Can't wrap my head around starting?

[Ianthe]

So I recently acquired Ableton and a few vst/is and i've been playing around with them a little. Random preset in vst here, little knobs there. However, whenever I sit down to really do much beyond unproductive idle timekilling knob playing (actually construct/compose/produce something), I feel like I'm overwhelmed with what I COULD do. I feel like I have so many options that I don't know WHERE to start. It's not really a question of HOW to do something but WHAT.

I guess a way to describe it is I'm in a big hallways with so many doors that I don't know what is really a door or what is just silly wallpaper that looks like a door.

I've narrowed down the genres that interest me to Hardstyle, Drum & Base, and Trance, though trance is what I find myself most attracted to. I don't really have any formal musical background.

I don't even really know how to address my problem since I don't really know what the problem exactly is and I don't know how to go about determining what that problem exactly is.

*postdiscussion with a friend in my attempt to make what I'm trying to say clear*

I don't know how to piece it together because I really know how to use the vsts to really make something. I can place it on the piano roll just fine but anything beyond "click on preset, click on paino roll" I feel like I don't really know where to go from there. because of that, I feel lost to the point where I can't really develop a concept in my head that I know how to bring to life.

And I guess I don't really understand HOW to pick apart a genre or song to learn how to emulate it.

And I suppose music theory is also a general weak point as well.

Not sure if this is a motivation/inspiration problem or a general lack of understanding of my tools or an experience problem or a whole different type of problem all together.

So I've spent like, almost 4 hours trying to type this out and I've been paranoid the entire time that I wouldn't be clear enough. However, retyping this over and over is making me more paranoid so to hell with trying to reformat this. x-x *Slams submit button with face*

Post posting mind shenanigans one: I guess I don't really know HOW to progress skill wise or HOW to really structure my learning.

[Captain Ironhelm]

Musictheory.net is a great place to start learning on theory.

Also, focus on doing one thing at a time. Doing everything at once leads towards doing nothing all at once.

[vladnuke]

Never been more appropriate.

[Magnitude Zero]

You're gonna have to slam your face on a couple fake doors if you want to find the real ones. Making mistakes is how you learn, so don't be afraid to just pick a direction and roll with it. Worst that can happen is you make something that doesn't sound good, learn from it, and do your best to not repeat it next time.

Somewhere along the line you're going to want to learn some basic music theory, too. Things like keys, scales, and time signatures, in particular. Captain Ironhelm mentioned musictheory.net, which is an excellent place to get started, but take it slow; if you skip ahead to the more complicated sections, you'll probably find yourself getting overwhelmed again.

[Ianthe]

I guess another big part of it is that I don't know what to focus on or even what there is to focus on. Going off the paradox of choice, I could be working on a or b or c or d or e or x#845603285. That video made me realize why I like hybrid workshop/traditional classes when it comes to education.