Here is an article I wrote on Electronic Music Production!
Electronic music spans a vast and expansive world of sonic possibility from experimental to dance to dirty southern hip-hop beats. Music production of any type is a daunting yet rewarding pursuit that can fulfill an artists dream to create, a hustlers drive to sell tunes, or both. The tools of the trade are primarily computers, synthesizers and drum machines. Sounds can be both generated and sampled from external analog instrumentation (guitars, drum sets, vocals) or internally through digital software synthesizers, audio samples or MIDI data.
In the modern production of any form of music the computer lies at the heart of the studio. It is the number one tool you are going to be utilizing in your music production endeavors. Your computer needs to be powerful in order to run and render all of the audio and video elements of your sessions, and you should also invest in a large external hard drive, preferably firewire.
Next you’re going to need an acoustically appropriate room or environment in which to set up your studio. Avoid parallel walls and high ceilings as bass frequency waves are long and tend to collect in corners or in between parallel surfaces. This can distort how you are perceiving the sound and can cause you to create muddy and distorted mixes. Professional studios rely on Auralex foam (www.auralex.com) to eliminate bass traps and unbalanced acoustic environments, but you can use thick padding, rugs, blankets, carpets or really anything to absorb unwanted reflected sound in your studio.
The atmosphere in your production environment should be as pleasing as possible as this is where you are going to be spending many long hours. There is one thing I cannot emphasize enough in your studio design and that is a correct deck configuration with consideration for posture. Make sure your chair has good back support and that your monitor, mouse and keyboard are at ergonomic and comfortable positions. Your body will be affected by how you’re sitting for many continuous hours.
The DAW
The second element in creating music electronically, after a powerful computer, is a master DAW or Digital Audio Workstation. A DAW is essentially a sequencer that is going to control, arrange and edit the entirety of sounds and instruments that will either be coming in through your hardware interface, imported from your hard drive, or generated by a software plug in. Lets discuss the different DAWs so you can get a feeling for what suits your specific needs.
Pro Tools
(Mac OS, Windows): This program is considered the industry standard in recording studios world wide. Created by Digidesign Pro Tools is an all encompassing software and hardware package that can edit both audio and MIDI, can write scores through music notation or video sequencing and can utilize third party plug in applications. The proprietary software Pro Tools comes included with the Digidesign hardware interface package and Pro Tools will not run without the interface attached. The interface can come in a variety of packages designed to suit either the amateur producer or the studio mogul. The smallest package is a single USB stick which allows Pro Tools to run and stores session data, the next step up is the MBox Mini which features only two inputs and no MIDI. We then graduate to the MBox 2, MBox Pro and the 303 all of which have multiple inputs and varying levels of functionality. You can learn more about the individual packages and the program itself at
Cubase (Mac OS, Windows):
Cubase is a widely used and respected DAW created by Steinberg Media Technologies. Cubase features the same functionality and a very similar configuration to Pro Tools. Cubase is capable of recording live audio, sequencing and programming MIDI and accepting third party plug in applications. This DAW was one of the first programmed and has been around in some variant or another since 1989. You can learn more about Cubase at www.Steinberg.net.
Ableton Live (Mac OS, Windows):
This program is a fully functional DAW in its own regard and can also record, edit and sequence live audio, program MIDI notes and accept third party plug in applications. Ableton Live has a very intuitive and simplistic user interface and can be customized in a variety of ways. Ableton touts this program as being designed to sequence live shows and loop based music, and in this regard it has specific appeal for electronic music producers. You can learn more about Ableton Live at www.Ableton.com.
Reason (Mac OS, Windows):
This amazing little program created by Propellerhead Software is considered a DAW but lacks in audio functionality and plug in acceptance. What Reason lacks in functionality it drastically makes up for in its efficient workflow and creative expressive capacity. Reason is a self-contained modular studio rack with instruments and samplers triggered via MIDI in a very intuitive and simplistic sequencer that allows a producer to get an idea out quick and perfect it later.
Although Reason cannot accept any third party plug in applications it does contain an array of effects and modulations to alter sound in almost any way imaginable and best of all it can easily be used itself as a plug in application and sequenced through the more powerful DAW's. You can learn more about Propellerhead's Reason at www.propellerheads.se.
