I knew deep down that I had the ability to become a great producer.
What I did not understand, however, was the process that it took to get there.
As I started to sit down and write more everyday, I started to make progress and overcome the frustration.
I tried to divide up my writing sessions into smaller tasks: I would take a day just to experiment and design bass sounds.
When I got to a point that I didn’t know how to recreate a specific sound, I would seek out a tutorial and create my own variation on it.
I would spend a day just creating build sections, and focus on how to create and release tension.
I would watch a tutorial on creating a build and then make my own from scratch.
I began to figure out how to piece together all of these smaller tasks, and over the course of a year, finally completed my first track that I was proud of.
The most important takeaway from this experience is that the process of making music taught me how to learn.
This sort of “meta-cognition” is — quite arguably — one of the most important skills that you can master.
You don’t just sit down one day and create a masterpiece: it’s a long process of learning how to do a lot of little things properly, all of which build on top of each other.
Learning how to write code is the exact same process, I have discovered.
It is a process of patience, consistency, and actually writing code.
When I recently decided to start learning to code again, I realized that I could transfer my knowledge from producing into programming.
My experience made me realize that the most important thing to do was to learn in a structured way and to continually apply what I had just learned.
After learning some HTML/CSS and JavaScript, I created this simple web app.
I am finding this process to be efficient and enjoyable — instead of becoming frustrated, I have learned to relax and enjoy the ride.
I know that if I continue to learn and build, I will eventually reach mastery.
Knowing that gives me comfort and the will to keep on keeping on — and I hope that it helps you, too.
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