Music Production for DJs
In fact, being a music producer only and being a DJ who makes music are similar in some ways. While a producer only takes care of making music, and it takes all of their time, a DJ needs to perform besides making music. Nevertheless, if a DJ decides to create music for themselves, it can take them a whole lot of time because of their busy schedule (of course, it depends on how famous the DJ is).
This article will only cover the basic stuff a DJ needs to produce music. We won’t be covering any technical details and dive deep into every single point, since they all have already been covered in our other articles. This article is basically a map that can help you define your starting points for each stage.
How do DJs make music?
There are several basic stages you need to go through to start producing music:
- Pick music production software and equipment
- Put together your studio
- Choose the tools you will be using to create your parts
- Learn music theory
- Get the hang of mixing
Pick music production software
A lot of software has free trial periods, so you can take advantage of it to decide which one suits you and select the best. The criteria are: price, operating system of your laptop, usability, and package. Keep in mind speakers, headphones, a sound card, and a microphone if it is needed.
Put together your studio
Once you’ve made up your mind about your music production software, you have to set it up. This means connecting speakers and headphones, a sound card, and adjusting it all in the software itself, and finally testing so that everything works. You have to be comfortable with it because you will be spending a lot of time in your new ‘workspace’.
Choose your tools
Practically all music production software comes with virtual instruments (VSTs). They are most often digital copies of the hardware implementations that already exist, or they were created as virtual instruments at the very beginning. These may be synthesizers, violins, wind instruments, and drums. As a rule you can start making music with the help of the built-in toolbox. But in order to expand your possibilities and improve your tracks, you will need additional VSTs. They can be bought whenever you need them.
Learn music theory
If you want to produce music and have great plans, studying music theory is a must. Otherwise, your tracks are going to sound like you simply wanted to have fun and kill your free time somehow. In order to produce complex music over time and make your fans excited, take music theory seriously and responsibly.
Get the hang of mixing
When you can put a check next to all the points above, you can start creating your melody, instrument parts, and so on. When all the parts are done and edited, get down to mixing. This stage is highly important. It defines the sound of the whole track and its chances to succeed. Make sure to master this skill, because simple experiments will not give you the result you want, and might even ruin everything you put effort in.
Track mastering is worth mentioning too. The best idea would be to let a professional take care of it. Ask someone who has access to equipment of high quality to give the final touches to your track and take it to a whole nother level.
Summing up
Every DJ may start producing their own music. It is important to learn all the stages of music production in the beginning and practice a lot. Over some time you will see the progress you made, so you will be ready to produce a decent track for your fans to listen to.
While you’re learning music theory and practicing in the studio, you don’t want to waste time and not have your own music produced. At this stage, you can use our ghost producer track catalog. You buy a track, get your documents and rights to use it under your own name. It’s all done! You’re free to present your track to the public, get reactions, and feedback. This can be a motivation to work harder on your skills, so that you can produce your own track as soon as possible and be proud to present it to the world. If you want to start with the first quick steps, welcome to store of ready-made tracks!