Affordable tools for music production

For DIY music producers, the cost related barrier to entry has never been lower! Here, we look at some fantastic and affordable tools available for music production.

Guest post by Darla Ardolf of the TuneCore Blog

The web boasts of some unbelievable online tools that can be used by music producers. These tools are meant to improve your output, raise the quality of music you are developing, spark some creativity within the music creation, and even aid in managing the marketing efforts. The barrier that is in place for entry in the pursuit of a creative business venture has never been so low.

However, a continuously shifting landscape also brings about several challenges. The number of free or affordable tools available for music production is nothing short of remarkable. Things that used to take a team several days and sometimes weeks to create are nowadays created by a single expert in a fraction of that time.

Hook Pad

This happens to be an intelligent musical sketchpad that allows you to develop terrific melodies and chord progressions. There is a downside to this and that is the tool is completely web-based. However, we are looking at online tools for music production. There are some other alternatives available for Hook Pad as well. The Songwriting Matrix allows you to create memorable songs and not tracks.

Unison MIDI Pack

It is significantly more beneficial for the workflow progress than compared to its other compatriots such as Hooktheory. The Unison MIDI Chord Pack allows a ready-to-use MIDI with every single key complete with minor and major chords. You can get 7ths, 9ths, borrowed chords, inversions, and advanced progressions. In the event music theory is not your strong point or even if it is, keep in mind that this tool is a total game-changer. This tool can be bought for less than $70 and even cheaper for Hyperbits readers. It is possible to create a chord progression in less than a minute.

Quiztones

Quiztones is a tool used for ear training especially for audio engineers, musicians, and music producers that use noise, tones, and frequency altered music loops that contain songs from your music library. It can help you in training your ears and develop more acute frequency recognition and listening skills that will allow you to record, mix, and produce like a professional.

Audio interfaces

The audio interfaces are a necessary component of computer-based music production. They are responsible for expanding and improving the sonic capabilities of any computer. The audio interfaces add inputs and outputs to improve the sound quality of your music production. This interface allows you to plug in pro mics, instruments, and other signals to the computer. When the audio interface is used together with a computer it acts as a sound card for the computer.

When you are selecting the audio interface it is significant to determine the particular port available on the computer for it. The audio interfaces can connect by using USB, FireWire, PCI, and PCMCIA/ExpressCard. Combo inputs blend the three-pin XLR input with 1/4″ TRS input in a single socket. The 1/4″ TRS connections are capable of providing balanced connections and it results in cleaner-sounding audio.

Landr and Splice

Landr is an affordable way of mastering your music by using online tools. The question however is, whether it is a substitute for the real thing that involves learning to master the music by yourself? No, it is not. However, it is a great placeholder when you are progressing in mastering the audio skill set. You can use Splice to search samples by using keys, BPM, or style by using an affordable monthly membership. Apart from that, you can use rent-to-own plugins that will help new artists to get started at a time when the budget is a factor.

Soundbetter

Soundbetter is a terrific place to piece together and hire some of the best mastering and mixing engineers, songwriters, singers, studio musicians, and producers in the world. This service is used by many people constantly to get the vocalists to sing quick, short toplines typically to develop customized vocal chop loops.

Fluence

You can use Fluence to get in touch with the most influential people in the music industry without any need to spend years building contacts. According to the Fluence website, this is affordable and you get to read feedback from professionals including the A&Rs, company managers, bloggers, label managers, and industry professionals.