Tools Necessary for Digital Songwriting

Video Transcript

"Hi! This is David Jackel for Expert Village and I am going to talk to you about the different tools that you are going to need for song writing. What you are going to need is a computer. You are going to need a software program that you can record on to. I've used a whole bunch of different ones. They are all even good. Even the cheapest to the high end stuff, everything works fine. In fact, I would recommend using the cheaper stuff if it's just for songwriting because it is less complicated. The next thing you are going to need for digital songwriting is a pair of monitors. The reason you use monitors and not just headphones is that the monitors give you a much more accurate picture of what the final sound is going to be like. Also, headphones could hurt your hearing after a while so I suggest using monitors. You can get a cheap pair for under a $100. Another things you will need though are headphones when you are tracking. Headphones also don't have to be very expensive and you may have a pair anyway just lying around your house. You are going to want a hard drive to back up your sound especially if you have a lot of files that you are recording and you want to make sure that you never have to erase stuff that you like because you are making space. More stuff that you need; if you are recording any audio stuff which I suspect you will be if you are a singer songwriter, you will need audio interface. Audio interface doesn't have to be very expensive either. You can get them for under a $100 bucks and this is a way to go from either a guitar or vocal mic or keyboard or anything that is making an audio signal and have it go into your computer. This way you can control the strength, the signal and the different qualities of the signal. It isn't necessary but it is very useful. You can go directly into your computer but I recommend using an audio interface. Keyboards fall into the category of very useful but not absolutely necessary. But if you are going to be doing media recording, I highly recommend using a keyboard because you can control the attack and you have more versatility with your playing. A lot of computers like mine have keyboards on screen that you can use. Again, playing with your laptop is not the same thing as having a real keyboard with all the keys to work with and it is a good investment. A good mic is also a good useful tool to have. If you are a singer and going to be recording your voice, you absolutely need to have a mic anyway and there are some mics that go directly into computers these days even though I prefer using the audio interface. The important thing to remember as you are inquiring equipment for doing digital songwriting is that no matter how much money it cost to put this stuff together, it is so much cheaper than if you were not doing it digitally and you will have all the benefits of a real studio for a small amount of money. "