If you are anything like me, you love music. Your life would be nothing without music. One song can save a whole life. Music has so much emotion and each song has a story behind it. Music gives life so much more color and interest and that might just be what a person needs to keep on going. Sad music, happy music, disco music, the list goes on and on and I love it all.

I started playing piano when I was eight years old. I hated it with my whole heart. My mom finally let me quit when I was 13. I value the piano a lot more nowadays. The piano is one of the most beautiful things ever brought to the world. When I turned 14, I started getting into metal and punk rock. This is when I discovered Van Halen. I saw his “Eruption” guitar solo on YouTube and I went bonkers. It looked so cool and I wanted to learn how to be as good as Eddie. After a lot of convincing and chores, I got my mom to buy me a guitar from the store for $100. It wasn’t nice, but it got the job done. I played every single day and began to fall in love with it. The next Christmas, I got my first electric guitar. I thought I was for sure a pro at this point.

It wasn’t until last October when I got the urge start a band. It has been my dream for years. I bought a drum set, a bass, and a new amp for my guitar. My brothers are somewhat musically inclined so I figured, “why don’t I just start the band with my brothers?” So, we did. The next thing you know we are writing songs every week, each song getting better as we go. I never really learned how to write my own music. I’ve just been playing for long enough that I have a bunch of inspiration in the back of my brain that I can piece together a song with.

Now, you want to actually record your song. Here’s how: First, you want to get inspired. I listen to my favorite genres of music to find some sounds that I like. I grab my acoustic guitar and start creating. It could take me a minute to get structure to the song, but once I do, I get my equipment and start to record. I use Garageband as my software because it’s free. I could use a nicer application such as Logic Pro X, but I don’t have that money. In order to record an electric guitar, you need to use an audio interface. I use the Scarlett 2i2. You can find it here at https://focusrite.com/en/usb-audio-interface/scarlett/scarlett-2i2 . I record my drums and synth on my Akai MPK mini. It has keys and a beat pad, and you can plug directly into your computer. You can find it here at https://www.akaipro.com/mpk-mini-mkii.

Next is vocals. I use a Shure SM7B microphone. You can plug this right into your computer through your Scarlett 2i2 interface. Garageband has thousands of different sounds and instruments you can pay around with. So, get recording and choose what you think sounds the best. It doesn't matter what other people think, it’s your music!

If you haven’t picked up on it yet, I record my music from home. Professional artists and bands with a lot of money and experience record in a studio. If you want to take the professional rout and record in a studio, all you need to do is call around and book one. You are likely going to get a way better sound, but you'll be paying almost twice as much. For beginner artists like me, home recording is the best bet. “Setting up a recording space at home is decidedly more affordable than booking a studio.” (Rolling Stone 2019) exclaimed. I also found a from (Deahl 2018) that exclaimed, “When you think about how famous artists make songs, you might imagine that it all happens in a big, professional studio — one with a fancy mixing board, perhaps with a soundproof vocal booth attached — and you aren’t wrong. Most music has been recorded this way, and there are still plenty of studios like this, but they’re not as necessary as they used to be. With how quickly technology has advanced, we’re now at the point where many of the tools needed to build a song can fit in the palm of your hand — literally.”

At first, publishing the music seemed like a very hard and extensive task. With some research and some help from my older brother, I found a website called Distrokid. (https://distrokid.com/) This website makes it very easy to upload and sell your music to different stores such as Spotify or Apple Music. Once you pay 35 dollars for a membership, those stores then review your music and get it approved so it can be published everywhere all around the world. It’s pretty cool you can do this just by pressing a few buttons.

I love the opportunity I’ve had to pursue music throughout my life. It has taught me so much and has really shaped me into who I am today. I am so happy I can share my work with everyone and I’m excited to release more music in the near future!

Please don't delete guys this is for Vanessa's Sanity because nobody formats anything correctly and I have to fix it