In today’s music-making world, the only rule is there are no rules. Record whatever you want and use it as a sample. Automate effects in ways never imagined before. Mix rhythms and genres to create beats and melodies that go further and create new categories of music all their own.
However, just because you can do anything in music doesn’t mean you should.
No matter what type of music you make, you want it to be good music. You want other people to enjoy listening to your tracks, to hear the message clearly and to not be distracted by a bad recording or weak playing. Like a chef with a kitchen full of ingredients, there are myriad ways to put your masterpiece together, and it’s very easy to muck it up.
The goal of this column is to help you understand the process of making music from beginning to end, so you can create tracks that meet a standard of quality by which we call “good music”, regardless of style. With each article, I’ll try and give you new ways of thinking about your approach to making music, which you can apply however you want. What’s important is that you understand the process and tools at your disposal, so it will be easier to construct a quality track that delivers your message as intended.