How to make EDM beginners guide

Want to know how to make EDM? You’re in the right place. You listen to it, you enjoy it and you’re absolutely in love with it. EDM, also known as Electronic Dance Music is the music of this generation and it’s growing rapidly! You see it in the music charts every week and hear the most craziest remixes in pretty much any club with a decent DJ.

Now you’re here because you want to learn how to make EDM music, am I right? But where on earth do you start? Well without a clear idea in what direction to take you can waste a lot of time dealing with music creation programs, synthesisers and samples that just aren’t professional enough to produce EDM music to a high enough standard. So I’m here to teach you the basics of making EDM (‘EDM Music’ as a lot of you seem to refer it as. Though that technically doesn’t make sense. The internet hey!).

So lets get started, this is how to make EDM music.

1. Learn the basics of music

Now I’m in no doubt that some of you reading this have experience from playing instruments or being a vocalist so this step may not be relevant. If thats you. Skip this step and read the other steps because they ARE relevant.

Now if you’ve never made music or played and instrument you may feel completely confused about where to start, but everyone starts somewhere. So I’d do your research and learn about these basics bullet points:

– Learn what a Beat & Bar is (not a place where you go and get drunk).
– Learn what a time signature is.– Learn about BPM (Beats Per Minute)
View a tutorial that covers all of the above

– Learn the difference between major and minor keys. – View tutorial
– Learn what KEY is and means. – View tutorial– Learn an instrument, I highly recommend learning to play the piano. Because if you’re going to be a producer. You’ll be using the keyboard/piano layout a lot. – View tutorial
– Learn basic chords and chord sequences. – View tutorial

Now learning all of the above may take a while and some of the tutorials may be a bit long winded. But If you know the basics of all the above you’ll have a massive advantage when it comes to producing your own electronic dance music, why? Because you’ll have the understanding of how songs work and how they’re structured. This gives you an amazing starting point.

2. Your weapon of choice. 

When I say your weapon of choice, what do I mean exactly? No, not an AK 47 or an RPG, this isn’t Call of Duty! This is a tutorial on how to make EDM music, so what I mean is your DAW.

So what’s a DAW I hear you scream? Well a DAW is a Digital Audio Workstation, which basically means the software you’ll be using to arrange and produce your music. There are quite literally 100’s of DAW’s in the world but I’m going to cover the key players. Now I’m going to warn you that from my experience no decent DAW is free (legally anyway) so you may have smash the piggy bank open to get a decent DAW. However there are some rather affordable options.

So without further adieu, here’s the list of DAW’s that I recommend to you.

1. Logic Pro X – £139.99 – Visit Website

Logic Pro X is the latest version of Apple’s DAW, yes I said Apple. You know the guys who make that device called the iPhone? These guys have been making Logic Pro for many many years, before such a thing as an iPhone existed! Now I’m going to be a 100% honest. This is my favourite application for making music, I’ve tried quite a few but the ease of use is just amazing. It also comes with big amount of tools that you can start using straight out of the box to start to make your own EDM music. And from what i’m aware, this is by far the cheapest DAW you’ll find. It’s only downfall is the platform you can use it on, and by that I mean all you windows users, you can’t use this! It’s Mac only. But if you’re using a Mac. I highly recommend Logic Pro X.

2. Cubase 7.5 – £488 – Visit Website

Now I’ve never used Cubase myself but I’ve sat there and watched my producer friends use it and from what I can see. It’s closely relates to the way you use logic. By that I mean it has a similar look and feel.
Again this isn’t extremely cheap, in fact it’s pretty expensive compared to logic pro. You do however get some wicked features, including awesome plugins such as the EDM toolbox. Pretty relevant right? My friend (SuperKaleider) uses Cubase as his main driver and absolutely loves it compared to logic, where as I’m the opposite. But he makes some absolute bangers so… I’ll let you do decide on that one.
Cubase does come in various versions, some are cheaper but lack features. This could be useful if you’re low on money. Also Cubase is multi platform so you could rock this software on Windows and Mac.

3. Ableton Live 9 – £500 (€599) – Visit Website

Ableton Live 9 is the latest version of Ableton Live, and it does look pretty cool when using it. However, I’m not the biggest fan of how this application is laid out. To me it doesn’t seem amazingly friendly for a beginner. But it’s down to the user to decide wether or not they like the application. But this is a how to make EDM music tutorial so It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t include Ableton as a lot of extremely talented producers use this software, including Deadmau5. The benefits of Ableton Live is that its cross platform, meaning it works with Windows and Mac. You can also get a lite version of the software for under £80 which can be useful for anyone on a tight budget. However it’s extremely restricted.

3. Lets talk Synthesizers.

So you’ve got your new DAW and you’re now eager to learn how to make EDM music for yourself. Okay, not to fast. We need to talk synthesizer. So what’s a synthesizer? well interesting questions. Its basically an electronic instrument that can produce a massive variety of sound, in fact the sounds are often endless. They are often compiled with a few oscillator, think of an oscillator as a voice or a note of a keyboard that you can then manipulate.
So basically if you’re going to make EDM music. You need to use an synthesizer, the entire music genre is based around them. Oh and by the way, the “Slang” for synthesizer is synth. It’s easier to say and it makes you cool.

Now unless you’re extremely rich and want to use real analogue synths , we’ll be using digital software synthesizers. So now you need to get your hands on some decent synths. Well you’re in luck for 2 reasons. Here’s reason one: If you selected one of the DAWs I recommended, you’ll already have a nice handful of synths to work with. With logic you have awesome synths such as the ES2 (Love that synth sometimes) and the second reason is that I’m going to give you a short list of extremely professional synthesizers that can make some unimaginable sounds. Of course they come at a price but you’ll be using the same synths that artists like Skrillex and many more use.

