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Discover the latest music trends and insights with A&R Factory. Stay informed and inspired as we explore the dynamic music industry landscape where we cover the latest music industry trends, analysis and predictions in the industry. Whether you’re a music enthusiast or industry professional, A&R Factory is your go-to source.

How Can I Record My Rock Music?

Posted on 1 April 2022

If heading to a studio isn’t an option to record and produce your next album, the good news is that there are many ways to record rock music for a fraction of the cost.

Even though there’s nothing better than stepping into an infamous recording studio, it is common for artists to kickstart their music careers by showcasing their talent through home-recorded demos.

This article will cover the key steps to get a decent sounding rock demo. Yet, the freedom in the process is part of the beauty. What works for some solo artists and bands may not work for others. Once you have learnt the rules, feel free to break them.

How to Record Rock Music

Complete Your Set-Up

Inflation may be increasing the price of many commodities, but the range of accessible and increasingly more affordable home recording gear is making it easier for independent artists to set up their home studio and record.

Leave your flash purchases to your dream instruments, and don’t be afraid of shopping around for affordable studio gear. In your average home recording set up, as a minimum, you will need a laptop or desktop, monitor headphones, microphones, amplifiers, studio monitors, a digital audio workstation, and an audio interface.

Artists may also want to consider purchasing pop filters, a control surface, virtual instruments for the DAW, a recording mixer, a studio rack mount, a reliable power supply and a power conditioner.

Get Acquainted with a DAW

Learning how to use a digital audio workstation is the hardest part of the learning curve when recording rock music – especially for artists that like to keep it analogue. Instead of just downloading a DAW, such as GarageBand or ProTools, and trying to figure them out as you go, find some online courses; there are plenty available for free on YouTube. DAW cramming may feel like a lengthy part of the process, but it pays off in the long run.

Create a Recording Running Order & Set Up.

Once the software and hardware are in place and you’ve got a track to record, figure out the order that you will record the instrumentals and vocals. Note that the recording process for one song usually takes more than a day, as you will need to get multiple takes. As a general rule of thumb, put the base track and the rhythm first, and leave the vocals, backing vocals and fills for the end of the recording process.

Once the running order is complete, do an itinerary check on the instruments you need and all the cables, amps and other supporting equipment. Before the recording, do a test recording to ensure the volumes are modulated correctly from each channel in the audio interface.

Start Recording Your Rock Track

As the beat is the foundation of a song, get the base track down first. It is even more crucial to ensure that the rhythm is solid and fits win with the tempo. Artists can create the base track or download a simple metronomic beat.

Once the base track has been laid down, it is time to bring in the drums and bass. For acoustic singles, the rhythm can be brought in on the acoustic guitar. Never record OVER anything at this point; always make separate rhythm tracks.

After the rhythm, it is time to record the harmonies and melodies. Typically, everything should be recorded separately, but when they are put together, they form the background music and the dominant part of the music. In most rock bands, the melodies are usually laid down by lead vocals or guitars.

Clean & Colour Your Tracks

After all of your instruments and vocals are recorded, it is time to make some finishing touches. Artists have an infinite amount of choice here -from sound effects to percussive fills to piano scores to background vocals. Once you have added your FX and colour, clean your track by adjusting volumes and removing unnecessary noise.

Mix Your Rock Song

If you aren’t an experienced mixer or producer, it may be better to outsource to someone who is. If you feel confident enough to tackle it for yourself, this is where you balance levels and use EQ, panning, automation, reverb, compression and panning.

Export the Music

When you’re happy with the final product, it is time to export it. If you plan on exporting the music onto a CD, you will need to master the release first; once again, this is something best left to professionals.

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Once you’ve got your rock track put together, submit rock music to our award-winning blog to put yourself in front of key industry figures and even keener rock fans.

How to Get Paid for Writing Songs

Posted on 29 March 2022

In 2022, there’s plenty of talk on how little songwriters get paid via Spotify, but the increasing number of new revenue streams are always overlooked in social discourse.

