Composing Music Online - Your helpful guide

There are lots of programs out there and it can be difficult to choose. The right one for you may not work for someone else, but what you are looking for in the end is what is the best value and you will be able to use for a long time as your skills improve. It's easy to spend lots of money on junk that doesn't what you need, or worse is so complicated you can't figure it out and it's basically worthless. So what should you look for. Well first you need something that easy to use. You don't want to get a program that you need a PhD to use. That will really take the fun out of it if you're not a computer nerd.

Along with being easy to use, you will want tutorials, lots of them and not to just be given the program and told "Good Luck." That's really a drag and you'll quickly lose interest. Do they have tutorials not just on the program itself, but on the how to produceand score music and create the styles that you want with tips to help you. As a bonus, tutorials that teach you about the different instruments like drums, guitar, piano, or the violin and how to play them. You can make your Mom proud and tell her you've finally learned to play the piano.

Next, does it have resources beyond the beginning stage when you become an expert. Is this something that you will be able to use months after you've taken all the lessons and made a bunch of tracks. You want to make sure it has a good library of sounds and will allow you to make professional sounding tracks. A program that can produce quality sound is really important. You can drop thousands of dollars on professional mixers and recording studios, but why would you when you've got a solid program the gets you the results you want. You can wait for the recording contract and then let someone else pay for the expensive equipment and studio time.

Now please remember, there will be some frustration with learning anything new. Nobody becomes a superstar overnight, but with a solid program, patience and lots of practice, you can have success. The best program I've seen out there is

Music Producer Pro!

It's a really gets you results fast and allows anyone from the beginner to the expert to develop their skills. It's also way less expensive then buying all the lessons and equipment that you would need. Plus, when you do want to buy an instrument they help you find discounts to find the best deal. If you really want to go for it and make music your career, you can contact them to find music professionals that would be interested in your work.

To really get good results it will take some practice, but when you're doing what you want to do, can you really call it practice?

First, know your audience. If you're producing music for someone else, do some research on them. What music do they usually listen to? What's their culture like? If you can listen to some songs you'll get an idea of what sounds they enjoy, then you can mix in your own style for a start.

Next, there is such a thing as too much bass or treble. When you pile up sounds that are in a similar frequency, they drown out one another and it's hard on the ears. At that point it just sounds like noise. Think of it like baking, if you use only flour or only eggs, you won't get much, perhaps breakfast. But when you mix in some salt, sugar, and milk, you end up with a cake. Each instrument has a frequency range, be sure to mix it up with others for great results.

If you're having trouble getting started, pick a new genre of music. If you usually do pop, try classical. If country, try hip hop. Throwing yourself into something new you might hear a melody that you like and you can find others that you can imitate with your favorites.

Have patience. You may just need to take a break when your ears are tired. If it all starts to sound the same that's a bad sign. Grab a bite to eat, play some video games, check your email, whatever. Walk away and come back later.

Most importantly, "Save your work, often." Too many musicians have had their computers crash or some other disaster happen that wipes out hours of work. Don't let it happen to you. Be sure to backup your work as well. There are several online services that will back up files for you automatically, so if the worst does happen, you know your work will still be there.

If you're a bit overwhelmed at this point that's ok. We've all been there, and when I started out it seemed as though I was just making noise and had absolutly no rhythm. I would suggest that you pick out a genre whether is's R&B, hip-hop, country, pop. Who are your favorite artists and what songs do you like best. Listen to them again, but try to pick out the bass line, the drums, the guitar. Just focus on them. Do this for a few songs at first.

You'll start to get a feel for the timing, bass line, rhythms and melodies. Do your best to imitate them one at a time. If you picking out the drums, match the timing that's the easiest. Then go for the bass line, it can be subtle, but you should be able to pick it out from the drums.

Next go for the melody, this can be difficult because it can use a few different instruments. You might not be able to pick out the instrument exactly, but sampling the instruments will get you close. You can always go for a piano as that is a safe instrument to fall back on. Maybe you'll come up with own version of your favorite song.

Congratulations, if you've made it this far, you are doing really well. Now you can go back and start with just the drums and build up another version throwing in some other instruments.

Be sure to grab a few instrument lessons to sharpen your ears and improve your reading skills. Try to practice a bit each day and you will see results happen. And remember, be sure to share your music with your friends. Music like pizza is meant to be shared