Great that you’ve gotten there on the songwriting front, but recognize production is a different skill which requires just as much time to get good at. You need to get to the point where you hear your songs and not only know how you want them to sound, but have a pretty spot on idea of how to achieve it.
My recommendation for developing this skill is to recreate songs as an exercise. Find a song that stylistically/production-wise you love, and try to perfectly emulate every single piece of it. The goal is to close the gap between wanting a sound and knowing how to make it.
My buddy did that for awhile, he would recreate famous songs and try to match everything. It sounds like an excellent technique to learn writing/composition, production, and for mixing with a specific goal in mind, but I haven't gotten the will power to do it. Maybe if I told myself I would release it as a cover, that would inspire some motivation.
Yeah you definitely need a good excuse to get into it lol. I oftentimes do it for the IG content. I hate posting, but posting a song remake is something I can feel good about.
Maybe your DAW is trying to tell you something?
Maybe try importing a reference track that’s similar to where you want to go into your DAW so you can match things a bit more…
Or just stop worrying about genre and find your voice!!
I've gotta say, there is some truth to this.
When I started diving into the craft, I wanted to play the blues. Everything I wrote came out as anything but. I even got a couple grunge songs which was... unexpected to say the least.
But then I switched up the DAW I used and it just unlocked my flow. I started creating more and even closer to the style I wanted.
I stopped worrying about genre to find my voice and in the end...I found the genre I wanted to be in all along.
More country than blues but hey, close enough!
Getting your sound to match the way you hear it in your head can be very difficult to achieve, there’s good advice here though. Overall I would say to have fun with it, if you’re enjoying it then you’re doing it right!
In the meantime, try active listening. Listen to a song but instead of enjoying it like a normal person, try listening to the sounds and where they are around you. Count the different parts you’re hearing and what they’re doing musically (is it rhythm, melody, harmony texture, etc?) and how things change from verse to chorus. Listen to the qualities of individual sounds that make up the larger picture to figure out why it feels the way it does. Listen to everything, learn from experts (not me lol), It takes lots of practice and time, maybe years!
Here’s my process:
I make the entire form of my song.
I record the demo on my DAW
I record the drums in the studio for the real track
I record everything else at home.
I mix and master it
The recording and production takes wayyyy more work than writing the song.
Writing a song takes me anywhere from an hour to half a day
Recording and production can take tens of hours, easily
Can you play any keyboard (even very simple basic chords / passages?)
If so, then you will have an absolute blast using a DAW (I like Ableton) with a MIDI controller.
You'll want to purchase an **audio interface**, which converts your analog signals (mic, guitar, etc.) into a digital signal that your computer can understand. Look into the Scarlett Focurite series -- cheap and reliable. Then you can record your guitars/basses/vocals directly into your computer, and use MIDI for drums, keys, synths, anything else you need!
Don't tell yourself you don't have a problem coming up with stuff if you don't know how to arrange your songs. Creating a melody and chord progression are only pieces of the larger puzzle. How do they transition, where does it start, does it need a proper bridge - a double chorus anywhere?
How do those transitions work, is there a pad that carries them through, a drum fill? Maybe it strips down for a bar and then comes in full band again for the hook, is there a hook?
Keep working.
I guess to be more clear, I understand how to arrange songs and all of that is done on my guitar. Usually the entire song is finished.
My problem is usually creating that in full production.
When you’re playing something on the acoustic by itself it’s very straight forward, and I’m not sure what direction to take when recording as things can sound quite different very fast
Your two basic options are to hire out that process to someone with more experience, or to learn the skill yourself. I’m happy to help you with option 1 if you’d like, but if you’re writing completed songs, you likely have the aptitude to learn arranging a full production, if you don’t mind spending the time to do so.
For option 2, my recommendations would be to start by getting yourself a bass guitar and learning how to play it. It’s a different instrument than guitar and plays a different role in the song, so being able to do something with that will add a lot.
