The world of modern music-making has no rules. It has opened up the industry to numerous individuals to explore their creative potential without any restrictions. One can record and produce anything and use it as their sample. Others choose to automate effects in an unimaginable fashion. Those who have chosen to chart their own music categories, mix genres and rhythms to generate new melodies and beats.

However, just because one can do anything does not always mean that they should. The best music is made great by people who enjoy listening to the tracks, hearing the message clearly, and getting zero distractions from a bad recording or poor playing. With the appropriate tools and process, one can apply them as they wish to construct a song that delivers the message they intend to.

The Stages of Music Production

Songwriting

Songwriting is the process of combining musical ideas into a bigger structure of harmonious, rhythmic, and coherent melody. Normally, it involves brainstorming to come up with the start, middle, and end of a song. The song should seem great to the target market even when played with a single instrument plus a vocal.

Arranging

The arrangement is essential to make a song interesting. Unarranged songs can have great beats and are melodious, but they get boring when they are too repetitive. When arranging a song, producers select varied instruments for each section and line up the selections correctly within the song’s greater timeline.

Tracking

Tracking involves capturing how a particular song will be performed. This implies that the musical thoughts are captured or recorded in a manner that they can be played and replayed at any time.

Editing

Editing involves the removal of errors and refining the recorded song to sound as lively as possible. It can include pitch adjustment, track polishing, and moving around non-conforming parts.

Mixing

This is always the fun part for most people as it involves infusing life to the music. Great producers take years to learn this art of turning songs into masterpieces by combining all recorded instruments into stereo-2 track mixes. Such mixes have emotion and depth, support the music’s intention, and allow for all instruments to be heard clearly and with detail.

Mastering

This is the last stage, which, at times, is treated as a separate step. It involves making all songs sound coherent when an album has several songs recorded by different studios, engineers, and producers.