Ableton Forum

What do you feel are some of the most essential production techniques for electronic dance music that would give someone new to Ableton and/or electronic dance music production a fat boost in their ability to produce quality music? Basically, some wise-words/guidance that would have been super helpful to know when you were just starting out. Thanks so much in advance.

-stf

I wish I never bothered to try to make dance music. booooooring. stick with my roots.

YMMV.


on the production end of things -
- get good monitors
- don't try to polish turds, start with good recordings, effects don't make things sound good, they just add flavor
- FFS just lay down a few minutes of loops in Arrange view and move on with writing
- take time to setup my tools, including a good drum loop library
etc.

1. Less is almost always more. Turn down the effects, back off the compression, use less EQ and reverb, get rid of tracks that don’t really add anything important to the song.

2. Don’t force yourself to write only in one genre (blasphemy, I know). Variety is the spice of life, so experiment with other genres/styles, it’ll only make you a better musician/producer.

3. Learn at least basic music theory. You may never, ever use it, but it’ll help you understand how we got to where we are, and might just help you out in the future.

4. Don’t force yourself to write if you’re not feeling it. Go outside, take care of your errands and BS, and come back to it when it’s fun again. Even if that means a month long hiatus (or longer).

5. Do it for the right reasons. Make music because you love the process, not the hopeful outcome. Never make music thinking you’ll make money, cause you won’t 99.999% of the time.

6. Understand it takes years and years to get that polished and professional sound. It’s not down any magic plug ins or settings. An experienced producer can make a pro-sounding tune no matter what the gear. It’s the ears, not the gears. (trademarked) The only way to get to this point is practice, plain and simple.

7. Learn to calibrate people’s comments about your tunes. There’s a fine line between solid, unbiased production advice, and personal preferences. Listen to what people say, and then judge if their comments are expressing their own personal preferences, or if it’s a genuine advice from an experience producer. Listen either way though, both kinds of advice can be helpful if taken in the right context. On that note, your friends will always tell you they like your tunes.

8. Learn to play a real instrument.

9. Interviews with other producers are the best source of production advice. Especially if they produce a completely different genre than you.

10. Slim down your studio. Kinda ties into #1 above, but the less gear you have, the easier it is to learn it, and the farther you can take it. Especially with plug ins.

seventhirtyfour wrote:What do you feel are some of the most essential production techniques for electronic dance music that would give someone new to Ableton and/or electronic dance music production a fat boost in their ability to produce quality music? Basically, some wise-words/guidance that would have been super helpful to know when you were just starting out. Thanks so much in advance.

-stf

you are the guy that works for prime loops? the pfilzer of electronic music production?

Hi pass everything.

There’s more rewards in imitating than innovating.

Spend as little time as possible on these forums in an effort to keep from getting jaded and overly critical about your own work. The general public at large is less judgmental than we are here.

beats me wrote:There’s more rewards in imitating than innovating.

Spend as little time as possible on these forums in an effort to keep from getting jaded and overly critical about your own work. The general public at large is less judgmental than we are here.

you wish

seventhirtyfour wrote:What do you feel are some of the most essential production techniques for electronic dance music that would give someone new to Ableton and/or electronic dance music production a fat boost in their ability to produce quality music? Basically, some wise-words/guidance that would have been super helpful to know when you were just starting out.

Education.

Thanks for the replies.

The $$$ thingy you bought without any special expectations will most likely work great, possibly take you places beyond your wildest dreams.
The $,$$$ - $$,$$$ thing you bought with the highest expectations will most likely fall way short. Some might even work less well than the $$$ thingy.

Computers work as well as dedicated hardware - until you must toss them every 10 years due to a CPU migration or similar event. It is not because of computer "evolution"; in evolution, new capabilities work with all the old ones; the new tree branch works fine with the entire old tree.

gear means nothing! ...apart from when you want to copy a specific thing/sound signature. the only thing that counts is just do it.

i remember when i first learned cmd + i and then cmd + shift + delete i had the best a-ha! moment ever. Arranging ever since has been lightning quick!

Tarekith wrote:1. Less is almost always more. Turn down the effects, back off the compression, use less EQ and reverb, get rid of tracks that don’t really add anything important to the song.

2. Don’t force yourself to write only in one genre (blasphemy, I know). Variety is the spice of life, so experiment with other genres/styles, it’ll only make you a better musician/producer.

3. Learn at least basic music theory. You may never, ever use it, but it’ll help you understand how we got to where we are, and might just help you out in the future.

4. Don’t force yourself to write if you’re not feeling it. Go outside, take care of your errands and BS, and come back to it when it’s fun again. Even if that means a month long hiatus (or longer).

5. Do it for the right reasons. Make music because you love the process, not the hopeful outcome. Never make music thinking you’ll make money, cause you won’t 99.999% of the time.

6. Understand it takes years and years to get that polished and professional sound. It’s not down any magic plug ins or settings. An experienced producer can make a pro-sounding tune no matter what the gear. It’s the ears, not the gears. (trademarked) The only way to get to this point is practice, plain and simple.

7. Learn to calibrate people’s comments about your tunes. There’s a fine line between solid, unbiased production advice, and personal preferences. Listen to what people say, and then judge if their comments are expressing their own personal preferences, or if it’s a genuine advice from an experience producer. Listen either way though, both kinds of advice can be helpful if taken in the right context. On that note, your friends will always tell you they like your tunes.

8. Learn to play a real instrument.

9. Interviews with other producers are the best source of production advice. Especially if they produce a completely different genre than you.

10. Slim down your studio. Kinda ties into #1 above, but the less gear you have, the easier it is to learn it, and the farther you can take it. Especially with plug ins.

Wisdom.

Music takes up a lot of time. A lot!

4. Don’t force yourself to write if you’re not feeling it. Go outside, take care of your errands and BS, and come back to it when it’s fun again. Even if that means a month long hiatus (or longer).

I agree with the rest, but I disagree with this one. While procrastination does make one feel more comfortable, charging straight at the biggest, worst hurdle, *now!* one tends to break through into territories of ample rewards.