Do you love listening to music, dancing to it, or even mixing it and now you feel the urge to compose some? To help you express in music everything you desire and feel, here are all the steps from A to Z to create your music.
Creating music a practice accessible to all
Musical composition and MAO
From the moment when the use of a computer intervenes in the composition of music, we can speak of MAO, that is to say, computer-assisted music. MAO today takes a preponderant place in musical composition since it allows a person to design a piece without needing the help of many musicians. Indeed, each instrument is virtualized and integrated into the sequencers. A sequencer is an MAO software.
Gone are also the days when the composer had to gradually transcribe the notes of his musical composition onto a paper score. DAW also includes music notation software, such as Musescore or Sibelius, which allows the creation and editing of scores or tablatures.
Finally, MAO also intervenes in the recording of pieces and the preparation of their broadcast.
Do you have to be an expert to compose?
Good news! To start composing, you don’t need to be a music expert, master music theory, or know how to play a musical instrument. You just need to like electronic sounds and technology.
The music, transcribed between the controller (or instrument) and the computer, appears on the software in MIDI ( Musical Instrument Digital Interface ) language. This universal digital language takes a very visual form, making the composition intuitive and easy to access.
Creating music how to prepare your sessions?
Equipping your home studio
Here is the most common setup (i.e. the installation of your home studio ) for composing electronic music: a computer with DAW software, coupled with a controller speakers, and headphones.
We invite you to refer to our selection “What equipment for a home studio? ” and our guide “Which monitoring speakers to choose? ” to carefully select your equipment.
Choosing a DAW software
DAW software is known as DAW , for “ Digital Audio Workstation ”. There are dozens of them, each with their advantages, limitations, target and particularities. Note: most paid software offers free demos.
Here are some of the most commonly recommended DAW software:
- Ableton Live : initially designed for live performance, this intuitive software is suitable for both beginners and experts.
- Bitwig Studio : suitable for live and remote collaborative work, this software is available for Linux.
- Cubase : includes very good MIDI and VST (Virtual Studio Technology) functions, as well as a large amount of samples. This software is however quite expensive.
- FL Studio : easy to use and recommended by DJs, this software is the benchmark in the EDM world (used by Avicii and Martin Garrix).
- Logic Pro : available only on MacOS, this very comprehensive software requires a little time to adapt to get to grips with it.
- Pro Tools : THE reference in the field. Rich in features, the handling is a little complex.
- Reaper : This Linux-friendly software has a fully customizable interface, a stable and lightweight system, with very regular updates, all for a low price.
- Or Studio One , Samplitude (Windows only) and Reason .
Free DAWs include Audacity , Ardour ( available on Linux), and GarageBand (available only on MacOS). Soundation , BandLab , and Ohm Studio are collaborative and free.
Building a sound library
The step of collecting different sounds in your DAW is essential, since the sounds will be your material from which to compose. You will thus be led to manipulate bass sounds, kicks , drums , synthesizers ( leads ) or even various sound effects ( FX ).
We consider 3 different sources of materials:
- Samples : sound samples to online
- Synthesis : creating sounds by modifying basic electronic signals. For this you will need a synthesizer plugin
- His own recordings
We advise you to collect varied and good quality samples, but in reasonable quantity, at the risk of getting lost in the face of too much choice. You can find instrument sounds, voices, choirs, but also extracts from films and documentaries, all on ready-to-use sound banks , such as the Looperman site.
Organize your sessions
To progress in your practice and manage to produce a finished piece of music, we advise you to plan your composition sessions over the coming weeks. Choose a quiet time during the day, preferably in the morning, in order to be perfectly focused. To immerse yourself in your creative bubble, it is recommended to do sessions of at least one hour, or even 1h30, but the main thing is regularity. You can also talk about it around you to encourage yourself to go all the way.
Create music step by step
Choose a project type
Start by defining your project type. Do you want to create a track from scratch or do you want to remix an existing track? Or mix different existing sources to make a mashup ?
To make a remix , you will need to separately take the different tracks making up the piece of music (voice, synth, drums, different instruments, etc.). It’s up to you to arrange them differently, to play on changes in tempo, on the rhythm, to add effects or treatments.
Give an identity to your project
To make your piece of music catch the listener’s attention, don’t hesitate to build it around an element that will make its personality. This could be a tone, a melody, an instrument or even a sequence of chords that will be used as a common thread.
To find inspiration, take the time to analyze the songs you like. Vary the musical genres and artists to broaden your horizons.
Choosing the musical structure
Every piece of music contains elements that structure it. The introduction must be short and catchy, in order to retain attention. The refrain, chorus in English, is a part that repeats several times in the piece. The verse, or verse in English, brings evolutions. There is also what is called the bridge , an intercalary musical part, or even the instrumental solo .
There are several ways to organize these different elements. For example, the EDM style is built on this structure: intro – verse – chorus – break down – verse – chorus – verse – chorus – bridge – chorus – conclusion or outro.
Compose the piece
- Create the pattern (i.e. the musical rhythmic pattern): group all the instruments together for a sequence of 4 musical phrases. This will allow you to harmonize the whole, even if all the instruments will not be played at the same time in the final version.
- Sequence the song: Duplicate the pattern as many times as necessary to achieve the desired song length.
- Give character to the composition: remove some instruments on the parts of your choice to make the piece evolve. Add details, variations, FX or even micro-breaks. For example, for the introduction, launch the instruments gradually.
- Export Song: Export the composition in separate tracks at a low level (minus 10 dB maximum).
- Mix the song: import the different tracks into a new file, and work on the mix: equalization, balance, spatialization or even compression of the tracks. Bounce the mix: export the song as a single track to transform it into a stereo Master file. Do not neglect this step which will directly impact the final quality of your song.
- Proceed with the mastering of the song: export the stereo Master file to perform the mastering , that is to say the final sound processing. This final step will remove the last defects and will allow your song to be broadcast and listened to on different media. To do this, export the master file in maximum quality and in 320 Kbits mp3, to allow its broadcast on the internet.
Your song is ready. Leave it aside for a few days with a clear head before listening to it again to see if it fully satisfies you. If so, all you have to do is share it around you and start a new project!