This article will cover all of the potential ways artists of most experience levels can get paid for songwriting. And remember, this only covers revenues from the songwriting itself, not mentioning touring, brand sponsorships and merchandising.

A 101 Guide on How to Get Paid for Writing Songs

Strike a Sync Licensing Deal

TV shows, films, adverts, and videogames all need to get their music from somewhere, and there is no reason why unestablished artists can’t get a slice of that income. For your best chance of landing a sync licencing deal, ensure that all your songs are high quality and come with the ‘usability’ factor.

Sync licencing can be highly profitable for artists looking to monetise their songs; sync deals can pay a few hundred pounds to 5-figure sums. To increase your chances of landing a sync deal, hire a sync agent that will pitch your music for you – bear in mind that they will take a cut of the commission, which is usually around 20% – 25%. Some of the most highly recommended music licence companies include Soundstripe, Marmoset, Pond5, and Premium Beat.

Sign a Publishing Deal

There is an increasing number of ways independent artists can strike lucrative publishing deals. Amongst the most common are submitting tracks to artist managers, labels or publishing houses. It is also possible that the publishing deal will come to you – if you get your self-promotion right.

Some of the best ways to gain the attention of publishers are by finding the best music blogs to submit to, heading to networking events or playing shows where a publisher might attend. Once the ink is dry on a publishing deal, artists can get a share of the royalties or a monthly advance to fund future releases and recordings.

Mechanical Licencing

Not all artists write their songs, and that’s where songwriters can come in and grab significant cash. There are now multiple marketplaces where artists can list their tracks for artists looking for new material.

The royalties will start pouring in once the mechanical licencing deal is in place. Artists might want to note that in most mechanical licencing deals, ownership cannot be retained. Some of the most popular platforms for artists looking to sign a mechanical licence deal include Tune Core and the Mechanical Licencing Collective.

Record & Distribute Your Music

This one is fairly obvious, but that doesn’t mean it is less lucrative. Yes, Spotify may only pay a few fractions of a dollar for each stream, but just because streaming platforms are on the rise, that doesn’t make every other profitable means of distribution has been made redundant.

If you’re lucky enough to get your song on the A-list of a major radio station, such as BBC 2, you could rake in up to £82.07 for every minute the song plays. There is always the option to use platforms, such as Bandcamp, which allows players to rake in far more royalties from sales of digital songs and physical merch. Further down the line into your songwriting career, you can also rake in funds from performance royalties and CD & vinyl sales.

How Much do Independent Record Labels Make?

Posted on 18 March 2022

When speculating how much independent record labels make, it is crucial to note that not all indie record labels are in the same league. An independent record label can be anything from a band creating an indie label and selling their own records. They can also be as culture-defining and significant as Sub Pop, Creation, Domino Records and Stones Throw.

Some indie record labels are not-for-profit endeavours, which means that every penny earned selling records, and accruing royalties go back into promoting the music and facilitating the creation of more music. However, by signing the right artists and getting the promotion right, record labels can become profitable – both for the artist and the label.

How Much Do Independent Record Labels Make?

Given the number of variables on the income of independent record labels, it is all but impossible to provide a ballpark figure. Yet, by looking at some of the key trends in the industry, you can get an idea of how much cash is on the table for independent labels.

Independent labels now rake in over 40% of the music industry revenue. The competition may be tough for new record labels, but there will always be space in the industry for musos with a golden ear. In fact, there has never been a better time to get established.

Before starting an independent label, establish where the revenue will come in as the first step. Possible income streams include physical and digital sales of albums, EPs and LPs, streaming royalties from Spotify and other platforms, publishing and licencing, performance royalties, radio play and merchandising.

Once label owners have figured out their projected income, the next stage is deciding how to re-invest it in the label. It also pays to be realistic about the hitches that may happen along the way.

As this is 2022, the age of cutting-edge technology, there are now freely available independent record label templates that label owners can use to predict their income, such as the one available via Ditto’s website.

