Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with electronicmusic and music

Should I buy a Music Production Center and Make Electronic Dance Music?

windbox — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 09:39:33 -0800

I want to start making electronic music. I'm thinking about buying maybe an MPC type of device but not sure where to start. Novation Launchpad? Maschine? Any recommendations for a total, total beginner? Or should I really get a copy of Ableton and figure out if I'm truly into it first? Would buying some actual hardware as opposed to just software be a wise purchase?

My only experience with making electronic music at all is pretty minimal - I had a copy of FL Studio like, 6 years ago, where I played with it for a few weeks tops. I was able to figure it out pretty much from scratch and made a few cheapy sounding beats with the pre-programmed stuff (never learned how to sample) so I eventually got bored, especially just staring at a screen clicking around tweaking stuff. I haven't really touched much since.

When I sit down to play a new instrument though, like a drum kit or a keyboard, I definitely feel a "rush" of excitement just getting my hands on it and messing around figuring out how to play it. I have a good ear for picking up a beat/melody on a new instrument without much training. So I'm thinking maybe I would love an actual piece of hardware like a pad of some sort to make the process more hands-on and maybe more exciting?

So I guess my question is two-fold:

1 - Is an MPC type of device right for me, given my very minimal experience with EDM production or are they strictly for vets who have mastered software like Ableton or Reason? I'd really like to just get my hands on something.

2 - If it is, what is the best "beginner" pad? I was looking at the Maschine or maybe the Maschine Mikro, but it seems like there's a lot of stuff out there and I don't know where to start.

Let the rhythm pump!

Seiten Taisei — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 15:09:12 -0800

What's some good, preferably obscure, music for an urban foot chase video? Genre wise, I'd prefer fast, pounding electronic music with a beat to it, but I'm open to all ideas.

Identify this track based on a vocal sample

J0 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 13:49:35 -0800

Can you help me identify a song based on a vocal sample? A female voice singing softly and slowly, "Maybe, tomorrow, I'll be..." I heard the song in the past year, but that is not necessarily the time frame of when the song would have been released. It may not be a proper song, but is possible->probable part of a DJ/Electronic music producer set. I thought I heard it on an Essential Mix, or perhaps on one of Mary Anne Hobbs' older BBC or (less likely) newer XFM shows. This wouldn't have been a straight up dance set.

I think the latter part of the sample continues "...I'll be back again..." but I am not sure. I believe the that track before the vocal sample ended on a bit of noise or ambient sound, and that track after the sample changed pace - you know, how a vocal sample will be mixed in as a transition.

I can't find anything, and I am sure that this track exists on my hard drive somewhere. Help me.

I want to be a Caretaker, too

Blazecock Pileon — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:04:21 -0800

Can you point me to music that is like The Caretaker's An Empty Bliss Beyond This World? I'm looking for more of the dreary, creepy kind of post-Great-War, 1920s British jazz music that is in this album. Especially unprocessed classics from this era, which I could run through a few reverb and echo filters, that sort of thing.

Dubstep 10Wobble?

Shepherd — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:43:31 -0800

Tell me what I need to know about dubstep. Somehow -- despite having a music-fan pedigree that started with Skinny Puppy and Ministry in the late '80s, and kind of morphed through groups like Meat Beat Manifesto into IDM in the '90s concurrent with trip-hop and hip-hop, and enjoying the Ninja Tune stable of bands and sounds through the early 2000s -- I have missed dubstep entirely. As in, I like, just heard about it a couple of months ago via MeFi, and other than a few basic concepts (beat dropping, "wobble") know nothing at all about it.

If I were to make a two- or three-week listening schedule to try to pick up on what dubstep's all about, what are the seminal releases? What's the absolute essential stuff I need to listen to if I want to have a fairly decent overview?

I'm really not interested in hearing reasons not to listen to dubstep. I appreciate that it's got a lot of detractors, but please make recommendations from the angle of a Richard D. James/u-Ziq/Amon Tobin fan trying to get a 101 on this whole sub-subgenre he's never explored before.

