A music producer is responsible for turning an unrecorded song into a professional recording that fans can listen to.

The producer is often a creative and technical force behind a recording project, whether it’s for an artist or their own music. They guide the entire process, from choosing which song(s) to record to arranging the instruments to coaching the artist to bring out their best performance.

Producers may also handle audio engineering tasks, like setting up recording sessions and monitoring signals at the control board.

If a song were a car, they would be the driver.

Some producers specialize in certain genres, while others work in any style, but their main aim is always to do what’s best for the song(s). And what’s best for the song is to make it make you feel something.

Pharrell, Grammy-winning songwriter, producer, and artist, says “chords are coordinates…they take you to a place” where you feel something. And that’s what producing music is all about – making you and others feel something.

“[For me…] everything’s cataloged by and categorized by the feeling of it,” he said. “If I can’t see how I feel about it, then I don’t even know what it is. It’s just music.”

Grammy-nominated engineer, producer, and mixer Jason LaRocca told us the feeling of a song is “more important than anything else.” And what makes someone an “incredible” producer is that their subjective response to a song also resonates with a lot of people.

“…You don’t teach that to anybody, that’s just something you know,” he said.

To get started with music production, you’ll need the right equipment and software. Here are the basics…

A digital audio workstation (DAW) is the piece of software you use to record and edit the music. It’s the heart of your production setup.

Some of the best DAWs on the market include Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Reaper, and Cubase.

Your computer is the backbone of your studio. The two main types of computers that producers use are Apple or a PC. The type of computer you choose will depend on your DAW (some only work with certain types of computers), your budget, and whether you prefer Apple’s operating system or Microsoft’s.

Before you buy a computer, check the requirements of the DAW you want to use to make sure your device can handle the software.

You plug instruments and microphones into an audio interface, which then connects to your computer. This allows you to record live instruments and vocals.

The best option for beginners is a USB interface because every computer has a USB slot. And these interfaces are powerful enough to get pro-level recordings.

Both a dynamic microphone and a large-diaphragm condenser microphone are ideal for recording live instruments.

Dynamic mics are usually durable and can handle a wide range of instruments, but they’re not as sensitive as condenser mics. On the other hand, condenser mics will capture more subtleties in your recording but are more expensive and not as durable as dynamic mics.

You will need headphones so you can record live instruments. Otherwise, the track playback will bleed into your recordings.

On top of a trusty pair of headphones, it’s a good idea to invest in studio monitors, especially if you’ll be mixing and mastering music.

A MIDI controller usually looks like a piano keyboard – some have the full 88 keys and some are little 25-key keyboards. They can also look like a drum pad.

Regardless, a MIDI controller lets you record and manipulate virtual instruments and sounds in your DAW. Having one opens you up to a world of instrumental possibilities.

Don’t forget to get to buy an XLR cable for your microphones, mic stands, and a pop filter. You can often find a bundle that comes with all three of these items.

A pop filter is a mesh screen that goes between the singer’s mouth and the microphone. It helps prevent plosives, which is when a consonant produces a shot of air that hits the mic and creates a popping sound. You don’t want popping sounds in your recording.

Some people wonder if you need to get a music production degree. And the answer is, maybe.

So regardless of whether or not you get a degree, here are the essential skills you need to develop if you want to succeed as a music producer…

A strong understanding of songwriting and arrangement is crucial.

Producers often adapt songs to fit specific genres or artistic visions, deciding on instrumentation, form, and overall style. They may also create arrangements on the fly, making crucial decisions that shape the final product.

And the thing that determines a producer’s songwriting and arranging skills is their taste and love of music in general.

People hire producers for their ideas, not necessarily their musical ability. Legendary producer Rick Rubin doesn’t play a single instrument or know how to work a soundboard, but people love his ideas.

However, Rubin is the exception, not the rule. Pretty much every working producer knows how to play an instrument, and most of them play multiple. Mason, Jr. said you at least need to know the role each instrument plays in a song.

“You need to know music and hopefully play an instrument,” he said. “You definitely should have an understanding of what different instruments can do and what they sound like. What mood or vibe do certain instruments or sounds evoke?”

Mastering your DAW is essential. It’s where all your production work happens. Plugins and MIDI instruments are tools that enhance your creativity, letting you shape and modify sounds to fit your vision. So learning these tools will help you reduce the time spent trying to get the song to become a reality.

