Electronic for beginners

January 24, 2006 7:34 PM

I'm very interested in learning to compose electronic music, but don't know where to start.

To try to seperate this from a previous post, I'm looking for programs that will be good to learn with, what I should work myself into, and if possible any tutorials for those programs. Also, I'd like to know what software is good for what - i.e., IDM, glitch, organic-sounding, etc. I'm very interested in incorporating samples of various recordings, as well. Any help will be appreciated beyond measure, since this is something I've had my eye on for a very long time, and every guide I've seen thusfar makes a lot of assumptions regarding experience with this kind of thing.

posted by p3on to media & arts (14 comments total)

You could start by getting a software sequencer like cubase or Logic.

Or just get Reason....
posted by gergtreble at 7:50 PM on January 24, 2006

It may not be possible to perfectly categorize which software fits which genres, since many genres are about specific signature techniques, and not what is used to achieve those techniques. (IDM / Glitch - one signature is rapid repetition - rolls - which can be done in most sequencers, albeit in different ways).

I recommend against getting cubase or logic if you're just getting started. My personal experience has been that if i have trouble getting something to make a noise, i may lose interest in it, instead of really learning how it works. You may want to try out FL Studio, a versatile step based sequencer that you can really grow with.

As a general source of information, check out kvraudio, which provides news and reviews of all the major audio software.
posted by subtle-t at 8:41 PM on January 24, 2006

Small addendum - some video tutorials for FL studio are available at the official site (not sure if they're available to non-registered users though). Also, warbeats has nice video tutorials for FL studio. (Free reg. req'd)
posted by subtle-t at 8:59 PM on January 24, 2006

Im not entirely sure what your asking, the previous post gave plenty of examples of software you could use. I guess you want to know what is good for making a particular style of sound?
Well basically its all the same stuff, most of the programs are made up of three things- Sequencers, synthesisers and effects. They are all fairly capable of making things that sound simalar to each other. And just about all of them can use vst plugins to add any synth or effect you can imagine.
So I guess what I base my program choice on-
-The interface, and the sequencer
-its default synthesisers and effects.
These are really just a matter of taste, and you wont really know what you like until you try it.
So download some demos and free software and try things out.
posted by phyle at 9:06 PM on January 24, 2006

First of all, come over to em411.com. There is a wealth of electronic music experience there and the folks are more then helpful there.

Secondly, if you looking for the cheapest way to get into electronic music, buy Reason, buy a midi controller and start screwing around. Reason has been the pathway to electronic music newbies for the last couple of years. It's worth the money. It's all you need to start.

Or you could mess with FLoops. I have heard plenty of good music come out of that piece of software as well. But I think people learn more practical things with reason.

The path to follow then, if you take the route that I am talking about is:



1. Join em411.com

2. Buy Reason

3. Buy a controller.

4. Buy a good sound card. (You want one with ASIO.)

5. Read the Reason manual. Play with the sample songs. Download some other folks songs. Play with them.

5. Pick an album of an artist that you want to recreate.

6. Do it, just be patient.


Things that can help you along the way:

Learn how to read music.
Learn some music theory.
Do some aural skills training.

Programs used alot with IDM and glitch type stuff in order of increasing complexity.

Ableton.
Reason.
FLoops.
Audio Mulch.
Buzz.
Max/MSP
Plogue Bidule.
Supercollider.
CSound.
posted by bigmusic at 9:15 PM on January 24, 2006

Reason is good. Check out PD and its tutorials in order to learn all of the basic concepts for free. This software is analogous to Max/MSP, and has an active community for support and information.
posted by Bistle at 10:06 PM on January 24, 2006

Several years ago, I happened to get a copy of both Reason and Fruityloops (the precursor to FLStudio) from a ...uh... friend of mine who ... uh...nevermind.

As a complete music beginner I found Fruityloops encouraging and Reason intimidating.

After figuring out a few basic controls in Fruityloops, I had made a simple song within an hour of starting to use it. I don't know too much about it's limitations, but it seemed to me that a good deal was possible if you wanted to learn how to use all the controls.

Then I started to use Reason. After several hours I had yet to figure out how to even get it to make a noise. It seemed like if you were familiar with the music hardware that you would use to make electronica, Reason would be the same as using hardware. I have no idea how to use studio hardware.

Of course these were older versions of the software, and I don't know anything about music. But in general, I'd say that FLStudio is likely to be friendlier to beginners.
posted by jefeweiss at 6:16 AM on January 25, 2006

Reason is a good starting point - So is Orion.

Right now I'm really into using Tracktion 2

All of these are easy to use after about an hour of poking around with them.
posted by soplerfo at 6:42 AM on January 25, 2006

Like jefeweiss, I tried a lot of the software folk have mentioned when I first decided to start having a go at making music (well, noises), but found it tricky to get going, and when I did found I was spending more time working out how to use the software, rather than actually making music.

So, unless you're dead set on using a computer, I'd suggest getting some hardware - twiddling real knobs, and getting a feel for how your twiddling affects the sounds that come out of the machines is, for me at least, much, much easier than getting to grips with software.

You don't need to spend much money, either - for less than the price of a license for Ableton, you can pick up plenty of second-hand drum machines, guitar pedals (delay, distortion), cheapo kid's synths, a shortwave radio, dictaphones/Walkmans/half-broken CD players, a contact mic, a DJ-type mixer etc. etc. in charity shops and at jumble sales. One of my favourite noise-makers is a childrens synthesiser with half the keys broken off that I found in the street, and the only costly bit of the set up I use was a Korg ER-1 drum machine, which I use more as a synth and for its ring modulator (you can get some very wiggy sounds out of it indeed) and that was only £60 off eBay.

With the stuff listed above, you can make everything from ultra-minimal or glitchy stuff to gut-busting noise or drone music.

Obviously trying out VST plugins or whatever is easier than trying out different chains of pedals with different sound sources, but I swear that there are few things as much fun as taping a couple of contact mics to your windows during a rainstorm, sticking a sandpapered CD in an old discman, and feeding the lot through a bunch of guitar pedals!
posted by jack_mo at 7:08 AM on January 25, 2006

Oh, and re: you being keen on using samples - creative use of the hold function on a delay pedal, making tape loops with dictaphone tapes, or prepared CDs with snippets of music on them can all be used as 'samplers'. Admittedly, you're not going to be able to easily synch them up or sequence them, but you can still get interesting results using elements of existing music like this.

And sorry to answer your question at a bit of a tangent, but like you I had my eye on making music of this sort for a long time, and it was only when I realised that software wasn't for me that I actually got down to making it.
posted by jack_mo at 7:17 AM on January 25, 2006

As more alternatives I found this list this morning. Making Music: A big list of FREE music making software!

And just accidentally posted it in the wrong thread since I had two open.
posted by jefeweiss at 7:59 AM on January 25, 2006

I second jack_mo. I had sporadic bouts of fiddling around with music programs for years, but could never really get into it. It was only when I started learning the guitar that suddenly music came flowing. I've now gone back to the music programs to allow me to do solo projects away from my bands, so this is a very useful thread for me.
posted by pollystark at 2:17 AM on January 26, 2006

I second Reason. If you've never used such programs (or the kinds of hardware it tries to evoke) before, the learning curve resembles a wall at first, but it's pretty easy to grok overall, and a hell of a lot of fun once you know what you're doing. Worth investing time in.
posted by poweredbybeard at 9:38 PM on January 27, 2006

I second third fourth? Reason.

Me no read good.
posted by poweredbybeard at 9:41 PM on January 27, 2006