Music production

Music production is the process by which music is created, captured, manipulated, and preserved so that it can be distributed and enjoyed. All of the recorded music that you know and love exists because it went through the production process, no matter how well-known or underground a recording may be, and no matter how minimalist or maximalist it sounds.

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Professional music production is creative and technical. It requires well-developed listening skills, a good handle on recording technology, a deep musical knowledge, and effective project management and leadership skills by a music producer, also known as a record producer.

Film scoring

A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to enhance the dramatic narrative and the emotional impact of the scene in question.

Scores are written by one or more composers, under the guidance of, or in collaboration with, the

film's director or producer and are then usually performed by an ensemble of musicians – most often comprising an orchestra (most likely a symphony orchestra) or band, instrumental soloists, and choir or vocalists – known as playback singers and recorded by a sound engineer.

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Film scores encompass an enormous variety of styles of music, depending on the nature of the films they accompany. The majority of scores are orchestral works rooted in Western classical music, but many scores are also influenced by jazz, rock, pop, blues, new-age and ambient music, and a wide range of ethnic and world music styles. Since the 1950s, a growing number of scores have also included electronic elements as part of the score, and many scores written today feature a hybrid of orchestral and electronic instruments.

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Since the invention of digital technology and audio sampling, many modern films have been able to rely on digital samples to imitate the sound of live instruments, and many scores are created and performed wholly by the composers themselves, by using music composition software, synthesizers, samplers, and MIDI controllers.

Mixing

Audio mixing is the process of taking recorded tracks and blending them together.

Tracks are blended using various processes such as EQ, Compression and Reverb.

The goal of mixing is to bring out the best in your multi-track recording by adjusting levels, panning, and time-based audio effects (chorus, reverb, delay). The aim is to sculpt your arrangement to make sense of all your tracks in relation to each other.

A multitrack recording is anything with more than one individual track (also referred to as stems). There’s no right or wrong number of tracks. The final output of a multitrack recording is also known as the mixdown. The mixdown is the final step before mastering.

Songwriting

A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions and writes lyrics for songs.

A songwriter can also be called a composer, although the latter term tends to be used mainly for individuals from the classical music genre and film scoring, but is also associated writing and composing the original musical composition or musical bed.

A songwriter who mainly writes the lyrics for a song is referred to as a lyricist. The pressure from the music industry to produce popular hits means that song writing is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed between a number of people

Mastering

Mastering is the final step of audio post-production. The purpose of mastering is to balance sonic elements of a stereo mix and optimize playback across all systems and media formats. Traditionally, mastering is done using tools like equalization, compression, limiting and stereo enhancement.

Think of mastering as the glue, varnish and polish that optimizes playback quality on all devices — from tiny iPhone speakers to massive dance club sound systems. Mastering bridges the gap between artist and consumer. The term itself comes from the idea of a master copy. All copies or duplications of the audio come from the master. These copies can be distributed on multiple formats like vinyl, CD’s or Tape, and streaming services like Spotify, iTunes and SoundCloud.

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Additionally, mastering allows for restoration of hisses, clicks or small mistakes missed in the final mix. Mastering also ensures uniformity and consistency of sound between multiple tracks on an album. Ultimately, what mastering does is create a clean and cohesive feeling across all your audio.