I truly didn’t know anyone or have any connections that I could make use of when it came to figuring out how to produce quality music and visuals.
More than that, I didn’t have a lot of money and I needed a way to create with childlike figures (sub £20).
I felt soo behind. But i’m come a long way since then and a lot of what this site is about giving hope to those in that position to bring your ideas to life.
If you have access to a PC or laptop. There are so many options available to you and i’m going to list them out here.
So nuff talking. Let’s go
On the basis that you have a personal laptop or PC of your own
1. Download an Audio application (aka Digital Audio Workspace, DAW)
Waveform: A highly rated **free** Digital Audio Workspace (DAW) made by ‘Traktion’ where you can record your voice & make beats/compositions.
Download here:
https://www.tracktion.com/products/waveform-free
There is a paid version that has more features, but the free version has everything you’d need to create something that’s of high quality. It’s also free forever, no time-limited trials. It can stand up well in comparison to Logic, Reason, Pro Tools or any other industry-standard software.
A big plus, is that there are plenty of tutorials online showing users how to create using Waveform.
Requirements:
MacOS 10.11 or later
Windows 8 & 10 64-bit
Ubuntu 18.04
Raspberry Pi 2,3,4 32-bit; Raspbian 10 (Buster)
1. Record your voice using headphones with a microphone
This will be needed for you to start recording your voice or instrument.
You might not have your own, but you can borrow a pair from:
– A friend or family member
– Place of education or Workplace (with permission of course)
– Library
1. Start creating with free instrumentals you find online
– There are some sites which offer free instruments that are royalty free (i.e. don’t stick it on Spotify when you’re done recording)
– Connect with music makers and see if anyone is willing to send you an instrumental to begin recording to.
– Connecting with folks on Soundcloud or Youtube is a great way to do this. There are creators who’d be more than happy to let you express your talents over their musical ideas, especially if they’ve already released their instrumentals to the public and you’re doing it for fun/growth. If they have already told you that they’ve got a price on their music, please respect producers/composers who wish to make a living from their work though.
1. Borrow musical instruments from your local library
– Local libraries can have a catalogue of musical instruments that might be on offer! From guitars to drums. There may even be more pro equipment like condenser microphones and synthizers.
– Local libraries often have hidden gems and could offer quite a bit more – it’s always worth having a dig around to see what else might be useful.
So here’s as a quick list of things you can get started with right away if you want to create ideas you can share with the world. There’ll be other posts ranking different equipment and software, but this should be enough to get you started.
**Haven’t got a laptop or computer?**
For some of you reading this, you might not have access to a laptop or computer. So here are some things you could try out instead to start recording your ideas:
– Download ‘BandLab’ on your mobile device
– Program designed for you to record your voice or any instrument right onto your phone. There’s also a community of creators all linking up and sharing their ideas on there – so take a look at it on your App store.
– Use your library account to the full effect and see if library computers have musical software.
– Fundraise!
– All of these things
– Reach out to youth centres and community recording studios
– There’s likely to be studio in your area that is set up to be used by certain groups, have a look and see what’s available! Often they might be rules such as the studio has be used by local residents, or by people aged between a certain bracket. But be on the look out! If you’re a younger person reading this (<25), there’s usually a lot more options around for something like this.
– These studios usually come equipped with all the equipment you need to bring your ideas to life. So just bring yourself and your genius and you’re good to go.
Well hopefully this gets you off on the right start. A list of ways to bring your ideas to life without any cost.
I certainly made use of these things when I didn’t have money to spend and im glad I did.
Are there any other tips we missed? Or have you made use of any of these – let us know below!
Peace and Love.
