If you are interested in the process of creating music that you hear on the charts or like the ones featuring your favorite singer then becoming a music producer seems like the ideal career.
A music producer basically writes, arranges, produces and records songs for other artists or for their own projects.
There are many talented music producers out there such as Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Rick Rubin, Timberland, Pharell Williams or DJ Khaled who help in making a song come together.
Becoming a music producer involves having some certain knowledge and skills in order to become good at what you do.
1. Learn to be Creative
Being creative comes with many ups and downs and a high risk of failure. You have to be vulnerable to share your music, and willing to take the risk that what you create may never see the light of the day.
Not all the music you make will be a bangers but it is thought trial and error that you engage in the creative process which builds great confidence, because you discover that failure is part of the process.
Learning to make music is fan and if you love music and commit yourself you’ll be on your way to achieving success as a music producer. It good to point out that with creativity comes discipline.
Come out of your comfort zone and set goals by presenting yourself with new challenges. This could be like finishing at least one song per day. Tell yourself “By the end of the day, one way or another I have to make sure that I complete this beat!”
Whether it’s recording vocals, making an instrumental or writing lyrics make sure you achieve the target you have set for yourself. Be open to all ideas and opportunities and let things come naturally as you create your music.
2. Learn Music Theory
Get yourself some knowledge on how to compose and arrange a song using your DAW and music production equipment.
Most people who want to become music producers don’t see the reason of learning music theory and look at it as a chore. They think it’s boring, a waste of time, and something they’ll never actually need.
Music Theory helps music producers understand how a piece of music works. When learning music, it helps you understand why a certain note was chosen, why its played low or high and why it keeps on repeating.
At the end of the day, learning music theory using your DAW and your music gear will help you become a well-rounded musician, and make it possible for you to progress more successfully in music.
3. Learn a Musical Instrument
If you want to be a music producer then learning a musical instrument is a must. You’ll be placing yourself at a huge disadvantage if you don’t play.
Playing a musical instrument makes musicians and industry professionals alike take you a bit more seriously, because if you play an instrument, it means you take your art pretty seriously.
Of course, there are many music producers who don’t play musical instruments but they put in the hard work through other means in order to make their songs stand out and probably get away with it.
You want to be able to stand out and separate yourself from the crowd. Learn to play your own songs, master tempos, or perhaps even learn to play from sheet music.
4. Get Music Production Equipment
If you want to become a music producer you need some equipment to let you gain more control in shaping the sound of your music.
Some of the necessary pieces of equipment needed for an optimal music production setup include; a Powerful Laptop, a DAW, Quality Headphones, an Audio Interface, MIDI Keyboard and a Microphone.
If you are a EDM or Hip Hop producer you may also need an MPC. These are used by music producers such as Skrillex and DJ Premier.
This will help you set up a small recording studio in your home and learn how to use it to create some great music.
5. Learn How To Use A DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)
DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation – It’s a type of software program used for recording, mixing, editing, and processing digital audio.
A DAW basically allows you to organize all the sounds in a musical composition rather easily and let’s you control everything about all the instruments, including the timing they play at and automations.
To create music, you’ll need to learn how to use a DAW. The good thing with Digital Audio Workstations is that they also feature plugins. This can let you do everything from simple EQ and compression to vintage amp modeling.
6. Create Your First Song
When creating your first song it helps to have an idea of a full song sounds like from the beginning to the end. The more music you listen to, the more inspiration you’ll get, and the more creative you can be.
This can either be, Rock, Rap, R&B, Country, EDM, or Pop. Next is to choose an instrument you like, a piano or guitar is great for many genres and is very popular.
You can either play be ear or try to sound similar to a favorite song you like. Next step is figuring out the melody or harmony such as the chord progression. The rhythm and tempo should also be put into consideration while you make little riffs and snippets here and there.
As you do this start thinking of the song’s structure. The very basic can be intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge or solo, chorus, outro. Later on you can add background vocals, percussion fills, piano fills, and sampled sound effects
7. Learn How To Mix A Song
Audio mixing is the process of taking recorded tracks and blending them together. Tracks are blended using various processes such as EQ, Compression and Reverb.
The aim is to sculpt your song arrangement to make sense of all your tracks in relation to each other in terms of dynamics.
You can spend hours and hours jumping from one track to another without any real point and lose your time and focus if you’re not careful.
Every person does it differently and this may require the help of an audio engineer to get things right. But if you a making rough mix or something to work with when your creating music it helps to know a little bit of mix.
And if you want to record music professionally, or you simply want your work to sound as good as it can then Mastering your mixes is a MUST.
8. Share Your Music on Social Media
Once you feel your songs start to sound good, you nee to start sharing your music. Tell your family and friends you’re producing music.
Make use of social media, you can quickly, upload you’re music to different websites, such as Bandcamp, Soundcloud, or YouTube. Make sure its your best music and that it highly represents your sound.
Social media is good in getting the word out about your music due to its potential of viral success. Learn how to optimize your social media posts to get the most attention using tactics such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Also learn about tags, descriptions, and titles to make it easier for listeners to find your music.
9. Collaborate with other music producers
If you want to become a music producer, keep in mind that collaboration is key. Some of the best works music producers have released have turned out to be major hits. Look for other music producers who make a similar kind of music to yours.
What you may be weak at, maybe chords or melodies, you may find another music producer is good at it. You may be strong with drums but another music producer may be struggling with them. This is good opportunity for you to collaborate and share your ideas.
10. Get experience by volunteering at a Music Studio
The music industry is all about relationships. Building this network takes time and effort. It means amassing professional contacts in every associated area of the industry, forming strong relationships, and continually expanding upon one’s existing network. Jooble is a good place to get started when looking for various music producer jobs in the industry.
Get some involved with a local studio and get exposed to people with a passion for music and specialized expertise in creating music. Every album release, tour, streaming service launch or PR campaign involves careful collaboration and coordination between professionals.
Good relationships are based on good communication, respect, and empathy.
Conclusion
Make yourself a valuable by showing extra effort and attention to the music creation process.
When you listen to a hit song on the radio, you probably aren’t thinking about the song’s producer. And yet, music producers are responsible for the way songs sound in more ways than you might think.
Be consistent and learn to pay attention to detail and you’ll be positioned to work with talented artists and ensure that each track is as high-quality as possible to hit the charts.
“….I try to get the artist to feel like they are writing songs for the ages rather than songs for an album. As they write, they come over and play the songs for me. For some reason, most people will write 10 songs and think, That’s enough for a record, I’m done. When they play the songs for me, invariably the last two songs they’ve written are the best. I’ll then say, ‘You have two songs, go back and write eight more.” – Rick
Watch Video: What does a Music Producer Actually Do?
Review made by Consordini team.