Fruity Loops or FL Studio (Windows):
This once frowned upon application has made its mark on the world of production by generating some of the hottest hip hop beats and electronic sounds to come out in the last 5 years. Just check out the drum and bass producer Spor, and we all know Soulja Boy's smash hit produced with FL Studio. This program is another fully functioning DAW with audio and MIDI editing, recording and a full acceptance off all third party plug in applications. FL Studio is also "aggressively" priced compared to the other DAW's and can be a good start for a young producer. You can learn more about Fl Studio or Fruity Loops at
These are the most dominant Digital Audio Workstations available and in order to begin creating electronic music you are going to need to acquire one. Many can be downloaded directly from their respective sites or purchased at most music stores. Some other DAW’s that you can easily research are Cakewalk’s Sonar and Sony's Acid Pro. Sonar is extremely similar to Cubase but can only be based on a Windows platform. Acid Pro is a Windows based loop and sample centered sequencer that can be used for easy and quick music production.
Once you have purchased your desired software DAW your well on your way to music production due to the fact that your software already contains all of the elements you need to get a song fired up. First things first read your software's manual and snag some good tutorial books off of Amazon.com. Now that you have a grasp of what your software can do and how it functions your going to need a way to communicate with your software through an interface. Pro Tools comes standard with an interface and the other DAWs have many options availably. Firewire is always preferred but USB is just fine as well.
The third thing you are going to need after a computer and a DAW is a pair of high quality monitor speakers. These speakers are specially designed to give you a flat response, meaning that the speaker itself doesn’t impact how the sound waves are being reproduced. This is imperative in professional music production as you need to objectively hear your music’s accurate frequency image in order to adjust your mix accordingly.
The final and most important tool for creating electronic music is high fidelity samples and sounds. Music is created from bits of sound and in order to make high quality sounding music need to use high quality pieces of audio. They say you can't polish a turd so start out with good sounding material. Samples can be acquired in a multitude of ways from sample CD's to online databases. Just searching google.com can yield some beneficial results. A great site for uploading and finding samples is www.freesound.org. You should always be sure a specific sound isn't copy written or licensed before using it. We have discussed the tools necessary for electronic music production and can now delve into the world of creativity and imagination.
Tips for Success
Music is an art and in creating it one becomes an artist. Not everyone is born an artist or desires to become one but for those with a strong enough drive this dream can become a reality. Now that you have all of the necessary tools for producing your own music you are going to need to spend a large amount of time doing so. At first your songs are not going to sound professional or even polished but over time as you gain experience and knowledge you will begin to see an improvement in both quality and originality.
Focus first on sequencing both audio and MIDI material and develop a through intuition of what sounds fit well together. Learn an instrument and practice every day. Preferably try to learn the piano or keyboard as it is the main interface for recoding musical data into DAWs and sequencers. Focus on arrangement and rhythm and find a unique groove that gets your head nodding. One of the greatest lessons in music production is to keep it simple. Using high quality samples and interesting and unique arrangements you can captivate and entrain the listener without too many overdone layers or parts.
After you have a firm grasp on the fundamentals of song writing your going to want to perfect your mixes by studying and incorporating EQ, compression/limiting, and reverb to give your productions a professional edge. Don't try to learn every program out there or overburden yourself with gear just lean your favorite softsyth or DAW fully and efficiently. You will be able to get ideas down quicker and many operations that you previously had to think about will become second nature.
Listen to a lot of music and experiment constantly but always be wary to not imitate or replicate your adored artists. Forge your own path and create a new genre of music all together, your music. Equipped with the necessary tools, the time to devote and a drive for perfection anyone can succeed at becoming a music producer!
Very interesting article for starters and a good read for everyone else. Though at the end, I wasn’t really sure about your actual target audience as you had tips for total starters and for people that already spent some time with music production. I found that a bit misleading.
A total starter should check out what a daw is and how it works and not worry about room acoustics and monitors... yet.
Maybe you could restructure your article a bit and have it more as something that describes a process, you know what I mean? Starting simple and gaining from there on, taking care about one issue after another!?
Don’t get this the wrong way, I really don’t want to criticize you here as you took your time to write all that and in effect it’s gold. I thought your work deserved a more differentiated review so I gave it a go.
Btw, I’m glad your DAW description was rather objective so nobody should feel a craving for another senseless discussion à la “what daw sucks and what sounds hot”.
