in and get started.

[u/NaturalFreshAir → u/wrinklebear]

Couldn't agree more. I guess a better question would have been how long it takes to get a grasp of navigating the basics to start putting the beginnings of a beat together.

[u/wrinklebear → u/NaturalFreshAir]

Depends on how good you are at learning!

Things you'll want to learn: How to use the transport controls (record, play, back, and looping sections)

How to add tracks (specifically software instruments)

How to use the MIDI roll to write and edit

How to quantize notes/line them up on the beats

Technically, that's probably the bare minimum to make 'a beat' -- but how hard all that is depends on what you know about music and how good you are at using complex software. Good luck and have fun!

PS - Make sure to try out Command + K, which lets you play a piano style keyboard with your normal typing keyboard

[u/NaturalFreshAir → u/wrinklebear]

Thanks! I will definitely try it out, appreciate your comment man

[u/EatPrayFugg]

A solid 10 years to actually enjoy the music I made

[u/NaturalFreshAir → u/EatPrayFugg]

10 years is a long time but I respect the dedication. Were you practicing pretty consistently, like a daily hobby for majority of that 10 years?

[u/EatPrayFugg → u/NaturalFreshAir]

Nah on and off in that time. You can definitely do it faster if you tried to

[u/Commonsenseguy100]

If you’d like to have professional guidance, we offer music production lessons. We are a 5-stars music school.

Check it out www.betterworldmusicschool.com

[u/hippietravel]

Fairly east compared to creating other types of music since alot of it is just looping phrases. That said, like anything else, it’s difficult to master. For example you could take a sample, chop it a bit and put a drum loop to it and call it a beat. Now compare that to someone like Jinsang, and you’ll see a night and day difference as to who is the master and who is the novice

[u/tommychopz]

17 years, still learning

[u/Salmon_444_SoS]

On day 1 of using a new DAW like fruity loops or logic, you will be able to make a beat. You will feel happy about it. On day 2 you will start asking more technical questions and looking to YouTube tutorials for answers. This will continue for some months. It will be fun. Then you realise slowly that the learning curve never stops. The journey keeps going. The knowledge and understanding can forever go deeper. Do the thing. Buy the DAW. Have some fun 🤩