How to IMPROVE Your Music Productions - DIY Music Production Tutorial

Instantly step up your music production game with these 3 strategies. No more sloppy productions!!!. // Gear listed below! MORE Music Production tutorials & behind the scenes: http://bit.ly/behindthesongseries

Every song I work on in this series is released on my channel. You can watch the finished music video and & the final production of this song right here:    • I'd Really Love to See You Tonight - Engla...  

Download project files, karaoke versions, and high res audio: http://carolkay.com/shop

Listen to my music on Spotify, Apple & more! http://carolkay.com/hub

WATCH MORE!
COVERS OF POPULAR SONGS: http://bit.ly/carolkayoldies
ORIGINAL SONGS: http://bit.ly/carolkayoriginals
HOLIDAY SONGS: http://bit.ly/carolkaychristmas
RECORDING PROCESS: http://bit.ly/behindthesongseries
COMPOSING TUTORIALS: http://bit.ly/composewithme

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Patreon:   / carolkaymusic  
Website: https://www.carolkay.com
Instagram:   / carolkaymusic  
Facebook:   / carolkaymusic  

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MY BEAUTIFUL GEAR 💖
• Instruments
My cheap & mini midi controller: http://amzn.to/2fhLwg5
My acoustic guitar: https://amzn.to/2rG5fsx
My electric guitar: https://amzn.to/2wG6XzU
My bass guitar: https://amzn.to/2wN1esj
My digital piano: http://amzn.to/2hy7yw9

• Recording Gear
My studio speaker controllers: https://amzn.to/2rHRae7
My studio headphones: https://amzn.to/2KjM1Ax
My FAVORITE studio computer: https://amzn.to/2Fo4ysx
The best mic I've ever owned: http://amzn.to/2whWSVK
My audio interface: http://amzn.to/2hy0zDa
JBL Studio Monitors: http://amzn.to/2vsshXR
My favorite mic stand: http://amzn.to/2fhQWYx

• Software
What I use to record music (Logic Pro X): https://apple.co/2JP5g5a
Mixing plugins (Get 10% with this link!): http://bit.ly/10percentoffwaves
Main Sample Library: http://amzn.to/2hxBd8v

• Video
The camera I use to make videos: http://amzn.to/2v7hq4p
My main lens for closeups: http://amzn.to/2wvzCm6
Amazing Lighting for Tight Spaces: http://amzn.to/2fh42Wd
Proline Tripod: http://amzn.to/2wvp6eI
Sony Remote (Holy grail of self­shooting): http://amzn.to/2v9kDz1
Studio Lighting (I love these): http://amzn.to/2xiHXOM
Edited on Final Cut Pro: https://apple.co/2LUD6Xi

More at http://carolkaygear.com

More info:
Tip 1: Record midii instruments first!!!
This is a huuuuuuge one. You want to record all of your midi instruments first, as much as you possibly can because you can quantize midi, meaning you can map midi notes to a grid so that they are perfectly in time.
If you start this way, recording on top of that perfectly in time, set of instruments makes your audio performance of guitar, electric guitar, whatever it is, a lot more precise.
The problem with starting your production by recording audio first, is that it becomes difficult to keep things tight.

Tip 2: Scratch Midi
If you’re not planing to have any midi instruments in your production, record a midi percussion track and loop it for the entire song and record on top that. Or, record a midi instrument like…piano chords for example, and then record on top of that.
The midi percussion and the piano chords that you start with aren’t designed to be anything more than just a quantized instrument to help you perform a better audio take. You can delete them when you’re done
So layering instruments in a production a lot like building a house. Your foundation is everything and carries the rest of the parts that lay on top of it. And, once that house is built, it’s a lotttt more work to fix a weak structure when all the parts are already place. So tip #1 and tip #2 are extremely similar in that, whatever you do - give yourself as strong as a foundation to start with if you’re recording audio, and the way to do that is to start with midi!

Tip 3: Flex Time
So tip #3 is the fail safe. The thing you do when you’ve started with recording midi first or layering a scratch midi track that you quantized but your guitar part is still a bit sloppy. In this scenario you’ve got 2 options:
If it’s too sloppy, you gotta practice the part more
If it’s only out of time in a few small areas, then use flex time
What is flex time? Flex time is a tool in Logic Pro x that lets you manipulate audio by nudging waves in time with the grid of the project.
The reason why I dont recommend relying on flex time to fix your really sloppy performance is because it can take you way longer to fix, than to just play to a quantized midi track or go back and practice