Some of the expenses incurred by a record label include promotional costs, music videos, touring, production of physical music and merchandise, distribution costs, and cash advances.

It is important to note that different record labels operate under different terms and conditions. The increasingly popular 360 method gives record labels a specified cut of all the artist’s profits – even if the record label wasn’t directly involved in the revenue stream. So, if a signed artist plays a major festival, they will get a cut of the royalty, which is usually around £1,500. Or, if an artist’s song plays on BBC Radio 2, they could get their slice of the £82 royalty.

The success of an independent record label exists on the coattails of successful artists, which is why it is crucial to develop a stellar roster of bands. To find the freshest talent, you will want to head down to live gigs and keep up to date with new music blogs UK to discover artists before anyone else does.

What Defines Folk Music?

Posted on 14 March 2022

Folk music is easily identifiable when you hear it, with the rustic twang in the instrumentals and the narratively vivid lyrics that instantly transport you to the hometown roots of the song.

When it comes to what defines folk music, things get a little more complex, or at least highly ambivalent, which mostly boils down to the long and complicated history of folk music which unravelled simultaneously across the globe as it sprung up in villages to capture the culture of them before it became an aural commodity.

The term itself originated in the 18th century, but its history stretches much further back than that. What folk music means today with Mumford and Sons and the Lumineers on the airwaves is a world away from what folk music represented before the first song was recorded in 1860.

What is Folk Music?

Traditionally, folk music was preservation of history. Folk songs got passed down from generation to generation; they spoke of hometown struggles, strife, and victory. In the absence of recording equipment that hadn’t yet been invented, there was no better way to aurally pass down history in a social and culturally engaging way.

As the ages slipped by, the verses in the folk songs were modernised to fit in with the times. Unlike every other genre, folk music isn’t for the virtuosos and the artists that have been studying music theory for decades. Its essence is its accessibility, which means that many members of the community could perform the music on the instruments available.

Even though when you think of folk artists, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie and Crosby, Stills & Nash come to mind – that is just a white-washed and Americanised version of folk music history. France, Italy, Germany, India, Africa and Asia all had their take on folk, though it went by many other names.

Folk music was never invented for popular consumption and mainstream appeal, but that didn’t get in the way of the success of Ben Harper, Cat Stevens, The Proclaimers and Simon and Garfunkel, who found decade-spanning international adoration. After the folk revival in the 20th century, the term, contemporary folk music, arrived as a signifier away from the traditional old-time music style.

After the mainstream commodification of folk music, its original meaning and utility were skewed; folk music no longer needed to be passed down the generations to be preserved – CDs and Spotify took care of that for us. But that folky sound remained desirable all the same, which led to artists borrowing melodies from traditional sources and utilising more archaic music instruments, including banjos, flutes, and fiddles to use in their pop and rock modern styles. In 2022, some of the top contemporary folk artists include Lonesome River Band, Of Monsters and Men, Fleet Foxes, Iron and Wine, Passenger and Mumford and Sons.

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For more of an idea of the diversity of folk music, check out some of our folk music blogs. We’ve covered folk artists from across the globe, including the Australian singer-songwriter Jacob Lee, who has become a viral sensation as an independent artist. Brighton’s art-folk pioneer, Jacko Hooper, and JR August, who became Croatia’s number 1 artist after his debut album, Dangerous Waters.

How to Get Publishing Rights for My Music

Posted on 11 March 2022

Before you start to acquire publishing rights for your music, artists need to understand the ins and outs. Because unfortunately, there are people out there counting on you to be clueless so they can rake in the money themselves. This article will cover the various types of publishing rights, how to access them, and what revenues can come through them.

How Do Publishing Rights Work?

Once music is published, copyrights protect intellectual property and provide an income for songwriters. Generally, publishing rights fall into two categories: authorship, which covers the rights for the lyrics and the songwriting, and composition, i.e., the music.

For your best chance of getting a fair cut with your music through publishing rights, you will want to team up with a Publishing Rights Organisation (PRO), such as PRS in the UK. PRS is just one of the PROs that help artists collect their royalties. They also work with PROs in other countries, such as TONO in Norway, to collect your royalties for you.