Grammy-nominated producer TOKiMONSTA (Anderson .Paak, Earthgang, Beck) emphasizes the importance of knowing the ins and outs of your DAW.

“As a producer, when you go into your DAW and you can find some part of it that no one else really knows, that sets you apart,” she said.

A solid grasp of audio engineering will help you navigate the technical aspects of recording, from mic placement to room acoustics to managing input levels. You don’t have to be an expert, but the more you know, the smoother your production sessions will go and the better experience you and the artist will have making music.

Mixing is where you balance all the instruments of your track to be cohesive with each other. It involves adjusting gain levels and panning, and applying effects like EQ, compression, reverb, delay, and others to get every element of the song to sit well in your mix. This is the stage where you turn raw recordings into something that sounds professional.

Mastering is the final step in the production process (it could be considered part of the post-production process). It involves bouncing the final mix to one lossless audio file, like a WAV, and editing that file so it’s ready for distribution.

The main goal of mastering is to make the track sound consistent across different playback systems. The most noticeable difference between an unmastered track and a mastered track is that it’s louder.

As a producer, you may not always be mastering tracks. Many times, you would send the final mix to a mastering engineer to finish the job. But even if you’re not going to master a track, it’s still good to know what mastering is.

This skill is listed last, but it may be the most important, mainly if you’ll be producing music for other artists.

Mason, Jr. told us it’s “a very important part of being a producer.”

“You need to be able to recognize what makes people tick and how to get the very best performance out of them,” he said.

Pharrell said his job as a producer for other artists is to be “like a mirror for people.”

“I try to show them sides of themselves that they don’t ever use,” he said. “It’s like when people take selfies, they only use one side all the time. So I’m the guy that’s like, ‘Hey, you know, God made another side. It’s very interesting, you should try it.’”

Legendary producer Rick Rubin tries to make the artist feel “completely vulnerable and feel completely free to be themselves a hundred percent.”

“I spend time with the artist and see where they’re at,” he said. “…I try to imagine what them at their best is and then try to set up whatever situations we can to allow that to happen.”

Furthermore, people skills come in handy whether you’re guiding an artist or collaborating with your peers.

Max Martin, a Grammy-winning songwriter and producer, says you need to collaborate with songwriters, artists, and engineers who have skills you don’t.

“You need better people around you to evolve,” he said.

Let’s look at practical steps you can take right now to start producing music…

The best way to learn music production is to learn from the best producers. And you can do that by listening closely to all the parts of a song and taking notes.

“A beginner can start by listening to a ton of music and then sit down and figure out what went into making it,” Mason, Jr. said. “How and why does it sound the way that it does?”

LaRocca told us that when he first started producing and mixing songs, he would “constantly” A/B test his tracks against the professionals’ songs. He said that’s the way to get better.

Before you start producing music, you need some software and equipment. As a reminder, the things you would ideally have include a DAW, computer, audio interface, microphone(s), headphones and monitors, MIDI controller, and mic cables and mic stands.

You can get all of this recording equipment for under $1,000 (not including the computer), which is actually very affordable for what you’re getting.

Now, if you don’t have the budget for all this equipment, you can start by producing music with an online DAW like Sountrap or BandLab. Check out our full guide on making music online.

Each device will come with its own setup instructions and will probably involve downloading a corresponding piece of software, like with the audio interface and the MIDI controller. So be prepared for that.

Once you’ve followed those instructions, here’s what you need to do to make sure you’re ready to start producing music:

1. Plug the audio interface into your computer
2. Plug the microphone (via the XLR cable) into the interface (if the mic requires phantom power, make sure the phantom power setting on the interface is turned on)
3. Put the microphone in the mic stand
   • For vocals: place the pop filter 3-4 finger widths away from your the mic and keep the singer’s mouth an equal distance away from the pop filter
   • For acoustic guitar: place the mic 6-8 inches away from the guitar at a 45-degree angle, aimed between the 12th fret and the end of the fretboard
4. Make sure your MIDI controller is plugged into your computer (usually these are USB devices)

Before you hit Record, you need to set the beats per minute (BPM). This controls the click track AKA the metronome – it helps you stay on time (think “1, 2, 3, 4”). If you record something and then change the BPM, it will distort and warp the audio you just recorded. So set the BPM first.

Also before you record, you’ll need to choose the time signature of the song. The most common options are 4/4 and 3/4.

