The 8 Significant Steps of Music Production Process

In order to acquire a strong footing in the music industry, a newbie artist must try to gather as much information as he can on the extensive procedure of audio production. He can either take help from the established professionals or read the concepts available on the Internet and magazines.

The process of music production varies from one person to another. There is no definite method that an individual could use to fabricate a track or an entire album. These situations actually require years of experience and experimentation.

The amateur musicians would surely get intimidated by the all-encompassing nature of the song creation process. For their benefit, I am going to break the entire procedure of music production into eight definite steps and describe each of them in details.

Steps of Music Production

Starting from fabrication of the lyrics to indulging in mixing and mastering services, the below-mentioned points cover all the substantial facets of audio production.

• Songwriting- The foremost step would be to write a song that could connect with the listeners in an instant. At first, an individual must create the core of the message that he wishes to convey through the track. Then choose a definite structure and arrange the verse as well as chorus accordingly. Now move on to write the lyrics and tune it with a pleasant melody.

• Demo Recording- Once an artist has written the song and is satisfied with it, he should move on to record a demo. One can keep it simple by using a single instrument and vocals or he can arrange a mock production process that would demonstrate how the tracks would actually sound, once it's finally recorded.

• Rehearsals- Although a large number of artists tend to overlook, rehearsing with the band prior to the final recording session is extremely important. This phase would assure that every one involved in the process are familiar with the song arrangement and are doing their part well.

• Final Recording- After a musician is satisfied with the rehearsals, it is time to move on to the recording procedure. Vocals and instruments are recorded separately so that each and every component of the track gets complete attention.

• Overdubbing- The next procedure is overdubbing, where again the basic tracks are performed and then recorded synchronically with the previously recorded material. 

• Editing- Soon after the final recording procedure, an artist should start to edit the tracks. In this phase, he would remove all the apparent errors and also the parts that may seem unnecessary. After the track is completely edited, it is time to get them mixed and mastered.

• Mixing- Audio mixing could be defined as the process, in which all the components of the tracks are combined to form one stereo file. Here the artist amends the remaining errors and enhances frequencies, volumes as well as dynamics.

• Mastering- The last and most important step of music production is mastering. It is better if you send the mixed files to a professional audio engineer, who would use the varied audio mastering services online and prepare the tracks for the commercial market. This extensive process involves equalising, compressing and limiting components so that the song could retain its quality in whichever device it is played on.

These are the eight steps that one must keep in the back of their mind while producing a track for launch in the market.