When you secure publishing rights, there are three main income revenues, including sync deals, mechanical royalties, and performance royalties. If your music starts to gain traction, there is also the potential to make an income from lyrics, merch and sheet music.

With performance royalties, you will get paid every time your music is played in a public environment, such as a store, a café or in the pub on a jukebox. When it comes to the radio, things get slightly more complex because there are two more classifications; sampled and census radio stations. Major radio stations, such as the BBC, are all classed as census stations, which means that every time your track airs, your PRO will know about it.

Sampled stations tend to be smaller outfits with even smaller audiences that don’t report to your PRO. Instead, these stations are sampled regularly, if your track happens to get played when the station is being sampled, you will get paid. If you are wondering what one play on a census radio station is worth, it is roughly equivalent to over 200,000 streams on Spotify. And if you happen to get on the BBC’s A-list, you could rake in up to £1k a week.

Mechanical rights royalties generate every time your music is streamed, downloaded, or reproduced in any other way, such as when a CD is made and when a vinyl record is pressed. Even if you are signed to a label, your label will need to pay a licence fee for each physical reproduction. Streaming royalties may be small, but they still stack up against sync deal royalties, mechanical royalties, radio play royalties, and merch royalties.

Just a few of the ways you can rake in royalties from sync deals include your music being published on TV ads, in computer games, films and online promotions. For your best chance of landing a sync deal, you will want to team up with a sync or publishing company that fully clears two main copyrights: the publishing copyright and the master copyright.

How to Get Publishing Rights for Your Music

Now you know a little about how publishing rights work, we will move on to how to acquire them. Artists have two options when securing publishing rights, self-publishing and publishing via a PRO, such as PRS. There are pros and cons for both methods; it will be up to you to decide which suits you best as an artist.

If you register with a PRO as a writer with no publishing deal, you will only be due 50% of the royalties. If you self-publish, you can access 100% of your royalties. Self-publishing requires you to set up a body to serve as your own publisher, this can create a lot of extra work, but it isn’t an overly complex task. However, it can be far easier for a publisher to promote your music through their connections and experience.

Which road to publishing rights you take is down to you. While there are perks to organizations which as PRS who fight to represent artists and ensure they are rewarded for their creativity, there is also a lot to be said about going down the DIY route, which gives you complete control over your music career.

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For more tips on how to take charge of your music career or take it to the next level, check out some of our other music producer blog sites, or get in touch with a member of our artist development team for 1-1 guidance, or hire us to do all of your PR work for you.

The Best Way to Compose a Song

Posted on 7 March 2022

Award-worthy songwriting skills take time, patience, perseverance, and most importantly, understanding of songwriting elements. Even if you are writing music for an alternative audience, you will still need to learn the basics – especially how to make a track memorable and moving.

Truthfully, no one can lay out the formula that will transform you from a complete novice to a Grammy-worthy world-famous singer-songwriter. Coaches, pros, and masterclasses may play their part. Yet, there is no evading the hard work and endless experimentation that it takes to create a hit song while being creatively expressive and not selling your soul in the hope that you will go viral in the mainstream world.

The best way to compose a song will depend on what comes naturally to you, what instruments you are proficient with and what kind of music you are writing. With that in mind, here are some of the best ways to compose a song as a novice.

The Best Way to Compose a Song: 5 Tips & Techniques

Start With a Melody

For artists looking to write catchy and hooky tracks, the best way is to start with an earworm of a melody. Remember, there are millions of songs that share the same chord progressions. You can always start with what you know works then add nuance. Generally, the catchiest melodies move in stepwise motions and have a focal point, such as an anchoring high note.

Diversify Your Chords

If you find that you lean on the same chords time and time again, try switching it up to broaden your composition horizons. Along with the major and minor key chords, try to experiment with augmented, diminished and dominant chords. You will find that this gives your sound a more complex and intricate feel.

