How to Become a Digital Composer

So, you’re thinking of becoming a digital composer? Good call. Digital composers have awesome jobs and get to turn their passion and creative flair into something everyone can enjoy. To become the best, you need to already love music and have an ear for detail – but you also need the tools to help you succeed.

The art of composing in the digital age should not be scoffed or compared to the earlier mastery, but it is a different game. Now you need a tech-savvy brain and not just a musical one to make it happen. Here we will introduce aspiring digital composers to the software they will need to make it big. Listen up.

First, What Jobs Can You Do as a Digital Composer?

You may not want to earn a career from digitally composing songs and tracks from your computer and see it as a hobby only. If you would like a career from it, you will be pleased to know that there are many options out there. One of the best is to work for game developers and casinos.

Music has the ability to improve the gaming experience and influence decision making in casinos. Not only are these jobs a cool way to develop music, but they also have a direct influence on people’s enjoyment – and that is why these jobs are in demand among digital composers.

The Software for Beginners

There are bucket loads of programmes available for composers to use and not everyone will agree on which is the best for beginners. However, all of them can usually be grouped into three different categories known as DAWs, Audio Editors and Audio Plug-Ins. Here is a crash course on all three.

1. DAWs

A DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation I the core piece of equipment required to compose and edit your work. The many DAWs available all have specific features to them, but the overall idea is that DAWs give you a place to do most of the work from. The DAW that works best for you will depend on the type of music you want to create.

2. Audio Editors

Audio Editors are the service garages for digital composing. Let’s say you composed some music but after playing it back you heard a bird chirp in the background or an annoying hum. Audio editors are programmes to clean your music from these imperfections.

3. Audio Plug-Ins

Earlier we mentioned how the different DAWs have different features. Along with these stations, you may require additional features and that is made possible with plug-ins. There are two types of plug-ins you can add to your DAW:

· Sound generating: these plug-ins will add music to your track through virtual instruments and synthesizers.

· Sound processing: the other type will not give you new sounds, but they can be used to develop the sound you already have.

Got What it Takes?

Now you know the basic terminology, you can start your adventure to becoming a digital composer. Start by shopping around for the DAW that works best for you but remember plug-ins may make an ideal DAW a perfect DAW.

About the author

There’s a lot of music out there - good music. At Essentially Pop our remit is that we cover music that deserves to be heard, with a particular focus on independent artists. That doesn't mean we won't cover your old favourites - rather we hope to give you some new favourites as well.

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