How to start with music production is by all means a very broad question. Therefore, I won’t pretend to give here a complete answer.
I have been producing music for 15 years now and am pretty sure I don’t have the complete answer myself.
Anyway, after this pretty enticing introduction, if you are still willing to keep reading, I can give you a few steps that are, in my opinion, necessary to produce music.
They don’t come in any particular order. This means that if you want to learn how to produce music you can start with the first or the last one, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you simply start.
Now, I’ll just quickly define what music production is. Producing music relates to getting a piece of musical content ready to be released. Music production is thus, all the steps that go from an idea, a melody or some lyrics to a finished, recorded track. It includes composition, writing, recording, mixing, mastering and a few other steps I’m certain I’m forgetting. A lot of people would tend to have the same definition and some others could have a slightly different one. However, this is a pretty commonly accepted view of what music production is.
I’ll lay out here 5 steps that are important to produce music. Since what we call music is pretty vast, I’ll leave out some specific parts that do not apply to all types of music production. For example, writing lyrics is not always part of the music production process and so won’t be included in the steps that I lay out. This being said, it might be a part of your music production process.
1. Have a setup
Well this is pretty vague. No worries I’ll clarify immediately. This means have a way to materialize your music. Music production is about getting to that final recorded piece.
You will need something to record it on/with and this is what I refer to here as a setup. It can be comprised of different elements (an audio workstation, a microphone, different instruments, a computer etc.). For more details, you can read the article “5 basic pieces of equipment to start with music production”. It is precisely addressing this step.
2. Know music theory
Okay, maybe as Giorgio Moroder says “…free your mind of harmony and music being correct…”
With this in mind, it is my opinion that in music, art, hell… in life, when you don’t want to follow the path, it’s always good to know first where the path is.
The idea is to learn music theory, not to become an expert if you don’t want to, but at least to know what you’re doing, which rules you’ll follow and which you decide not to.
If you’re starting with it, read a book like Alfred’s Essentials of Music Theory or Music Theory For Dummies. If you are not keen on reading, simply type “music theory for beginners” on YouTube or Spotify.
3. Work with other artists
Granted, you can produce music completely isolated on your own island. However, getting from that first idea to the finished project entails various expertise. It will certainly be faster if you’re helped by other musicians/artists/engineers.
They could help you with the writing of the melody, lyrics, the singing, the mixing or mastering. (Here is a quick link to our article “how to record vocals”).
Music production is a process that requires different skills to be mastered and not only it’ll be easier with other artists but you’ll also improve your own production skills much faster.
4. Play an instrument
A good step would be to start playing an instrument, any instrument. You don’t have to master it but it’ll give you a very practical insight on the composition side of things amongst others. It’ll allow you to take songs that you like and work on them with your instrument to have a better understanding of the production work that took place on the track.
5. Produce
The question was “How to produce music?”. So this is not a joke, you can think about the ins and outs but at some point it’s good to simply start doing. If you have a setup in place (5 basic pieces of equipment to start with music production), just use it. Start recording yourself playing, use samples, record other people play, arrange, sing etc.
Get from that initial idea to that final project (which will probably be nothing like the initial idea in my experience). This means record yourself humming the initial idea, play it on the piano, on the guitar, on the saxophone, the drums and then work your way up from there. If you’re stuck at some point listen to a similar track that you like and see what’s missing in yours. Add it and keep on going!
Those are 5 steps that, in my opinion are important to produce music. I keep on saying important and not necessary because they’re not all absolutely necessary but they’re important. I’m just being careful not to be absolutist. Think of it as being the equivalent of the blog article “How to cut a tree?” and me saying “An axe or a saw is important but not absolutely necessary”… You know what I mean.
Have a nice one!
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