Introduction
We are all familiar with what music is, we listen to music almost everyday in different places and occasions, from our phone, television, radio and from other people around us.
This is to introduce you to music production but before we do that, there are few questions we need to look into for Clear understanding. These questions are;
- What is music?
- Who is a musician?
- What is music production?
What Is Music
Music can simply be defined as any sound that creates melody, rhythm or harmony. It is the sound that helps to wake someone’s emotional state, it can make you happy or sad, make you dance and even make you express yourself.
Music basically deals with sounds that are pleasing to the ears and it is a universal language.
Who Is A Musician
A musician simply refers to a person, professional who plays instruments or performs music on stage for a living. Musicians get paid for the output of their music composure and performance, people get entertained by listening to the rhythm and melody.
Everyone who sings (singer) can be called a musician is not all musicians that are singers. Some musicians are known for composing sounds or writing songs while some play instruments. There are so many musicians out there that are living a good life because of what they do.
Names Of Some Musicians You Should Know;
- Jennifer Lopez
- Ed Sheeran
- Herb Alpert
- Mijoga
- Wizkid
- Fireboy dml
- Adele
- Davido
- Beyonce
- Zephyr Cs
- Rihanna
- Lady Gaga
- Katy Perry
- Justin Bieber
- Mariah Carey
- Alicia Keys
- Ariana Grande
- Bella Shmurda
- Ayrra star
- Victoria kimani
- Nicki Minaj
- Burnaboy
- Maleek berry
- Rema
- Olamide
- Buju
- Oxlade
- Tiwa savage
- Chris brown
And so many others out there.
What Is Music Production
Music production is the art or the process of creating, manipulating and beautifying music in order to make it pleasant to the ear or enjoyable to the listeners.
We listen to different kinds of songs everyday and almost everywhere. The songs we listen to and dance to online, in parties or during any event are being processed, manipulated, edited and put in order to sound good to your hearing. This process is called music production.
Stages Of Music Production
There are mainly four stages of music production which are;
- Instrumental
- Recording
- Mixing
- Mastering
Instrumental
This is a stage of music production where musical instruments are being used to create melodies for a particular performance or for a music artist to sing on. Just like a foundation to building a house, instrumentals (Beats) are foundations of songs; they are what makes songs beautiful and outstanding.
Instrumentals can be made digitally through computer systems with the use of music production softwares or can be made live by recording of Live instruments to music production softwares. Good instrumentals depend on the ability and creativity of the music producer.
Recording
This is the stage of music production that deals with recording the vocals of the singer or music artists on an instrumental (Beat). It is also done in music production software and requires a good microphone, a good sound card and a good mixer for best results.
Your recording settings or techniques determine the output of your production, it should be done very clean and simple.
Mixing
This simply refers to beautifying the whole production. Mixing deals with balancing the instrumentals and vocals (sound level), it deals with cleaning or removing unwanted sounds in the vocals and adding effects to the vocals.
Mixing is basically done to balance sound volume, to remove or reduce noise and add effects to make the instrumental and vocals for them to sound nice and pleasing to the ears.
A good song defines a good mix, and a good mix defines a good music producer.
Mastering
Mastering is the last stage of music production, it deals with balancing the whole song in order to be played across all sound systems anywhere in the world. Mastering compresses songs, reduces harshness and adds depth for final distribution.
It is very important to be a professional in this, because the loudness of a song, harshness and softness all depend on the mastering techniques of the music producer.
Music Producers
Every music producer has a particular style of work that makes them unique and they have a particular software they are good at, when it comes to making instrumentals, recording, mixing and mastering.
Below are names of some music producers you should know;
- MasterKraft
- E Kelly
- Sarz
- Young John
- Kel – p
- Rexxie
- Killer Tunes
- Don jazzy
- Pheelz
- Spellz
- Del B
- Maleek Berry
- Ckay
- Legendary beats
- Max Martin
- Berry Gordy
- Brian Eno
- Baby face
- Blaise Beatz
- Brian Wilson
And so many others.
Below are is the list of some music production softwares you should know;
- FL studio
- Cakewalk Sonar
- Cubase
- Studio One
- Logic Pro
- Pro Tools
- Audacity
- Reason
- Avid Pro Tools
- SoundBridge
- Acid pro
- Adobe Audition
- Mixcraft
- BitWig Studio
- Tracktion Waveform
- Ardor
- Garageband
There are so many other music production software out there for different purposes and for different computer systems depending on what you work with.
There are different styles over genres of music.
Below are some genres of music you should know;
- Afrobeat
- Afro pop
- Hip-hop
- Dance hall
- Blues
- Jazz
- Electronic music
- Country music
- Classical music
- Reggae
- New age music
- Latin music
- Trance music
- Pop Rock
- Salsa
- Opera
- Heavy metal
- Indie rock
- Punk rock
Importance Of Music
- Music gives peace of mind
- It unites people together because it is a universal language.
- Music beautifies occasions or events
- Music helps in stimulating people’s memories
- It helps in times of depression
- It energizes people during exercises
- Music helps to increase physical performance.
- Music boost people’s self confidence
- Music plays a vital role for kids in times of learning
- It helps in promoting people’s culture
- Music serves as a medium of sending out information to people
We can’t live without music.
For those that have passion to be in the music industry, to be music producers precisely, Music production is the right course for you to study. Music production courses are mostly offered in a few schools and online. (Mostly online)