The 7 Steps to Making a Great Music Album

You play in a Band or are a Music composer or dream of becoming one… Your next big step is going to be making a timeless album…

Despite how far or near this event looks to you these seven steps should be clear to you in your mind. Helps to have a clear picture of the future you are about to embark on…

STEP 1: Ideation

The initial spark can come anywhere. Typically one band member or the composer will come up with a starting point which is typically a guitar riff or a musical piece on the Keyboards or the Piano. It is best to have all band members participate in the ideation stage so that the band is truly greater than the sum of the parts. However typically in many bands there is one person who is the creative director of the entire show.

As an individual composer your initial spark can come from many sources including the songs and musical genres that you are currently listening. This is not the same as being “inspired” or illegally ripping off someone’s musical work. However keep listening to new genres of music to have an open mind and greater exposure.

STEP 2: Background Arrangement

Once you have an initial starting point you will need to arrange other pieces of music around the initial riff. Say for example you have a killer guitar riff (Say a progression of chords) you may want to start the song with it or use it as the verse or chorus or main melody.

The other pieced of music will act to support the rest of the song. For example if you use your initial riff in the chorus you may want to use a lighter version (say an arpeggio version) of the progression or some complementary riff for the verse. Other derived musical pieces could become the bridge or the intro to the song.

Once you have figured out the pieces of music you will have to arrange the entire background of the song from the start to the finish as you want it.

Arranging is mostly done on computers using a very powerful computers say for example a machine with a 4/8 Core Intel/Mac processor. Various software like Logic can be used for arrangements. However if you are recording demo versions at home this can be done on much less powerful machines… even of your laptop!

STEP 3: Recording

Now as a composer or a band you need to bring in other instruments and/or vocals and record them separately.

For example you feel your composition could use a sitar solo in between or a Carnatic vocalist for backing vocals. (This is the stage to let your imagination soar!) The possibilities are limitless.

Once the lead parts of the song are recorded we can move on to the next part.

STEP 4: Music Production:

At this stage you may still want to nail a particular feel and add more instruments and effects. You may add or edit certain effects to the various musical parts you have recorded so far. The amount of processing you can do for each of the tracks you have recorded is again endless.

A word of caution: There is a point of time whereby you will not achieve much by spending sleepless nights tweaking some process into the tracks. Just be aware when to move on to the next stage! There are bands and composers who spend forever trapped in production! Just see where you draw the line between perfectionism and paranoia.

STEP 5: Mixing

This is where you give everything you have produced so far to a mix engineer and give him a basic idea of what you want to achieve in terms of the sound. The Mix Engineer will thereafter mix the song and give it the correct treatment. A mix engineer’s tool is of course the multiple Channel Mixer. In a typical professional setting it could be a 24 channel mixer with the ability to process any number of tracks.

STEP 6: Mastering

Once you are through with each of the above 5 Steps for each song that you want on your album you are ready to move into the penultimate step which is Mastering the Album.

The tracks which are produced so far are sent to a Mastering Facility where the final EQ adjustment including equalising the loudness of all the tracks takes place. The tools for this purpose used are Mastering Boxes.

STEP 7: Replication

The Mastered Tracks that are so produced are then finally sent to (hopefully!) your label company for final replication and distribution into hopefully millions of CDs.

Of course now that you album is ready for distribution you will have to make a huge effort to promote the album. That would require a lot many steps and in case you are an independent artist without the backing of a Music Label these initial steps are going to be a very difficult. Yet there is no need to lose hope if you are a band or composer who has found his sound the audience is out there. Make the effort and reach out to your audience. Use the internet to promote your music.