Before you make that beat

In Nigeria, we like to say that everyone is an artist and almost everyone is a producer. A common sight on the streets of Lagos is to see a secondary school boy with headphones and a laptop hunched over a corner making a beat. Yes, there are several producers; how many good producers are out there? Therein lies the question.

Before you go ahead and make that beat or start calling yourself a producer, you must ask the following fundamental questions:

1. Do I know music? This has nothing to do with studying music in school or understanding music theory. You need to have a personal relationship with music to become a good producer. You may like listening to music, love dancing to music, sing/rap, or even play an instrument. This relationship puts you at a great advantage when producing as your sounds are better and your music judgement is more accurate.

2. Will I have the time? Many people have ventured into music production at one point or another but ended up giving it up because of other priorities. If you are going to become a music producer, you will need to have the time for it. This is serious business, remember?

3. What tools will I need (hardware and software)? To produce music, you need to have the tools to make it worth the while. With more advances in technology, all you truly need to produce music now is just a small laptop with production software installed and headphones. Or add a midi controller if you will. But of course, it's not as easy as that. For better sounds and better quality, you will want to have a great sound card or audio interface, a mixer, a drum input device, instruments like guitars (acoustic, electric and bass), violins and saxophones; and top range music production software like Logic Pro, FL Studio, Reason, Cubase, Pro tools and Wavelab. 

4. How much skill do I have? or what do I need to learn? Modern music production is a confluence of computer and music skills. You will need a bit of both to succeed. If your knowledge of computer use is rudimentary, consider taking courses either online or in person at computer schools. You need to agree on what you are deficient at and come up with a plan to address this.

5. What am I producing for? Having clear defined goals with respect to your music can be helpful. whether you are producing for fun or you want to run a professional studio in the long run can have a big impact on how you will apply yourself to the process.

Producing music is not easy neither is it very difficult. It takes proper planning and preparation to achieve a high level of skill. Following these 5 easy steps can help you enter the world of music production with more confidence and understanding.