It is one thing to produce music for fun in your spare time and another to become a professional and do it full time. But we must begin at one point, our love for music!
The journey to becoming a professional starts with these four tips:
1. Learn music
It is highly unlikely for you to produce music when you know nothing much about it. This means that you have to study the theory behind it. You need to understand how recorded music is developed for you to know what works and what doesn’t. You also need to familiarize yourself with different instruments and understand how they interact with one another. Knowing this will help you figure out how these instruments should be layered and what elements should work on a music track. You can study music independently or as a professional. These two approaches have their share of benefits. For instance, when you study independently you have a chance to create incredible mixes than when you go to music school and vice versa is true. Thus, you have to do what works for you. The thing about music is that the more you learn about recording, mixing, songwriting, and performance you become a better producer. The catch is to never stop learning music!
2. Set your goals
You have probably heard of this before but like any other work, you need to set your goals for you to be successful. Often, people fail to write their goals down! The truth is that when you write a plan down, it becomes easy for you to make it a reality. As you write these goals, you need to have a plan on how you intend to achieve them. Among the goals that you should have include studying music. The way to achieve this could be through listening and learning about music by exploring studio equipment, instruments, and various recording techniques. You should also spend more time in the studio and learn about creating sounds and making them sound better using music-making software, such as VSTs. Another goal should be building connections through networking and attending forums like open mics, industry conferences, and concerts. Lastly, you could aim to learn from other music producers in the industry. You can either look for them and talk or read materials that they have written to see what advice they have to give. When you review what other professionals are doing, you will successfully fast-track your learning process.
3. Learn studio engineering
Apart from mastering and mixing music, engineering is also part of your duties. When you have skills in studio engineering, you will succeed to create mind-blowing sounds that will resonate with so many listeners. Running a music production project from the start to the end can be a daunting task when you lack the skills to deal with hurdles that may come along the way. Studying engineering in the music studio ensures that you do not waste a lot of time having to call in a technician in the middle of a project. Therefore, you need to spend more time in this space to familiarize yourself with the nitty-gritty of music engineering.
4. Create your unique approach
As a professional producer, you need to have an authentic signature that you leave on each record that you produce. When you have this unique identifier, it will make it easy for people to find you and want to work with you. People will only want to work with you when they think that you can make their music popular with great sound. However, creating this personal signature takes time and experience. You need to work hard on it and be patient to see results. To develop your signature or approach, you also need to capture the essence of a musical artist in ways that bring out the good in their music. You can also achieve this by finding your signature sound that works with all the music that you produce. Doing so will set you apart as a great professional. If you are proud of your development as an artist, you might want to send files of your songs to friends and family or even share them with the world.
Your love for music alone is not enough for you to become a renowned professional. You need to first study the music, set achievable goals, learn studio engineering and have a unique approach to the way you produce music. Use these tips to become the expert you desire to be.