Every profession is converting on the computer nowadays. For example, in the past, all the calculations and artwork were done on the paper manually. But now, they are done by using a computer. Like all things, the computer helped the musician as well. It is a piece of excellent news for you if you’re a musician that you can create music on a computer and save your tunes and templates for future use.
Well, not every musician artist is familiar with computerized music creation. If you are also one of them and want to know how to write music on a computer? Then stay with us in this article. We will tell you all the aspects of music writing on the computer, the relevant apparatus needed for it, and many other questions you have. After reading this article, we assure you that you will be able to write music on a computer even if you are a newcomer and only have a little knowledge of musical writing.
- What you need to start writing music on a computer
- Choose equipment for writing music.
- Choosing Studio Monitors
- Choosing a program for writing music
- Additional Music Writing Tools
- What’s Next
1. What you need to start writing music on a computer?
Music writing is not an ordinary art that you can quickly learn from any university. It is a desire and passion which drives you to learn music writing. If you want to be a perfect music writer, you should have passion and motivation. It would help if you studied different books on music to take basic knowledge about it. To learn write, you send a lot of effort, finance, and time. Hard work and time are more prominent among all these three. You can read the work of successful music artists to get inspiration.
It would be best to prepare yourself before spending the money on buying expensive equipment for music creation.
There are many video tutorials and software present on the internet, which could prove very helpful for beginners. You should try them before starting formally. It will both save your time and money.
2. Choose equipment for writing music
Equipment is the most basic need for writing music on a computer. When you have some basic knowledge from video tutorials and music writing software, you can proceed to choose equipment for writing music.
The leading equipment which you need for writing music is a computer. Your chosen PC should have high quality and latest technology elements and parts. The most important parts of your PC are Central Processor (CPU) and RAM. The processor should be of the latest 7th generation like Core i7-7700, and the RAM should be DDR4. It will increase your computer performance and save your money also.
The next move is the selection of a sound card. Good quality studio monitors play a very vital role in music writing on a computer.
3. Choosing Studio Monitors
A fantastic audio interface (sound card), combined with good quality studio monitors, acts like output devices for your computerized music creation system. Both of these are very necessary for listening to a clear and real sound without any distortion to monitor your music creation.
Your final music tone or template quality is mainly dependent on the quality of both these elements because they act as a monitoring system. You can control your final results by monitoring these devices. If you have somehow unable to manage good studio monitors due to less budget, you can use good quality headphones for this purpose, like Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO.
4. Choosing a Program for writing music
A software or a program for writing music is a pack of instructions for a computer to write music according to your desire. For music creation on a computer, specialized and high efficient programs and software are used. Some of them are paid, and some of them are free of cost. These programs are also known as Digital Music Workstations. These program instructions will allow you to control audio and MIDI data.
We have given some popular software which is mostly used for music writing on a computer.
- Ableton Live
- Apple Logic Pro
- Propeller heads Reason
- PreSonus Studio One
- Notion 6
- MuseScore 2
- Noteflight
All of the above programs are designed for music creation. There is a minimal difference in the function of these programs.
5. Additional Music Writing Tools
MIDI (Musical Instrumental Digital Interface) devices are some additional music writing tools such as MIDI controllers and keyboards. Sound processing devices are also an example of additional writing tools.
A basic set of Plug-ins is essential for synthesizing and processing sound, such as VST plug-ins. You should always take high care before installing third-party plug-ins and always install genuine and licensed plug-ins. Spire, Kontakt, and Nexus are of good quality additional plug-ins.
Like programs, Plug-ins are also paid or free. You can use Tokyo Dawn and TAL software for sound processing.
6. What’s next?
After having equipment, Studio monitors, Programs or software, and additional tool, you should start practicing music writing. The practice is the only thing that will make you perfect in music writing on a computer.
Ableton Live is an outstanding program, and we highly recommend it. It has a straightforward interface and very easy to learn. It is a digital audio workstation available for both mac and windows. This program has two main views: the Arrangement view and the second is the Session view. It uses audio samples and MIDI sequences. So, grab your Ableton Live and start creating fantastic music on a computer. Always use licensed Ableton live for excellent results and performance and never use third-party software and plug-ins.
