YouTube Advice: Can You Really Learn Music Production from YouTube?
We discuss the wide world of music producer YouTube.
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YouTube Advice: Can You Really Learn Music Production from YouTube? · Source: Dead Wax / YouTube
In this article, we discuss the plausibility of learning music production based on YouTube advice and how to navigate the growing sea of channels.
Music Producer YouTube:
YouTube Advice
If you take a look around on YouTube today, you’ll find a simply staggering amount of music production related content. From tutorials and gear reviews to deep dives into the creation process behind some of our favourite records, you can find practically anything. However, most of the videos ride the line between education and entertainment, so how do you tell an informative clip from one that is simply fun to watch? Let’s discuss.
YouTube Advice: The Problem With The YouTube Model
As a content creator, particularly in a niche like music production, the road to building a sustainable YouTube channel is not as straightforward as one might think. For many of us, browsing away on YouTube daily, we might get the idea that you simply start posting videos, and the cash comes flying magically into your bank account in vast amounts. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work this way.
Although niche content categories like music production can often have a loyal audience, leading to high retention, the view counts just aren’t high enough to sustain your channel through advertising revenue alone. When we sit back and watch a free YouTube video, we don’t often consider the time it took to script, storyboard, capture, and edit.
For this reason, most of the successful music production YouTube channels operate as a portal into other revenue streams, such as paid memberships, Patreon, training courses, merchandising, affiliate retail, and sponsored content. This means that the agenda to sell you something is apparent at almost every turn, so it’s worth keeping this in mind and taking any information with a pinch of salt.
YouTube Advice: Product Reviews and Best Of Lists
These days, if you’re consuming any music production content online, sooner or later, your algorithm will recommend an array of products through reviews and best-of lists. While there are some channels, like Julian Krause and Podcastage, that are generally reliable sources of info when you’re shopping for gear, there are a few things worth considering when watching this type of content.
When a creator recommends a piece of equipment for a particular application, they very rarely present unbiased takes based on researching or testing every option available. Instead, they will choose something from within the sphere of the five or six brands they know and present an opinion based on their own limited or extensive experience.
Another thing to consider is that journalistic integrity is perhaps not as common as it once was, and of course, many brands use paid advertising (payola) for visibility across platforms and channels. A content creator is likely to lean toward the demands of the manufacturer paying for the creation of the video, rather than being completely authentic for their audience, and some are more transparent about this than others.
YouTube Advice: Technical Tips
One of the first things worth getting your head around when it comes to music production content is that good technical videos, such as Dan Worrall’s, are not always going to be as fun as watching someone making music like Jon Makes Beats. The line between education and entertainment is often blurred, so it’s important to have some sort of directive, or you can find yourself in a YouTube K-hole.
This is why I recommend learning by doing if you’re learning about music production for the first time. Rather than going to YouTube first, just dive into the closest or most accessible DAW you can find and only use online resources when you get stuck. This way, you filter through the overwhelming deluge of content to find only the information relevant to your particular query.
If you do have a specific technical request, like “How do I do x with the Digitakt II?” YouTube and Google AI are extremely powerful resources. In a matter of seconds, you can find different ways to perform the function you have in mind, and you can choose the one that best suits your workflow and creative process.
YouTube Advice: Learning an Instrument
By far, one of the best uses for YouTube advice within the music sphere that I’ve found is learning a musical instrument. If you have the time and discipline to practice each day, channels like The Art of Guitar and Paul Davids can help you get to an intermediate level of proficiency with the guitar quite quickly on your own.
What’s more, some channels offer training courses for various skill levels, as well as 1-to-1 online coaching. So ideally, you have a primary IRL teacher that you see on a weekly basis, while using these online resources to supplement your learning. As we mentioned with music production, this is particularly effective when you’re focussed on learning something specific.
Learning to play arpeggios on guitar is suddenly a far more accessible concept when your favourite guitar YouTube channel points out that songs like Stairway to Heaven, Hotel California, Every Breath You Take, and House of the Rising Sun all make use of the technique.
YouTube Advice: Find Your Niche
If you are looking to learn about music production from watching YouTube content, the best way is to seek out channels within the genre or style of music you’re making. Because there are so many ways to approach DAWs and music gear, this is bound to get you better results than simply searching broadly for “How To Make Music With FL Studio“.
For house music production, for example, smaller channels like Olean’s House might not have the production value or snappy editing of Andrew Huang, but they are extremely thorough in their coverage of different topics, from sampling and sound design to arrangement and music theory.
Also, you’re more likely to get better recommendations of which plugins to use from channels like D Ramirez, because they are being run by experienced producers who are regularly releasing music, as well as mixing and mastering tracks for other artists. Believe it or not, there are plenty of YouTube creators who are not actually tapped into the IRL music industry in any way, so doing a bit of research never hurts.
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