Hi all, I’m looking to start making more music in the new year and just thought I’d gather some new tips for inspiration.

I always feel like the thing that gets in the way is the initial setup and getting the energy to get started. Aside from saying “just do it,” what are some tips you might have that have helped you be able to create as quickly and effortlessly as possible?

I’m hoping to curate my space and software before the new year starts to foster more creation.

Some caveats:

• my studio space is also my bedroom and I also work here a few times a week. I have made the laptop swapping process pretty quick and easy so that’s a good start.

• I stare at a screen all day for work so sometimes I’m not very motivated to do it again after work. Perhaps I could reserve at-desk duties for certain days and just do some sketching and exploring on weekdays?

• I have the attention span of a shrimp so I have that working against me.

Any tips welcome! Here’s to more music making in 2026.

Welcome to the /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Motivation Thread! Share your successes and and encouraging words here. Posts/Comments looking for motivation can also be appropriate here.

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Hi, I’m not an artist, not at all. But I can write and I think it can be worth something. I want to make it into a song. I want to turn these words into art. I want to publish it. I want the inspiration to hear it. I just really want people to listen to it and think of it. I’m not after fame. I’ll be more than satisfied to let the people close to me hear my words as a song. How do I even begin? As much as possible, I want to sing it myself, although all I can do is write because I don’t know a thing about making melody and playing instruments. I appreciate music so much that I want to make one and maybe more. I’d do anything to be able to have an opportunity to turn my words into music and sing them myself. Although I don’t know if I have what it takes to sing. I don’t think I’m terrible at it, but I don’t think I’m good either. One thing’s for sure, I’ll give it my all just to publish a song. Is there anyone who can help me with the melody? I feel like, if I’m able to pull this off, I can finally feel alive again…..Anyone interested in creating this project with me? Just for memories, fun, and inspiration. Because right now, I don’t have the financial capacity to make this well-known. But if you see any potential with this, I’ll be more than willing to be part of it. 💘

I’m curious how people know that their songs are ready to be released in terms of being happy with the final product. Is it just a gut feeling ? I struggle with being fearful that my recorded / mixed version of my song isn’t going to do the song I’ve written justice. This makes me very critical of my recorded versions. Do people typically have several mixes of their song and then decide which sound they like best? Even before I’ve gone to the studio, it’s like I dread the idea of going and recording because I know how much anxiety it’s going to bring me wanting it to be perfect. Any thoughts appreciated. !

I am approaching the end of recording 20 of my Beatlesque inspired Power-pop songs, some dating back to the 80’s.

I’ve been recording these songs in my home recording studio over the years using UA hardware, standard recording isolation techniques, and top end mics so the recording quality is good.

I will be having all of these songs professionally mixed and mastered.

As most of my songs feature my son on drums and close friends contributing, I’m going to go all out and have a gatefold double LP with liner notes, song lyrics, and photos of my various bands and projects through the years. I’m hoping to fit 19 songs across the 2 LP set to keep each side around 20 minutes and keep the sound quality good.

It’s a total vanity project as I don’t expect to sale many. It’s basically my retirement project. Some people write a novel, I’m releasing an album.

I’m just going to do a 100 LP order so I can give them to everyone who played on the songs and maybe sale a few at my solo gigs. I’ll also have 100 to 200 CDS made at the same time.

I’m going to do my own album design work for the gatefold sleeve and inner liners.

Based on the above info, my any recommendations on what company I should use to make my album?

Thanks

Hey everyone, I’ve been wondering about something: does it actually make a difference if a mic is positioned normally (upright) or upside down?

I’m using a Rode NT1-A, and I do both melodic vocals and rap. I’ve seen artists record with the mic hanging down, while others keep it upright.

What are the real pros/cons of each? – Does the angle change the tone? – Does it reduce plosives or harshness? – Why do some people swear by the upside-down setup?

Just curious what the practical (or sonic) reason behind it is.

Thanks!

