Are you interested in making your own music and trying to fight your way to the top of the charts?
Life as a music producer can be great, but it will also be an uphill battle. Hey, everyone has to start somewhere! If you’re keen to get started on your music journey, here are a few essential tools you need:
A Digital Audio Workstation
More commonly referred to as a DAW, this is the software application you use to basically do everything. It lets you edit your music once it’s been uploaded, and you can record through the software and turn your stuff into audio files. Logic Pro is the most well-known DAW out there, but others also exist. Effectively, this is the core tool that you will use daily to make your music – so be sure to check DAW reviews and find a software solution that works for you.
A MIDI Keyboard
Next, you need to get your hands on a MIDI controller of sorts. We recommend a MIDI keyboard for beginners as it is the easiest one to use. Essentially, your MIDI controller is used to control your DAW. This is what you use to make the music! A MIDI keyboard looks like a keyboard, but it has other features as well. You are able to play music and see it in your DAW, and you can also assign different sounds to the keys. Instead of a typical keyboard key sound, you could make it sounds like a bass drum or guitar. This allows you to create riffs and beats that you can slowly put together using the software to form a song.
An Audio Interface
This is a really important tool that lets you record from more traditional instruments. If you have a digital piano and want to record yourself playing that, you need an audio interface to connect it to the digital audio workstation. The same can be said when you are recording any vocals – the microphone needs to connect to the music editing software. It is worth doing a lot of research into audio interfaces as they come in many varieties. Some have the capability to only record one or two tracks at once, while others let your record 30 or more.
A Pair Of Headphones
You desperately need a good pair of headphones if you want to start making music. Ideally, they should be noise-canceling, letting you hear every single note of the music you produce. They also need to provide good audio quality, so you actually hear how good your music is. Perhaps more obviously, headphones are needed to avoid annoying your neighbors, roommates, or family members as you continuously try new things and make more music.
As your music career goes on, you can start adding things to your workstation or upgrading different elements. What happens next? Well, you need to get your music out there! Try using sites like SoundCloud to get noticed, and encourage people to share your music around as much as possible.