It goes without saying that where there is a will there is a way. So for those who are inclined to put their shoulder to the grindstone it is realistically doable to record an album. And, that is regardless to that individuals musical aptitude. So could any person record an album?
Yes, Any person could record an album. A fair warning however and in order to encourage realistic expectations… Just because you could make a record entirely without experience or skill, doesn’t mean it would be good. It may not be palatable to a wide audience or any audience for that matter. But, an album could certainly be made.
With that disclaimer out of the way it’s time to dive in. Let’s continue under the assumption that the result would be something you’d be proud of.
For the sake of discussion, let’s go through a few different scenarios to record an album realistically. From there you can feel free to extrapolate and piecemiel together the ideas however they may best serve you.
Lets start with the basic steps. Let’s do so keeping in mind this article isn’t intended to be an in-depth guide. But, rather it is intended to demonstrate an idea.
First Step: Write Songs, Both Lyrically And Musically
The Experienced Songwriter
Let’s assume that you are a songwriter, then this step won’t be a problem. Spend the time necessary to write and assemble a collection of songs in any manner that is familiar to you.
The Non-Writing Musician
If you have musical experience but you haven’t explored songwriting, you can make an effort to develop some of these skills. You can do this by either by working with friends, hired help or perhaps some kind of online tutorials.
The Non-Writer Non Musician
For those that haven’t been exposed to instruments or writing, you will either need to rely on some very good friends. Specifically those with musical experience. If you haven’t any you can hire out the help you’re looking for.
Additionally for those of you who are non-writers / non musicians, I suppose there is a question that should be answered and that is what does making an album mean to you? Do you want to sing on an album or do you want to write the album? or both?
If you want to write it you’d have to follow the advice above about looking for hired help or some type of musical partner or mentor to guide you through. If you don’t care about writing the music you could purchase instrumentals or beats. Then you could just worry about writing the lyrics and getting it recorded.
If you don’t wish to attempt writing anything you could hire someone to write for you or find a friend who is poetic to help you do the project jointly. If that doesn’t work for you, find a songwriter who has songs available to license that have lyrics and music already written.
First Step Takeaway
If you realistically want to record an album for yourself and you are lacking in musical expertise. The best starting point would be finding someone to mentor you through the process. The best places to look would be with in your social circles, maybe there is a friend of a friend.
Make sure they know this is not a professional endeavor and you’re just looking for mentorship through the process (the mentorship bit implies you’re not paying).
Offer to treat the person out for a meal every few weeks in a exchange for some advice along the way. Be upfront about that and how you are only doing this for personal gratification.
If you haven’t any direct contacts explore some social media groups. You could also discuss your plan with someone in the recording department of a Music Box store. Put yourself out there. Some kind of a mentor would be useful.
Second Step: Produce The Songs
When I say produce the songs I do mean this in slightly a different way then that of having a producer in the studio together with you at the time of the recording.
For example, If you were a member in a rock band, your band would write and arrange the song together, which is producing the song. If they hired a producer in the studio, the producer may advise them to attempt alternatives to the original arrangement.
For our scenario production would mean coming to a decision as to what musicians or more specifically what instruments you want for each different song.
Gathering Musicians
If you’re deciding to record the songs with live musicians, you will once again have to rely on some friends in your circle or hire out help. From there you have to work together with whomever to come up with an arrangement for the song that is satisfying to you. This is also another topic you could have together with your mentor.
Sequencing instrumentation
Sequencing instrumentation is when you compose within the computer. You can use a keyboard to perform each of the various instruments that you want in the song and layer them together in the computer program. If you haven’t any experience in this it may take a little time to get up and running but once you have done the leg work, the skill is yours to keep, so depending on your long term interest in music and genre of interest it could be time well spent.
Second Step Takeaway
If you are interested in “Sequenced Tracks” and you have decided to hire out instrumentals all of this may will have already been prepared for you. To be clear, the easiest way to go about preparing a record if you had no musical experience would be doing exactly that.
Third Step: Record The Songs
In this last step to realistically record an album you would arrange some way to record the songs. You can either book time with a local recording studio or track down a local producer with a home studio. The second option may be more affordable. The other option is doing the recording your self. Again there may be some learning curve involved but if you really like the idea of making songs, then this may be the best solution.
When you finally have your song finished, sign up with a distributor. They will see to that you song is all over the internet. They will also collect any of your earnings for you from all of the streaming services. Here’s The Link!
Lastly
Ok, like I said this wasn’t intended to be a an in depth guide to making this happen, but rather a launching point to filter the serious from the otherwise.
For those interested in making the next step. I’ll leave you with this nugget. The website Fiverr is a resource for those looking to higher free lance content creators for any particular task.
I’ve grabbed a couple of COMPLETELY random links to give you an example of how easy it could be to assemble help with building your songs. Fair warning, I’m predisposed to pop rock and passed a quick listen I have know Idea who these people are. Good luck going forward.