the F.A.Q thread for electronic music production

[hpstekno]

ok many people want to know whats involved with producing and writing electronic music ......
it can be a very confusing new frontier of technobable and acronyms here we will try to break it down into something a little more manageable for the novice to understand....

now the first question people usually ask is "I've got all these really cool ideas for a stomping tune ,where do i start?"

Now in my opinion the very best place to start is via the humble home pc and this is explained very well HERE by phunkdust (http://www.inthemix.com.au/p/np/viewnews.php?id=5475)

[hpstekno]

A lot of new producers want to know what to do regarding hardware and software...
Seeing pics of professional studios with their big ssl or neve mixing desks and racks, racks of outboard processing gear and loads of synths and what not.

Well both have their merits..And compliment each other
Computers today are developing enough horsepower to basically be studios in a box from the initial beginnings of a song to the completed master burnt to a red book compliant cd ready to go to the copying house.
Having all this hardware available to you does allow a certain degree of flexibility and stability and also tactility. When you buy a piece of hardware it does what it says on the tin with relatively no hassle. There are usually no hardware conflicts, meaning that as long as everything is connected properly, things will work this isn't necessarily the case with software where operating systems and software bugs can make things ermmm interesting.
Then we come to the price factor having a well spec'ed pc and the right software will come in significantly cheaper than the hardware equivalent, as anyone who has a bit of a hardware fetish will tell you...HARDWARE AINT CHEAP!!!!!!!!!!
So I would recommend anyone just starting out to go along the pc software route as it's an extremely expensive hobby to take up and then say, "Hey, I don't think this producing game is for me"
Once you've started to feel competent at getting ideas down, then, follow the hardware route
Maybe buying a second-hand Synth or sampler and a small mixer to complement the rest of your set up. I guarantee that you will soon find the limits of your pc's capabilities and having hardware there will help take a load off your pc and thus give you more power, more tracks and more efx....

[hpstekno]

MIDI stands for "Musical Instrument Digital Interface". it is a protocol for allowing electronic musical instruments (and also computers) to communicate with each other.

The original MIDI specification was developed just over 10 years ago as a means for electronic keyboard players to play two or more keyboard instruments from just one keyboard.

Think of MIDI as an easily connected network between multiple devices.

The most basic MIDI function, Note On, tells the instruments what notes to play. In this regard, MIDI is similar to an electronic form of an old-style player piano, where a hole punched in a sheet of paper forced a key down on the piano´s keyboard. MIDI performs this task electronically.

The designers of MIDI had a good bit of forethought and made the standard extensible through the use of System Exclusive commands. These commands are sent with an introductory special code that is ignored by all but the desired receiver.

Since synthesizers have the ability to alter the sounds of their musical output, a command called Program Change instructs them to change their program.

http://lmbpc.ulh.ac.uk/audio/images/Midi-sys.gif

Despite popular thinking, MIDI does not carry any audio signal. Instead MIDI transfers information, and information data alone, between instruments that are MIDI compatible. NO sound is passed thru a MIDI Cable; only Performance Data and MIDI commands. So what exactly is "Performance Information"?

Performance information is data such as the velocity you hit the keynotes, keynote on/off, sustain pedal on/off, pitch bender, aftertouch, volume change, etc. All this information is controller information.

MIDI started in keyboards but can now be found in almost every segment of the recording industry. MIDI guitars and drums allow great creativity to be employed. Lighting desks are coming under MIDI control (so that a sequencer can be used to create complex light patterns) and video machines can be synchronised to MIDI, allowing audio post-production for video.


MIDI compatible instruments are capable of selecting from 16 different MIDI channels.
MIDI Channels are used to separate MIDI data being sent, or received between MIDI compatible instruments. But what exactly are MIDI Channels?

Think of MIDI Channels like this...you have a radio with 16 radio stations. One plays drums, one plays bass, one plays keyboards, and the other is a talk show. Now imagine what it would sound like if all stations were being listened to at the same time..... AHHH!

A radio is actually picking up all the available stations even though you are listening to only one. How does it accomplish this? Of course! It allows you to select which station you want to receive radio signals from. Radio stations are like MIDI Channels in this respect. Just as there may be different music on each radio station, there may be different instruments recorded with a sequencer on 16 distinct MIDI Channels. MIDI Channels allow us to separate data for better control over our MIDI set-up.