Help me make better electronic music.

lobbyist — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:01:02 -0800

Help me move forward in producing electronic music. While I realize that there have been numerous questions already asked on MeFi about how to get started in producing electronic music, I feel that my scenario may be a bit different:

Basically, I’ve been producing my own electronic music for the past ~3 years. I am extremely fluent with FL Studio (the first DAW that I learned, and still use) and am fairly comfortable with Ableton. All of the synths/plugins that I use come from respectable third party developers/software companies, and currently, I am able to achieve a somewhat decent, though notably amateurish, sound.

My problem is that I feel like I’ve hit a ceiling with how far I can take my music. I’ve learned mostly through experimentation (playing a note and then tweaking some knobs) and have a solid grasp on the very basics of composing/synthesis/sampling. However, I feel like in order to make my music sound more “professional,” I need to learn more about the intricacies of mixing/electronic music production in general. The best analogy that I can come up with is this: currently, I know what a compressor does, I know why one would use a compressor, but I don’t know what threshold/ratio will help me achieve a warmer/fuller sound on a sub-bass or kick drum.

This sort of “not understanding the finer details” applies to nearly all aspects of my music, from mixing/equalizing to creating my own custom presets.

In the end, I just want my music to sound better; I want to have much more control over the sounds that I make. Because I am a college student, I don’t have the time or the money to enroll in a music production course; however, I would love suggestions for books/websites/tutorials that could help me out.

Thanks so much Mefi!

Here come the warm jets.

Nomyte — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:09:10 -0800

Feed me machine-sounding music that makes a nice, warm, vibraty feeling go all through my guttiwuts. The exact qualities I'm looking for are rumbly, fuzzy, and enveloping. The piece should not be overtly morose or threatening. Think "listening to the hypnotic sound of warm clothes tumbling in the dryer late at night." Some examples of what I'm looking for:

Instrument 1 by Fennesz (from the noisy and repetitive end of my spectrum)
The Belldog off Eno & Cluster's After the Heat (featuring that fuzzy middle-period Eno noise)
Kohr-Ah theme from Star Control II (warning: gross blinking)

They are all quite different, but share the crucial quality I'm looking for.

What I am not looking for:

please, no squelchy organic noises (e.g., Matmos's sounds of plastic surgery)
hissing, staticky noises are close, but not quite it (e.g., Uranium off Kraftswerk's Radioactivity)
not Detroit techno, unless I misunderstand the term
not Einstürzende Neubauten, unless you can persuade me otherwise

I appreciate your suggestions.

The Theory and Technique of Obtuse Electronic Music Textbook Writing.

invitapriore — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:21:28 -0800

Miller Puckette's The Theory and Technique of Electronic Music, as a textbook, seems obtuse and unrefined to me. Am I missing something? I finally decided to work through this book based on the recommendation of basically everyone everywhere, but I've found it a very frustrating experience. I'm normally pretty good at learning by working through a textbook, but I've had numerous hang-ups in trying to do that with this book:

Important things are assumed without being mentioned, and I'm usually confused for a while before finally realizing what he meant. An example in chapter one is when he describes frequency as f = wR/2pi, where w is angular frequency and R is the sample rate. I had no idea what R was doing at the top of that fraction until I realized that that equation holds when the independent variable is sample number, NOT time.

For nominally being an introductory text, he casually invokes a lot of knowledge to make conclusions that I can't decipher. An example in chapter two is when he says that the error between an ideal sinusoid and its interpolated version is "a residual signal all of whose energy lies in the overtones of the original sinusoid." I don't know enough about acoustics to even begin to understand the implications or even meaning of that.

The questions are all of the kind that require you to infer a lot of the implications of the basic relations he sets forth in the chapters without having seen them demonstrated. A question at the end of chapter 2 asks: "if a wavetable’s contents all fall between -1 and 1 in value, what is the range of possible outputs of wavetable lookup using 4-point interpolation?" I assume that this probably involves evaluating the 4-point interpolation function at some minimum or maximum, but beyond that I'm lost. I feel like I would need a lot more preparatory work to understand how to begin to approach this question. I might figure it out in the meantime, but this has been my experience with all of the exercises; they've all been done by the skin of my teeth. I also have no idea if my answers are correct, because there's no answer key.

