Beginner Tips for Making Your Own Music

Making your own music means creating, producing and publishing your own musical compositions. Here are some simple getting started tips to help you get started in the world of music.

Preface: Make Your Own Music

Whether it’s electronica, beat or classical, the possibilities for making music or creating musical compositions are virtually endless in today’s music programming. The following blog posts contain personal experiences gleaned from my music career.

Choose the Right Equipment

What is the right hardware for home recording? As a home musician, music production requires a powerful computer. Owning an Apple product or a PC is irrelevant. A large hard drive and enough RAM are important. It also requires a powerful processor, as plug-ins, effects, and exporting require a lot of computing power.

Are you using an external sound card or the one that came with the computer?

If you’re choosing a laptop when choosing hardware, keep in mind that they have weaker sound chips and most components are not interchangeable. I also recommend connecting an external sound card, ie USB, to improve the performance of your laptop or MacBook. For tower PCs, consider installing a powerful sound card before purchasing. Many tower owners also use a USB port.

Microphone Selection

When it comes to microphones, you can choose between dynamic and large-diaphragm condenser mics. Thanks to the large membrane, the latter is a good choice for vocal and vocal studio recordings. Most of today’s products can also magically connect to a USB audio interface and feed directly into the computer.

fast internet connection

In the digital age, a fast internet connection is essential. Many music software providers only offer their products online, not on physical media. In addition to this, these manufacturers regularly provide new updates, some of which cover several gigabytes. Therefore, a fast internet connection is very beneficial.

a lot of memory
big hard drive
fast internet

Choose speakers or headphones?

Opinions differ on this question: Which is better for mixing music, speakers or headphones? I recommend both. Headphones are great for listening to any instrument. At best, headphones should be closed so that no sound can penetrate in or out. More on headphones.

Speaker cabinets can revolutionize the sound experience, if ever made with headphones. Therefore, I recommend alternating between headphones and speakers when mixing. Ultimately, the song must be easy to hear on all playback devices (system, laptop, smartphone). For this reason, test finished songs with a tablet or old box and listen to them “as a test” on as many playback devices as possible. This allows you to simulate how a “normal listener” would perceive a song.

Mastering Mixing Techniques

Song mixing is the highest discipline in the implementation of music production technology. All tracks of the recording were remastered and put together. The penultimate step in the recording studio is mixing before mastering.

The final step in music production is the mastering process.

When choosing your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), make sure it supports mixing and mastering tools. This makes it easier for you to edit and mix music yourself. You can find out more about choosing the right music program for you in the next section.

Speaker/Display
earphone
Multiple devices to test

Selection of music processing software

Which music production software do you recommend? During my time as a musician, I have worked with many music programs. Start with Music Maker, through Music 2000 to Reason. In the end, I got stuck with Frutiy Loops (also FL-Studio*). For me, choosing a music program is a matter of personal preference, with no clear recommendations.

Which software is best for making music and mixing is individual and depends on your needs.

Appropriate music software

What is the right music software for me? It depends on what you want to achieve. Basically, the free audio recording program Audacity is good enough for recordings or guitar tracks. If you want to get into music production completely then I recommend a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation).

Music Program Overview

You can use many music programs to create your own musical ideas.

Classic notation programs, such as Octava or Musecore, where you enter your own notes and add instruments to them.

A recording program like Audacity, which you can use to record, edit, and cut guitar tracks or recordings.

A production program (DAW) that combines recording and editing, such as Cubase or FL-Studio.

application

You no longer need a PC or Mac to make music. Great musical ideas can also come true from your smartphone or iPad. Very handy when you have an idea sitting on the train. Here are some of my top suggestions:

FL-Studio Mobile: The perfect DAW for mobile and my favorite mobile composition software.
Native Instruments iMachine: An app with a large library of sounds for making beats.
Yamaha MG Rec & Play: This allows you to make high-quality audio recordings.

Magix Music Maker Free Edition

The free version of Magix Music Maker is a great introduction to music making. It contains a large selection of sounds, loops and effects. There are also instruments and synthesizers that can be programmed note by note. definitely worth a try

Find musical inspiration

Where do you get the inspiration for a song? Here are some of my tips:

music is a craft

Music is art on the one hand, but hard work on the other. The best way to gain basic knowledge is to “recreate” famous songs, which will give you a feel for how the song works. Sometimes they even generate ideas of their own.

Proficiency in musical instruments is another advantage

It is recommended to master an instrument for composing. The beauty of this is that you can improvise and let your emotions run free. Plus, melodies conceived with midi keyboards can be realized and transferred to the DAW much faster. But guitarists can also use the interface to input their melodies directly into music software.

Find an audience to test your work

When you’re ready to finish a song, play it to a close confidant as a test. This could be acquaintances, friends, or family. Always remember that criticism is more valuable than hymns for your development. Soak up any constructive criticism like a sponge, and try to use it to improve your music production. Sometimes it can be helpful to let a song you just made sit for a few days and listen to it later. This might give you new ideas.

refer to other songs
master a musical instrument
allow constructive criticism

FAQ

Which program can make music?

There are many high-quality music programs and DAWs out there. The most famous music production software applications are: Ableton, FL-Studio, Cubase, PreSonus Studio One, Pro-Tools, Logic and Reaper.

What are the best music shows?

Which music program is best for you is entirely personal. It must support your workflow so that you can implement your ideas as accurately as possible. The most commonly used programs are Cubase, Logic and FL-Studio.