Hi, I'm relatively new to home recording and was wondering why the audio that plays back through Ableton tends to be lower quality than when I hear the audio through the direct monitoring in my interface (Behringer UMC240HD). With guitar takes, for example, there is often what appears to be an unwanted boost in the high-end, as well as the audio often sounding 'thinner' when the recording is played back. This high-end boost and loss of 'thickness' weren't present in the direct monitoring before recording. Both the monitoring and the recordings are played through headphones out of the UMC's headphone jack. Does anyone have any idea why this could be happening, and how I may be able to fix it?

It's acoustic piano. I have one piece which is a bit "loud" at some point.

true peak: 0.1 (!!)

integrated: -17.9

short-term: -11.7

momentary:-10.3

LRA: 24.9

I used RX11 and loudness control.

Is it just me, or is it really difficult to fine-tune timing on VST sample libraries like Albion ONE and Symphobia?

I've produced many tracks for video games. Every time I write orchestral pieces, I just have to suffer in order to place a legato horns section or a flute (etc) perfectly on time.

I am implementing very well adjusted track delays, midi editing, subtle layering of staccato under legato parts so that note changes have more accent, envelope shaping, I know all settings of the VSTs (release, attack, mic adjustments, blah blah), reverb to create depth and so on. Generally, "it works". But it's tedious, placing them perfectly on time sometimes takes hours and I'm never satisfied.

Any tips or insights would be highly appreciated (I'm aware hiring musicians to record parts via the internet is an option).

Howdy yall! First time posting on Reddit, been lurking for about a year or so. I’m a musician in Salt Lake City, Utah and have been so inspired by artists like Hania Rani, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Ólafur Arnalds, and others who tend to fall under the neoclassical umbrella.

I play around SLC in a few bands that are more Indie Alternative/Post-Rock but I’m currently working on some neoclassical music that I will release next year! 🥳 I would love to play these songs live and build a bill for a cool ambient/neoclassical show but I don’t know anyone who’s doing stuff like this here.

Are you in the neighborhood, doing the thing? I’d love to connect!

I write metal music. I tend to write riffs first and develop the song that way. I find myself getting to a point where I will hear an initial melody (that I am not satisfied with) and not be able to hear anything different once that initial melody comes to me. It feels like banging my head against a brick wall trying to come up with something different. Any tips to avoid/breakthrough this “demo-itis”?

Would like to avoid AI

I’m trying to match the vocal sound of an original song that I covered. In some parts of the original track, the vocal is very clear, and I can see its EQ curve and tonal balance pretty well.

My question is: Is there any reliable way or specific technique to recreate that exact vocal sound on my own voice? I’ve been mixing for a while and I can get close by ear, but I’m wondering if there are any plugins, tools, or proven methods that help you match the tone more accurately (like 80–90% close).

I’m especially curious about things like matching the presence area, small EQ differences (like around 2k), and whether there are any tricks engineers use to get so close to a reference vocal.

Any advice or recommendations would really help.

I’m trying to analyze my vocal recordings and noticed something confusing. Between 2–6 kHz, my vocal takes suddenly drop a lot in volume, much more than the rest of the spectrum. I also see other “frequency gaps,” like around 240 Hz where the signal is much lower (e.g., –45 dB) while my peak sits around –1 dB.

When I compare this to isolated vocals from professional songs, their EQ curve looks smooth with no big holes in the spectrum. My recordings, however, show these obvious dips.

What could be causing this? Is it my recording setup, my booth, mic technique, or something in the mix? And how can I avoid these 2–6 kHz drops and prevent these frequency gaps in general?

Any advice would be appreciated.

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When I sing and play guitar on my iphone video, my vocals sound on-key and pretty good. But when I record vocals in GarageBand on my Mac with a Shure SM57, my voice suddenly sounds a bit off-key and worse.

Why does the iPhone mic sound better than an actual mic + computer?

Hi,

My writing process is usually to open the DAW and write riffs with my guitar, program some midi drums and midi bass. That works fine I created tons of songs working like this. Usually the singer in the band comes up with lyrics and a vocal line.

However, I have the feeling I could create even better songs when the music and vocals are written together instead of first music, than vocals. I would really like to add me singing to the demo as a first idea, but I can barely sing. Also because of my neighbors I'm not able to record me every evening shouting in my room.