I know that the thing is free, but unfortunately the amount it costs is irrelevant to its utility for me. Also, to be clear, the math is not an issue for me. My questions are:

1. Am I just being impatient? Everyone recommends this book without reservation.
2. What type of person is this book aimed at? I thought it was me: someone with a musician's understanding of pitch and overtones, who understands the basic principles of the logarithmic nature of pitch, and who has a solid mathematical competency. I'm not convinced that that's the case.
3. If I am just missing some essential background knowledge, what's a good source for acquiring it?

Thanks.

Where can I hear the best DJs in the Bay Area?

BlackBox — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:59:06 -0800

I want to get down to good electronic music. How do I get into the SF Bay Area club/electronic music scene. I'm becoming more and more obsessed with electronic music (techno, house, breaks, DnB, electro, hip hop, dubstep) and there's nothing I enjoy more than a good DJ set. I want to go to more clubs and parties where I can dance and listen to cutting edge stuff. I currently reside in the SF Bay Area so this should not be too difficult. How do I get into this scene and become more informed about where and when I can hear kick ass electronic music?

Thanks.

Ancient Krell music

reynaert — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 12:50:03 -0800

Louis and Bebe Barron were famous for writing the first all-electronic movie soundtrack, for Forbidden Planet. I'm looking for more of their music, but the only thing I can find is this poor quality copy of Bells of Atlantis on YouTube. Help? I wouldn't be surprised if some of their early music is simply lost, but Bebe Barron's final composition, Mixed Emotions, was created in 2000. That shouldn't be that hard to find, right?

I'm looking for acoustic covers of techno songs, can you help me?

Kattullus — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 22:37:26 -0800

I'm looking for acoustic covers of techno songs, can you help me? Not necessarily acoustic, but using analog instruments, whether amplified or not (e.g. Clara Engel covers Born Slippy, Stance's ukulele cover of Harder Better Faster Stronger, Acoustic Instruments cover Star Guitar). Other electronic dance music genres also welcome.

NAME THAT GENRE!

tunestunes — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:59:55 -0800

Name that tune and genre. My roommate heard this outside a laundromat one day and couldn't believe his ears (and fuckit, neither could i). We'd both never heard of a song like this or what genre it would be categorized in. aside from vocals which we didn't get around to recording, it's pretty faithful to what the song sounded like. Any clues? thanks yalls.

p.s. we live in Logan Square, Chicago which is a heavily mexican neighborhood (and a lot of generally white hipsters and a few black folk).

How to make my electric guitar sound more electronic.

jalexc — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:35:23 -0800

Help me make my electric guitar sound electronic. (Please dissect these Daft Punk and Justice songs with me.) I'm interested in making my guitar, bass, and drums sound like the fuzzy, effects-heavy sounds that are found in a lot of electronic music. I'm curious about recreating the sounds of synthesized and actual instruments and am wondering if anyone knows of a couple pedals, EQ settings, or techniques that are so typical of this genre that they're almost always found in this music.

I'm looking for the sounds found in a couple different songs, mostly from Daft Punk and Justice:

In Aerodynamic, around 00:15, I hear what sounds like a phaser being put on the drums, but am wondering about the main riff: is this a synthesizer or a guitar with a lot of effects on it? What effects?

In Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger, I'm curious about the effects on the bass.

In DVNO and Genesis, at 00:10 and 00:40, respectively, I'd like to recreate the main synth sound and the funky slap bass.

If anyone has any insight on the guitar solo in Digital Love, that would also be appreciated. I can hear distortion, phaser, whammy bar, and a lot of dives that I assume are a pitch shifter expression pedal?

And anyone who knows what Squarepusher uses on his bass would be helpful, too.

I understand that these might be the result of studio magic or laptop patches or other electronic things that I know nothing about and that an electric guitar or bass couldn't recreate. But I'm wondering if anyone has tried, and what pedals and settings have sounded especially good.

A broader version of this question, and one I'd also appreciate answers to, is How can I train my ear to better recognize effects beyond the obvious distortion, flange, phaser, chorus, wah, delay and start to hear the settings or versions of these, e.g., high overdrive vs. high gain.