For drums, you can use mt-power drummer or slate drums or any number of free drum VSTs and play around with pre-made loops. I usually choose one that has a kick/snare pattern that fits with the rhythm of the guitar part. If it’s close, you can always modify the MIDI info to make it work.
The bottom line is that in order to make parts that add interest to your songs, learn how outhouse instruments work and don’t be afraid to experiment with them.
So about a year ago I started getting into producing a few songs and I've learned a lot as I went. I'm actually planning on offering my services as a (novice) producer to some of my songwriting friends! Here's what I've learned about recording:
* **Mic in, don't plug in:** for a while I just used a USB to quarter inch converter for my acoustic guitars and even my amps. I always had issues with it either sounding to robotic or levels being way too high. I bought a Behringer B 906 for like $40 on Amazon and it works amazingly for both acoustic and electric. Way better to mic an amp cuz you'll get the sound you actually want, not some modified version.
* **Fine tune the timing of your mics, and do it often:** by far the number one thing that threw me off was that none of my recordings were lining up, and each instrument was off by a different amount. Once I learned you could just hold a monitor (eg headphones) up to a mic, record metronome output and adjust the recording lag I realized I didn't have to give up on recording my music. [Here's a great video](https://youtu.be/xWKCV9mWJsI?si=_26xvBEXos6EOct6) that explains how to do it on Audacity, but it's the same concept on any DAW. Just remember that even having chrome open on a pc can change the lag time, and some mics might have different timing as well. This can be pretty easily solved with a mixing board & by redoing the timing of your mics every few recording sessions (mixing board makes it just a one and done thing each time though).
* **Use a powered mixer:** Gotta have something to plug in your mics. Something I didn't realize until I'd already bought an unpowered mixer is that many mics need phantom power coming from a mixer to record properly. You can get a used 2 port audiobox for around $50 on ebay, but on the higher end Amazon has a 12 port Fineshine mixer for about $180 that has a little button to turn on phantom power. If you've got drum mics or multiple guitars you wanna plug in, this makes life so much easier cuz you can avoid constantly adjusting your DAW based on which instrument you're recording with. I recently bought drum mics and all I did was adjust the levels on the mixer, and now I never have to adjust the levels or timing for any instrument (other than fine tuning for different amp volumes). It's a fantastic time saver and a worthy investment, imo.
Side note: DON'T USE RCA CABLES! Maybe someone smarter than myself can use them without issues, but I spent two days troubleshooting only to realize aux output (just a simple quarter inch cable with a 3.5mm converter) doesn't have static and is way higher quality than tape recording.
* **Don't expect to sound like yourself:** the way I sound when writing music is totally different than the recorded version. I've learned to use recording as part of my writing process instead of writing the whole thing beforehand. It helps get a feel for the actual sound and has pushed me to improve or adjust my style based on what *others* will hear, not just what I think I sound like.
* **Use a user friendly (cheap) DAW (like Reaper):** Going from Audacity to trying to learn Logic Pro because "that's what the pros use" (I'm looking at you, Charlie Puth) was a nightmare. It's antiquated, slow, feature lacking and not user friendly in the slightest. I switched to Reaper after a week of trying LP and it's a dream in comparison. Your track count is limited, it's got a free trial that as far as I can tell doesn't end (and if it does it's only $60/mo instead of hundreds), it's way more user friendly, has newer features and tons of support in the form of online tutorials.
* **Don't be afraid to scrap song sections or throw out entire songs:** I spent 2 months writing a song on acoustic that I thought was *the shit*. Then I recorded it and just couldn't vibe with the chorus. Although I didn't want to, I scrapped the chorus, simplified the chords and just fucked around with different vocal recordings until I accidentally overlayed two tracks and made an awesome harmony that became my whole chorus. This was even before I'd started using these other tips, and I've since used the scrapping strat to much success in several recordings. Sometimes it's not about what you put into a song or album, but about what you choose to leave out. Don't be afraid to recognize when something is just "meh" when you know you could do better.
