The Ultimate List of Music Production Resources
The Best List of Music Production Resources
From plugins to podcasts, we’ve researched the best music production resources so they’re in one central place…
There’s a dizzying variety of music production resources available online to help you on your journey to musical success.
Anyone interested in electronic music production, music theory, sound design or music production software can find a wealth of resources.
Whether you are recording, mixing, writing songs, creating entire tracks or creating samples, the challenge is how to index only the best music production sites.
From plugins to podcasts, we’ve researched the most powerful list of music production resources which should be in every music producer’s sonic armoury.
In this guide, we’ve picked out the best music production resources for anyone learning electronic music production or wanting to improve their music production workflow.
We’ve looked at the best blogs, free software and plug-ins. There’s also links to some of the courses offered by Elevate – including our Online Music Production Courses and our Introduction To Ableton Live.
There’s plenty of good music production resources to dig into below…
Best Ableton Plugins
Granulator II
Designed by Robert Henke of Monolake, one of the developers behind Ableton, his plugin uses granular synthesis to generate numerous shorter samples from one longer piece of audio.
Those brief samples can then be manipulated using the Granulator’s controls.
ableton.com/en/packs/granulator-ii
Xfer Records Serum
If you’re looking for a modern synth for your digital music production, Serum is a wavetable synth plugin capable of generating a huge variety of sounds.
It is an advanced synth which can produce crisp clean sounds as well as more extreme noises.
The Serum payment model is rent-to-own, costing $9.99 per month for 19 months. You can pause or cancel at any time.
splice.com/plugins/15493-serum-vst-au-by-xfer-records
Fresh Air
This plugin only has two simple knobs on the front panel – but there’s a lot going on under the hood.
Fresh Air adds shine and brilliance to a mix. It can be used on individual tracks or across a whole mix.
This modern bit of kit is based on Dolby-A noise reduction.
Valhalla Supermassive
What a name! This is the plugin to deliver extremely large reverbs and delays.
Its pre-sets have equally cool names like Great Annihilator, Large Magellanic Cloud and Triangulum.
Best of all, it’s free.
UAD Classic Limiter Collection
Although Ableton Live already comes with a compressor, this UAD Classic Limiter Collection takes things up a notch. It can become an important production tool in any home studio.
You can pick up three different limiters (Rev A, Rev E and AE) here in one bundle which emulate the classic UAD sound effectively.
https://www.uaudio.com/uad-plugins/compressors-limiters/1176-collection.html
Best FL Studio Plugins
FabFilter
FabFilter make professional plugins for mixing and mastering which are loved by electronic music producers all over the world.
There’s the FabFilter Pro-Q3 EQ plug in, Pro-R reverb, Pro-L 2 limiter, Pro-C 2 compressed, Pro-MB multiband compressor/expander and Pro-DS de-essing tool.
FabFilter also produce a series of creative effects and synthesizer plugins.
Mixed in Key Studio
The Mixed In Key Studio Edition analyses your samples in real-time to determine the exact key.
The plugin can show you what notes are within the sample and the root key.
It’s perfect for quickly matching different samples together as part of the music production process.
No more clashes between samples which are in the wrong keys for each other.
mixedinkey.com/studio-edition/
Trackspacer
Trackspacer is an EQ plugin which creates space within a track for whatever audio source is being played as an incoming sidechain.
So if you want to place a vocal in a track, Trackspacer can ‘listen’ to the vocal and create space for it in the main track.
It can save lots of time and help you to achieve clean mixes very easily.
It helps you separate sounds in your mix such as competing synths or guitars to give them enough space to stand apart.
wavesfactory.com/audio-plugins/trackspacer/
Best Music Production YouTube Channels
Andrew Huang
Andrew Huang is an electronic music producer from Toronto, Canada, who has built up a huge following on YouTube for his video posts.
He covers everything from music composition to beatmaking and electronic music production.
Andrew sets himself bizarre challenges like trying to cover pop songs using the sounds of items mentioned in the lyrics – like 99 Red Balloons using only balloons.
He’s one of the best YouTubers for music production training.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdcemy56JtVTrsFIOoqvV8g
FACT Magazine
FACT has been championing the best in underground electronica since 2003 and is a constant source of influence and inspiration.
Check out their ‘Beat the Clock’ selection of videos to watch producers creating on the fly.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiu2v3qCcbHI7sXsX4rPsXA
Rachel K Collier
Welsh electronic producer and performer Rachel K Collier has built up a loyal following on YouTube and Instagram with her video posts about modern music production.
Rachel is a big fan of Ableton and Roland equipment and performs from her home studio.
She’s also a performer and music producer, who has released her own material.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiHnYgtOn8u9YovYplMeXcw
Best Electronic Music Production Blogs & Websites
Sound on Sound
One of the longest running of all the music gear websites and magazines, Sound on Sound has been offering tips and advice for studio nerds since 1985.
It is aimed at a more professional market than some of the more consumer music technology magazines.
Expect to read reviews of the latest equipment, interviews with music produces and guides on how to use DAWs and other equipment.
The SoS Forum is one of the best web communities to discuss all things music production.