• 4/4 time signature: there are four beats within one measure (AKA a set of beats). So the click track would count 1, 2, 3, 4, then repeat it indefinitely at the same tempo.
• 3/4 time signature: there are three beats within one measure (AKA a set of beats). So the click track would count 1, 2, 3, then repeat it indefinitely at the same tempo.

The best way to learn music production is to learn other people’s songs. So if you’re new to producing music, set out to recreate your favorite song.

If you’ve never recorded music before, this may feel overwhelming. But just hit Record and give it a go. You’ll make mistakes, but the beauty of technology is you can re-record and edit takes.

The key is to just show up and be ready to capture whatever happens, as Grammy award-winning producer Don Was says.

“You set up the room and you hope that lightning strikes,” he said. “And the best that experience and knowledge can bring you is that when it strikes, you make sure you capture it and that you know what to do with it.”

You can record as many takes as you want, so don’t worry if you don’t nail the performance on the first few tries. DAWs let you record new takes while keeping the previous takes, and then you can even compile takes together (AKA “comping”).

Paul McCartney recorded 32 takes of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” before he got the take he wanted. And 11 of those takes were complete from beginning to end.

Be patient with yourself and re-record.

Once you’ve recorded all the parts of your song, it’s time to do some editing. Editing in this context has a lot of crossover with mixing (which we’ll talk about below), but it can include:

• Choosing the best take of each instrument
• Comping takes together (ex. choosing the best parts from multiple different lead vocal takes to make one, really good lead vocal take)
• Tuning vocals
• Volume adjustment of the different instruments
• Panning the different instruments

Out of all the parts of producing a song, editing might take the longest.p

Producing music is all about making music that makes you feel something. And there are three tests you can put your song through to help you see if your song will be impactful.

• The Feel Test

As you produce your song, it should make you smile, put a lump in your throat, make you dance in your seat – anything that makes you feel an emotion. If it doesn’t, the song probably needs more work.

Legendary producer, composer, and musician Quincy Jones agrees.

“You make something that you love, man, and makes you get goosebumps,” he said. “That’s what I do and I don’t care if anybody else gets them.”

• The Wait Test

After the song is produced, set it aside for a day or week or month. When you come back to it, pay attention to see if it still makes you feel a strong emotional response. If it does, it’s probably ready to be finished.

• The Human Test

Great art resonates with people because it captures the human experience. So to see if your song will connect with people, play it for someone who you know has good musical taste.

If possible, sit with them in the room as they listen, and watch for their honest reaction. Their response will give you an idea of whether your song is ready to be shared with the world.

Music production and mixing have a lot of crossover, which is why many producers also mix and many mix engineers also produce.

Mixing involves volume and panning adjustments, which the producer may do some of. And certain mixing choices, like adding reverb or delay on certain parts, may be made by the producer.

Learning how to mix music can give you more creative control over the final sound, but it’s best to first deeply understand how to produce music before developing a skill like mixing.

Sites like Mix With The Masters and MasterClass can walk you through the basics.

You can definitely master a song you’ve produced and mixed. So many producers choose to do this.

But on the other hand, it may be a good idea to get another pair of ears on your project by hiring a mastering engineer. You’ve heard the song probably hundreds of times, so you’re no longer objective. And the mastering engineer may bring something to the song that elevates it that you wouldn’t have thought of.

Again, mastering is a skill you can learn, but you should get really good at producing music first.

When Artificial Intelligence can create music on its own, what’s the point of learning music production?

First of all, producing music is fun and rewarding. So why let a robot have all the fun?

Secondly, producing music on your own means you’re in total control. You can make precise production choices — and as of right now, you can do that faster and with better results than trying to prompt an AI bot to do it.

LaRocca told us the story of the time he was mixing a song for a TV show. It involved a “very big music producer,” yet it was found to have AI elements at the creative level. So the production team had to re-produce it and LaRocca had to re-mix it.

But during the second round, they found the song still had elements of AI in the production.

Using AI in your production is a problem because AI is basically a copy of something else or multiple other things.

So you have to be very careful about using AI elements in your songs, especially because the laws on it are still unclear.

“If you can’t use [something you’ve created with AI], I don’t know what good it is,” LaRocca said. “It has to be something that works for you and not in place of you.”

He did say that AI can be great when it’s “working alongside you creatively.” And he pointed out that there are several AI-driven plugins and software that can “fill in the gaps” of what humans can’t do, or things that it can do faster than us.

So there is a place for AI, but it’s in the passenger seat helping us navigate, not behind the wheel.