5 Essential Steps to Music Production Process
Music producers ideally have their specific process of music production. But for the
music enthusiasts and music producers who are still on the learning stage, you have to
develop your music production process as you practice your craft. However ' you all find
the core processes for every music production remain quite similar from a broader
perspective.
Making music includes the art of being creative and following technical approaches. A
unique mindset does help every time. Sometimes, music producers get stuck in making
music due to a lack of knowing the right way of music production.
This blog is a guide to the fundamental steps of the music production process. It gives
you a summary of various stages involved in making music.
1. Conception
Conception is the idea of creating a music piece. It can also be called an inspiration to start a creative project.
Conception is a step where you try to create something that conveys the message you need to say through it. It also includes the imagination of how it should sound or feel, the impact of the song, and much more. You just need to flow the imagination free and something great will surely come up.
2. Composition
The process of generating musical ideas is the composition stage. The composition process involves creating harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic ideas. The composer at this stage needs to define genre, vibe, and style of the song. Develop ideas for the intro, verse, bridge, chorus, breakdown, and outro.
Having a good basic understanding of music theory plays a great part in helping you develop your idea so that it sounds appealing and satisfying. They include:
- Rhythm
- Melody
- Harmony
The composition stage is mainly about experimenting with ideas to develop a base for the song. Technical aspects like sound design and mixing can be taken care of in the further stages without worrying much during composition.
3. Arrangement
The arrangement is one of the most crucial stages of the music production process that includes laying it along a timeline to build a final piece of music. While working on Ableton Live, you get the Arrangement View that provides a space to arrange, edit, and finish songs.
If you are starting out and just learning, it's best to follow the structure of songs in the genre you understand better.
4. Editing
Firstly, don't work on editing while you are writing or recording. Focus on the recording stage separately and give them your full attention. It is required so that you don't lose focus. Leave the editing to a later stage.
When it does come time to edit, move around parts that are 't in time, adjust pitches that you think are not working quite well. Polish tracks by fading the beginnings and ends of each part the mix comes in and out smoothly. The goal of this stage is to get the performance sounding as good as it can be.
5. Mixing
Mixing is the process of combining all the instruments and vocals into a stereo. A good mix will let you hear all the instruments clearly in detail. While mixing, you have depth and motion.
Most importantly you get to use audio effects such as EQ, delay, reverb, compression, and distortion. Tweak & clean up the transitions. Remove any unwanted tracks which are less desirable in the overall mix.
Mixing your music involves a lot of practice, listening skills, and patience. Having good knowledge of DAWs and Music Theory helps immensely while mixing.