Want to start making your own music but not sure where to begin? This guide breaks down what you need to produce music that’s good enough to release. Spoiler alert: it’s less gear than you’d think.
Let’s be clear: You can technically produce music on your phone with a couple of apps. But if you really want to learn the craft and make electronic music that’s good enough to be signed to a label, here’s what you need to produce music at a professional level.
1. A Computer: The Brain of Your Setup
What you need to produce music starts with five essentials. First up: your computer. The computer is your mothership. When you start producing music, expect to be tied to it. With that in mind, there are a few considerations when selecting a music production computer.
How powerful does a music production computer need to be?
Music production software doesn’t use that much processor or memory – especially compared to video – so any Mac laptop with an Apple Silicon (M-series) chip from 2020 or later will more than suffice. Even a 5+ year old Windows computer, will still have enough processing power to get you started. World-famous producers have recorded and released records made on much less.
Laptop or Desktop?
If there’s even a small chance you’ll want to play music live, or think you might one day wish to produce outside of your bedroom – be it train, plane, or library – a laptop is the only option. You generally get a bit less processing power for your money with laptops. However, when a potential collaborator invites you to their studio, the convenience of being able to throw a laptop in a bag is worth the trade-offs.
Should you buy a Mac or Windows computer for music production?
This is a cost-benefit analysis. If you can afford a MacBook Pro, get one. You won’t be disappointed; Apple Mac audio performance is the best out there, the build quality is superb and their laptop battery life can’t be touched by Windows counterparts. The downside? They’re expensive, and few Macs are user-upgradable, meaning whatever specification you choose is what you’ll have to live with forever.
Of course, you don’t have to pay the “Apple tax”. Windows PCs usually let you upgrade components like RAM and hard drives, just be prepared to do a little more tinkering with settings.
Recommendations for music production laptops:
Mac: MacBook Pro (16-inch), MacBook Air (13-inch)
Windows: Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition (15” Intel)
Check out our guide to the best laptops for music production.
2. A DAW: The Software You’ll Build Tracks In
What is a DAW?
A DAW (or Digital Audio Workstation) is the software you use to record, layer, edit, and mix all your ideas into a final track. It’s where all the action happens.
What DAWs are there?
Some commonly used DAWs for electronic music are:
- Ableton Live (used by Josh Baker, Pawsa, Sidney Charles)
- FL Studio (used by Sam Feldt, Feed Me)
- Logic Pro (used by Barry Can’t Swim, Fred Again..)
- Cubase (use by Deadmau5, Joris Voorn)
These DAWs all started out with different specialisms, but today, they all have very similar functions. However, Ableton Live and FL Studio are slightly better equipped for making loop-based electronic music quickly.
What do you get in a DAW?
Most DAWs give you everything you need to get started:
- Plugin effects (reverb, delay, EQ, compressor)
- Virtual instruments (synths, drum machines, sampled acoustic instruments)
- Samples (drums, instruments, vocal loops and one-shots)
This is why a DAW is one of the most important things you need to produce music – it gives you a complete set of music creation tools right out of the box. Sure, you can expand with third-party plugins later, but they aren’t essential when you’re starting out.
Which DAW should you get?
Get the same DAW your producer friends use – they’ll become your tech support whenever you hit a roadblock that Google or ChatGPT can’t solve.
If your friends don’t produce music, pick the DAW that your favourite producer or online tutor uses, to make following tutorials easier. Josh Baker and almost all of Syntho’s artist-tutors use Ableton Live
Quick Start: Follow Josh Baker’s “Writing a Track From Scratch” series on Syntho, to see how a professional producer creates a track in Ableton Live.
3. Headphones: A Way To Accurately Listen
Once you start producing your own music, you’ll quickly get lost down the rabbit hole and spend hours at a time experimenting. To hear what you’re doing with any accuracy, you’ll need some headphones. Your friends, family, partner and neighbours will all thank you, too.
In the first instance, you can use any wired headphones, but if you want to have a bit more fun, or stand a chance of making a mix that’s worthy of a club or festival sound system, headphones are the best solution for beginners.
Why not speakers?
When considering what you need to produce music as a beginner, headphones beat speakers for several reasons:
- You can get much better quality sound for your money from headphones.
- The sound from speakers will interact (badly) with your room. Unless you have well-thought-out acoustic treatment, you can end up making bad mixing decisions, and your tracks will fall flat.
- Headphones plug directly into your laptop headphone jack when producing away from home. Speakers don’t – they require an audio interface
What kind of headphones should you get?
There are two main kinds of headphones:
- Open-back – Generally have a more neutral sound, but sound spills from them
- Closed-back – Usually have more bass, no sound spills from them
Headphones recommendations for music production:
Open-back: Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro, Sennheiser HD650
Closed-back: Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro
For more information on choosing headphones, check out our guide to the best headphones for mixing and mastering.
4. An Audio Interface: Your Bridge to the Real World
Want to record instruments hardware synths, listen back on speakers, or just crank your headphones really loud? You’ll need an audio interface.
What is an audio interface?
An audio interface is a device that connects to your computer which lets you record real-world sounds into your DAW, and play back your music over headphones and speakers.
On the input side, it gives you somewhere to plug in:
- Guitars and basses
- Hardware synths and drum machines
- Microphones for vocals or acoustic instruments
On the output side, it provides:
- Powerful headphone output(s) that can drive studio headphones properly
- Speaker outputs for your studio monitors
- Better sound quality than your laptop’s built-in audio
Do you need an audio interface?
Whether an audio interface is essential depends on your production approach. It’s not the first thing you need to produce music with virtual instruments and samples. But if you plan to record any live audio – vocals, guitar, hardware synths – an audio interface is essential.
Regardless, an interface improves your monitoring. Some laptop headphone outputs can be weak and noisy, which makes it harder to hear details in your mix. A dedicated interface gives you cleaner, louder playback so you can make better decisions while producing and mixing.
Which audio interface should you get?
If you’re starting out, look for an interface with at least two inputs (for stereo recording, or two separate sources).
Popular beginner options include the Focusrite Scarlett Gen 4 series, Audient iD range and SSL2+ MkII. Choose the number of inputs based on what you’ll record – most bedroom producers only need 2.
Check out our round-up of best audio interfaces for electronic music producers.
5. The Secret Ingredient: Learning From Active Producers
Now you know what you need to produce music from a gear perspective, but equipment is only half the equation. What separates bedroom producers from signed artists? Guidance from professionals who actually make their living from music. That’s where Syntho comes in.
Syntho gives you:
- 560+ tutorials from active producers (Josh Baker, Alisha, Jamback, Sidney Charles and more) making the current electronic genres you love.
- Track feedback from pros who’ll tell you what labels want to hear, help build your confidence, and explain how to improve your productions.
- A community of producers at your level to collaborate with and to help you stay motivated.
Start with “Build a Track From Scratch” – Josh Baker’s 4-part series where you’ll create a complete, club-ready track from an empty DAW project. By the end, you’ll have a finished track and have an understanding of the production process.
Unlock 560+ tutorials with today’s best producers on Syntho – only $9.99 for a 7 day trial.