Recommend me some cool hardcore experimental synthesizer music.

anazgnos — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:47:52 -0800

Recommend me some cool hardcore experimental analog synthesizer music. I've become very enamored of this guy's Buchla synth videos on vimeo. I'd love to find more stuff in this vein: real-time, "live" analog synth music that has some basis in rhythm and melody (as opposed to the more freeform abstraction of Subotnick and that lot). I know my way around electronica for the most part (or at least I think I do) but the only thing I can think of that sounds similar to the above is Autechre, and I know them, so anything beyond that is fair game. Specifically, any albums or artists currently working with Buchla modular synths in the manner of the above clips would be great.

I want to make my own Geogaddi

tumples — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:42:08 -0800

Where do I start if I want to make my own electronic music? Like many, many people I love music. My tastes have always been pretty rock based, but in the past couple of years I have branched off into the amazing world of 'electronic' music and I am pretty much hooked. However, I also play bass and half of the fun for me about music is imagining how I would create the tracks I am listening to, or blend everything I like together into one sound that I could label as my own.
Making music with a guitar is very easy, just plug in and play whatever you like, but when it comes to electronic music I have no idea where to start, or even how my favourite musicians do what they do.

What software, hardware or otherwise would you recommend so that I could start combining the ideas in my head with the instruments and techniques that my favourite artists use?

For reference, when I talk about electronic music (which I know is a massive and largely useless term), I am talking about acts like:
Four Tet
Amon Tobin
Burial
Boards of Canada
Bonobo
Fila Brazilia
Nightmares on Wax

These artists all create a lot of atmosphere, dozens of layers of foundation beats and melodies, all with the general aim of creating a feel and mood as opposed to a fast soulless dance record etc.

Thanks!

Best techno albums since 1990?

Ultra Laser — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:46:09 -0800

What are the best techno albums since 1990? After discovering Basic Channel and Chain Reaction, I'm left wondering what other essential, must-have techno recordings I might have missed (1990-ish to present day). I mean "techno" in the stricter sense of the term, but I'm also interested in IDM and clicks & cuts type stuff. I'm NOT looking for proto-techno, synthpop/electro, radio-friendly electronica or trip-hop.

Help me find a good software sequencer!

greenie2600 — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:22:29 -0800

Looking for a software MIDI sequencer/DAW that meets my needs. Making electronic music used to be one of my main hobbies, but I gradually drifted away from it. I'd like to get back into it, but I'm having a hard time finding software that works for me.

A bit of background: I'm a hardware guy, through and through. I have no use for VST plugins or softsynths, or even virtual analog hardware. I have a few analog synths and a rack full of effects and other outboard gear, and I like it that way. There are two things, and only two things, that I want to do on a computer: MIDI sequencing, and recording/mixing the sounds produced by said sequences. (Okay, three things: a solid VST sampler would be very cool for percussion and the like.)

My first platform was an Alesis MMT-8 (a hardware sequencer), and I liked it. For a while, I used a version of Cubase (not sure which one) on a System 7 Mac, and that was probably the most ideal setup I've used. Later, I got Pro Tools LE with the Digi001 interface, and though it served me okay for a couple of years, I eventually realized that I needed something with a little more sophistication in the MIDI department.

It was around that point (maybe five years ago) that I stopped making music. Earlier this year, I tried to get back into it, so I figured I'd try Cubase again. Well, I quickly learned that things have changed a lot over the last few years: even with a tutorial, I found the latest version of Cubase to be overwhelmingly complex (mind you, I'm a computer programmer). I haven't completely given up on it, but I'd really like something more stripped-down and more focused on my specific needs.

What I'd really love is something like System-7-era Cubase, with DAW capabilities tacked on. Or, to put it differently, like Pro Tools LE but with the MIDI capabilities of System-7-era Cubase.

I have a Windows XP machine, with an M-Audio FastTrack Pro audio/MIDI interface.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated!

dub techno

zennoshinjou — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:47:09 -0800

Recommend similar artists to bvdub and quantec. I'm interested in this "dub techno" genre of electronic music that is kind of down-tempo borderline drone-y. Kaito is also kind of in the ballpark but he is more melodic than what I'm looking for. Any recommendations that are similar would be appreciated.

What songs should my electronica cover band play?

greenie2600 — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:33:56 -0800

Help me think of classic electronic tracks for my (as-yet-hypothetical) classic electronica cover band. I came across Orbital's Doctor?, a cover of the Doctor Who theme song, and I thought "man, this is great; I bet people go nuts for this at parties".