[hpstekno]

electronic music seems to wrought with hundreds of acronyms from standards to manufacturer specific acronyms ..as seems to be the case with all technologies these days i've compiled a short list of comonly used acronyms to help understand what they mean and stand for :)

ADAT Alesis Digital Audio Tape
ADC Analouge to Digital Converter
ADSR Attack Decay Sustain Release
AES/EBU Audio Engineering Society/European Broadcasting Union (professional digital connection standard)
ASIO Audio Streaming In/Out (steinberg soundcard drivers)
BPF Band Pass Filter
CPU Central Processing Unit
CV Control Voltage
DAC Digital to Analouge Converter
DAT Digital Audio Tape
DAW Digital Audio Workstation
DSP Digital Signal Processor
HPF High-Pass Filter
LCD Liquid Crystal Display
LFO Low Frequency Oscillator
LPF Low Pass Filter
LTC Longitudinal Time Code
MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface
PFL Pre Fade Listen
RAM Random Access Memory
ROM Read Only Memory
RMS Root Meen Squared
RTAS Real Time Audio Suite (digidesign host plugin)
SPDIF Sony/Phillips Digital InterFace
SNR or S/R Signal to Noise Ratio
SVF State Variable Filter
TDIF Tascam Digital InterFace
TDM Time Division Multiplexing (digidesign dsp powered plugin)
TRS Tip Ring Sleave (plug)
USB Universal Serial Buss
WDM Windows Driver Model

[mungo]

Phunk and I did an updated article into the technology required to get yourself going in the following article. http://www.inthemix.com.au/p/np/viewnews.php?id=8868

It's a little outdated now but not by much.

[Jude May]

anyone who advertises in 3Dworld aint worth their weight in cheese twisties. for anyone who needs help in all things audio and mixing, check out www.mixingwithyourmind.com

so many tips you wont be able to count the times the penny drops

[theRockstar]

Originally posted by Jude May
check out www.mixingwithyourmind.com

so many tips you wont be able to count the times the penny drops

That's a great book written by a great guy. I would've paid $100 for it. Mike Stavrou is a strange person indeed with a very different (and sometimes seemingly illogical) perspective on mixing. He lives for mixing. When I met up with him he was wearing a shirt saying "Why sleep when you can mix?" He is also a magician (hence the pack of cards he's holding up). His business card actually states he's a magician.

Note to people on this forum, the book is worth gold for those recording real instruments. Not saying electronic music producers won't get anything out of it, but just not as much as say, someone producing folk, rock, pop or country. There are some brilliant techniques for recording drums, guitar, pianos and vocals. Its serious stuff tho. Plugging a mic into the back of a sound card and using software to process the sound is considered amateur by Mike's standards.

http://music.cubok.com/musicoz/mikestavrou.jpg

[Xelpmok]

Here's a good bunch of articles and info for anyone wanting to know more about various areas of the music biz. The content is pretty universal and can apply to most genres.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onemusic/howto/


The mods could maybe even make it sticky so the noobs can find it...

[remedy]

Not anyone can write good music. Writing music is like painting a picture, anyone can do it but only some people can really excell in it. Before you jump into writing some tunes, ask yourself if you are really good at doing things like this? In school, were you creative? Did you create good art peices? Does your imagination overtake your mind? If you answered yes to most of these then you can make good music. Anyone can sit down and write an ok 4/4 trance beat. Its simply a matter of utilisiing musical techniques and methods. A really good music producer however will use these techniques and methods but add there own creative flare to the whole process, thus giving it an individual taste and a sound that people are intrigued to listen to. Music can give an emotional incite into the creators thought process and inturn act as an outlet for for the creator.

My tip for anyone would be to get your setup right, calibrate it until everything is just perfect, that way you can forget about being a technician and delve deep into your creative mind without being disturbed. When you are writing music, yoiu should be shut off to the rest of the world, oblivious to your sorroundings and oblivious to other things that are happening in your life.

Once you have done this, write whatever the fuck YOU want. whatever makes you feel good and whatever you want to hear. If you like the sound of a tiger farting in reverse then that is fine, use it, loop it, stretch it. Push your limits!

It usually takes about 15mins for you to really get into the vibe of things. You may even find that the music you were writing in that first 15mins isnt worth even keeping because you wernt in the same frame of mind. Its always hard to get started witha track but the only way to get it done is to sit down and start messing around and enjoy!

