So, I’ve already discussed (to a minor extent) how to start creating electronic music. These methods can be applied to pretty much any genre of music as well, but everything I mention going forward will mainly pertain to electronic music and its immense amount of sub genres. This will be another high-level overview of some of the options available to you in your quest to produce. Down the road, I will be getting in to specifics. If you are already familiar, just hang tight because more will follow.
Samples-
Samples generally will be used to create the core of your song. A sample is a piece of music recorded in a non-midi format. That basically means that it is a pre-recorded piece of audio. This can be anything ranging from a drum kick or a high hat, to a chain of beats in a specific pattern. When you hear about an artist “sampling from ____,” they are taking a piece of music from another source and implementing it into their own song. Unless you plan on doing a remix or have the original artists’ permission; it’s generally not a good idea to use in your own work (be original!). For the most part, you will be using small samples, for small pieces. With the exception of the occasional riff, you should be focusing on using samples for mainly for percussion. Kicks, hats, claps, and snares will be a majority of sample use. There are a number of sample kits out there that contain clips and riffs.
Two of my favorites are:
Vengeance Essential sample packs
Synths-
synthesizers are going to drive your music. A synthesizer (synth) is an instrument that is capable of producing a sound that the user can completely control or modify. Originally these were just large piano-style devices with a bunch of knobs to bend certain waveforms. They eventually include filters to adjust what type of sound makes it through (levels of pitch for example) and allowed you to form layers of sound. These synthesizers still exist in this form today but many have gone digital, keeping only an image on screen of what the device would look like if it was in front of you (or in some cases what it historically looked like). You still control the device on screen the same way you physically would, but now you don’t need to drop $2000 to create a sound.
Makes sense?
As I mentioned before, this is a good overview of some of the terminology used in the industry. When I started diving into production I spent way too long trying to understand how to actually get started because some of these concepts aren’t always so simple. Knowing the difference between audio samples and synthesizers is a pretty easy concept, but it’s not something you’d be familiar with if you’ve never took an interest in music or production.
Ready? Lets go on to Part 2