Make music

Suitable for:11 to 16, 16+
Music technology

You don’t have to be a trained musician to make music. A lot of popular music today is homemade, using software. All you really need is a computer, a creative mind and a good ear for what works.

Try out your own ideas


Write a song or an instrumental track and record it using a basic app or some more sophisticated software. Share your work with friends. Your idea can be as simple or as complex as you like. Don’t worry about making everything perfect, just play around and have fun.

#sheffieldmakesmusic

Did you know?


Tons of artists, including Billie Eilish, Bon Iver, Calvin Harris, Daniel Bedingfield and even Bruce Springsteen have released records that were (at least partially) recorded in home studios. Eilish and other stars like Arctic Monkeys started out by sharing their songs online. Do the same using #sheffieldmakesmusic

See ‘explore more’ for tips on getting started and tutorials on software you might want to get. You may already have a basic music-making app on your laptop or phone. If you or your friends play instruments, then of course you should incorporate them too!

For tips on getting started and to find out more about home studio software take a look at this.

Whether you want to master an instrument or become a sound engineer, there are lots of tutorials on Youtube. This video by Andrew Huang, for example, has tips on technical stuff as well as how to develop your talent.

Tracktion and GarageBand are some free music making software that you might want to try. Don't forget to take a look at their online tutorials. 

Producer Hive have written this great article offering an alterative list of free music making software packages that run on windows. 

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