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How Hard Can It Be To Produce Your Own Music?

Several years ago, after graduating with a minor in music and technology, I set out to record and release my own original music. My music production minor taught me the fundamentals of working with a DAW (digital audio workstation), signal flow, mixing, and probably much more that I can’t recall now. With this knowledge, and having heard that many musicians are also self taught producers, I thought surely I would be able to record and release on my own songs. I had a collection of original songs written over the past ten years and wanted to finally record and release them.

After purchasing a microphone and audio interface I started recording acoustic guitar and vocals for my original songs but soon ran into road block after roadblock. How many takes of acoustic guitar did I need? Could I splice together shorter sections? Was I singing completely in tune? Would just acoustic guitar and vocals sound boring? How can I make it sound more like an actual song and less like one of my voice memos? Ultimately I ended up partnering with a company that did a lot of the production for me because recording the songs professionally was more important to me than recording them myself. I ended up releasing my first ever acoustic album two years ago by doing so.

Produce & Release Your Song on Spotify in 8 Weeks: Mini Course

Earlier this year I joined Musician’s Playground in Boston and have enjoyed taking group adult music classes. A few weeks back I got an email notification about a new music production mini course. This peaked my interest immediately as I have since written more songs that I want to release and possibly this time produce myself. The course description explains “whether you’re just starting out or already have some experience, this course will equip you with the tools, techniques, and confidence to professionally produce and release your music”.

Now 5 weeks in I have learned and refreshed my memory on so many important parts of music production. We started by creating and outlining a track in a digital audio work station, learning about MIDI data vs audio recordings, and importing loops, or per-recorded audio clips. We also talked a lot about drums – the different parts of a drum kit and how to write MIDI drum tracks. We’ve also listened to artist’s music and dissected different parts of their songs, listening for bass riffs and other instruments. Last week was a great refresher on recording audio using a microphone, checking important settings, and achieving a quality recording. With what I have learned so far I am in a great sport to start recording the instrumentals and vocals of my track.

Release Date

With the 8 week mini course wrapping up at the end of May my deadline to record and release a song as I hoped to is quickly approaching! Musician’s Playground has equipped me with the tools and supplies I need to make this happen… now I just need to make the time to do so! Regardless of whether I am able to record one of my original songs within the 8 week timeline or not I am definitely more confident now to be able to do so and plan to record a collection within the end of the year.