Producing Music

Producing Music

Griffin O'Toole

Ever since high school started, I have been super into music, music of all kinds. However, when quarantine came around, I began to get bored of the stacks upon stacks of songs that I had on my playlists. I started to wonder what I would sound like in these huge celebrities shoes. Could I make something up to par with them? Could I do this on my own?

As quarantine and my boredom began to drag on more and more unbearably, one of my good buddies began sending me videos of some beats he was making on his laptop. I was instantly impressed as well as intrigued. They sounded like songs that could've been real and mainstream, and yet he was doing this all from his bedroom. He told me to try it out and the next day, I did just that.

I started with one of my favorite instrumentals from the movie Interstellar with Matthew McConaughey, and I tried to add a more hip hop sound to it. Of course, it was awful and my friend made sure to let me know if it, but that is what you have to keep in mind going into it. The first couple beats you make are going to be dreadful to the ear, but that is simply just because you don't know much about it, like going into anything else. The important thing is to keep trying because the more you try the more you are going to learn about music and what sounds good and what doesn't and that can only benefit what you end up putting together.

There is so much software and so many websites to produce music on. You don't need a fancy studio with all these notches and knobs, all you need is a computer and some imagination. The website I use is soundtrap but garage band works just as well and so does just about any other website you can find.

So, how to do it. First of all, I am not going to claim to be some expert on producing music. I've only made two or three beats I actually enjoyed. I just think it is really fun and definitely something that anybody can make a career out of. 

Anyways, first pick your tempo, which is basically how fast or slow your bpm (beats per minute) is for the song. After that, the melody is usually the place to start. This is where creativity is most key. There is what seems to be an endless amount of sounds to choose from, whether that be different kinds of guitars, wind instruments, or even some scary effects sounds. Once you choose what sound you want to make, you have two options. Your computer pad instantly becomes the instrument and the first option is that you can simply record a melody that you make by pressing buttons on your computer. The second option, and what I use is the piano roll. In the piano roll, you can simply just place notes on ay scale wherever you want, change how long the notes last, and it is really just the easier option when it comes to making a quality-sounding melody. You can also edit the way that your instrument sounds whether that be with the pitch or with other effects, like the treble, the reverb etc. There are tons of different sliders and each one makes the instrument sound different in its own way. Playing with those and mixing them up can create really unique sounds.

Once you create your melody, it is time to add in the drums. Drums are very important because without the drums, your melody would just be on repeat and there would be nothing that makes you nod your head or enjoy it. There aren't as many options for kinds of drums as there are other instruments obviously, but theres a decent amount and they all sound different. Once you find one you enjoy, you can use the piano roll to place the drums where you want as well as just the computer pad like before. However, with drums there is the patters option, which I find easiest to use. Its basically just a row next to the different parts that a drum set incorporates, such as kicks, snares, hihats etc. You can fill out the rows in a pattern that sounds good to you.

You can also add some base to your song. Not every beat needs it, but it can add some thump to what your making that can make it sound really powerful. It is typically the simplest part of the song so you don't want to over-do this part. What I usually do is copy my melody into the piano roll of my base, then delete notes out to simplify it and have the base hit on the notes that make it sound best.

That should be a good starting point. I hope I have inspired you to give it a shot because it is a real blast and it definitely helps pass the time being stuck in the house. You can share them with friends, add lyrics to them or have your friends add lyrics to them. The possibilities are endless. You can make music for any genre that you like as well. Who knows, maybe you could make something incredible.

• This is what I've made so far:

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