If you want to become a successful recording artist, you might think you need the most expensive equipment and access to a fancy studio, but this is not the case. These days, there are so many aspiring musicians creating and producing their own music from home. With the right tools and knowledge, it will be perfectly possible for you to put out a chart-topping hit or viral music video from the comfort of your bedroom. In fact, some of the best albums in history were recorded at home, including The Rolling Stones’ “Exile on Main Street” and “Nebraska” by Bruce Springsteen.
If you would like to create your own music and save money at the same time, here are a few essential steps in home music production.
Write songs
You can have all the best equipment money can buy, but if your music isn’t great, you will struggle to find success. Being a great artist is all about writing and performing high-quality music, so this is the step you should focus on. Listen to other great artists for inspiration and learn how to write lyrics and melodies. Have a listen through Rolling Stone’s 500 greatest songs of all time to learn from the masters.
Create a studio
Before you can start recording your songs, you will need to create your own home studio. Pick a room in your home that is most fit for this purpose. You may be limited by the size of your house or apartment, but try to choose a space that isn’t too cramped or noisy. If possible, pick a room with hard floors, as carpets can absorb the higher frequencies and distort your music. If you have the budget for it, there are some DIY jobs you can do to improve the acoustics of your room, but these aren’t essential. All you really need to do is set up your equipment in your studio and get to work.
Get recording equipment
Once you have your studio and a selection of great songs on paper, it’s time to start recording them. You need quality, reliable equipment, but you don’t have to spend a fortune. The basics of music recording are a good microphone, a computer, and some headphones. If you’re on a tight budget, you may be able to buy some of these items second-hand to save money.
Get editing software
Now that your songs are recorded, you will want to edit them digitally to make them sound as good as possible. There are countless software packages available to buy, with a wide range of prices and functionality. If you have an Apple computer, it will already feature a digital audio workstation called Garageband that you can use, or if you have a PC, you can install Logic Pro X on Windows.
Share your music
It will take a while to get your songs perfect, but once you do, you will want to share them with the world as soon as possible. Uploading them to Spotify is a great way to open them up to a wider audience, and you could also create a music video and post it onto YouTube. Make sure you share it on social media and ask all your friends and family to promote it to their networks too.