How to start writing music on your computer

How to start writing music on your computer. When musical ideas overwhelm my head, I do want to share them with others! And at this moment, a novice musician has many questions. Do I have to go to EKmixmaster audio mixing studio or can I record at home? And if at home, what equipment should you buy and what programs will you need?

To set up a home studio, you will need a computer, music recording software (DAW), sound card, and headphones. This is the minimum required to get started.

Contents hide

1 Computer

2 Music recording software (DAW)

3 Sound card

4 Headphones

5 Which program is better to work with?

6 Switch to some other DAW, but in this case, you will have to re-create all projects

Computer

Whether it’s Mac or PC, it doesn’t matter, both platforms offer the same experience for the musician. The two main criteria here are speed (at least 8GB of RAM) and the processing power of the processor (the more it can digest, the better).

Music recording software (DAW)

A digital workstation (sequencer) is a special software for recording music. It is this that turns an ordinary computer into a powerful tool and the center of a home studio.

Sound card

Sound cards built into computers are only suitable for listening to music. To fully record, you need a special audio interface. Among worthy models, whose capabilities are more than enough for a novice musician, you can highlight the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and Scarlett 2i4, PreSonus AudioBox USB 96, Audient iD14.

Headphones

Unlike consumer headphones which like to embellish sound in certain frequency ranges. The isolated sound of studio headphones will provide more detail and fidelity to the sound. In addition, the headphones will allow you to work at any time of the day. Later, if your music lessons become more serious, it is worth getting a pair of good studio monitors.

Which program is better to work with?

There are over 20 different DAWs on the market, but choosing software for recording music is easier than you might think. First, don’t bother too much – DAW is nothing more than a technical tool that you interact with. This is where skills decide, not the program itself. Secondly, choosing a DAW is a matter of taste, convenience, and personal preference.

If you’re a Mac user, you already have GarageBand DAW installed on your system. In fact, GarageBand is a simplified version of Logic Pro X: its capabilities are not so rich and advanced, but this is enough to get started. Gradually, the functionality of GarageBand will cease to be enough: you will need more advanced audio editing, automation, high-quality and productive synthesizers. And here you have two options.

Switch to Logic Pro X. In this case, the transition will be painless: the principles of operation of Logic Pro and GarageBand are much the same (you will not have to get used to a new environment for a long time), and projects created in GarageBand can be easily opened in Logic Pro and continue working.

Switch to some other DAW, but in this case, you will have to re-create all projects

It is a little easier for PC users since the choice of programs here is much more. You can get started with recording with the free Magix Music Maker, Ardor, or Podium Free. It is not worth working constantly in these programs, since the problems are still the same – lack functionality and the inability to quickly and easily transfer already created projects to another DAW.

When choosing a DAW, it is worth remembering that there is no best software in this environment – they all have their pros and cons. This is a separate topic, which we will address next time.