Five Stages of Music Production

Music production is the process in which a simple idea becomes a song and audio track. Like the creative process, music production has stages that mark an artist’s progress throughout the process. These stages include composition, arrangement, mixing, and mastering. Today we’ll review the five stages of music production to give you an idea of how things are done in the studio.

Idea

Everything starts with an idea. It is the starting point of all things created and is that spark that fuels the entire production process. An idea can start with a simple tune or a set of lyrics. It can be something that comes out of thin air or maybe the result of a brainstorming session. Regardless of the origin, however, every idea has the potential to be an exciting and rewarding production experience.

Composition

The composition stage is where the magic starts to happen. It’s where the artist, songwriter, or composer begins to flush out the idea. During this stage, the song is written with lyrics, rhythm, and melody joining together and recorded to create the tracks needed to release the song into the talented hands of an audio engineer.

Arrangement

​With the new song composed and recorded, arrangement is the next stage in the music production process. Similar to an editor of a book, an audio engineer will piece together the recorded tracks samplings, and begin the process of editing the new song. Tracks are laid in order and any issues such as pops and hisses will be taken care of. By the end of this stage, the song begins to take a more solid form.

​MixingAt this point, the production process moves from a creative vision to a technical challenge. During the mixing stage, an audio engineer will use his expertise to process the music in a professional and well-rounded piece. This is where the sound levels are edited to create balance and harmony within the music while allowing each vocal and instrumental track to be heard in harmony among the other tracks.

MasteringNow at the final stage of the music production process, mastering is the home stretch. It is the post-production that occurs once a song has been written, recorded, and edited, and serves to create a final piece ready for distribution.

Whether you have an idea you want to develop or an edited song that needs mastering, Ashcraft Studios can help you. Offering professional grade studio equipment and years of experience in audio production and engineering, we at Ashcraft Studios are confident we can help you take your music to the next level. Book your studio session today and bring your creative vision to life.

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