So you can’t get to your usual studio, then use one of the countless free DAWs out there, from
Pro Tools First or
Studio One Prime and teach yourself how to record on your laptop, just using the onboard inbuilt microphone if need be – why not? There are hundreds of YouTube videos covering every aspect of the recording process, many of them aimed at complete beginners.
Or use an app like Abbey Road’s
Topline to get those ideas down and in the bank for when you can get back in the studio. Although online collaboration for live jamming with other musicians isn’t really available right now due to delay issues, you can still use apps like Skype or Zoom to speak face-to-face with other musicians, producers and songwriters just to riff from one another in real time. Who knows where it might lead?
The whole world right now seems (and needs) to be getting back to basics. Making music should be no different. Even if you wanted to record in one of the best studios in the world, at the moment you can’t. Time to get those ideas down and shared with potential collaborators in whatever way you can. Bruce Springsteen, Mike Skinner and Justin Vernon did this; so can you.