Congratulations on all the ways you improved your music this year.

2018 was massive for the LANDR community. We’ve enjoyed learning right along with you through 355 articles in 7 different languages, covering everything from reverb plugins to music theory and everything in between…

It’s a lot to take in! In case you missed it here’s the absolute best of the LANDR Blog — according to you.

You learned essential music theory

Whether you’re a beginner wondering how to write a song, or a seasoned vet that needs a refresher from time to time, music theory is always an important topic. Nothing’s better than digging into some new music theory concepts.

This year we covered a lot. But the ideas that helped the most were:

Chord Progressions 101: How to Arrange Chords in Your Songwriting

Chord progressions are the meat on the bones of your songs. Writing a good chord progression is one of the most important parts of composing music.

Find out what chord progressions are, how to build them and where to put them in your songs.

Circle of Fifths: What It Is and How to Use It in Your Songwriting

Ah, the circle of fifths. It’s your guide for remembering key signatures and your roadmap for moving around closely related keys.

There’s a reason it’s a cornerstone of music theory. So if you need to brush up, or it’s your first time around, go check the circle and start building.

Chord Building 101: 4 Basic Chord Types and How to Play Them

Chords! If you build them they will come.

Here’s the definitive guide on how to construct chords. Learn what they are, how to build them, and where to use them in your songwriting.

7 Music Theory Exercises to Kick Start Your Songwriting 

Keeping your music theory chops in shape is never a bad move. But music theory isn’t just about knowing, it’s about doing.

In the spirit of staying musically fit, here’s a list of seven music theory exercises to keep you on your toes and help you discover new ideas for your songwriting.

Music Modes: How to Enrich Your Sound with Modal Colour

We spent a ton of time covering tonal harmony with our circle of fifths and chord guides this year. So the obvious next step was diving in head first to music modes.

Discover what modes are, what they sound like and how to use them in your songs.

You discovered better tools for your mixes

This year we embarked on a quest to find the best plugins for every type of mixing moment.

Here’s a comprehensive library of the top plugins for every budget:

The 11 Best Delay Plugins for Every Mix Situation

Delay is an important tool for creating space in your mix. Check our list of the best delay plugins

The 15 Best Reverb Plugins for Every Mix Situation

Reverb is your first choice for adding ambience to your tracks. Here’s our guide to the best plugins for every type of reverb.

The 15 Best EQ Plugins to Shape Your Mix

EQ is the tool you reach for most during a mix. Here’s the top choices for every style of EQ.

The 14 Best Modulation Plugins for Adding Movement to Your Mix

Modulation effects are key for adding flavour and movement to your mixes. Here’s the fourteen best modulation plugins in every category.

You grew your sample library… for free!

Sample packs fire up creativity like nothing else. LANDR Samples debuted in 2018 and we’ve been growing the library with essential packs ever since.

In case you missed it, here’s some of the best free LANDR Samples packs to get you started.

The 50 Best Kick Samples

Kick samples are the heartbeat of good tracks. Whether it’s trap, house, EDM, garage or grunge, a good kick is the perfect anchor for any tune. These fifty kick drum samples are everything you need to give your tracks the perfect thump, or layer to design your own low end.

The 50 Best Vocal Samples

Vocal samples breathe life into tracks. Vocal loops and a capella samples can be the inspiration for new beats, or the finishing touch on your next track. This free vocals sample pack gives you the vocalist’s touch—everything from lush vocal loops to sung one-shots for microsampling.

The 50 Best Drum Loops

Drum loops and drum breaks are essential tools in music production and beatmaking. Everyone desires loops from time to time. Grab a loop and start writing your bassline or melodies over top.

You got serious about releasing and promoting your music

We all know that releasing and promoting are important parts of DIY music today. So this year we dug our heels in on helping you do it better.

5 Reasons Offline Promotion Will Always Win

There was no shortage of online music promotion going on in 2018. But sometimes the most effective promotion you can do is out there the real world.

Here’s five ways to take your music promotion offline.

5 Things You Should Share With Your Fans Besides Your Music

When you don’t have new music to share with your followers, you’ll need to reach for something else to feed your feeds.

Check out our tips for what to share with your fans other than your music.

5 Ways to Promote New Music Way Before Your Release Date

Good promotion starts way before your release date. The best promotion plans happen before, during and after your record is live.

Learn five ways to get ahead of the curve with promoting your release.

You bounced better mixes for better masters

No one should ever stop learning how to mix. This year we covered the most important subjects out there when it comes to getting the best mix possible.

Audio Compression 101: How to Use a Compressor for a Better Mix

Compression will never go out of style, no matter what year it is. Learn the basics of this essential audio engineering topic.

How to EQ Kick and Bass for Better Low End

Here’s the very best tricks for EQ’ing kick and bass to get your lows thumping.

Gain Staging: How to Get Healthy Levels for a Better Mix

Here at LANDR we’re on a mission to bring headroom to the world. Keeping good headroom is one of the best things you can do to improve your masters. Watch and learn how to make your own.

Mixing an Album: 10 Tips For Keeping Your Album Sound Consistent

LANDR levelled up this year by adding a new way to master projects of any size: Album Mastering.

So to help everyone get the most consistent, polished album sound possible here’s how to mix with an album in mind.

You did it on your own

It’s always better to take matters into your own hands when it comes to your music. So we took a look at how to do one of the most important parts of distribution yourself.

How to Make Your Own Album Cover in 3 Steps

One of the biggest roadblocks to releasing your music is making good cover art.

It needs to look as good as it sounds. But If you’re not exactly visually inclined it can be tough to get there. Here’s some helpful tools that will help you make cover art to be proud of.

Year in the rearview

2018 was a great year for making and learning all things music.

Thanks to you and your passion, we’re ready to discover a whole lot more together in the coming year.

Here’s to making even more in 2019!

The post The 20 Best Things We Learned About Making Music in 2018 appeared first on LANDR Blog.