[Lady Lex]

Would it be silly to suggest that one learns the basic rudiments of music too?

as most music programmes think users knows the whatfors and whathows in music, perhaps looking at the basic of music would be a good start.

Id suggest Books 1 - 4 Dulcie Holland. (any other books after that are for Nerds). Theyre written in comprehensible langugage and are also Australian made. Having your basic music knowledge should be a must for each and every music-goer.

Using the above books will then definitely be able to help you getting started as per Remedy's suggestions.

[no-fi]

Id suggest Books 1 - 4 Dulcie Holland. (any other books after that are for Nerds). Theyre written in comprehensible langugage and are also Australian made. Having your basic music knowledge should be a must for each and every music-goer.

are these the "master your theory" series? they look cheep too, which is a bonus!

I've been pretty interested in starting to read a bit of music theory. I know some, but generally just stuff I've picked up here and there. There would definately have to be something in all those books I could learn and use.

hmmm.... might drop down my local music shop soon, and see if they have a copy I can flick through...

[djkilby]

For anyone looking to read up on music theory go to www.musictheory.net its a great site.

[Xelpmok]

Heres an article, everyone should read about mixing/eq. Especially anyone thats new to it.

It's based on drum n bass but the graphic way it explains frequencies applies to pretty much everything.

http://www.dnbscene.com/articles.php?mode=display&id=79

[nightshiver]

http://www.tweakheadz.com/

http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html

[soundproof]

This is some good stuff, very insightful. I've got a setup and have started to produce, the biggest prob im finding is just getting my head around all the hardware and software. I know what i want to do in terms of production ideas, its just the knowing how to make it happen on the software thats the issue,
So my question is are there any production classes or private teachers in Sydney???
Im a trance dj and I am aiming to produce trance as well

Cheers

[ac1d3o3]

Can someone please repost the links in the first post? They are dead.

Thanks!

[phunkdust]

Don't read the article in the first post, its too far out of date. Read the one posted by Mungo.

[sOuNdOne]

Neither links work for me.. Anyone else having this prob?

[nikki_]

yeh me neither, sounds gold i wanna read!

[euph0r1a]

yeah neither is working here either. it would be good getting into production - im more largely excited about the fact of advertising and prmoting your name, label and tracks. just a question is it a good idea to invest in a good soundcard?

[plan-b]

useful read from the TTR forums :)

http://trancetribeforever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6317&sid=2ed206879410a146952c142ca96d835a

[RobRhythmPunkz]

All I would add to this is "dont over complicate things" all the best electronic tracks are simple ideas and the groove and hook needs to be simple!!

[RobRhythmPunkz]

You dont need all the best equipment in the world to make a hit, just a good solid system that you can work with well!!

[Trifle]

Would it be silly to suggest that one learns the basic rudiments of music too?

as most music programmes think users knows the whatfors and whathows in music, perhaps looking at the basic of music would be a good start.

Id suggest Books 1 - 4 Dulcie Holland. (any other books after that are for Nerds). Theyre written in comprehensible langugage and are also Australian made. Having your basic music knowledge should be a must for each and every music-goer.

Using the above books will then definitely be able to help you getting started as per Remedy's suggestions.
i can't begin to recommend how good these books are for anyone wanting to up their knowledge of basic music theory... u'll be able to program parts WAY more quickly and your writing process will become less hit'n'miss and more flowing if you know how all those ideas in your head translate directly into manuscript / piano-roll... it also helps to have basic keyboard skills (esp. if your programming stuff via a MIDI controller)

its a sad day in seasome street when i pick up what is supposed to be a professionally written, mixed and mastered 12" to hear shit that's out of time / out of tune (or even in a different key completely!) and it seems the producer is totally oblivious to this...

don't be one of those producers that works EVERYTHING out via musical trial & error, know what you're doing and do it well... its something worth putting the effort into learning...

edit: anyone needing a hand at their theory, gimme a pm or if you're in Perth call Advanced Music Academy (9354 9075) on tues/thurs/sat & ask for Matt

[phunkdust]

there's nothing i can do about the dead links people, the ITM content management system is fucked and doesn't show older articles.

[Technobitch303]

hpstekno thanks for your advice! I am definately into music production it's a hobby and a dream of mine hee hee LOVE IT! Actually I downloaded the frooty loops software because my friends say that yeah I should start producing with just frooty loops but is that really good advice?

Sarah :)