FINANCIAL FREEDOM 101: INTRODUCTION TO FINANCIAL SUCCESS & FREEDOM

WHAT IS FINANCIAL FREEDOM

"Financial freedom generally means having enough savings, investments and cash on hand to afford the lifestyle we want for 
ourselves and our families and a growing nest egg that will allow us to
retire or pursue the career we want without being driven by earning a  certain amount each year."- Investopedia.com

Photo: Highway to financial freedom

Luxury; an end result of financial freedom & success

Financial freedom is an aspect of life almost everybody craves for. In fact, our everyday life is centred around achieving financial freedom and maintaining it as well. Financially capable parents send their children to school to educate them on different career choices, believing the children will after graduation will get a job which in turn going to be bringing in financial benefits, thus gradually leading them to financial freedom and independence. When this children grow up and start bearing their own kids, the also send their kids to school or invest in other ventures and the loop continues.

In the present day society, if one is not financially free to an extent from the age of 25 and beyond, the people around him or her would begin to look at you as unsuccessful or not working hard enough.

ACHIEVING FINANCIAL FREEDOM

Financial freedom is a major life goal every individual pursuing success wants to achieve but achieving this goal isn't as easy as it sounds. Attaining high level financial freedom requires a lot of patience, perseverance, motivation and financial intelligence.
There are certain habits a person must inhibit to make achieving financial freedom easier. These habits include but not limited to:
- Financial life planning
- Saving
- Live below your means
- Engaging a financial advisor
- Continues education, etc.

I'll go deeper into this topic in my subsequent posts.
Don't forget to drop your comments in the comment session below if you got any questions or contributions.

* Peace out!

MUSIC PRODUCTION 103: SETTING UP YOUR COMPUTER FOR MUSIC PRODUCTION

Hi everyone, welcome to PLUG4SUCCESS, the home of broadened knowledge.


The computer is the centre of music production. Everyy hardware used in music production is directly or indirectly connected to the computer. The sound card or mixer serves as a link between music production hardwares and the computer.

Today I'll be talking about setting up your computer to start making music. The hardware and software requirements and other prerequisites.

Any computer architecture, whether desktop or laptop, can be used in music production. What matters most is the specifications of the computer. The size of the RAM, hard drive, CPU speed and type etc. makes up the specifications of the computer. The higher the specifications, the better the performance. A computer with good specifications makes running audio creating and editing softwares smoother and faster.


MY RECOMMENDED COMPUTER SPECIFICATIONS

As a new music producer, you don't necessarily need to start with flagship computers with the highest specifications to start making music. A new music producer can start up with a computer with mid-range specifications to save cost. Below are my minimum recommended specifications for music producers who are just stepping into the game of music production.

Hardware specifications:

RAM:                   4gb and above
Processor speed:  1.6ghz and above
GPU speed:          2.0ghz and above
Hard disk size:     500gb and above
Screen size:          13" and above

Software specifications:

PC:
Operating system: Windows 7, 8 or 10

MAC:
Mac OS 10.7 and above

Mac & PC

CONCLUSION:
Whether you are a Mac or PC user, music production softwares will run smoothly if you got the right specs. In subsequent posts, I'll emphasise on the differences between the Mac and the Pc in music production.
With the above minimum specs stated above, I can assure you that you can start producing music on your computer with less glitches and a smooth graphical user interface.

If you have access to a computer with the above minimum specs, you can proceed to buy/download Digital Audio Softwares and Virtual Instruments on your computer and kick off music production.


Thanks for reading. I strongly hope you've learnt a thing or two from this post. If you got any questions or opinions with regards to this post, kindly drop them in the comments box below and I'll respond to you ASAP.

Peace out!

MUSIC PRODUCTION 102: Kicking off your career as a music producer without experience.

Hi everyone, welcome to PLUG4SUCCESS - The home of broadened knowledge.

There's lots of people out there who are craving to kick off a career or hubby in music production but a lot of them don't know how, when and where to begin. If you fall among this set of people, believe me I know how it feels. I was once in that exact situation before I got to this level as a pro music producer.

My major aim on this article is to educate and enlighten my readers and aspiring music producers with the information needed to kick start a career/hobby as a music producer without any experience.

Before I proceed with dropping the main contents of this article, I want to say this - Music production is a skill that builds up over time with continuous practice. It's not a skill you can learn and become a pro overnight, in a month or even a year. Yes if you're a fast learner who has good experience in music, your competence in music production may build up quicker than that of a person who lacks such background knowledge in music.

Down to the main deal.

WHAT TO KNOW/HAVE BEFORE KICKING OFF YOUR CAREER AS A MUSIC PRODUCER

There are lots of things an aspiring music producer needs to know/have before kicking of a career/hobby in music production, which can not be completely covered in a single post. Thus, in this post, I'll write on the most important requirements.

The following are the essential things every starting music producer need to know/have to kick start their music production career/hobby:

Make up your mind

I want you to know that the day you make up your mind to start implementing the things you learn about Music Production is the day you get the title of been called music producer. Learning Music Production requires a lot of practice. Merely reading music production articles won't make you a real producer. You've got to practicalise every single article you read if you want to become a real and good music producer more quickly.

Understand Music theory

Another knowledge that is going to put you at advantage is over other starting up music producers is the knowledge of music theory.  You don't need to become a music theory pro to be ahead. Knowing and understanding even just the basics of music theory will put you a long step ahead of other starting up producers.

Learn to play a musical instrument

Knowing how to play a musical instrument is more than necessary if you want to be a good music producer. The main musical instruments I recommend every new music producer to have competency in is the piano and the drums. You don't have to be an expert in playing this two instruments before you start music production. The basics is what you need to start making music. You improve in your instrumental skills overtime through continues practice.

