The album production checklist: every stage from demo to master
By Ryan Whitten · Updated October 2, 2026
A home-recorded song goes through four phases: producing, tracking, mixing and mastering. Below is every step in each, with what "done" means, so you can pick the ones your album or EP needs and tick them off song by song. Keep the list short: a step belongs on it only if most songs need it.
Producing
- Write the music. Done when the structure is settled: every section exists and the order won't change.
- Write the lyrics. Done when every line is written. Small rewrites in the vocal booth are fine; whole verses are not.
- Demo. Done when there's a rough recording at the final tempo and key that the band, or future you, can track to.
Tracking
- Drums. Done when the takes are chosen, not when they're recorded.
- Bass.
- Guitars: acoustic, electric and lead as separate steps if your songs use them.
- Keys and synths.
- Other instruments only where most songs have them: percussion, piano, organ, strings, horns. A one-off part on one song doesn't need a column.
- Lead vocals. Done when there's a comp of the whole song you'd be happy to mix.
- Harmonies and backing vocals.
- Instrument editing. Timing, comping and cleanup across the instrument tracks.
- Vocal editing. Comping, timing and tuning. Done when you'd send the session to someone else to mix.
Put both editing passes last. Capture first, clean up after, so editing doesn't hold up the next take.
Mixing
- Rough mix. A static balance with nothing clever. Done when you can listen to the whole song without anything sticking out.
- Mix. The full mix pass. Done when you've bounced a version you'd play for someone.
- Mix revisions. Work the notes, bounce, listen, repeat. Done when the punch list is empty or you hit your revision limit.
- Car test. Done when the mix has been heard away from the studio, next to a reference track, at matched loudness. How to car-test →
- Mix approved. Done when you, and anyone whose opinion counts on this project, say so. Print the final mix and any alternates you need, like an instrumental.
Mastering
- Master. Done when you have the mastered file, whether you sent it out or did it yourself.
- Reference check. The master next to two or three commercial tracks in the same genre, at matched loudness.
- Car test. Again, on the master. Different problems show up at master loudness.
- Master approved. Done when the file is final. A finished master is the definition of a finished song.
Once per project, not per song
Some jobs happen once for the whole project rather than per song, so they don't belong on the per-song grid. Keep them as a short list of their own:
- Running order, and the spacing between songs.
- Artwork.
- Credits and songwriter splits.
- ISRC codes, which most distributors can assign for you.
- The distributor upload and the release date.
Using the checklist
Make each step a column and each song a row, and color the cells as you go. The phases run in order: finish tracking on every song before mixing any of them, and you'll always know how far the project is from done. The full system →
In StudioTrackr this list is the step library you choose from when you create a project: tick the steps your album or EP needs, untick the rest, and the Studio Board builds itself from your choices. You can add, rename and reorder steps any time.
