Becoming an Electronic DJ

How to Make Electronic Music

Now that we have learned in detail what DJing is and what kind of equipment it takes let’s get into something more specific. Since all the buzz nowadays is made by electronic music in general, it’s important to start learning some of the basics that you will need in order to become a successful electronic music producer. Before you start thinking of what do you need to create a song, you have to find out about the genre of electronic music in which your music taste lies.

There are plenty of choices like house, trap, dubstep, or ambient. It’s preferred that you’re familiar with the kind of music that you want to produce, so if you’re going to create a dubstep track, listen to many dubstep artists and try to understand the process of how they make a track. While you can also create an entirely new genre, but doing that is extremely hard to do, without having any prior knowledge of the other genres.

Research specific artists that you like, but don’t limit yourself only to their music, because you can learn something new from every artist, and since electronic music is ever-evolving, it’s always nice to keep up with what’s trending right now, so that you’ll be more informed and you can always keep up with what’s happening out there.

Select Your DAW

Also known as the Digital Audio Workstation, this is the alpha and the omega that you will need to create new tracks. The most famous DAWs are Ableton Live, Cubase, FL Studio, and Logic Pro among others. If you don’t know which DAW to pick, then you can read the specifics online and see the advantages and disadvantages of each and then decide.

Buy Plugins

Plugins are a software effect or instrument that you use to edit, create, or manipulate sound. The essential plugins are samplers, mixing/mastering effects, and synthesizers. While the majority of the plugins aren’t necessary for the production of a track, they help tremendously in creating a more vibrant and unique song. Before rushing to buy every plugin out there, check to see if the DAW that you have purchased comes with any plugins.

Buy a Good Computer

While in the beginning, you may not require a mighty computer, because your processing may be basic but after a while, depending on the sounds and techniques that you want to produce, you will need a computer that has a pretty strong processor, plenty of RAM memory and also at least a 1TB of memory.

Invest in Both Essential And Non-Essential Hardware

For starters, you will need to purchase a sound system that will be able to produce great sounds, and that can either be headphones or speakers. Soundbars and Wireless Boomboxes are other items that are well worth considering, as are microphones, audio interfaces, hardware synthesizers/processors, etc.

Watch Hours of Tutorials on YouTube

Learning how to use a DAW all on your own can be very hard. For that reason, the first thing that you will have to do is read all the instructions and after that, try to find tutorials on YouTube that will teach you how to use it. This way, you can learn a lot quicker than if you were to experiment all on your own. The same thing can be said about plugins since experimenting with them without having any clues whatsoever can be an overwhelming task, so there are plenty of tutorials out there that will make your life a lot easier.

Practice

While you’re trying to learn new things or even starting to produce your first song, sometimes it’s better to go for it, because even though it may suck, there are so many things that you will learn by doing rather than just watching how others do it. Don’t try to overcomplicate it in the beginning, just try to learn the basics of how a track is actually made and then continue to share it with other people, and if you’re part of forums that are made for new DJs, share it there and ask for advice and what could be further improved.