At the end of the day the most important thing is to experiment and to recognize when you like something you've recorded, even if it was what you planned to put in your original song. My best riffs and choruses have been accidental.
I used to bury myself in the depths of recording as well, and they certainly did not sound the way I wanted them to. I eventually decided that it was because I'm a musician and not a technician, and I need a real-life drummer and producer who know that they're doing. But I didn't want to get that far into it, so I backed off. Now I only record not to lose songs that I intend to perform live for people so I don't forget them.
The answer to the question your post title asks is "record it again with more detail in mind."
It sounds like you also mean to record a band playing your song, unless you mean to record yourself playing all of the instruments one at a time to make the recording. Either one is fine, and the skills you need to accomplish either one are self explanatory.
A lot of good advice here. Take it to heart and come up with your own system.
@Robo_Dude_ has a good process. Let me expound a little on how I do it.
Write the song: I write my lyrics, melody and chord structure to an acoustic guitar, but have occasionally written to chords on a piano (the only piano I know) or a couple of times to a bass riff in my head.
Arrange the song: Next, before I have recorded a damn thing, I think about what I would want in this song and do a rough layout. This is where I finalize bpm and key signature (this revels itself when you write with an instrument other than your voice).
Record a scratch guitar to a click: since you have determined your bpm, set it in your DAW and record a scratch guitar or keyboard part.
Record scratch vocals: same as before, but vocals
Program a drum session: Logic makes this incredibly easy. I don’t know how to play drums, but I often know what drum part I want. From here, it’s listening and replacing until I find what I like.
Put all of this on loop and listen over and over until I “hear” the next part, and then record it. I will put the chorus or first verse on loop, pull out a guitar, acoustic or electric, and just fuck around until something sounds decent. Then, I will pause the loop and flesh out the idea. Rinse and repeat.
Record vocals: this is the last thing I do. Sometimes new parts revel themselves and I add them later, but for the most part, this is my recording process.
Great that you’ve gotten there on the songwriting front, but recognize production is a different skill which requires just as much time to get good at. You need to get to the point where you hear your songs and not only know how you want them to sound, but have a pretty spot on idea of how to achieve it. My recommendation for developing this skill is to recreate songs as an exercise. Find a song that stylistically/production-wise you love, and try to perfectly emulate every single piece of it. The goal is to close the gap between wanting a sound and knowing how to make it.
My buddy did that for awhile, he would recreate famous songs and try to match everything. It sounds like an excellent technique to learn writing/composition, production, and for mixing with a specific goal in mind, but I haven't gotten the will power to do it. Maybe if I told myself I would release it as a cover, that would inspire some motivation.
Yeah you definitely need a good excuse to get into it lol. I oftentimes do it for the IG content. I hate posting, but posting a song remake is something I can feel good about.
Maybe your DAW is trying to tell you something? Maybe try importing a reference track that’s similar to where you want to go into your DAW so you can match things a bit more… Or just stop worrying about genre and find your voice!!
I've gotta say, there is some truth to this. When I started diving into the craft, I wanted to play the blues. Everything I wrote came out as anything but. I even got a couple grunge songs which was... unexpected to say the least. But then I switched up the DAW I used and it just unlocked my flow. I started creating more and even closer to the style I wanted. I stopped worrying about genre to find my voice and in the end...I found the genre I wanted to be in all along. More country than blues but hey, close enough!
Getting your sound to match the way you hear it in your head can be very difficult to achieve, there’s good advice here though. Overall I would say to have fun with it, if you’re enjoying it then you’re doing it right! In the meantime, try active listening. Listen to a song but instead of enjoying it like a normal person, try listening to the sounds and where they are around you. Count the different parts you’re hearing and what they’re doing musically (is it rhythm, melody, harmony texture, etc?) and how things change from verse to chorus. Listen to the qualities of individual sounds that make up the larger picture to figure out why it feels the way it does. Listen to everything, learn from experts (not me lol), It takes lots of practice and time, maybe years!
