There isn’t one person who does not listen to some kind of music, that is why music is known as a universal language. Have you ever listened to a song that was so perfect, you wondered how it came to be? That could be enough reason to be intrigued by music production which is creating and refining recorded music for public presentation. It refers to the entire process from songwriting and composing to recording and sound designing. If you’re looking to start producing some music yourself, here’s what you need to get started.
1. Sufficient Knowledge
Like starting any new skill, you need to first read about it from multiple sources to gain enough knowledge that helps you start with confidence. When it comes to music production, there’s a lot to learn about from music theory, sound design, mixing and mastering, as well as orchestration and song arrangement. Without enough knowledge about music theory, you won’t be able to write chord progressions, melodies, and bass lines. As for sound design, it includes synthesizing sounds while mixing and mastering balances the variance of volume levels. Orchestration is knowing which instruments fit together to form a band while arrangement refers to when each instrument in orchestration is playing or not.
2. Digital Working Workstation (DAW)
A Digital working station (DAW) refers to the piece of software you’ll be using for editing, recording, and creating audio files. It’s considered the foundation of music production since it gives you the mastering abilities of an analog recording studio. While many producers use only a DAW to create songs, it’s still better to use the tactile experience and hands-on control of drum machines, which is a basic equipment, as well as groove boxes, and effects pedals. There are many different DAWs out there with all sorts of features but the main ones you should look for are multitrack recording, filtering, and pitch/tempo modification.
3. Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)
So how do you connect your physical hardware with digital audio workstations? The answer is by using a musical instrument digital interface (MIDI), something just as important as DAW. They are more commonly used in the form of keyboards and grid controllers which are less expensive and more instinctive during use. MIDI allows you to create accurate drum sequencing and live performances. One of its best benefits is that you can change any note and its properties and you get faster mixing in keyboard shortcuts.
4. Studio Headphones
Before starting any aspect of music production, you need to have the perfect pair of headphones. Many people think you have to get an expensive pair of studio monitors for better music when the fact is, production headphones will do the trick. They are designed for professional work and have specific tunings, not to mention they differ from normal ones in their neutral sonic balancing. You’ll need this to identify the least colored sounds and be able to mix properly.
5. Audio Interface
Guitars and vocals don’t have the universal connectivity of other instruments, which is why an audio interface is needed. It refers to the bridges between conventional analog sounds and digital audio and allows you to convert digital signals into analog ones and vice versa. They are used when recording a live instrument to interpret the nuance of the acoustics into a digital audio file. The more tracks you record using an interface, the more expensive it is, but some companies offer audio interfaces that can accept more than 30 input channels if you’re producing live orchestras, for example.
6. Mastering Processing and Mixing
Processing and mixing is the last yet most important part of music production. It’s the stage where all sounds and vocals you created come together to put together to bring your musical idea to life. The process includes using different effects to shape frequencies and manipulate the audio to make it sound full, crisp, clean, warm, and professional. You can mix using your DAW’s plugin that controls how loud audio is and the frequencies that are in a certain sound.
There you have it, this is pretty much all you’ll need to enter the world of music production. Remember that the whole thing will not go as you want if you do not take time to learn all the basics. When it comes to the equipment, make sure you do your fair share of research before making any purchase to make sure you’re getting the right piece that will serve your purpose and last you a long time. At the end of the day, all music production really needs to have is passion, creativity, patience, and hard work.