this is my first post here. I want to introduce myself to the community. I discovered the possibilities of electronic music production before two years. I was instantly sold when it came to the elektron gear. So I put mony aside for a long time…I am usually a bass guitar player, but also like all kind of electronic music, e.g. GusGus, Chemical Brothers or Etienne de Crecy. I would like to say thanks to everybody, who helped newbies like me to get into the technical aspect of the elektron gear. There are a vast number of post and youtube videos, which helped me to getting started with my new octatrack and a4.
But what i am missing are good resources about the musical aspect of the production. I know this is an individual challenge, but i suppose there must be some good principles, e.g. how to start building interesting rhythmical pattern appart from the 4 to the floor. What are the rules for building a bass line or what are the typical chord progressions. Where to get free samples like Legowelt ample packs. I would be very glad, if it could be possible to collect all the great tips and resources to learn the basics of electronic music production in one thread. I hope that this is a possible topic for a thread on elektronauts.
i have to say, there is no imminent answer to your question… each aspect of your question involves several sub categories and each of these several more.
first tip from me:
stick to 1 machine, on 1 track and do as much variations as possible there. let it be a drum pattern, or a drone, or a bass line, or a little synth melody … use slocks, plocks, FX locks, perf macros.
Yeah, think Karate Kid… Wax the floor, paint the fence… One day you’ll wake up be, ‘damn, I know kung-fu!’… It’s a natural progression, no real way round it. Watch as many videos as you can and don’t be afraid/precious with material. Though back stuff up that you dig if you’re gonna make heavy changes
It’s nice to know the the beginnings of electronic music, which is quite experimental. Experimentation is everything really. Don’t be afraid to try things and create without limiting yourself to this or that. It’s a lifelong journey, so just enjoy what you create each day and keep learning. I’m not so fussed on technical specifics anymore as much as I am simply just pleasing my own ears musically, but everyone has a different approach. Good luck
Check out this guy - one tut for house one for techno - focuses mainly on drums but adds a few other “typical” genre specific elements, approach to variations, plus some history and production tips:
It’s like when you’re starting out writing songs on the guitar: First you spend some time playing Dylan and Willie Nelson songs so you get a feeling for how a song is structured before composing your own.
Same here: Try to listen attentively to your favourite electronic musicians and try to rebuild their tracks. Dissect them completely. What’s the bass doing? How’s the beat structured? Are there any lead lines or pads?
Even the most abstract sounding beat has a “four to the floor” type of thing at its core and it probably started out this way. Just lay down a kick, snare and hats, real simple and primitive. Then experiment with different sounds and add and remove a little something here and there. Even the weirdest beat started like that and has that as its basic structure if you listen closely.
Oh dear. Where to even begin? “basics of electronic music production in one thread” - an Impossible task I’m afraid.
I will tell you this - whatever electronic music stands for nowadays, most of the styles etc have strong roots in the 80s and nineties (unlike original electronic music, which was highly academic/scientific and started already around 1890s), when people who couldn’t/wouldn’t play a traditional instrument figured out they could do electronic music without learning to play, and got their hands on whatever gear they could afford. Some resorted to sampling every- and anything and using the samples as the “hooks” of the songs, while some just messed with the knobs and sliders until they found something that sounded cool to them. So the less you know/study and the more you just explore the machines, the better off you will be. Becoming great at it takes special talent, like with any music, but generally the more you do the better you will become at it.
One thing that IMO is absolutely crucial in electronic music, is that things are holistic. Sometimes a sound being a specific way can be more important than the actual notes being played. Or you might have such a sound and note/etc sequence combo that it will only sound interesting in that specific form and context, with that specific effects etc. The same of course exists in other forms of music, but not to the degree that in electronic music IMO. Perhaps rock music has some similarities here, as it too relies on specific effects and electronic signal paths at times, at least the more indie sound of it anyway…
Do you really want to know how genre-specific tracks are made? in that case I suggest buying some club music in the new stems format and listening to the isolated tracks. Here’s a link to an online shop that sells stem music files, they already seem to have some music in the styles you listed liking:
. Or buying/torrenting popular sample packs with “construction kits” inside and messing about with them in something like garageband or ableton live. Pretty soon you will realize that just experimenting by yourself is the key.
You wouldn’t happen to know of any good resources to learn proper production techniques, would you? I’ve been completely bastarding music this entire time! (I also need to brush up on a bit more music theory )
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