The Aspiring Artist's Tutorial Hub!

[Artimeus]

Alright guys, I've been taking a bit a break to hone and expand my musical skills and knowledgebase, as well as focus on some silly military life business. With that being said, I figured I might try and help out some of the aspiring new artists, such as myself, by providing a thread consolidating some of the most useful music production websites I've come across. What I'd like to do is have this thread complement NavyBrony's by providing off-site links with a quick description of what you will find there.

GETTING STARTED

http://www.samplecraze.com/tutorial.php

- An excellent database with articles on sound design/synthesis and mixing/production & 'how to' tutorials. I found this website to be INCREDIBLY helpful with demystifying lingua audio and explaining what various tools actually DO, and better yet, how to use them. I give it 5 out of 5 hooves.

http://www.syncretia.com/Ableton/Synthesis.html

- If you're curious about all the terminology regarding subtractive synthesis, start here. Subsynths are the bread and butter of digital music production, so understanding the basics is a must, and this is a great starting point. Heck, I even started writing my own patches and presets after this; consider this a launching point for when you're tired of using Sylenth1 presets.

http://howtomakeelectronicmusic.com/

- A fantastic site by Petri Suhonen, a 'hobbyist' with 10 years of experience on multiple DAWs, primarily FL Studio. You will find well written, easy to follow, step-by-step written and video guides on several genres of electronic music. He even throws in the project files! Very useful if you're just getting started with FL Studio 10.

MOVING UP IN THE WORLD

http://audio.tutsplus.com/

- This website is great. A massive database of tutorials and techniques for almost every major DAW, very well organized, and easy on the eyes. You will find articles ranging from the very basics of your DAW to advanced synthesizer manipulation; this website covers the entire gamut of music production. Simply navigate via the toolbar or search for whatever you need help on, I promise you'll find what you're looking for.

http://www.musictechtutorials.com/

- Yet another beginner-to-advanced level website filled to the brim with useful tutorials on many major DAWs and production techniques. Navigate via the right-hand column and select you DAW or subject of choice, and dive in. Bring some caffeine, I've found these tutorials to be very engrossing.

http://mastering-media.blogspot.com/
http://productionadvice.co.uk/

- An excellent pair of websites by Ian Shepherd, a UK-based professional mastering engineer. If you've ever had any questions about mastering, these websites are a MUST. The blog provides excellent articles on the 'science/art' of mastering, ranging from specific techniques to how to properly arrange your room for best results. While the blog is no longer updated, the archives are chock full of relevant and useful information. Production Advice will also fill your brain with awesome; highly recommended for the technical-minded as well as those looking for a basic understanding of musical recording, mixing, and mastering concepts (which is everyone).

SAMPLES AND INSTRUMENTS

http://www.kvraudio.com/
http://www.primeloops.com/
http://www.primeplugins.com/
http://www.loopmasters.com/

-Your multi-stop shop for affordable (or totally free), professional-quality loops, samples, kits, and VST instruments. Each website provides a massive library of content; you're guaranteed to find something you want/need.

*Alrighty, that's all I've got for now. If you have any suggestions for myself or websites you feel are perfect for the beginner, please feel free to post them bellow and I'll be more than happy to incorporate them. I hope you find these as useful and enjoyable as I have!*

[phantomignition]

http://sampleswap.org/
http://www.flstudiomusic.com/

Just two extra sites. The first has 7.5GBs worth of free samples, and the second has a lot of free stuff. Not much else to say.

Oh, and I'll just add a link to this topic too.
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=490

A good amount of VSTs in there.

[jackupthoseapples]

some free VSTs i think are worth looking into in order of awesomeness:
Synth1 by Ichiro Toda (no it is not overrated)
You Wa Shock (for those who don't have Soundgoodizer, it's the ultimate tool for people who are too lazy to beef up a track by other means)
Crystal by Green Oak Software

I also hear good things about:
TAL Noisemaker by Togu Audio Line
PolyIblit by Andreas Ersson
Superwave p8

[Artimeus]

Been a while since I updated this; added a few new sites that I found to be incredibly helpful. In the meantime, I'll be in my 'studio' pretending to be Deadmau5.

[Habanc]

http://mastering-media.blogspot.com/
http://productionadvice.co.uk/

- An excellent pair of websites by Ian Shepherd, a UK-based professional mastering engineer. If you've ever had any questions about mastering, these websites are a MUST. The blog provides excellent articles on the 'science/art' of mastering, ranging from specific techniques to how to properly arrange your room for best results. While the blog is no longer updated, the archives are chock full of relevant and useful information. Production Advice will also fill your brain with awesome; highly recommended for the technical-minded as well as those looking for a basic understanding of musical recording, mixing, and mastering concepts (which is everyone).

I can vouch for this part. I listened to an online seminar that Ian Shepherd did on Multiband Compressors, and it was really helpful and gave me a better understanding of how not only to use multiband compression, but also some tips on how to look at mastering as a whole.

Also, where is Ryan Enzed's youtube channel "nzmusic101"? I will admit that he mainly does synth reproductions (Notably in Massive, most of the time), but there are quite a few of his tutorials that go over other production areas and some let you see inside his own design process, which has since got him signed. That and the sheer amount of videos means that he covers a large range of topics, from stuff like send channels and bouncing, to mastering and sidechaining.

I will point out he uses Logic, but the theory behind alot of his stuff remains the same.