Comments on: Getting started producing electronic music?

Question: Getting started producing electronic music?

wastelands — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:54:55 -0800

How does an absolute beginner get started making electronic music?

I've listened to electronic music for 13 years. I'm partial to ambient, noise, and anything abstract and experimental. I have always wanted to try my hand at creating music, but something like Reason 4 appears intimidating (not to mention expensive).

Does anyone have a recommendation for messing around and getting started with electronic music... without spending a bunch of money first? I'd like to see if I have a knack for it before I commit to major hardware and software purchases.

I've got an old school Dell computer at home running Windows XP, so compatibility with that platform would be nice.

Thanks!

By: spec80

spec80 — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:04:39 -0800

Dost thou havest olde timey game system?

By: Nahum Tate

Nahum Tate — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:13:49 -0800

Rebirth RB-338

By: milarepa

milarepa — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:18:32 -0800

Click me.

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:22:01 -0800

Have you mucked around with trackers before? Some are really basic, while others are pretty intense. I didn't really do much more than listen to tracker files in the pre-MP3 era, but some friends had fun altering the samples and making their own simplistic songs.

Branching off of software synths, check the wiki category.

By: phrontist

phrontist — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:32:43 -0800

Puredata or Max/MSP have steep learning curves, but are extremely open ended. People like Jamie Lidell, Aphex Twin, Autechre, Squarepusher, etc. use them.

I'm partial to Ubuntu Studio which is a prepacked distro for the JACK audio server. The idea is that you have lots of little programs which do their own thing, and JACK lets you route audio and control signals between them.

Fruityloops is good for windows, and dead simple and satisfying to get started with. You'd be suprised how much you've heard on established record labels that was made with it.

By: dunkadunc

dunkadunc — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:40:39 -0800

If you use a tracker, get Modplug Tracker. It's got a standard Windows interface and good sample editing, plus compatibility with a jillion formats and VST instrument/effect support.

Still, though, since trackers are getting old, you should check out FL Studio.
It's got some decent samples to get you started, full VST and Rewire support, and the Beat Slicer is gnarly for making new drum beats.

By: nanojath

nanojath — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:24:20 -0800

I always throw in the link for TweakHeadz Lab at this point. It's surprisingly not about methamphetamine addiction!

By: naju

naju — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:27:31 -0800

For abstract and experimental music (produced on-the-fly, not just sequenced), there's very little that is as intuitive, fun and powerful as Ableton Live. It's basically the greatest piece of software I own.

By: naju

naju — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:30:51 -0800

And do a search for "free vst plugins" to dig for some interesting sounds and effects that you can import into your software of choice.

By: wastelands

wastelands — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:35:52 -0800

I expected a few good answers, but you all have out-done yourselves. Wow! Thanks for all the awesome ideas.

By: PueExMachina

PueExMachina — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:41:06 -0800

Before purchasing FL Studio, I'd play with the free LMMS.

By: lekvar

lekvar — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:00:38 -0800

I'd suggest spending some time reading createdigitalmusic and the associated forums to get a feel for what's out there. Search the "free" tag. It seems like there's a new free/cheap DAW or VST plug in every week.

I'd suggest starting off with a tracker or ReBirth to see if the bug grabs you. Once you've got the bug... well, that's an entirely different question.

Also, I'd suggest staying away from Reason. It's a powerful program, and a lot of people really like it, but it doesn't support VST effects or instruments.
/2¢

By: lekvar

lekvar — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:15:26 -0800

OK, I messed up the links. Try createdigitalmusic and the forums.

By: wastelands

wastelands — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:16:59 -0800

milarepa, that link is insane. It's amazing that such an app can be built in Flash. Thanks. I know what I'll be spending time playing with tonight after work. :-)

By: threeze

threeze — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:27:01 -0800

If you are going to look at trackers, Renoise is so good it made me forget that ProTracker even existed.

By: bitterkitten

bitterkitten — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:38:17 -0800

I just wanna chime in that Reason kicks ass, even though it doesn't use VST fx or VST instruments, and yeah, isn't cheap.

Granted I do alt/pop/rock, but I use it for most of my drum programming and a lot of synth parts.

I'm just sayin'. You might want to play with a demo of that after you jack around with the other free stuff. Or not. ; )

By: zardoz

zardoz — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:21:21 -0800

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Apple's Garage Band. Highly intuitive and addictive, even for not-musically-inclined folks like me.

By: mmoncur

mmoncur — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 22:50:44 -0800

I'll second FL Studio and Ableton Live, they're both very intuitive and both come with enough software instruments to get you started.

(Ableton has a 30-day free demo, I believe.)

By: milarepa

milarepa — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 06:48:41 -0800

milarepa, that link is insane. It's amazing that such an app can be built in Flash. Thanks. I know what I'll be spending time playing with tonight after work. :-)

No problem. I'm just happy my thousands upon thousands of bookmarks prove useful once in a while.

By: jkaczor

jkaczor — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:01:43 -0800

While I have not used Garage Band myself, my 9-year daughter did in music last year, took home her compilations on CD... and it kicks, I am totally sold and as soon as I can scrape up enough $$$ she is getting a Mac...

By: mysterpigg

mysterpigg — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:15:00 -0800

I haven't used it in years, but my first electronic music was made using the free Buzz. It looks like it's grown quite a bit since I used it, and they appear to have video tutorials now.

By: snuffleupagus

snuffleupagus — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:33:03 -0800

Click me too!

By: wastelands

wastelands — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:54:15 -0800

Update: I tried out several tools and ended up buying Ableton Live 7 LE.

By: wastelands

wastelands — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:16:34 -0800

Update for those people still running across this thread, a shameless self-plug, and a way for people to see how much progress one can make with these tools in a relatively short period: my website at http://ninthagenda.com/ has my latest tracks. Most of it was created with the Operator soft synth that comes with Ableton free these days (it used to be a paid plug-in).