step 1

production

production is a broad term but for now let’s view it as the writing/creating process.

the first step to take in creating a song is either writing lyrics from a good melody or with creating the music itself.

step 2

recording

once the song is written, and rehearsed, the next step is the recording process.

once the track is recorded and comped, you can move on to the next step.

step 3

mixing

mixing marks the start of post-production, where an engineer carves and balances the separate tracks in a session to sound good when played together.

with tools like EQ, compression, panning, and reverb at their disposal, mix engineers reduce clashes between instruments, tighten grooves, and emphasize important song elements. In some cases, they might even layer drum hits with samples from outside the session or mute redundant instrument parts.

step 4

mastering

mastering is the final step of audio post-production.

the purpose of mastering is to balance sonic elements of a stereo mix and optimize playback across all systems and media formats.

(streaming, cd, vinyl, broadcast)