The Best Music Production Equipment For Producers! (updated 2024)
The Music Production Equipment for Modern Producers
Nowadays, the music production process has become straightforward, thanks to technological advancement. Equipment is now cheaper and easier to handle. However, for those who are new to the music industry and want to get off to the right start in order to build a strong foundation, having some guidance would be beneficial.
Picking the perfect musical instrument can be tricky as the options are endless. So, reading the whole article without skipping would be clever as I will describe every piece of equipment you need to make the best music possible.
What can you do with music production equipment?
- Record MIDI into your DAW
- Output audio from your device into speakers or headphones
- Record audio with a microphone
- Store music samples
- Mix, compress, or add effects to your music
Necessary Equipment for Music Production
All your knowledge and passion for music won't shine without having a set of perfect music-producing gear. Using the appropriate equipment is very important to make the perfect song you have in mind. Below, I will mention some basic things you will need to start your music production journey.
Studio Headphones
A good quality studio headphone is a must to make a perfect composition. Many people believe any headphones will do the trick. But the fact is, standard headphones may overlap different frequencies, and you won't be able to hear the produced original sound. So, tweaking and editing won't be possible. This will make mixing and mastering hard, and innacurate.
Studio headphones can be a bit pricy than the normal ones, but they are worth every penny. You should know those studio headphones are sometimes called "DJ headphones." But don't get confused; there is no difference between a Studio and DJ headphones.
MIDI Controller
MIDI refers to the "Musical Instrument Digital Interface." It creates a connection between physical equipment and a digital interface. For the perfect sound, having a MIDI controller is essential.
Using this controller, you can easily adjust and control the sounds of your electrical equipment. Also, you can trigger various effects and lighting on the go. There are a lot of suitable MIDI controllers available in different price ranges; pick the one that meets your budget.
DAW - Digital audio workstation
A user-friendly Digital Audio Workstation is an absolute must for creating and equalizing the perfect tone. In a DAW, you will need the filtering option, tempo/pitch modification, and multitrack recording for editing the tunes.
You will find various Digital Audio Workstations available in the market. Some of them can be pretty intense, so I suggest choosing the most basic, Digital Audio Workstation at the beginning of your music-producing journey.
Audio Interface
Having a good quality audio interface is necessary if you want to turn your music production talent into a career. It eliminates the sound gap between digital and analog audio.
So you will not experience any delay while listening to the music. Some of the audio interfaces can be expensive, but it will be a worthwhile investment if you buy one.
Microphone
You will need a good quality microphone for recording studio-quality audio. It is probably the most critical equipment for a music producer. There was a time when high-end mics were extremely expensive, but with time, the prices of this hardware have dropped significantly. So, there are no reasons to exclude it.
I highly recommend buying a three-dimensional microphone to capture every frequency around the room. And for recording the perfect vocal sound, you will need to purchase a heart-shaped microphone. You will be undoubtedly surprised by the ability of their speech clarity.
You will find different types of studio microphones in different price ranges. Remember that most good-quality mics will need an additional power source, so pick the microphone wisely.
Music Samples
Having access to a few music samples is absolutely essential for production. Let's say you have created music that turned out fine, but it just needs a final touch to make it exceptional. That’s where music samples come in handy. Almost every great producer uses it as a finishing touch.
There are a lot of good music services available on the internet. If you want to create a lovely tune, then having some melody packs should do the trick. Or, let’s say you are into rock and roll music, and you just want to add some extra bass on the drum tune, then using some drum samples would get your job done.
PC/Laptop
It goes without saying that you will need a good quality laptop or PC for music production. Don't cheap out on this because your PC will monitor and control all your other equipment.
You won’t have to buy the most expensive laptop or PC, but having at least some graphical power and a decent amount of RAM is essential.
HDD
While editing, the raw audio file will take up a massive amount of space. So, you will have to invest quite a lot of money in your hard disc space.
As a professional musician, having at least 2 TB of HDD should do the job fine. It may seem like a lot. But trust me, you will need it.
Is Music Production Equipment Cheap?
There was a time when you would have to invest thousands upon thousands of dollars to buy music-producing equipment. But thanks to the advancement of science, their price has declined a lot.
Unfortunately, the cost can still be considered pretty high. But if you plan to start your music production journey, buy the cheap equipment and invest slowly. If you pick every piece of equipment cleverly, you will be able to bring the price down significantly.
Some instruments are highly-priced due to having a good outlook, and some are expensive just because of brand value. You will have to do extensive research about various aspects of this equipment before spending any money. Trust me, some of the cheaper instruments will do a magnificent job.
Conclusion
Being a music producer is one of the best and most fun ways to make money. But for maintaining the perfect quality of your music, having the best equipment is absolutely essential. In this blog, I described all the musical equipment you need.
In summary, to produce good music it's good to have:
- Studio headphones like sennheiser HD280s
- A MIDI controller like the Akai MPK 3, or similar
- A DAW like FL Studio, Ableton, or Logic Pro
- An audio interface like the Focusrite Scarlett, or Universal Apollo
- A microphone
- Music samples, melodies, and chord progressions
- A hard drive or SSD to store your projects, samples and finished tracks
Hopefully, after reading through this whole article, all of your confusion was resolved. Until next time, bye.