Structure Your Song Around a Riff

This approach is often the most favourable amongst alternative artists and already proficient instrumentalists. The riff doesn’t have to be a guitar riff, it can be a sax riff, piano riff, bass riff or synth riff. And it isn’t only alternative artists that can anchor their entire track around riffs. Take Jay-Z’s single, Dirt Off Your Shoulder, produced by Timbaland, as the perfect example.

Mix Up the Traditional Song Structure

Once you know the rules of songwriting, you do not need to stick to them religiously. There is no harm in moving from the intro-verse-pre-chorus-chorus-bridge-solo-outro form. If your melodies or lyrics don’t flow into that traditional format, find a way to make them work with spontaneity – always leave room for discovery. Writing a song isn’t like heading out to the shops to buy milk, where we move from A to B and achieve the objective easily. Approach songwriting in a similar way to wandering around a new city. Explore the different avenues and anchor your songs with the landmarks you construct along the way.

Go Beyond Basic with Your Lyrics

Does there need to be another song that rhymes home with alone? When it comes to the lyrics, rhyme isn’t everything; substance and meaning are. For the lyrics, start with a broad idea of what you want to base your song on; that may be an unrelenting emotion, the pigeon that you always see on the way to work or your favourite poison. Whatever it is, let the words flow from that original idea, get poetic, play with metaphors, pour in revelations. Not every lyric you write will be tattoo-worthy, but a good vocal hook can make or break a song.

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Once you have polished your songwriting skills, submit your demo to our songwriter promotion blog. We will put you in front of our large international readership, which includes the kind of industry figures that you should be looking to impress.

The History of Rock Music

Posted on 4 March 2022

How did we get from Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and the Comets and the Beatles to here, where the most anticipated albums of the year have been on the airwaves for decades?

This era-by-era history of rock music will answer all, including what went wrong at the turn of the century and how breaking rock acts are slowly creeping back into the mainstream.

How Has Rock Music Changed Over Time: A 101 on Every Definitive Era

With every new iconic artist, sub-genre, culture shift and technology, there has been markable interconnected shifts in the rock music industry. Furthermore, many of the most influential artists are left out of the narrative. With that in mind, we’ll do our best to work through the biggest rock milestones after rock spawned from rock n roll.

The 1940s & 1950s

In the 1940s, rock bands started to sway from the Rock n Roll sound that had been around since the 1920s. However, it wasn’t until the mid-50s in America that Rock music started to grip the nation – and beyond. After rock came around and revolutionised the music industry, its sonic electric guitar imprint has been everlasting. During the 50s, rock was an infusion of rock n roll, rhythm & blues, and country. In 1955, Billy Haley gave Rock n Roll its first-ever number 1 single with the release of Rock around the Clock. Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley quickly started snapping at Bill Haley’s chart-topping heels in 1956.

The 1960s

Once rock music had amassed a staunch audience in the 50s, the genre came into its own in the 60s. Prominent artists sprung up in the US, the UK and across the globe. From girl groups, such as the Shangri-Las, to surf rock icons, including Dick Dale and the Beach Boys, to Motown icons, such as Roy Orbison, many of the most influential names surfaced in the 60s, while it was becoming even more central to mainstream culture. Yet, it wasn’t until the British bands, the Kinks, the Stones and the Beatles, entered the mix that the infatuation with rock music started to take hold. The mere mention of the Beatles was enough to drive fanatics into hysterics. In 1965, Bob Dylan showed the globe a brand-new face of rock music with the advent of art-rock. After the assassination of MLK and Robert Kennedy, rock music started getting angrier and more political, which saw the rise of Creedence Clearwater Revival and Led Zeppelin.

The 1970s

After the drug-fuelled experimental era in the 60s, rock music started to take a more solid form in the 70s. After the Vietnam war, music fans were on the hunt for euphoria, and ABBA delivered with their freshly orchestrated disco sound, which moved away from the edgy intoxicated vibes that the 60s artists were keen to flaunt. There was an explosion of subgenres in the 70s, which is by no means limited to punk rock, prog rock, glam rock, funk rock, Southern Rock and hard-rock. Some of the most defining rock artists of this era include Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, The Who, David Bowie, the Eagles, Black Sabbath, Fleetwood Mac and Queen.