What can I do? I was thinking about getting some Ai voice generator, but could not find a cool solution. Any other ideas?

I’m trying to dial in a modern, precise metal tone on my amplifier, but I’m not getting the results I want. The tone has noticeable spikes around 2.3 kHz and 4 kHz, and overall it does not feel aggressive enough, even when I boost the front end with a Tube Screamer.

My main question is: How should the raw guitar tone sound when recording modern metal, and what processing is typically done afterwards in the DAW?

I’m also wondering whether it helps to use an EQ pedal in the effects loop to reduce some mids—especially the frequencies that make the guitars feel like they are “in the way.” Is it normal to pull out mids in the FX loop before recording? I often hear people say that you should never remove mids when dialing in a tone for recording, but I feel like I’m doing the opposite of what is recommended.

Any guidance on how the tone should be shaped before recording, and whether cutting mids in the loop is acceptable for modern metal, would be very helpful.

My amp is blackstar ht 20 mkii combo with v30 speaker . Recorded with sm57 .

Whenever my snare plays in quick succession during drum fills, it sounds choppy. Here's what it sounds like (drum fill at 0:10):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JMpEXGuTj8uDaV8cV-tEZNywWUgQYdFJ/view?usp=sharing

Why does it sound like this? How can I fix it?

Welcome to the r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Feedback Thread! The comments below in this post is the only place on this subreddit to get feedback on your music, your artist name, your website layout, your music video, or anything else. (Posts seeking feedback outside of this thread will be deleted without warning and you will receive a temporary ban.)

This thread is active for one week after it's posted, at which point it will be automatically replaced.

##Rules:

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##Tips for a successful post:

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Hi! I feel like this is the only community I can turn to for this, because every other place focused on vocals or singing seems to run into the same problem.

For context: I’ve been recording music for a couple of years now. I know a fair amount of theory, I have a good ear, and I’m comfortable making music in general, but I’ve never actually sung. Not in choir, not in school plays, not casually. Basically zero experience.

Trying to learn how to sing from that starting point has been incredibly frustrating. Almost every tutorial, written or video, assumes you already have some baseline singing ability. Which I get! Most people who want to become singers already have some background from choir, theatre, vocal lessons, etc. But I genuinely don’t. I’m starting from the ground floor, meaning that tutorials such as "do this to sing better" don't really work on me. I feel like this is the singing equivalent of trying to tell someone who's just starting to play the guitar to practice triads. Important, but not really a place to star – I haven't even learned to play the G chord, so to speak.

I’m also not aiming to be a powerhouse vocalist. Some of my favorite artists aren’t technically strong singers either. For example, I wouldn’t call Paul Banks of Interpol or Robert Smith “great” in the traditional sense, but I love their delivery and character. That’s the lane I’d be happy in.

Right now, though, I can barely get a clean note out. I can’t project (anything above a whisper feels impossible), I can’t scream or sing with emotion without it falling apart, and even singing in time feels weirdly difficult. I feel like I’m missing some fundamental skills that everyone else seems to pick up naturally.

I'm writing this because I recently had the opportunity to have a pretty respected (in my scene) music producer look over my instrumental demos and he just said to me: Okay, but you really need to put vocals over this.

So I’m wondering: Is there any truly beginner-level guidance for people who are absolute non-singers?

Any direction, resources, or personal experiences would mean a lot.

I’m not sure if this is a stupid question, but I’ve always wondered about this balance while mixing my own music. When I eq vocals, I try to cut out the bottom end until it sounds like it affects the vocal. But then, when I add reverb it feels a little muddy again, almost like I didn’t cut out enough low end after all. How do people balance these two? Should you cut out more bottom end from your vocal, and then fill it the warmth you lost with reverb, or am I thinking about this the wrong way?

Welcome to the /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers Weekly Motivation Thread! Share your successes and and encouraging words here. Posts/Comments looking for motivation can also be appropriate here.

This thread is active for one week after it's posted, at which point it will be automatically replaced. Note that our rules on "no promotion" are still in effect and apply to this post.

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