Not very long ago, making a recording cost thousands of dollars, requiring very expensive equipment and a team of highly skilled engineers to run the equipment. These recordings were normally done in acoustically tuned rooms housed in multi-million dollar facilities - simply out of reach for most musicians. Today, excellent songs are being produced in basements, bedrooms, outdoors and even in cars! I've heard amazing recordings done in home studios with almost no budget at all. If you have a computer and an idea for a song, you have everything you need. No instruments? No worries. Just check out Bobby McFerrin – he recorded many songs with nothing more than his voice!

The one thing that remains the same is the drive and passion it takes to make good music. Regardless of time period or technology – it's the song that matters. With the recent advancements in technology, the cost and ease of getting your songs produced and out to the masses is amazing! Once your song is finished you can upload it to yallafan.net and let the world hear your songs. You are on the road to superstardom!

If your first recording doesn't come out sounding like the latest Madonna recording, it's okay. She's had lots of practice. You can get there, too. Songwriting and recording is a craft and it gets better with practice. These tutorials are here to help you get the most out of your recordings. We'll be right beside you every step of the way. If you have any questions, send me an Email at chrisvanscyoc@yallafan.net. I will do my best to help.

So you have a song in your head and you want to share it with the world. Let's start with the lyrics. Write them down! You can upload them to yallafan.net in the space reserved for your biography and start connecting with musicians through yallafan.net; reach out to musicians who have uploaded their work and see if you can become partners. Nobody will know what you are capable of if your work isn't out there to be seen!

The lyrics are what the singer says; but the melody is the part that people sing. If you have an idea for a melody that goes along with your lyrics, you will want to record it. If I have an idea when I'm not in my studio, I will use the recording application in my cell phone to record and store the idea until I get home. Sometimes the melody comes first for me. That's fine. Be sure to record your melody or you might forget the melody that ends up being a hit. Don't let this happen!

You have lyrics and a melody. A cell phone recording probably isn't your idea of high fidelity. So, let's take it up another notch. Most computers are equipped with an internal microphone and some speakers. So, you have a microphone and a set of monitors. They might not be great, but they'll do for now. I will save choosing an audio interface for a future tutorial. For now, do an Internet search for "recording freeware." You'll find so many options that don't require any hardware. Audacity is a free cross-platform sound editor that can get your ideas playing back to you with very little effort - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/. Last I checked, there was an option for Arabic text.

If you are using a Mac, then you may already have a very powerful music production tool at your fingertips. Apple's Garage Band is packaged with most Macintosh computers produced in the last couple of years. Find an application that makes sense to you. If your first choice doesn't work, try another until you find the one you like.

This week, try getting some lyrics written and a melody for your lyrics. Second, download the free recording application of your choice, start finding your way around, record your lyrics and play them back. If you get your voice recorded, saved and playing back over your speakers, that's a giant leap forward. Finally, be sure to register at yallafan.net and let the world know that you have arrived!

It's a long road.
It's a fun road.
We're going to walk it together.

Let's go!

YallaFan