This is an older list but there’s some solid offerings. I’ve used the Kjaerhus and Tal ones a lot.
And big up all the great info happening here.
@Sleepwalker - there’ll always be something that a lot of us feel shamefully deficient at - for me it’s mixdowns. Keep slogging.
I would go for that Valhalla one that was linked.
Yeah man, will download it later.
Don’t wanna download everything available cuz then there is too much to choose.
Would rather build up to downloading more stuff and get creative with what i already have first.
^THIS.
I spent decades hoarding samples almost obsessively and still struggle with it (my Gotlander/Smålander genes can’t pass up anything free lol). Without exaggerating I’ve amassed somewhere over a terabyte, maybe approaching two TB.
And even though I’ve done some crazy and experimental things, I’m still like “why do I have 1.2 GB of banjolele samples?”
Keep it simple, keep it clean, keep options limited to what you need.
Beats: start w that 808 kit, an Amen and Apache break, learn the ropes. It’s just funky math. Learn about the magic of 5’s on a 4/4 based beat (clavé); learn where the snare and kick and all is ‘supposed’ to go for different styles and then fuck with it - slowly at first, one element at a time.
Synths: ok not everyone will agree with me here but I honestly believe the best way for most ppl to understand synths is to play hardware first. Something about the tactility helps you understand the nuances more, idk. But for some reason it’s harder to understand the hierarchy of principles with software for a lot of folks - starting w foundational stuff like osc types and ADSR and then to modulation, LFOs and sync and ting.
There are softsynths whose UIs try to push users that way but few of the popular pro models really do imo. They all give you Cockpit Syndrome where you are faced w 80,000 dials and controls and switches and it just makes you panic… until you realize that there’s like 8 basic types of controls and most of what you’re seeing is repetition and redundancy. Then it’s not so scary.
Another thing i’m gonna do is not listening to all the tracks looped over and over again cuz then you get used to it and don’t want to change anthing, atleast that was the problem i had when i used Reason. I’m just soloing tracks and looping them while i tweak instead of everything. I’m just limiting myself to a few playback when i’ve enabled all the tracks.
Dunno if that makes sense.
I jus want to keep moving instead of focussing on one bit that doesn’t sound right, spend a little bit of time on it but if i get nowhere then move onto something else like bass, synth etc and come back later to the bit i couldn’t get right.
Same thing with the whole tune, if i get writers block then start a new tune straight away
Oh yeah, that’s a big one - learning how to trick your mind into hearing it fresh after 197 playbacks.
One way to exploit that is to build out a big, semi-complex loop that really grooves and then duplicate it for 32, 64 bars, w/e, and then go to the first 4 bars and strip out everything but the barebones essentials like kick and hat or just some chords or a pad; the next 4 bars do the same but don’t strip out quite as much, leave a few more things; repeat that until the last 8 bars or w/e are the full loops.
Then go back and make tweaks, transitions, little things to vary it up - delete a hit here, add a second hit there - and voila, you basically have a tune right there.
After a while you’ll probably approach this differently and do songs with more traditional parts and variation, but a shit ton of electronic music uses nothing more than this basic approach. You can bang bare tunes out using this method.
Also, beware of making radical changes because a tune that sounded good before suddenly sounds off. Chances are your ears, your mood, or something else is fucking with ya and you’re just locked on the wrong bit or biased in some way. At the very least be sure to save versions periodically so if that happens and you wind up butchering your tune you can always roll back to an earlier version.
Downloaded that Valhalla delay and installed it but when i try and add it to a track i can’t see it anywhere.
Did the usual click on fx then add fx but i can’t see it anywhere. Wont even let me find it where it is downloaded to it only lets me see what Reaper already has as standard?
Possible filepath confusion: the default directory for a lot of installers is not consistent.
Locate where the .dll is and add that filepath to the Reaper plug location list, or if it doesn’t have a lot of component/accessory files and is just the .dll, move it to one spot and make sure all your other plugs get set up there (whether it’s just unzipping there or telling the installer to put it there.)
https://www.waves.com/support/how-to-find-your-plugins-in-reaper
I can’t even find where the reaper stuff is on my laptop outside reaper. Fukin useless with pc/macs, this is the sort of thing that puts me off producing cuz i aint savvy with using computers at all.
EDIT: found where the plug ins were on my laptop so added valhalla to there and still can’t find it in reaper. Did a scan for new plug ins but still can’t see it anywhere 
EDIT: sorted now. Jus spent an hour installing this ffs, now i gotta go back to work
Damn jus listened to some if those music radar samples and they are so good. Gonna download some of them next. Can’t wait to mess around with thrm.
Feels like cheating tho lol
Get to know some shortcuts.
You use wildcard operators? (Note: I use ✱ because regular asterisks are formatting operators on this board.)
Like if I wanted to find all the MP3’s on my machine, go to search and type:
✱.mp3
and hit search. Every mp3 file will show up in search results.
You can even use it to list every file on your system by typing:
✱.✱ (asterisk period asterisk, no spaces)
You can also find strings and his way - like if you know the file name has “Valhalla” in it you can search:
✱valhal✱ in case it’s named DSPvalhallaJuice.dll or whatever. The “valhal” string is what it’s looking for.
Wildcard operators? No idea what that is lol
Just means a placeholder for a variable. Instead of defining what the variable should do/be, it’s just like “any and everyfucking thing that could possibly be there.” Hence wildcard.
An operator is simply something that does something: it’s a symbol or chain of symbols that tells the machine to do something predefined for you.
Nailed it.
This why i use samples and my tracks ar simple
All them buttons and knobs terrify me!!
Dont do this. Always do everything with all the elements playing. You need to hear each element in context of the tune with everything else interacting with it.
Obviously you could solo a clap just to hear exactly how the delay plays out for example but i would always tweak things in conjunction with everything else.
Your VST issue is relatively simple to resolve.
Bear in mind I’m on a Mac
So when you DL a plugin make sure to add it to the correct folder.
Here is where mine are located (standard Reaper install location, ie. I haven’t moved anything post-install)
Inside the folder looks like this
Then once the plugin is installed, go to Reaper’s preferences and head down to Plugin/VST. Add the filepath to the plugin path box, see below. Each plugin folder needs its own filepath seperated by a semicolon.
For eg. /library/audio/plugins/VST tells Reaper to look for VSTs in the VST folder (obvs 
). Once you have all your paths typed in, hit clear cache/rescan. Hit OK.
Quit Reaper and restart and your plugins should be there…
Sorry @_ronzlo I’ve hijacked my own reply post to you to reply lengthily to Hibbs!!
Boolean operators… very handy stuff to know for just using the internet/computers in general
Most of the stuff you’re talking about in terms of workflow I.e not getting stuck on listening to loops etc has almost nothing to do with software but your own wetware.
It’s all stuff you need to practice and truly put the time into figuring out on your own imo.
You think jdilla had someone telling him the best way to complete a beat?
I played a indie logic/puzzle game on Xbox called Turing Test that introduced me to Boolean operators as one of the level puzzles. Interesting stuff.
Find more useful production stuff in resources like this compared to more defined ‘knowledge’ or sample resources imo
Good place for synth samples too
@Hibbie you on mac or pc?
Everything @sleeps points out is the precise procedure on a mac for the filepath thing I’m talking about.
If on pc I can detail further (unless someone e else wants to.)
you need to buckle down and actually just learn some synth basics haha, will open up ya whole world <3