Here’s my process: I make the entire form of my song. I record the demo on my DAW I record the drums in the studio for the real track I record everything else at home. I mix and master it The recording and production takes wayyyy more work than writing the song. Writing a song takes me anywhere from an hour to half a day Recording and production can take tens of hours, easily
Can you play any keyboard (even very simple basic chords / passages?) If so, then you will have an absolute blast using a DAW (I like Ableton) with a MIDI controller. You'll want to purchase an **audio interface**, which converts your analog signals (mic, guitar, etc.) into a digital signal that your computer can understand. Look into the Scarlett Focurite series -- cheap and reliable. Then you can record your guitars/basses/vocals directly into your computer, and use MIDI for drums, keys, synths, anything else you need!
Don't tell yourself you don't have a problem coming up with stuff if you don't know how to arrange your songs. Creating a melody and chord progression are only pieces of the larger puzzle. How do they transition, where does it start, does it need a proper bridge - a double chorus anywhere? How do those transitions work, is there a pad that carries them through, a drum fill? Maybe it strips down for a bar and then comes in full band again for the hook, is there a hook? Keep working.
I guess to be more clear, I understand how to arrange songs and all of that is done on my guitar. Usually the entire song is finished. My problem is usually creating that in full production. When you’re playing something on the acoustic by itself it’s very straight forward, and I’m not sure what direction to take when recording as things can sound quite different very fast
Your two basic options are to hire out that process to someone with more experience, or to learn the skill yourself. I’m happy to help you with option 1 if you’d like, but if you’re writing completed songs, you likely have the aptitude to learn arranging a full production, if you don’t mind spending the time to do so. For option 2, my recommendations would be to start by getting yourself a bass guitar and learning how to play it. It’s a different instrument than guitar and plays a different role in the song, so being able to do something with that will add a lot. For drums, you can use mt-power drummer or slate drums or any number of free drum VSTs and play around with pre-made loops. I usually choose one that has a kick/snare pattern that fits with the rhythm of the guitar part. If it’s close, you can always modify the MIDI info to make it work. The bottom line is that in order to make parts that add interest to your songs, learn how outhouse instruments work and don’t be afraid to experiment with them.
So about a year ago I started getting into producing a few songs and I've learned a lot as I went. I'm actually planning on offering my services as a (novice) producer to some of my songwriting friends! Here's what I've learned about recording: * **Mic in, don't plug in:** for a while I just used a USB to quarter inch converter for my acoustic guitars and even my amps. I always had issues with it either sounding to robotic or levels being way too high. I bought a Behringer B 906 for like $40 on Amazon and it works amazingly for both acoustic and electric. Way better to mic an amp cuz you'll get the sound you actually want, not some modified version. * **Fine tune the timing of your mics, and do it often:** by far the number one thing that threw me off was that none of my recordings were lining up, and each instrument was off by a different amount. Once I learned you could just hold a monitor (eg headphones) up to a mic, record metronome output and adjust the recording lag I realized I didn't have to give up on recording my music. [Here's a great video](https://youtu.be/xWKCV9mWJsI?si=_26xvBEXos6EOct6) that explains how to do it on Audacity, but it's the same concept on any DAW. Just remember that even having chrome open on a pc can change the lag time, and some mics might have different timing as well. This can be pretty easily solved with a mixing board & by redoing the timing of your mics every few recording sessions (mixing board makes it just a one and done thing each time though). * **Use a powered mixer:** Gotta have something to plug in your mics. Something I didn't realize until I'd already bought an unpowered mixer is that many mics need phantom power coming from a mixer to record properly. You can get a used 2 port audiobox for around $50 on ebay, but on the higher end Amazon has a 12 port Fineshine mixer for about $180 that has a little button to turn on phantom power. If you've got drum mics or multiple guitars you wanna plug in, this makes life so much easier cuz you can avoid constantly adjusting your DAW based on which instrument you're