There are many steps in making a song from start to finish. The process is very complex and if one of the steps is done incorrectly or rushed and not up to standards, the final outcome of the finished song will suffer.
The steps in producing an original song are like this:
- Writing
- Arranging
- Audio Recording
- Audio Mixing and Producing
- Audio Mastering
Out of those 5 steps listed, it is in my honest opinion that the most important step is the writing stage. The 2nd most important step in music production is the audio mastering stage and you do not need to live near a good mastering studio. Most studios that master music offer online audio mastering services. All the other steps are important but not as important as those two stages are.
The Songwriting Stage:
Let us face it, if you do not have a good song written, it doesn't matter how good it is recorded, mixed, produced and mastered. This is why the songwriting stage is the most important part of creating a song from start to finish. If the song is not good, nothing in this world can make it good. So start with a well-written song and you are on your way to creating a great song
The Recording Stage:
The recording stage comes in most cases after the song has been written and arranged. But in some cases, there are some that like to record as they write and arrange music. None the less, the recording stage is the second stage of music production. This is where you capture the sounds you want for that song you are producing. Its the job of an audio engineer to capture the sound as it comes out of each instrument, including vocals in its truest form.
The Audio Mixing Stage:
This comes right after all the instruments in the song are recorded. This is the stage where you can add audio effects, like compressors, reverb, delays, chorus, flangers, equalization and many more effects. This is also the stage where you adjust all the levels of each track so each instrument heard at the correct volume, relative to al the other instruments in that mix. You can get very creative at this stage. This is why I combined the mixing stage with producing, as you can add sound effects and produce new sounds for the song. an example of producing is putting a reverse reverb tail at the start of a vocal. It can make a kind of a swoosh sound and another example is putting a delay at the end of a sound to make it go on and on n a rhythmic tempo that goes with the song. Those are examples of producing while you are mixing a song.
The Audio Mastering Stage:
This is the last stage in music production and one of the most important stages as I stated earlier. This stage requires a very talented and skilled person. The mastering engineer has a trained ear and knows exactly what each song needs in order for it to sound amazing on every sound system you listen to it on.