Why do professional recordings sound, well…professional? There are a number of reasons, including high quality microphones, pre-amps, an experienced engineer and a well-designed studio space. One of the single most important elements in a great-sounding, professional recording is the performance of the session musicians. It’s these musicians whose talent and studio experience contribute in a major way to the polished sound of a recording. In this article I’ll show you how using session musicians specifically applies to songwriting demos.

Working as a producer for the last ten years, I’ve recorded with all kinds of artists from “fresh off the boat” newbies to artists whose experience in the world of music doubles or even triples my own. In every case, my role as a producer stays essentially the same. It’s that role that I’m going to describe in this article.

Singer-songwriter Ari Hest is a self-made success story. Even while under contract to a major label, he decided to break loose so he could record and release new music directly to fans on his own terms. The result was “52″, a collection of 52 individual songs written, recorded and released one at a time every [...]

Today’s computer recording technology provides songwriters with the tools necessary to achieve beautifully textured arrangements. One major tool in the songwriter-producer’s arsenal is MIDI. While it provides loads of instrumentation options and editing capabilities, MIDI can also be a perfectionist’s nightmare, causing endless tweaking and draining the creative process.

In part one of this two-part series on MIDI and Songwriting, I’ll cover the basics of MIDI, how it works, and what you need to know. I’ll also show you how to set up for MIDI recording using Reason and Pro Tools.