Generic apps are what generic apps are. Basic. They don’t do anything particularly well. Whether it’s matching your pitch. So what app is the best?
The best app to teach yourself singing is a DAW. A DAW allows you to customize any exercise that you are practicing. It also gives you a way to get into recording yourself at your convenience and the basics of music production.
In comparison, a DAW will outperform any other app you have. It’s not just about being versatile, everything a DAW can do has been ironed out to perfection.
How DAW Helps You Practice
The end goal is for you to become better at singing and not an app user. DAWs are hands-down the best application you can get your hands on to make yourself a better singer!
Rhythm
Practicing rhythm with a DAW is easy. You can get a drum groove and keep changing the tempo if you’d like until you become good at sensing and practicing along with that particular tempo.
You can also just click a button, enter a new tempo and now you have the same exercise at a different speed. As easy as that. It’s also a great visual indicator of how far you’ve come.
Harmony
You can do the same but with melodies and practicing arpeggios or extending your vocal range! You can also enable yourself to hear yourself (hopefully with headphones) as you are practicing along with other sounds and take it further with more complex harmonic and melodic exercises!
Practice Rhythm and Harmony Simultaneously
Now, mix the two. Sing harmonies in a time or rhythm that you have never before. Or, you can make one element easier and focus on the other to better practice your weaknesses.
The list of possibilities for you to practice with a DAW is literally limitless. The only thing stopping you at this point is downloading it.
Reality Check
There is no application as such that is going to make you better at singing. The best-case scenario for you to have is something that helps you practice more effectively. A DAW, for someone who doesn’t know, is a digital audio workstation. Too heavy?
It allows you to edit, and record audio in more than one way. Including sounds, you don’t even have to leave your seat.
Other Perks of DAWs
DAWs are close to being free
You don’t have to think twice about owning a DAW these days because they are super cheap for what they are worth at the moment. In the case of Reaper, you can actually have the whole thing with no built-in barrier without paying. Though, I strongly encourage that you do pay them eventually.
Composing
DAWs are where most of the 21st-century music composing happens, whether it’s a lo-fi beat or the newest hottest pop single. Everything is done in the DAW and there is no going back. They are so amazing that you can actually get real-sounding virtual instruments that can replace almost an orchestra.
Arranging
Goes without saying that if the software can produce then it can also arrange. You can learn a lot trying to cover a song in a DAW of another band. It’ll teach you heaps and heaps of not just music production but how to actually write songs like the artists you listen to.
Beginner Music Producer?
Yeah, you read that right. Internet connection and a quick download of a DAW and you’ve already put yourself in the shoes of becoming a producer. This means, if you keep at it you are going to teach yourself not just how to practice more effectively but also how to edit audio and even the basics of mixing.
What this means is, that it opens up a brand new possibility for you to record yourself from any corner of the world, and send that audio file back to whoever in the world to be mixed and mastered for the better.
Save Money
Continuing on, if you ever do decide to take your home-recorded song to the next level by becoming a better producer you will end up saving a lot of money (not an exaggeration). It’s not even a joke how much money goes into recording a single song in the studios and how much they charge musicians who don’t even have a name in the industry.
The reality is that eventually, you will have to record yourself and you will wonder how to do it at home. Let me save you some time, unless you own a studio or a label that owns a studio you will 100% benefit from learning how to use a DAW.
A friend of mine in India is scouring for studios with the ‘best rates’ after he didn’t listen to me three years prior when I whispered the magical words, “..learn how to produce music at home..”.
This particular skill, being able to work with a DAW is one skill. If I had to choose one skill to know in music, it’d be music production (DAWs are essentially used for music production). Even though I have been using a DAW for quite a few years now, I have never made a beat. I only work with classical, rock and at times a mix of both. I rarely venture outside of this paradigm.
It will allow you to start arranging your own songs from day one and force you to understand how time and music are made in general.
Feedback System
I think this is probably going to be the strongest point for learning a DAW. You can get started in a day if you’d like.
The point is, you can record yourself and send the audio file to anyone over the world and get feedback. If you have an online tutor or someone who lives far away but can help you, imagine the possibility of learning from someone who is not there with you but you have the ability to send them your progress in just a matter of clicks.
I have written about how a beginner can progress really fast as a singer. One of the subtitles is having a ‘feedback system’. A DAW can be your only feedback system (though I don’t recommend it). Think about it, eventually you’ll develop an ear that is able to distinguish everything and you’ll be relying on yourself to make a call.
Especially during composing. You can get approval but like most composers, it’s going to be a lonely job but a fun one. Having a DAW is going to start preparing you for such situations and you’d be able to better handle your feedback.
My Misconceptions
I grudgingly texted my friend who once had told me to pick up music production that I hated how long the learning curve of a DAW was when I was in the first semester of music college. It was irritating and now it’s one of those things that I can’t live without. I just wish I had started earlier. That’s all.
Record? DAW. Produce? DAW. Practice? DAW. Eat? DAW.
You get the idea, it’s about making you stand on your own two feet and make it worth it.
Where Can You Learn From?
If you’re looking for a course to learn how to sing, then you should go here.
Whatever you do, I hope it leads to success!