As you probably know if you’ve been following me here on on my social media pages, I’m a musician. It’s become a big part of my identity, and I spend a lot of time writing music, recording and performing. I truly love making music, and as someone who considers myself reserved, creating music allows me to really express myself in ways that I often can’t in real life, if that makes sense.

Lately, I’ve actually been diving into the world of being a music producer. In between my “real” releases, which feature a lot of singing, I’ve been releasing some instrumentals that I have produced myself. These feature a little bit of my singing or rapping, but are mainly instrumentals. It’s been so much fun, and I would love for you to follow my producer page on all the streaming platforms. Just search “AnneAshley Dance With Me,” and that song should pop up, as well as my producer page.

You can find my producer page on Spotify here and Apple here. I’m going to try to release new instrumental songs on a regular basis, in between my “real” releases.

If you’re a budding music producer, check out my tips below. I hope these tips help you find your sound and, in the process, have some fun.

Tips for Music Producers Who Are Budding

Pick the Right DAW

Having a DAW that you’re comfortable working with makes a big difference. I still haven’t found my “perfect” DAW, but they all have pluses. Experiment with all of them, which is what I did, and go with the one that feels most natural. A few of the big ones include Pro Tools, Ableton Live, FL Studio and Logic Pro X.

Go With Your Heart

When putting samples together and creating a composition, you have to follow some rules of music theory, but never let that stop listening to the music with your heart. In other words, don’t just create the music with your head. Use your heart, too.

Experiment

Don’t take it so seriously. I tend to take my “real” music with Upon Wings and Anne Autumn Erickson very seriously, probably too much so, but that’s not the case with the music that I produce. It’s so fun to just experiment and not take it so seriously, and it makes for some creative sounds.

Try New Genres

One thing I love about producing instrumentals is that I can create music in genres that I’ve never tried before. In my music, I’m usually heavy metal, pop or hip-hop, but with my production, I can create an awesome Afrobeat song and get really wild.

In Conclusion

Starting to create music can be super exciting but also deflating. If you don’t like the sound of your first beat, don’t be discouraged. I finally had to just go for it and release my first song that I produced, and one of my friends liked it so much that he was kind enough to play it during his dance night, so it was worth taking the risk. So, just go for it, and don’t look back.