ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the basics of music production, Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) sequencing, editing and mixing, and discusses how these techniques can be used in music education. Digital audio workstation (DAW) software enables the capturing, editing, and playback of music. DAWs include audio and virtual instrument (MIDI) tracks and enable the visual representation and editing of recorded data in a variety of formats. A technical limitation of multi-tracking is the number of inputs the recording device has. For solo music projects, overdubbing tracks is the obvious choice; for a group, either approach can be taken. When overdubbing, use the track muting and soloing functions so that only the desired parts are heard through the monitors or headphones. Large-scale edits, such as cutting and rearranging musical phrases, can be performed in the time line window. Mixing processes are done in the DAW software, and many of the elements of music production technologies are employed at the mixing stage.