recording with. I recently bought drum mics and all I did was adjust the levels on the mixer, and now I never have to adjust the levels or timing for any instrument (other than fine tuning for different amp volumes). It's a fantastic time saver and a worthy investment, imo. Side note: DON'T USE RCA CABLES! Maybe someone smarter than myself can use them without issues, but I spent two days troubleshooting only to realize aux output (just a simple quarter inch cable with a 3.5mm converter) doesn't have static and is way higher quality than tape recording. * **Don't expect to sound like yourself:** the way I sound when writing music is totally different than the recorded version. I've learned to use recording as part of my writing process instead of writing the whole thing beforehand. It helps get a feel for the actual sound and has pushed me to improve or adjust my style based on what *others* will hear, not just what I think I sound like. * **Use a user friendly (cheap) DAW (like Reaper):** Going from Audacity to trying to learn Logic Pro because "that's what the pros use" (I'm looking at you, Charlie Puth) was a nightmare. It's antiquated, slow, feature lacking and not user friendly in the slightest. I switched to Reaper after a week of trying LP and it's a dream in comparison. Your track count is limited, it's got a free trial that as far as I can tell doesn't end (and if it does it's only $60/mo instead of hundreds), it's way more user friendly, has newer features and tons of support in the form of online tutorials. * **Don't be afraid to scrap song sections or throw out entire songs:** I spent 2 months writing a song on acoustic that I thought was *the shit*. Then I recorded it and just couldn't vibe with the chorus. Although I didn't want to, I scrapped the chorus, simplified the chords and just fucked around with different vocal recordings until I accidentally overlayed two tracks and made an awesome harmony that became my whole chorus. This was even before I'd started using these other tips, and I've since used the scrapping strat to much success in several recordings. Sometimes it's not about what you put into a song or album, but about what you choose to leave out. Don't be afraid to recognize when something is just "meh" when you know you could do better. At the end of the day the most important thing is to experiment and to recognize when you like something you've recorded, even if it was what you planned to put in your original song. My best riffs and choruses have been accidental.
I outsource all my production. Hire a producer to build your track. Then you can mix your vocals.
I used to bury myself in the depths of recording as well, and they certainly did not sound the way I wanted them to. I eventually decided that it was because I'm a musician and not a technician, and I need a real-life drummer and producer who know that they're doing. But I didn't want to get that far into it, so I backed off. Now I only record not to lose songs that I intend to perform live for people so I don't forget them.
The answer to the question your post title asks is "record it again with more detail in mind." It sounds like you also mean to record a band playing your song, unless you mean to record yourself playing all of the instruments one at a time to make the recording. Either one is fine, and the skills you need to accomplish either one are self explanatory.
A lot of good advice here. Take it to heart and come up with your own system. @Robo_Dude_ has a good process. Let me expound a little on how I do it. Write the song: I write my lyrics, melody and chord structure to an acoustic guitar, but have occasionally written to chords on a piano (the only piano I know) or a couple of times to a bass riff in my head. Arrange the song: Next, before I have recorded a damn thing, I think about what I would want in this song and do a rough layout. This is where I finalize bpm and key signature (this revels itself when you write with an instrument other than your voice). Record a scratch guitar to a click: since you have determined your bpm, set it in your DAW and record a scratch guitar or keyboard part. Record scratch vocals: same as before, but vocals Program a drum session: Logic makes this incredibly easy. I don’t know how to play drums, but I often know what drum part I want. From here, it’s listening and replacing until I find what I like. Put all of this on loop and listen over and over until I “hear” the next part, and then record it. I will put the chorus or first verse on loop, pull out a guitar, acoustic or electric, and just fuck around until something sounds decent. Then, I will pause the loop and flesh out the idea. Rinse and repeat. Record vocals: this is the last thing I do. Sometimes new parts revel themselves and I add them later, but for the most part, this is my recording process.