Music production is a magical process. But no matter how talented and driven you may be, making a demo that sounds good can be challenging if you lack the knowledge of the craft. Mixing, mastering, and recording are all highly technical activities that require strict attention to detail.
Let’s say you are a musician that wants to start recording songs but needs to figure out how. Here are twelve easy steps to follow so you can learn how to record music, make your own songs, and share your music with the world.
Establish a Music Studio at Home
A studio space is a dedicated space for the sound recording, audio production, and mixing of spoken words, musical performances on instruments or with vocals, and other noises. Due to technological advancements, you can now create your own studio, which will help with recording songs at home.
Contrary to common perception, you don’t always need the most influential speakers, the priciest microphone, enormous mixer with a staggering number of sliders and knobs. You’ll require a few essential items for your studio and a music recording app.
The essential tools for recording songs are a desktop or laptop computer, headphones, pop filters for microphones, amplified musical instruments, control surfaces, and studio monitors. You also need electronic appliances, a studio rack mount, a recording mixer, an audio interface conditioner of power, and a power supply.
Run a Digital Audio Workstation
A digital audio workstation (DAW) is a recording software for music that records and mixes digital audio. It’s a virtual recording studio created indoors on your computer. Singers, songwriters, and music composers employ the computerized audio workstation to write, record, and produce their music or spoken word.
A DAW works as an intermediary between you and the hardware of your studio. You run a DAW via a standalone unit or as software on your personal computer. Your microphone primarily records the sound onto the hard drive of your PC or laptop before you begin editing it with the help of a DAW.
Plan What to Record Songs
A recording plan is a step-by-step procedure a songwriter takes to gain maximum productivity and efficiency. Before recording songs, you should list the things to do for the best results.
Test the instrument for proper tuning and tone. If it’s a collection of vocals or instrumental performances, arrange them to flow smoothly without sudden sounds or tones that may quickly break up the calm moment.
Have Your Equipment Ready
The recording equipment has to be set up correctly for the best results. Positioning microphones and other devices and setting input levels must be done precisely for pleasant sounds.
You must carefully connect the microphone cables to their respective sound sources. Most DAWs automatically allocate the audio input channels when you plug in your microphones or musical instruments. The audio tracks are instantly created based on your input channel settings. A music recording app is also helpful to have on hand, and your computer should be loaded up with recording software.
Design Your Base Track or Guide
A base track or guide track is an initial recording of your song that serves as the point of reference for subsequent recordings. It’s a single audio clip or a looping recording that is played repeatedly, thus allowing you to record your song quickly and efficiently.
To create the base track, you can sing, use an automatic tuner, or play an instrument to generate it automatically. Every time you make changes in the guide track, the changes are immediately reflected in the master recording, resulting in a flowing and smooth-flowing final product.
Rhythm Section Recording
The center section of an instrumental or vocal piece is the rhythm section. It includes the snare drum, bass guitar, and other percussion instruments. The rhythm section gives the music a distinctive tone and personality.
The rhythm section is the core of a song’s sound. Your base track should have an even balance of drums, bass guitar, and vocals so that the lyrics are audible and the sound remains balanced.
Capture the Harmony
The lead vocal or harmony of the song is the melody or primary vocal performance. To preserve the intended tone and personality of the song, capturing the lead vocal and the balance is vital.
A recording engineer will assist in capturing perfectly balanced vocals, ensuring that your voice sounds smooth and exciting. Your engineer should also help maintain proper recording levels and timing while you’re singing so that no sound clipping occurs.
Record Melodies on Tape
After recording your harmonic or background music, you can start recording your melody. Melody is the primary or predominant element of harmonized music. Lead guitars and vocals will make up most of this section of the song recording.
To record the lead vocal, you’ll have to bring in a singer or use a recording engineer to sing with you. You can also use a looping program that automatically records and replays your voice or instrumental track.
Incorporate Color and Effects
Coloration refers to the subtle use of sound and color for aesthetic purposes. You may use it to express emotion, evoke mood, and bring out the distinct elements of your song.
Add effects when making your own record or in post-production with the help of recording software for music. Developments such as reverb, echo, and delay give an ambient feel to your music by pushing back frequencies. You should use these effects slightly to create a warm tone without drowning the original track.
Clean Your Song
After recording, you must clean your tracks of unwanted noises and sounds. You can use a noise gate to eliminate the sound of breathing or set down the microphone, equalizers, and compressors to adjust your track’s tonality or clarity.
Audio Mixing
Audio mixing blends all the individual soundtracks into one piece that can sound pleasing to the yearning ear. The primary purpose of mixing is to create a final master recording that expresses all the parts’ unity and continuity.
Publish Your Song
Publishing your song means releasing it to the public. There are several easy places to get songs published, including Spotify, Deezer, and Apple Music. You can also work with a recording label to promote and market your music effectively.
Wrapping Up
Learning how to start recording music is easy. Recording your song is easy and fun once you have all the knowledge, tools, and equipment. The tips and techniques covered in this article will help you sound better and more confident, and the fun of making music will keep you motivated.