Drum set

Digital Piano (Keyboard)

GET A COMPUTER (DESKTOP/LAPTOP)

The computer is where all the work of digital music production happens. It brings together all the hardwares, softwares and sounds used in making music. It is where all the music production happens. Every other external hardware just sends (signals) to the computer for manipulation. Music production requires a computer with good specifications, though you don't need to get a  high end computer before you start music production. You can kick off with a mid-range computer with average specs, and upgrade over time as you improve in the art of music production. A laptop or Desktop will get the job done. Mac or PC, its all your choice.

BUY/DOWNLOAD A DIGITAL AUDIO WORK STATION

A digital audio workstation is an electronic device or application software used for recording, editing and producing audio files. - Wikipedia

A digital audio workstation, simply abbreviated as DAW, is a hardware or software interface music producers use to program, organise, create or edit music. Audio manipulation happens in a digital audio workstation. The term "Digital Audio Workstation" may sound somewhat bewildering for upcoming producers who haven't heard of it before, but when I state some examples of DAWs, the concept will be clearer and easier to understand as lots of upcoming producers already know some DAW softwares by name. Examples of DAWs include FL STUDIO, REASON, CUBASE, PRO TOOLS. LOGIC, STUDIO ONE etc.

FL STUDIO graphical user interface

PURCHASE/DOWNLOAD SAMPLES, DRUM KITS AND VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS

I'll drop individual definitions of the above terms below. In general, these are external sounds or sound generators that are used in music production. They come incorporated into lots of DAWs but more can be added to your sound library by purchase or free downloads. A simple google search will bring up lots of sites where they can be downloaded for free or bought at considerable prices.

Definitions

Samples

In music production, Samples are sounds cut from a portion of another sound project or a short sample of a sound recording in another recording. Samples may comprise rhythm, melody, speech, or other sounds. They are can be created or modified via hardwares called Samplers. Samplers also come in software forms.

Drum kits

Just as the name states, they are sounds or samples of drums. Drum kits contain sounds of different kind of drums. The sound of drums like snares, kicks, percussions, crashes and cymbals come incorporated in drum kit packs. Drum kit samples can be programmed to keys on your computer keyboard of external MIDI controller so that when the keys are pressed, it triggers the sound of the samples to be played. More like digital drums.

Virtual instruments

A virtual instrument, abbreviated as VST, is a simply a musical instrument in a digital form. There are lots of virtual instruments out there. Some are made from their analog form while some are created straight in software form by programmers. A VST can be opened and played within a Digital Audio Workstation interface or within the computer interface without DAWs by running it's standalone version. Examples of VST softwares are Nexus, MASSIVE, SYLENTH, Hypersonic, Spectrasonics Omnisphere, Sytrus, Tone 2 Icarus, Gladiator, etc.

Hypersonic VST

Nexus VST

Conclusion:

The requirements of starting kicking off your career as a music production is quit lengthy and continues to increase as your knowledge and skill in music production increases.

This article is covers the essential requirements a new producer needs before proceeding to kick off a career or hobby in music production.

I'll go deeper in the aforementioned requirements in my coming posts.

Feel free to drop your opinions and questions in the comment box and I'll respond to you swiftly.

Thank you for  reading.

Peace out!!!

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MUSIC PRODUCTION 101: INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC PRODUCTION

Hi everyone, welcome to PLUG4SUCCESS.

Today I'll be hitting into the basics of music production to give y'all an insight on the art of music production. I'll take y'all through the very basics of music production up to the expert level. Today's article will broaden your knowledge on the precise basics of music production.

WHAT IS MUSIC PRODUCTION?

Music production is basically the process of creating, editing and combining sounds to make music . A music producer, also called a record producer is a person who usually handles music production, managing every step involved in the making of music. That can include being a critical part of the creative process, such as deciding what instruments and sounds to use in a song, and the vocal recording editing process as well. 

THE MUSIC STUDIO

"A music studio, also called a recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. The engineers and producers listen to the live music and the recorded "tracks" on high-quality monitor speakers or headphones."- Wikipedia

Music production involves the use of both analog and digital musical equipments. Attached below is the photo of a professional recording studio.

A professional music video

The art of music production is usually carried out in a music studio setup with acoustic paddings and audio instruments, but with present technological advancements, a music producer can carry out the art of music production anywhere using just a computer and a portable microphone, headphone and/or speaker(s).

A portable studio setup

A MUSIC PRODUCER

A music producer is simple and person who engages in music production. Getting into music production requires some training. Formal training is not always required, but many music producers go to a music school or learn from professional music producers via online and offline tutors, through which they learn the process of recording, engineering, and production. A music producer builds up his production skills by continues practice.

PREREQUISITES OF BEEN A MUSIC PRODUCER

1. Basic understanding of music theory.

2. Basic musical instrument skills, preferably the keyboard and the drum.

3. Good ear listening ability.

4. Computer literacy.

5. A computer.

CONCLUSION

Music production is a booming skill in the music industry. Acquiring and mastering this craft can bring you to the limelight. Without good music producers, all the music we listen to wouldn't be available for our listen pleasure.

I'll be going into more details in my forthcoming posts so don't forget to return to this blog in your leisure time. Also subscribe to my newsletter to get notified on all my new posts.

Feel free to drop your comments in the comments session if you got any questions or contribution with regard to this article.

Thank you for reading.

Peace out!!!

MY SOCIAL MEDIA

Stay in touch with me via my social media links

FACEBOOK

INSTAGRAM

YOUTUBE