by River Accorsi

Created on: February 11, 2010

Electronic music spans a vast and expansive world of sonic possibility from experimental to dance to dirty southern hip-hop beats. Music production of any type is a daunting yet rewarding pursuit that can fulfill an artists dream to create, a hustlers drive to sell tunes, or both. The tools of the trade are primarily computers, synthesizers and drum machines. Sounds can be both generated and sampled from external analog instrumentation (guitars, drum sets, vocals) or internally through digital software synthesizers, audio samples or MIDI data.

In the modern production of any form of music the computer lies at the heart of the studio. It is the number one tool you are going to be utilizing in your music production endeavors. Your computer needs to be powerful in order to run and render all of the audio and video elements of your sessions, and you should also invest in a large external hard drive, preferably firewire.

Next you’re going to need an acoustically appropriate room or environment in which to set up your studio. Avoid parallel walls and high ceilings as bass frequency waves are long and tend to collect in corners or in between parallel surfaces. This can distort how you are perceiving the sound and can cause you to create muddy and distorted mixes. Professional studios rely on Auralex foam (www.auralex.com) to eliminate bass traps and unbalanced acoustic environments, but you can use thick padding, rugs, blankets, carpets or really anything to absorb unwanted reflected sound in your studio.

The atmosphere in your production environment should be as pleasing as possible as this is where you are going to be spending many long hours. There is one thing I cannot emphasize enough in your studio design and that is a correct deck configuration with consideration for posture. Make sure your chair has good back support and that your monitor, mouse and keyboard are at ergonomic and comfortable positions. Your body will be affected by how you’re sitting for many continuous hours.

The DAW

The second element in creating music electronically, after a powerful computer, is a master DAW or Digital Audio Workstation. A DAW is essentially a sequencer that is going to control, arrange and edit the entirety of sounds and instruments that will either be coming in through your hardware interface, imported from your hard drive, or generated by a software plug in. Lets discuss the different DAWs so you can get a feeling for what suits your specific needs.

Pro Tools

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