Hi AJStewart, Here is a thread that you might find helpful: What equipment do you use?
What @AurusAudio said was spot on.
I thought I’d list all the aspects of stock music making in order of importance as a bit of Monday afternoon listmaking fun! (*note to self: must get out into the outside world today)
This is my opinion, so others may disagree, but I hope peeps find it useful.
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Musical Knowledge
Arguably, and sadly, music knowledge is becoming less and less important for music producers nowadays, but it still tops my list. This is not just theory, but also being familiar with what works musically within the genres that you are making. -
Composition and Arranging Skills
Equally important, but second in terms of what to learn first, are the skills required to craft musical knowledge into good melodies and solid song structures that work for the intended purpose. In AJ’s case, the intended purpose is generally video production. It is a good idea to learn what aspects of music are particularly useful to video producers and what details they look for when choosing a track. -
Tool Knowledge
It really helps to become a proficient keyboard player, although, since watching Deadmau5’s brilliant Masterclass I’ve come to realise that it’s not an absolute necessity (He draws all his midi data using a mouse). I guess becoming skilled in the use of whatever instrument or tool fits the genres of the kind of music that you’re interested in creating is the key. Becoming ultra familiar with the arranging aspect of a DAW is obviously important. Easily overlooked though, is how important it is to learn the other compositional tools inside and out. Many Kontakt libraries, for instance, are incredibly deep and require lots of midi cc tweaks to really get them working properly. Synthesizers, both software and hardware, rarely give the best results possible straight from a preset. Also, know how to use tempo tracks effectively and note timing in order to achieve a realistic human-sounding performance when appropriate. -
Mixing and Mastering
These two are art-forms in their own right. Traditionally they are separate entities, but as stock music producers, we’re generally responsible for both of these tasks. Firstly for mixing a track, it’s necessary to learn the theories and techniques behind EQ, compression/limiting, reverb, volume gates, automation etc. and how they are applied differently in different genres. Mastering the stereo track is an easily overlooked step, but it is an important part in creating that “sparkle”. Sometimes, even just a subtle application of Mid/Side EQ to the final stereo mix can give it that depth that really makes it stand out from the others. -
Quality Sound Libraries
At this point, it is worth investing some real money in some top quality sounds. Identify what sounds are most important in the kind of music that you make and purchase where you think the weak points are. some cheap sounds are totally usable, others are not. Objectively listen and if you at all think that some aspect of your track is sounding like an untreated midi sequence, and you’re happy that you’ve done everything possible in nos.1-4, you’ll need to spend some money on sound libraries or better synths. -
Recording
Often nowadays in stock music, recording is as straight-forward as plugging your guitar into your audio interface and using a software amp simulator/fx plugin (to which no.3 applies) to get the desired sound and this approach works great for the most part. There is a whole university degree worth of knowledge out there that is available to be learned though. It’s really useful to know what different kinds of sound can be achieved by microphone type, pickup pattern and placement, especially if you intend to record acoustic instruments or vocals in your tracks. Part of learning recording techniques will bring you into the territory of room acoustics/treatment and it’s useful to understand how room shape/size and the position within that room will affect your recordings. -
Spending Money on Gear!
Finally, we get to equipment. With all of the above skills and knowledge down, you’ll be in a better place to know where to spend and where you can save. Most important is your listening environment. As Aurus pointed out, accurate use of studio monitors for mixing ideally requires an audio-treated room which can take you down a rabbit hole. It’s worth pointing out that spending thousands on a pair of the best-sounding, most accurate studio monitors in the world is kind of pointless if your room is going to colour your listening experience. Instead, it might be wiser to spend on a really decent pair of headphones. Do research using online reviews, but also try them out before you buy. Aching ears aren’t fun. I’ve found Sonarworks - Reference 4 is a great plugin that gives me confidence that I am monitoring uncoloured audio (well, as much as can be) on my headphones.
If you love to mix on speakers though and have a dedicated room to work in, it’s room selection/treatment first, then speaker/listening position (ie. not against a wall), then which awesome model monitors to get.