Q&A for How to Make Music Using a Computer

If you’re really serious about recording instruments and singing at home, you could Make Your Own Recording Studio . For computer music recording, you could Build a Home Studio for Computer Based Music Recording . Or, as this article explains above, you can make music on your computer by sitting at your desk and using the computer and its software.

You can make music on a laptop, using appropriate software. However, the less memory on your computer, the less useful a laptop will be for making music. Many music makers recommend keeping the laptop for live performance and using a desktop for music creation. However, if you can afford a powerful laptop with plentiful space, it’ll work fine for making music. Back up everything you make, for certainty.

You can record music at home using software on your computer or by using more expensive equipment as part of a home recording studio . You’ll find more detailed advice available here: How to Record a Song at Home Easily .

For writing your own song, you’ll need to write the music score and the lyrics. You’ll need to be familiar with an instrument that can carry a melody (such as the piano or a guitar) and the methodology for songwriting for that instrument. You can learn to write lyrics yourself or if you need help with writing both melody and lyrics, see How to Write a Song with Music and Lyrics . The steps above will walk you through what's needed to write your own song successfully.

It can vary widely -- depending on what you choose, it could be free to a thousand dollars. The price is just as optional as music taste. You can download basic free-to-use music editors and use your headphones, or spend hundreds for it. It is best to spend little until you know this is what you really want to do and you're good at it.

It means a melodic or harmonic pattern successively repeated at different pitches with or without a key change.

Soundclouds and Audiomack are the best websites, but you need to create an account so people can reach you. Your songs will appear on Google few days after being uploaded.

Virtual DJ was created to mix songs. It cannot be used to create your own music.

Using a website is not really recommended. You could try software like lmms, Acoustica MixCraft, etc. They are good to start with. See step 2, "Access a digital audio workstation (or DAW)" for more details.

You will need to pay for the programs you need to use or find free versions.

In many cases, sound packs for specific Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) programs can be downloaded for free from the website of the DAW producer. In some cases, this may cost a fee. Some DAWs may have free instrument support, some may be intended for studio use with mostly live instruments. Generally speaking, you should be able to download instrument packs. These usually contain many of a certain kind of instrument, like several varieties of drum kit, many different styles of horn, and so on.

If you have an appropriate app, you can access a 12-track DAW. You can only insert your own tracks, but if you know how to mix sound effects and audio clips together, you should be able to work with it.

It should. These tips will work on different kinds of computers.

Of course you can -- that's the point of synths, to synthesize waveforms from scratch or from basic waves. Every sound is made of waves, so with the right techniques and tools, you can recreate any sound.

You would need to go to your computer's app store and search through the available music apps to find one to download. You can also just go to an individual app's website, but going through your computer's app store will ensure that the apps you find are compatible with your system.

Ableton Live, Image-Line FL Studio, Apple Logic Pro X, Apple GarageBand, Cubase Pro, Tracktion, Pro Tools First, etc. Please note that some of these are not free software.

If you have coding experience, you can make your own music creation software, but I highly recommend downloading a DAW.

Your phone likely has a microphone that you can use to record your voice or sounds around you. The sounds you record can be used to sequence musical ideas. A good software application you can use with your phone is Bandlab (it is free), which can be found in both the Apple and GooglePlay stores.

Buying physical instruments isn't needed if you're okay with using software instruments. Some DAWs come with stock software instruments that are quality, but it does depend on the type of music you're looking to make. If you're in need of sounds that are more realistic than what comes with the DAW or found online free (legally) then you would want to invest in some quality sounds.