The magazine is available as a print edition and also as a digital edition.
Tape Op
Edited by Larry Crane, a music production obsessive and producer behind the late, great singer songwriter Elliott Smith, this offers brilliant features and insight into gear and production.
The site has interviews, gear reviews, guides on how to adapt kit and opinion pieces.
It’s US-based but you can sign up for the free digital version.
One of its legendary pieces of content was the Lee Scratch Perry interview which is hilarious.
MusicTech
MusicTech packs in a large amount of news, features, gear reviews and much more on its great website.
Now totally digital, you’ll usually find the latest info on offers and free sounds and sample packs too.
Music Radar
This site claims to the ‘the No.1 website for musicians’ and is the umbrella site for magazine including Computer Music, Electronic Musician, Future Music, Keyboard Magazine, Guitarist, Guitar Techniques, Total Guitar and Bass Guitar.
There’s gear reviews for all those different instruments plus music samples and lessons.
Landr
Landr offers a whole world of musical inspiration, tips and advice for aspiring producers to get their teeth into.
The company provide tools for AI-powered mastering, plug ins, samples and other software for music producers.
Landr also offers distribution to get your tracks on to over 150 streaming platforms.
However, their website is also packed with tips and advice for electronic music producers.
Best Music Production Podcasts
Girls Twiddling Knobs
Hosted by ICMP tutor Isobel Anderson, this podcast is specifically aimed at supporting female producers and engineers.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/girls-twiddling-knobs/id1541838685
Hanging Out with Audiophiles
Eclectic Warp Records artist Jamie Liddell is behind this podcast which sees him going deep with the likes of Four Tet and Imogen Heap on creative process and gear.
App for Production
Hosted by music production journalists, Tim Cant and James Russell, this bi-weekly podcast explores all the latest music tech innovations to hit the market.
Best Music Producer Inspiration
The Anchoress
She “Make sure you’re self-reliant. So get a basic microphone, DAW and some really great quality plug-ins. Then just start to build up your library of things you can experiment with. You don’t need to start spending huge amounts of money. But invest in it and try to make as many tracks as you can. Nothing beats doing it.”
The Anchoress is an artist and ICMP tutor Catherine Anne Davies. She’s recently released her new album, ‘The Art of Losing’.
https://www.musictech.net/features/interviews/the-anchoress-on-the-art-of-losing
Mark Ralph
“You’ve got to be an extremely hard worker – I’ve seen others who don’t have to try too hard to make brilliant things happen but for me I just worked and worked and worked. You’ve got to have the conviction to keep going when it feels like it might have all gone wrong.”
Mark Ralph is a BRIT Award nominated producer who has worked on huge hits for the likes of Years & Years and Clean Bandit (who feature ICMP alumnus Luke Patterson on drums).
https://www.icmp.ac.uk/news/brit-nominated-producer-mark-ralph-visits-masterclass
Catherine Marks
“It’s okay to ask questions about how something works, whether it be the best mic for drums or best amp for guitar on a particular sounding track. You don’t have to pretend to know how everything works. That’s basically how I learned. You’re not expected to know everything about every single bit of gear. Just be well prepared, have an idea in your mind about what you want to achieve in the time that you’ve got the studio for.”
Catherine Marks is an MPG Award winning producer, behind records for some of the UK’s biggest band guitar bands including Foals and Wolf Alice.
https://www.icmp.ac.uk/blog/how-be-a-music-producer-catherine-marks
Dani Bennett Spragg
“If you’re doing work experience or you’ve got a job as a studio assistant or runner, the most important thing you can do is make the best first impression you can and make people remember you. Getting work in the music industry is often based on who you know more than what you know, so making a memorable impression on people is very important.”
“As an assistant, you have to be constantly on the ball. Try to pre-empt what the artist/engineer/producer needs from you, whether that be a tea and coffee run or setting something up. Be attentive, but don’t overstep your mark.”
Dani Bennett Spragg works out of London’s Hoxa and Toast HQ Studios and has credits for records from the likes of
https://www.icmp.ac.uk/blog/essential-studio-advice-engineer-dani-bennett-spragg
Andrew Scheps
“When you are starting out as a producer, then work with artists who are starting out. Don’t try desperately to get a gig you are not yet ready for. Because when you fail in public, everyone knows. Having an organic, slow climb up the career ladder will help – the saying is the faster you run, the faster you fall but it is true. If you come up slowly, then you can handle anything that goes wrong more effectively.”
Andrew Scheps is a Grammy Award winning US music producer who has worked on hit records from Adele and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
https://www.icmp.ac.uk/blog/andrew-scheps-on-music-gear-and-new-technology
James Rees
“Work with others! Collaborating is so important, I wish I’d done more of this when I was younger, but I was always of the mindset I wanted to do everything myself. This is a trap young producers can fall into, but working with others can improve the overall quality of a project.”
James Rees is ICMP’s BA Creative Music Production Programme Leader.
From the blog
Rockstars in Training: The Best Kids’ Electric Guitars for 2024
Redefining Your Riffs: How Electric Guitar Strings Shape Your Sound
