What to Look for in a Music Production Machine

BPM Control

BPM stands for beats-per-minute, which establishes the tempo for your song. For example, a slow love song would have tempo of 70 BPM, while fast dance music could have a tempo of 200 BPM or higher. A music production machine that allows you to quickly and easily adjust the BPM of your song is a useful and powerful tool.

MP3 Export

Make sure the music production machine you choose has the ability to export the completed song to MP3 format. The MP3 format is open-source, meaning anyone can use it for free, and is compatibly with almost every digital music player on the market. Many music production machines will only export the completed song to an obscure and proprietary format that is only compatible with a handful of digital music players. Unfortunately, a lot of musicians don't realize this until they've completed their song and try to distribute it to their friends. When they find that can't, or that it's very difficult and/or expensive to do so, it can be very frustrating.

These are just the basic any decent music production machine should have. Other great (but non-essential) elements to look for in a good music production machine include large sample & sound libraries, VST plugins, and built-in audio production tools. In general, try to get a music production machine with as many extra features as your budget can afford. But don't settle for a music production machine without any of the elements mentioned above. Sooner or later, you'll regret it.

Author: Beebob, http://www.beatsmusicworld.com, 2010