The 1980s

After the death of disco and rock’s mainstream reign started to lose its lustre, things got darker with the invention of heavy metal, alt-rock, goth rock, and post-punk. For music fans not swayed by the furore of metal, New Wave, Electronica and Hip Hop also started taking off in the 80s, an era that became defined by its new electronic technology. The Police, Duran Duran, Metallica, Aerosmith, Guns N Roses and Iron Maiden all shared plenty of chart dominance, and for the first time, rock music wasn’t just a revolutionary act; it was a benevolent one too. The 80s saw the official rise of the Charity Rock concerts, including the iconic Live Aid performance where Queen played to 72,000 attendees in 1985.

The 1990s

You can almost hear the intro to Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit when the 90s come up in the context of rock music. The 90s was the rise of alt-rock and independent artists who realised that they didn’t need backing from the big four labels. In America, the grunge and no-wave sub-genres were kicking up aural storms with bands such as Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Mud Honey and Screaming Trees, bringing brand-new meaning to the word discord. Across the pond in the UK, the sound was slightly tamer but infectious all the same, while Oasis, Blur, The Manic Street Preachers and Suede all started to dominate the charts. After Kurt Cobain died in 1994, rock followed suit.

2000 – 2022

Emo, pop-punk, nu-metal, metalcore and post-grunge were just a few of the sounds that brought in the turn of the century. Linkin Park, Green Day, Snow Patrol, Fall Out Boy, Blink 182, Foo Fighters, Weezer, My Chemical Romance, Deftones, Nine Inch Nails, Modest Mouse, Franz Ferdinand, The Offspring, Interpol and Muse all had their part to play in ensuring rock fans had fresh releases to sink their teeth in to. But it is indisputable; unlike with previous generations, rock music didn’t quite have the same mainstream pull anymore. But should rock ever have been about appeasing the planet in the same way pop artists clamour to.

In 2017, hip hop finally overtook rock music as the most popular genre. But don’t start arranging its funeral yet. Thanks to the internet era of music, the number of successful independent rock bands is on the rise, and we don’t expect that trend to diminish any time soon. And let’s not forget that hip hop is part of Rock n Roll’s heritage – so don’t be so quick to dismiss the Rockstar hip hop artists keeping the attitude of hip hop a part of our culture.

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Now you know the history of rock music, get up to date with new trends by visiting our top indie music blogs. We cover the top breaking artists, allowing you to discover all the upcoming pioneers before they break into the mainstream.

How A Music Blog Works

Posted on 28 February 2022

Mainstream and independent music blogs are still one of the best ways for artists to connect with wider audiences. Music blogs help build thriving and engaging scenes, platform promising new talent, and perhaps most importantly for independent artists, they build credibility.

Each blog operates in its own way and has a different balance of editorial content, interviews and reviews. But in essence, the fundamental functionality of a music blog is to connect artists to readers.

What is a Music Blog?

Music blogs are online publications that run music-related content. Generally, music blogs cover single reviews, album reviews, live reviews, tour announcements and music-related news topics. They’re the natural and digital evolution from the zines that floated around their respective scenes, but by no means are music blogs an underground industry.

Pitchfork, NME, Rolling Stone, HotNewHipHop and Stereogum are up there with some of the best-known music blogs – yes, they count as music blogs too – music blogs don’t just include the shady WordPress sites run by people with no influence and shocking grammar skills.

How to Submit Your Music to a Music Blog

Now we have answered the “what is a music blog?” question, we will move on to how you can get your music featured on blogs. Most blogs that are open to accepting new artists have a submission page that you can use to send your music, artwork and info; other blogs accept submissions via email. Prior to your submission, create an EPK, or at the very least, write a bio.

Though it may be tempting to send review requests to bloggers, journalists and editors via social media, it is usually better to use social platforms to connect with key figures and gatekeepers and then enquire about the submission process.

