| Music production involves creating the music from | | | | rearrange the track or music you created with the |
| scratch and sound engineering involves mixing the | | | | artists. This collaboration period enables you and the |
| different instruments together so it sounds nice. | | | | artists to make minor adjustments to the music and |
| I will reveal both aspects as they relate to D.J.'ing but | | | | the lyrics. You may also add to or take away parts of |
| more so on the production side. | | | | the track such as adding additional drums or strings. |
| For most established D.J.'s, meaning those who have | | | | The artists will practice their song using your track. |
| been D.J.'ing for a while whether it is in their bedroom | | | | Once this is very tight you move to the studio to lay |
| or in the club, music production is the next logical step. | | | | the music and the vocals on separate recording |
| Because D.J.'s play so many different types of music | | | | tracks. The reason why you want to practice before |
| they come across a lot of beats and sounds. This | | | | you get to the studio is because studio time is very |
| inspires some D.J.'s to sample those beats and sounds | | | | expensive and you don't want to waste time practicing |
| and make up their own songs. | | | | in. That is where you need to focus all of your time |
| This is the beginning of the music production stage. | | | | making sure the music and vocals are recorded |
| There are 3 stages to music production: | | | | cleanly without pops and clicks. |
| pre-production, music production and postproduction. | | | | Stage 2 Music Production |
| Stage 1 Pre-production | | | | When you get to the studio this is where the sound |
| The music production stage is the crafting of the new | | | | engineer comes into play. This person is responsible |
| song. I call this the pre- production stage because you | | | | for making sure all of you music sounds excellent. |
| are just experimenting with music. This is where music | | | | These people have years of experience. Some D.J. |
| from the record or mp3 is sampled using a sampler or | | | | Producers also like to engineer their own music |
| drum machine like an Akai MPC. But before you can | | | | because they know how they want their music to |
| sample and produce music you have to make sure | | | | sound. If this is the case then the sound engineer |
| your gear is properly connected: | | | | simply assists the D.J. with mixing the music and using |
| So that I can sample sounds into my Akai drum | | | | the studio equipment. |
| machine I have my Technics turntable going into the | | | | The mixing part of the music production phase is done |
| phono input of my stereo unit. Then I take the phono | | | | in the studio where all of the music tracks and vocal |
| out of my stereo unit to the input of my MPC 3000. | | | | tracks are blended together to give you what you |
| My MPC gets connected to my Akai DPS 24.Then | | | | hear on your CD. |
| the DSP 24 is connected to the CD input of the | | | | Each musical instrument and vocal track is mixed and |
| stereo unit so I can hear what I produce. | | | | adjusted using what is called a mixing board like my |
| In order to sample I have to make sure I select the | | | | Akai DPS24 only larger or software based mixing |
| phono option on my stereo unit. After I sample the | | | | console like Pro Tools. |
| sounds I have to switch to the CD option on my | | | | Stage 3 Postproduction |
| stereo unit so I can hear the playback from the drum | | | | After the mixing is done the postproduction process |
| machine. Once you've completed your musical | | | | begins. The final mix is taken to what is called a |
| arrangement and saved all of your work and you are | | | | Mastering Studio where specialized equipment is used |
| satisfied with it you can move into the part two of the | | | | to bring out the best possible sound. When this |
| pre-production phase. | | | | process is completed the final results of the song are |
| During this phase is when you bring in artists to | | | | then pressed on CD or vinyl and sold to the customer. |
| perform on you track. This is where you begin to | | | | |