With the widespread availability of high quality audio production software at a low price point, now is a great time for musicians and would-be music producers to learn about music production. We'll give you some post-production audio tips and an overview of what you need to give your recordings the best production value with the equipment you have available. First, it's important to know the difference between the stages of audio recording, music production and post production. So what is music production?
Pre Production: It All Begins with a Song
A great recording requires a great song. You could apply all the best music production techniques and post-production finesse to a recording, but if the material is weak, all you'd have is a bad song that sounds great. The content is key, and all other aspects of music production serve only to capture and present the best possible rendition of a song.
Music producers can refine and arrange material prior to recording to help musicians flesh out a final version of a song. Some producers and musicians are more hands-on than others. Some musicians only provide the music for production and play their instruments. Others are involved in every stage of recording and post production – and many are producers in their own right. Whether you're a musician, producer or both, your production style will depend on your knowledge, experience and relationships with the artists you record.
Production: What You Need to Succeed
When it comes to production, the equipment's the limit. In other words, what you can do depends on what you have to work with. If you're just starting out, you'll need to assemble the basics:
The Bare Essentials
Computer with audio production software
Studio-quality headphones
USB microphone or a USB audio interface with XLR or line inputs
One or more high quality microphones with boom stands and cables
Recording space such as a room or basement
Musicians and their instruments
Other Basic Equipment
USB midi interface and midi controller
Additional sets of studio-quality headphones OR
Two monitors with a wide frequency-response range (at least 60Hz -– 20kHz) AND
An amplifier to run the speakers and connect them to your computer
A mixer with four (or more) channels
Vocal microphone with stand and pop filter
Additional instrument microphones and stands
Soundproofing materials
Once you have the necessary equipment, you can begin to record. The best way to learn how to record audio is by doing it. Try different mic configurations, filters, settings, effects and environments to get the sound that you and the artists want.
Post Production: All Together Now
Post production covers everything that happens after you've recorded all the tracks for a song. For the purpose of this discussion, let's say that you've recorded a rock song with drums, bass, guitar and vocals.
Mixing is the first step. Start by setting the volume and panning for each track, and cut out any parts of a track that are silent, such as pauses between the verse and chorus on a vocal track. Then route all the tracks for each instrument to a bus track. That way, you can change the volume, panning and effects for the instruments all at once.
Mixing Drums
Drums are often the most time-consuming instrument to mix. If you record drums to a single stereo track, they are much easier to mix but don't sound as crisp as they do when you record each element of the drum kit on its own track. Pan the drums to fill the stereo field from left to right, with the kick drum in the center, the snare and high hat on the left, the ride cymbal on the right, and the toms from right to left according to their placement on the kit, with the floor tom the farthest to the right. They should sound like you're listening to them in the drummer's seat. Compression is an invaluable tool for mixing drums.
Mixing Bass
Bass can be the most difficult instrument to mix. EQ is the best tool for the job. Cut out any muddy frequencies to get a sound with low-end presence and low-midrange punch. Bass sounds best as a mono instrument panned to a specific spot in the stereo field – generally near the center, right on top of the kick drum.
Mixing Guitars
You have a lot of freedom mixing guitars. You can pan them anywhere and add innumerable effects. One tip for getting an interesting guitar sound is to record two separate takes of guitar and pan one to the left and the other to the right. This gives the sense of a wide stereo field, and the small differences between the takes add a compelling, dynamic effect to the overall sound.
Mixing Vocals
You have a lot of freedom to mix vocals as well. You can add effects while recording or record dry and add effects such as reverb in post. EQ and compression are useful tools for mixing vocals.
Mixing & Mastering
Once you've adjusted each instrument individually, the next step is to combine all the elements into a coherent song. Start by adjusting the volume of the instruments relative to each other. Use the panning controls to separate the instruments and give them their own places within the stereo field. Apply effects such as reverb and compression to fine- tune the sound of the song as a whole. When you and the artists are satisfied with the mix, you have a finalized version of the song.
The final step in post production is mastering, which we won't go into here. Mastering is its own art. It's a bit like mixing, but mixing a series of songs rather than instruments within a song. Mastering is about creating cohesion – i.e., consistent, similar volume levels – between all the songs on an album.
Summary
You can visit our audio production software review site to learn more about the variety of music software that is available and to compare audio production software to find the program that will best suit your music production style and goals.