Before landing a review in your dream publication, you should be incredibly discerning with who you submit our music to – there is no point in pouring the time and energy into pitching to a music blog when your music doesn’t fit the bill. God loves a trier, but for the most part, music journalists don’t.

For example, London-based artists should seek out London music blogs that welcome artists of their genre & style. For artists with a niche sound, there’s also a plethora of music blogs that focus on sub-genres. For time-pressed artists, sites such as Submit Hub can connect independent artists with bloggers and influencers, along with playlisters, YouTubers and other artists.

While some music blogs, such as Pitchfork and Kerrang, only feature established artists, others, such as A&R Factory, are built to help grassroots artists find their feet in the industry as well as champion established artists and their new releases.

Our submission page is always open to artists that are looking to garner hype and get a share-worthy soundbite on a new single or album release. Unlike some blogs, we are open to artists of all genres, and our experienced editorial team will take the time to understand you and your music before putting it in the best light in front of our high readership.

How to Warm Up Your Voice

Posted on 25 February 2022

Warming up your voice before a performance, practice, or studio session will not only help you to make the best of your performance. It is also a preventative measure to protect your voice against potentially career-ending issues.

Even if the difference between your cold voice and your warmed up voice is almost unnoticeable, singing through warmed up vocals can make it easier to push for the high notes, and generally, warm-ups take away the breathy tone. Even if you are aiming for a breathy tone, you must warm up your vocals if you want to be in the industry for the long haul.

Singing is much like any other physical activity, it requires stamina, a warm-up and a cool-down. This article will list 5 of the best vocal warm-up techniques which vocalists can work into a 10–20-minute warm-up practice. Though the vocal exercises may seem simple, they come recommended by experienced and accredited vocal instructors.

How To Warm Up Your Vocals: 5 Instructor Approved Tips

Get Loose with the Yawn & Sigh Technique

To improve range and relax your vocals, use the simple Yawn & Sigh technique. The technique starts with a yawn, but on the exhale, breathe through your nose; in a similar way to how you sigh with a nasal exhale.

Warm Up with Humming Techniques

The objective of a warm-up is to use techniques that don’t put a lot of strain on vocal cords. Humming is one of the best ways to start. After you have placed the tip of your tongue against your teeth, hum the major scale while ensuring that your mouth remains closed. This technique can also be done with a straw if that works better for you.

Tongue & Lip Trilling Techniques

To make the most out of your lip trilling (or lip buzzing) warm-up, use pitch slides as you make your lips vibrate by blowing air through your mouth and nose. Tongue trilling is slightly harder to get the hang of, but singers who have no issue rolling their Rs or curling their tongues should have few issues with the tongue trilling practice.

Pitch Glide Warm-Ups

Two-octave pitch glides are one of the best ways of improving range before a warm-up. Start by making an “ohhhh” or “eeeee” sound, then move through chromatic notes on a two-octave range. As you go up and down the range, you will transition from the chest voice to the head voice.

The Portamento Technique

This technique shares some similarities to the two-octave pitch glide technique, but this time, you will slide from one note to the next in your full range while skipping the in-between notes.

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Remember that cooling down is just as important at the end of a gig, recording session or practice; the same warm-up methods outlined above can help the vocal cords relax. For more industry-approved tips and guides, keep A&R Factory on your radar. Or you can check out our singer songwriter blogs which feature the best up and coming talent from across the globe.

How to Create and Produce EDM Music?

Posted on 21 February 2022

If you are looking to start experimenting with EDM music production and you’re looking for the fundamentals, this article will work as a beginner’s guide to the process and the equipment that you’ll need to get started.

Learning how to create and produce EDM music will take much more than reading one article. It will take a lot of time, patience, research and experimentation to find your authentic sound and get it sounding as big as the beats from Calvin Harris, Tiesto, Avicii, and Martin Garrix.

