Category: Production

We can use distortion effects on our percussions to make them more personal. However, using a distortion effect on a percussion can be hard since the resulted sound can easily become an unusable noise. Moreover, we need to place an equalizer after using one or more distortion effects, at least most of the time.

In many EDM tracks (songs) is the bassline the most crucial element. There is an extreme amount of music theory and information about making basslines, which can be very overwhelming. In this post, you can learn some music theory and some practical steps with methods by which we can make a bassline relatively simple.

A white noise riser (elevator/white noise whoosh) is a common, nice to hear, and a useful sound effect. There are many explanations about making (producing) such a white noise riser, but I haven’t found one that is complete, in my opinion.

Producers like to modify the sound of snare drum/claps to make it more personal, which we can do with audio distortion effects. However, using a distortion effect on a snare drum/clap can be hard since the resulted sound can easily become an unusable noise. Moreover, we need to place an equalizer after using one or more distortion effects, at least most of the time.

The TR-909 drums are very popular in the world of music. You can hear those sweet drums even in the not EDM genres, for example, Madonna – Vogue. These sounds have some unique characteristics, and for that reason, many artists still like to choose for TR-909 drums.

The original drum sounds come from the Roland TR-909 drum machine, which Roland Corporation released in the year 1983. Roland produced only around 10000 original units of this device and stopped the production in the year 1985. At the time of writing the real Roland TR-909 drum machine costs between 2 en 3 thousand euros. Continue reading “How to make/program TR-909 drums for EDM”

Every element in music we hear has a rhythm, and many of these elements consist of music notes, and many people name such a rhythm a “music note rhythm.” People find such rhythms important since it is related to our heartbeat and our body wants to be in resonance with the surroundings. If our heart rate goes up (for example with running), then we typically also like faster songs more, and vice versa.

A chord progression can be the foundation for a full EDM song. It can also be a guideline for one or more musical parts like a bass, melody, pad, vocals, or something else. You can even play such a progression with an instrument.

You will learn how to make great sounding chord progressions in this tutorial. There is way too much theory about chords, but here you learn how to make them practically. Continue reading “Chord progression tutorial: Give your tracks harmony”

If you want to learn about making electronic dance music, then you have to start somewhere. Some people like to start making music with some experimentation, and others buy something like a course or a book and start from here. What probably helps always in a way, is some information about the bare basics.