Submitted by: Ryan Murphy

Music production software can range from programs that let you arrange pieces of sound, called loops, to fully computer based recording studio set ups with digital synthesizers, and dozens of effect racks built in. The difference is in how flexible they are. However there are some basic elements that all share, and most of the $50 to $100 programs have those features, which makes them ideal for learning.

To start with there is a space for arranging your pieces of sounds to make your songs. In the old days they used multi-track recorders. Literally tape decks with two or more recording/play back heads that would let artists assemble songs, one part at a time. The arranging area of music producing software lets you assemble your songs in any way you want, and the amount of tracks you can work with is usually only limited by your computers ability to handle them.

Next is how they work with sound files. The actual files can be things you record yourself, or loops you have bought. A loop is a piece of sound, it can be a guitar riff, a drum hit, whole pre-made beats, trash can lids banging together, toy sounds, and pretty much any other sound you can imagine, and many you cant. Most people start with loops when they first get into using music production programs. Beyond that, and most importantly, is that most decent programs let you drag sound files into the work area, and will let you paint them in. You can use a sound once, or loop it so it plays over an over.

Next is volume control. In the old days they had to adjust volume levels using that big table sized thing with all the knobs and sliders on it. Now you can adjust the volume of a each single piece of sound, adjust the volume of the whole track, and even make very fine adjustments to volume. Volume control is very important in music production. It allows you to control when certain parts of the song are dominant, and to give each part of the song its place. A song with every piece set to the same volume is a mess.

Next is Pan. Now pan is which speaker the sounds are coming out of. Left, right, and centered. Better programs can also handle surround sound. Like volume control you can adjust the pan of each sound, either by making the whole track it is on panned one way, or by fine tuning. Pan is important for creating separation of the pieces of a song. Much like making sure everything isnt at the same volume, making sure they arent using the same space in the listeners field of hearing, called the stereo field, is also very important.

Lastly the programs also let you use sound effects. Now I am not talking strange sounds, I mean software versions of what musicians use to alter their recordings. Like distortion that gives heavy metal guitar and bass that crunchy metallic feel, and compression which helps keep the volume level of recordings even.

While each program has its own special features, which tend to get better the higher the price tag gets, these are the basic features any music production software worth using has.

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The Music Producer Dude.com

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“basics of music production programs video”

, that gives a visual walk-through.

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