Creating EDM may seem easier than becoming a guitar virtuoso or a concert pianist, but there is still an incredibly steep learning curve if you want to produce a GOOD track. Think of it in the same way as the adage that “if you give enough monkeys typewriters, they will eventually write Shakespeare” – the same goes for music production – it still creates skill.

Writing and producing an EDM track should never be a race to the finish line, but for anyone wondering how long it takes, the answer is anywhere between a few hours to a few months. Every EDM artist has their way of working, and generally, the more skilled they are, the faster they can pull together a radio-ready track.

How to create EDM Music

Gear Up

The first thing you need to know is that ANYONE can create EDM music; which wasn’t always the case when the gear was expensive and consumed a lot of space. Now, synths, pianos, and every other instrument can come in accessibly cheap simulated software form.

Your PC or Mac will be your main instrument after a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) has been downloaded, but there are no rules to how you create your arrangements, melodies, loops and beats. Some producers use keyboards, pads, or other forms of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) instruments that they find preference with. We recommend a MIDI controller that has pads and keys so you can create your beats, breaks and melodies on one controller, but the right MIDI for you boils down to your talent, preference and budget. Yet, you can’t go wrong with a Korg MIDI controller!

The second essential piece of kit is a USB audio interface, or the soundcard, which provides output and input from and to a computer; this means that you can listen to what you make via speakers and use your MIDI controller. To ensure that you will get an accurate impression of how your mix sounds, never skimp on the headphones or think that you can rely on your everyday headphones. They might make the music sound good, but they can distort the sound. Always opt for professional headphones, preferably from well-known manufacturers, such as Yamaha and PreSonus.

The last piece of physical kit you will need if you’re planning on bringing your vocals into the mix is a microphone – always do plenty of research before you make your purchase. Which mic is right for you will depend on your desired vocal style. For example, artists that want the popular auto-tuned style will need a high-quality condenser mic.

Getting Started

Before you start trying to create a track on your DAW, spend plenty of time getting to know how it works. You can either follow the manufacturer guide or watch helpful walkthrough videos on YouTube. The most popular DAWs include Ableton Live, Logic X Pro and FL Studio. Again, spend plenty of time researching which DAW is right for you.

Once you know the way around your DAW, start getting acquainted with the instruments and effects. Play around with equalising your synths and experimenting with compression and reverb; at this stage, you will only want to be creating simple loops instead of creating an entire song.

Next, you will need systematic knowledge that covers the entire process of EDM production. There is a range of courses available, both online and through universities, or you can check out YouTube channels. Another way EDM producers find their flair and skill is by reverse engineering their favourite tracks.

Once you know the anatomy of music production, you can start to think about how your track will take shape. Deciding to start with the intro or the drop will impact the final result.

One of the best EDM production tips is deciding how the vocals will work before getting too deep into the instrumentals. If vocals aren’t your forte, collaborate with a vocalist, use vocal samples or experiment with auto-tuning and other effects on your vocals.

At this stage, you should be making an effort to introduce yourselves to the range of effects available on your DAW. See how equalizers can balance frequencies, how compressors can amplify quieter elements, how auto-tuning corrects pitch. Then, you can get creative with your mix with delays and reverb, but as a general rule, don’t overdo it; your focus when producing EDM should always be the rhythm.

Once you are happy with the arrangement of your track and everything is in place, this is where the mixing and mastering come in. You can trust an experienced producer to make your mix as powerful, loud and colourful as the music you hear in clubs. Or you can have a crack at it yourself by finding the perfect levels for your bass, beats and synths. In every step of the process, keep an open and experimental mind. Always note how the smallest edits can change the entire atmosphere.

Conclusion

The question of ‘how to create EDM music’ opens up a wormhole of seemingly endless new questions and confusions. Once you’ve started the process, you will see how much goes into creating EDM music and how ridiculous the notion that EDM producers “aren’t real artists” is. Once you’ve created your first EDM track, consider using our submit EDM music form to have your mix reviewed by our editorial team. If you would like help with promotion, we have courses and 1-1 packages available to artists looking to make their mark in the EDM scene.

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