Irrespective of what you think, a Mac is a lot more than a productivity laptop. It has the potential to help you kickstart your music career too.
If you are planning to get started with making Music, using your Mac is a great place to start that process. It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or have a lot of experience, creating melodies on Mac isn’t as complicated as you think.
This article will give you a roundabout idea about the tips you need to know to get started with making music on Mac.
Things You Need to Get Started with Making Music on Mac
When it comes to dabbling in a new genre of music production, being confused about the things you need and the work you need to do is pretty common.
This section of the article will familiarize you with all the elements you’d need to get started:
Macbook
The first and possibly the most obvious thing that you need is a Macbook to get started. Also, for those that think that you need the latest version of the Mac for music production, you don’t.
You can get around making music just fine on your standard and old Mac that you use for your normal day-to-day work as well.
Most of the Apple silicon and the Intel-integrated Macs are well equipped with the best kind of processors that enable you to make the most out of the smoother music production process. One pro tip would be to use a Mac with at least 16GB RAM.
Also, when it comes to using Mac for music production, you don’t have to worry much about storage. The final cut of the song won’t eat away a lot at your device’s storage. However, the software or applications you use might take up quite a bit of space.
Get your hands on A digital audio workstation (DAW)
The next thing you’d need for music production is a DAW. This is the software that you use for music production on your Mac.
Since Mac is quite versatile, it isn’t surprising that the device already comes with a pre-installed DAW, which is Garage Band.
Using the basic and free version of GarageBand is more than enough to support your music production journey. However, if you want to upgrade, most DAWs, including GarageBand, come with advanced features, which you can make the most use of.
One great DAW that’s quite popular among the advanced music producers on Mac is Logic Pro X. It is a paid software with additional features, which take your learning curve to the next level.
Some of the other options available are:
- Avid Pro Tools
- FL Studio
- Cubase
- Ableton, etc.
The list of options consistently expands, which means that you have access to pretty much some of the best DAWs you can think of.
Each of these DAWs comes with its set of individual features and functionalities, which means that you can read through the features to ascertain which would best suit your needs.
Get the gear assorted
Making music doesn’t only mean software work. You need to generate a good-quality output to then process it in your DAW.
For that, you need access to good music production gear, including microphones and headphones. A good microphone will ensure the optimal quality of the vocals without any kinds of distortions.
So, when it comes to purchasing the right one, you need to understand the type first. You have two major types – condenser and dynamic mics. The former works well when you are working with acoustic music while the latter works well with higher-pitched and frequency music.
Choosing the right gear is a personal preference though, so that’s something you have to sort out by yourself.
Sort out Audio interfaces and MIDI
Next on the list of requirements is another two pieces of hardware equipment – Audio interfaces and MIDI. These are two different types of devices that make a huge difference in the final cut of the audio you are likely producing.
Audio interfaces connect with your condenser microphone, which connects to your Mac to record the music or the audio and make it ready for further processing.
MIDI, on the other hand, is a device that allows you to congregate all the virtual instruments on your DAW. It allows you to adjust the pitch, change the length and timbre of the audio, etc.
Conclusion
That’s all you need to get started with creating music on your Mac. As a beginner, you don’t always need high-quality items to create music. You can get started with what you have and then think about upgrading the equipment and gear later as you progress in your music production career. We hope this basic rundown gives you a concrete idea of what you’d need to kickstart your music production journey using a Mac.