1. Massive – £84.50 – Visit Website

Massive is a pretty massive synth (excuse the pun) this has 3 oscillators and an amazing amount of features to modulate the sounds. In my eyes its a pretty simple synth to pick up once you understand how it works. I honestly feel extremely creative every time I use it and I can also get smooth sounds from it. The only disadvantage I find is that you always end up making somethings that sounds pretty “Dirty” or aggressive. It’s possible to make relaxing sounds in Massive but I always end up going a bit filthier with it. But that’s just me. The other downfall for the synth is that It’s very easy to overcomplicate the sounds and this is because it’s so easy to play with. My advice, try and stay as simple as possible.

2. Razor – £44.50 – Visit Website

Someone hand me a razor, I need a shave. Okay this synth is pretty awesome. It’s only a 2 oscillator synth but the modulations you can make with the sounds is pretty unique. It has amazing 3D visuals so you can see the wave forms as you play. I honestly feel like I’m being creative and making a new sound with this synth. My only downfall with this synth is it is quite limiting when trying to make choppy or in sync LFO sounds, I’ve just never been able to get things as easy as I can in massive. But with that said. It does have a unique sounds its just not as diverse as massive.

 3. You need good drum samples

When I first started producing I made a massive mistake. What was the mistake I hear you ask? It was using logics basic drum samples and thinking they were good enough. I tried manipulating the samples so much to make them sounds “Big” that the track just sounded terrible and had no punch to it at all. Then I found a few free drum samples online and BAM, my tracks started to shine instantly and the best part? I hardly had to do any work on trying to make the drum samples sound big.

There are quite literally 1000’s of drum sample packs out there and I can’t tell you the exact ones to use. This is because what drum samples you use will define your sound and It’s down to you to choose ones that suit the music you’re creating. I know we’re talking about how to make EDM music but EDM is so varied that there is no one set of samples that’ll suit everyone. But with that said, I can give you a link to some free ones and some decent paid ones that I use.

1. Vengeance Samples – from €85 – Visit Website

These samples are quite literally the most professional samples I’ve ever heard. They are absolutely massive and are mastered very well. Vengeance samples offer a lot of different samples packs to cater to everyone. If you can’t find a sample pack you like on there website. You’re either musically insane or such a creative genius that you should go and create your own. Most packs are starting from a good price, it may sound like a lot but you’ll honestly be using these packs every time you make a track. So make sure you find a good pack that’ll you love the sound of.  If it matters to you. These are the samples that I use.

2. Native Instruments Battery 4 – £169 – Visit Website

Now the Battery 4 is actually a drum machine that comes with a huge collection of samples.  It’s a very unique way of putting beats together and the best thing about it? It’s so easy to put beats together in this software. You’ll love it. The drum samples are  NOT as good as Vengeance samples I must admit. However if you’ve got the money. Vengeance Samples combined with NI Battery 4, you’ll be on to a winner. Personally I don’t use battery 4 but I’ve seen it been used and I’ve been temped to purchase it quite a few times. Hell, I might go get it after I finish this tutorial.

3. Directory of FREE samples – FREE! – Visit Website

Here’s a directory that points to multiple website that offer free EDM drum samples for you to indulge in. Some may be crap but you might find some litter gems in here making you more unique than all the other artists out there. If you’re a on a low budget this is a good starting place for you to look for EDM drum samples. So what are you waiting for? Go have a look!

4. Conclusion – Learn how to use your tools.

So you’ve got the music basics down, you have you DAW, synths and some awesome samples to start with. Now what? Well, start using your tools. Your goal should be to become the absolute best at using your DAW, using your synth and choosing the best samples. Use Google and watch videos on YouTube until you feel like you can do produce any sound you want. You see it all starts with a question before you can find the answer. Once you’ve mastered your tools you’ll be 100% free to be as creative as you want and let yourself be the unique artist you’ve always wanted to be.

Now this is going to take a while, perhaps years. It all depends on how much motivation and time you’ve got to learn and become the best at making EDM music. Now here are a few last pointers from me before you start.

1. Listen to EDM music religiously – This step is crucial if you want to become an expert onmaking EDM music. Listen to Electronic Dance Music as much as you can, and try and pick apart tracks in your head. Trust me, this will help you understand how good EDM is really made.

2. Fake it till you make it – Fake it till you make it is something I feel everyone great has done at one point in there life. When making your first few tracks or exploring a new direction, find similar tracks and put them in the project as a reference file. Copy the way they’ve structured the track and how they’ve accomplished the build ups. That’s the “Faking” it part. Before you know it you won’t have to use reference tracks anymore and you’ll realise you’re making music from your head with using the common techniques used in producing. Again this can take years, but you’ll get there with enough dedication.

3. Learn what Mixing and Mastering is – Now this step is an art form within it’s self. Basically mixing a track down is tweaking everything until it fits nicely together and all the volumes are correct. Mastering is usually the process of giving it to another set of ears and letting them tweak it until it’s right. A mastering engineer will make it loud, punchy and ready to be released into the world, depending if it’s mixed correctly that is.
Mixing and Mastering can make or break a track so make sure you spend a good amount of time learning these skills or finding someone with these skills to help you.

So there you have it. The beginners guide on How To Make EDM Music. I hope this tutorial has helped you. Be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to always be up to date with new tutorials that come out on ESA Records.

Now get out there and start making some Electronic Dance Music (EDM).

Posted in: Tutorials