To create electronic music, you need to have at least the basic knowledge of music production. To be a professional, it takes a steep learning curve and a lot of time. Ideally, you should never stop learning during your career as a music producer. A few of those tips are highlighted below.
Set Your Kick Drum at Around 10dB
The kick drum is usually the loudest in electronic music. Setting the kick drum at about 10dB prevents you from experiencing clipping in the master channel, which is a problem that many amateurs usually encounter. It might sound a little too soft at first, but you can use a limiter to bring the song volume to what is expected commercially.
Use Busses
Busses might sound a bit scary, but they are quite simple to use. Using busses helps you organize everything. For example, if you have several vocal tracks, you can send them through a single bus and have only one compressor and EQ to control them. Percussions, particularly hi-hats and snares, usually sound a lot better when compressed together instead of individually.
Tune the percussion and kick to the song’s key
If you want your song to have a bouncy feel, you should side-chain your bass, synths, and percussions to a muted kick. Doing so also helps to make the kick drum come through strongly and nice. Knowing what side chaining is and how to use it takes only a little research. It is also a good idea to side-chain white noise for electronic music, especially for dance tracks.
Whenever Possible, Cut EQ Instead of Boosting
There are times when your kick drum will not come through properly, requiring you to increase the low-end EQ. However, doing so might result in clipping and cause other things to sound muddy. To avoid all that, you can use the alternative of cutting some bassline frequencies, allowing the kick to come through. Knowing what should be cut is the key.
Practice
When it comes to creating electronic music, the only way you can get better is by practicing often. Produce as much as you can, ensuring that you learn something or perfect what you already know each time. Keep in mind that consistency is the key to success.
