Good day everyone as I have noticed there are many people who are trying to get started in making their own music but they don't quite know where to start or they don't have enough funds to start their musical journey. If this sounds like you, continue reading the next steps to get an understanding of how to start mostly free. All you need is a relatively new laptop or PC.
1. Look for a free Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)
Looking at the picture above it may be scary but don't worry as stated above, for a start all that you need is a computer or laptop. There are a few free DAWs around, although there are only a select few that you can make work. These days most of the equipment you see in the image above can be emulated through VST plugins inside your DAW although don't get me wrong, as much as a VST plugin can emulate the hardware the quality is not as good.
The best free DAWs to get started in my opinion are:
- Waveform One of the best all round free DAWs you will find.
- Cakewalk The one I use personally, but may not stay free for long.
- Zenbeats A free DAW that is good for EDM and such.
Honourable Mentions
- Bandlab Online DAW
- Soundbridge Very basic free DAW but may be good to start with.
- Garageband Mac Only
2. Learning the DAW of your choosing.
There are many ways that you can get used to and learn the DAW of your choice. The way I learnt how to use cakewalk was by watching countless hours of YouTube videos. I suggest searching about everything for example "How to use the piano roll in Cakewalk" or "How to use Waveforms mixer" and so on. The other way I learnt many things on my own is just by messing around with the DAW and experimenting.
3. Resources for making music in your DAW (VST plugins and Drumkits)
VST Plugins:
VST Plugins can be virtual instruments or mixing and mastering plugins. There are many websites that offer these for free and you can often get PAID VSTs for completely free. I use this website to see when these plugins go on sale for 100% off so I can snag them quickly. BedroomProducersBlog I have subscribed to their newsletter and almost every email from them is notifying me of at least 1 paid VST that is on sale for 100% off and the best part is, these are very high quality VSTs. Their website is also full of links to free VST instruments and mixing and mastering plugins that you can use for free.
Drumkits:
I am not going to go into detail too much here as there is only one website I have really used over the years. Cymatics They have amazing super high quality free drum kits and their paid kits are also not too expensive. As well as if you subscribe to their news letter you get the occasional gift card from them to purchase a kit of the price of it with no minimum payment required. Therefore, paid kits for completely free.
4. Free Distribution.
Last but not least you will have to find a way to get your music out there. There a few distributors that offer to distribute your music for completely free! The one that I use, also proved to be the fastest in both getting my music online in up to 30 different stores and their customer service is amazing. Routenote I highly suggest using their services to get your music online. To find others I suggest searching for free music distribution platforms on google but BECAREFUL as many of these websites are scamming.
That is it for this post. Enjoy your day and good luck on your musical journey. If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments. Also thank you to @hellsveiah for upvoting and reading my previous posts!