And then I thought it would be a hell of a lot of fun to start an electronic cover band with a couple of my synth-geek friends. Easier than starting an original band, since you wouldn't have to worry about all that pesky creativity—and, y'know, people would go nuts for it at parties.

So what tunes would you want to hear if you came to see my band? Kraftwerk offers a whole smörgåsbord of possibilities, of course, but what else?

Tracks should be familiar and recognizable (to electronic music geeks, at least), party-friendly (or amenable to being played that way), and not too techno-oriented. (I like techno, but that's not what this project is about. I'm sure we would put a more danceable spin on some tracks, but I don't want to just cover the big rave hits of the 1990s or whatever.)

Cannes Lions 2007 intro tracklist

arcticwoman — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:27:35 -0800

Where can I find the tracklist for the 2007 Cannes Lions DVD intro? I recently went to a screening of the Cannes Lions advertising fest, and was impressed by the music played in the intro segment. Just to be clear of what I'm talking about, the showing began with a ten minute (or longer) clip show from the actual fest in Cannes - people schmoozing, commiteeing, etc. The intro ended with a list of the music played, but all I caught was Calvin Harris and Kasabian. Does anyone have/know where I can find this tracklist?

Trance covers/remixes

jmd82 — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 18:47:20 -0800

Looking for trance covers/remixes. I love trance. I'm particularly fond of female vocals in trance. I stream it all day from the Internet at work.
I've also always loved covers of popular songs.
Fuse the two, and now I'm looking for trance remixes of popular songs! I'd be interested in forms other electronic music (techno, jungle, etc), but I always come back to trance in the end.

While I'm already aware of OCremix and more than have my fill of console remixes, I'm not particular to any specific genre. Anything from classical music to 80's pop to heavy metal, I'm all ears.
Artists who specialize in creating remixes are a plus.

Beat Detective wanted

Jon Mitchell — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:40:31 -0800

Are there any free realtime osx beat detection plugins or applications? I have a Roland Jupiter 6 synth - it has a very basic MIDI implementation, but no way to set the arpeggiator clock via midi, just via the knob.

A realtime beat detector would at least let me tune the arpeggio clock manually to the desired tempo, or at least let me know there's no way I can coax the required tempo out of it, and change the tempo of the track accordingly.

All the Google results I've come across are for beat detecting pre-recorded tracks, not live, which isn't really what I'm after.

Finding 1920s Style DJ Sets - Big Band Bush Doofer Seeks Similar

mikw — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 10:10:03 -0800

Help me find some DJ sets / albums that prominently feature music / samples from the 20s and 30s, such as big band, jazz and swing. I'm hosting a 20's themed birthday party for my wife, and am looking for some great music to play. I'm planning on opening with some traditional recordings, such as Billie Holliday, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Betty Boop and some other artists I've discovered since starting to research this, but as the night wears on I'd like to put on some more modern takes with the same prohibition-era feel.

Ideally I'd like to find a couple of well put together DJ sets, albums or even single tracks that have a chilled out dance beat with samples or tracks that borrow from music of the eras in question.
I'm not especially picky as to the exact era things come from, as long as the vibe and flow remain fairly consistent. I'd also like to hear suggestions for other original recordings of great artists in the same style if anyone has favorites.

Here's some interesting artists / links I've found just to get things started.

Wax Tailor Interesting mix of samples from old movies with some great production
Wax DJ One of my favorite resources for full DJ sets, and finding excuses to go clubbing here in Seattle
Hybrid Music Interesting question on combining music genres

Thanks!

Electronic music hardware gadgets & gizmos?

univac — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 01:39:53 -0800

DAWs are cool, but I really like the feel of instruments in my hands. Where can I obtain potentially-electronic-music-producing electronic gadgets, oscillators, noise machines, etc. in Southern California?

Getting the most out of Fruityloops

drezdn — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 07:33:15 -0800

How can I avoid the "FruityLoops Sound?" I use FL Studio 5 as my main music making software. I really want to create songs with as high quality as possible and want to avoid "Fruityloops Sound". I plan on adding in more live instruments, but what else should I do?