Step-by-Step Guide in Producing Your Album

by James Hill

What’s the use of talent if you will not share it to the whole world? You have been writing songs since you were seven, you and your band have been practicing almost everyday in your garage, and you even have a few gigs every now and then. Don’t you think it’s about time you make an album and have your share of the limelight?

You say you are just too shy to make an album because you are afraid you are not good enough or you do not have enough money. But if you will not do it now that you’re at your prime, when do you plan to do it? With the advent of new technology, producing your album is not as meticulous and costly as before. You can even do it entirely on your own if you know the basic tricks of the trade. To help you get a glimpse of what it is like to make your album, here is a step-by-step guide that you may find useful.

Choose the songs you want to include in your album
When you make an album, the first thing you need to decide is the songs you want to include in it. You may have plenty of great songs but you have to choose the cream of the crop to include in your debut album. You are introducing your band for the first time so you want them to hear only the greatest songs. It is advisable, although it’s not the rule, to have songs with a common theme or personality. Seven to ten tracks is enough for your first album. Do not exceed 15 tracks so that you would not spend too much and so that the buyers would be wanting for some more.

Hire a producer and an engineer
As an independent artist, you want to do everything on your own. This gives you enough freedom to experiment and at the same time it cuts down your expenses. However, it really pays to have a great producer especially if you are a first-timer. The producer’s role can be compared to a manager or a film director wherein he oversees the actual production of the music. He controls the recording sessions, guides musicians, and supervises the mixing and mastering. The engineer is in-charge of the technical aspect of the actual recording. That means, he is in-charge of the sound quality, the mic positioning, etc. Thee people will guide you on the whole process of producing your album.

Take the unmastered album to a mastering studio
After the actual recording, take the unmastered(raw) album to a mastering studio. The mastering Studio will tweak vocals and adjust the levels so that the quality of your music is clean and solid. They remove noise and make sure that there is no portion in your music that is inaudible or too loud.

Make a catchy packaging design
A creative CD packaging is one of the best strategies to convince people to buy your album. With many bands sprouting everyday and with the decrease of CD sales due to piracy and downloads, an attention-grabbing CD packaging is a good way to increase your album sales. You can do this by placing a catchy image, by using a unique material, by including freebies, and many more. Get creative and think of ways to make your album standout!

Duplicate it
Once you are very satisfied with the mastered CD and the CD packaging design, it’s now time to mass-produce it! If you are for quality, do not just simply burn the CDs at home and print the packaging from your printer. Let CD manufacturers do it for you. They have the state-of-the-art equipment and the expertise in manufacturing CDs which is advantageous to you in the end. You would be assured of the quality and it saves you plenty of time and energy.

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For getting more information about Step-by-Step Guide in Producing Your Album, contact James Hill.

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Tags: James Hill, Make Records, Produce Your Own Album, Sell Music

This entry was posted on Friday, March 19th, 2010 at 6:30 AM and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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