Starting Electronic Music Production
Photo By Martin Engel Grafiker Hamburg
If there’s one real thing valid in this world we live in – the reality working in any new field includes a considerable degree of learning difficulties and starting electronic music production is the same. Indeed, in the past, just the wealthy had the option to create music. It included going into a top of the line studio, and recording with highly expensive equipment.
Luckily we’re currently living in 2021 and the expenses for starting music production are much less expensive. In this article, I will guide all of you who want to get into electronic music production but still worry because of the expense. I excessively needed to begin a spending plan, at 18 years old.
There’s nothing similar to spending your well-deserved money on a recycled MIDI console or cheap gear that breaks inside a couple of months! After broad research, I accept that the items I suggest in this article are the best incentive for cash you’ll get.
In case you’re new to electronic music production, you likely would prefer not to contribute a ton of cash immediately, neither would you like to waste money on stuff you’ll never use.
Let’s dig into starting electronic music production!
Read also: How To Promote Electronic Music In 2021 | 10 Ways For Beginners
Choose A DAW To Start Electronic Music Production
The first thing you need to do is choose a DAW if you already have a computer or access to one. In the world of sound, a DAW is a Digital Audio Workstation, it contains all things required to start crafting electronic music.
Good headphones or monitor speakers will help, but even cheap ones will be enough to start with electronic music production. In the beginning, you need to focus on learning the software, aka DAW, and the fundamentals of beat-making.
Shortly, a DAW and headphones or any kind of speakers are the absolute minimum expected to start with electronic music production. This the base studio setup you need. It will be enough to figure out how to get familiar with the essentials of production and start creating your own music.
Equipment For Starting Electronic Music Production
Anyway, there is a lot of other stuff you need to do before starting throwing your money without the knowledge. Would you buy an airplane if you had the money without learning how to fly it? Electronic music production is really accessible these days and can quickly become an addiction and spend our money on gear we do not really need.
But if you want to do music production seriously and make a genuine profession out of it, you have to put away cash and start saving while improving your knowledge.
What Gear Do You Need for Starting Electronic Music Production?
I would say just a laptop and a pair of headphones, but if you want to go more serious about electronic music production, this is what you need:
- A Well Performing Laptop
- Great Headphones
- Studio Monitors
- Sound Card
- Midi Controllers – Keyboards, Drum Pads, etc.
- Music Productions Books/Courses
- Plugins
- Mentor or Music Production Degree
Hardware – Synthesizers, Studio Gear
Hardware, synthesizers, and more professional studio gear is the next level. If you went to a music production school or completed a sound engineering degree, you are probably ready to dive into this ocean of the world of sound. At this stage, you will be thinking to make an income from music production.
However, let’s not rush and go back to what you came in this article to learn. All these things will be necessary to know, but it’s not essential to start with electronic music production.
I would suggest you start planning and budgeting your future equipment and start progressing toward your goal.
Plan and Budget
You’ve possibly been producing electronic music for some time. If that’s the case, you need to stretch out and get some more stuff and upgrade your studio.
If you’re totally new to this and have some savings, whatever the case, it’s vital that you understand the fundamentals.
In case you have nothing to spend in reality, it’s still alright, I was one of them, and I am really grateful because my eagerness for creating my own music challenged me to become a better producer.
But you need to understand that you need to put some cash in the end, since it makes a difference and you are walking toward becoming a pioneer in your field.
Plan
While you are in the learning period, that is the most nostalgic experience for music producers, you will develop your own style and sound. It can only take 3 years to get there if you produce every day until you create your signature sound. Then you will be more aware of what gear to buy because you will be ready for this step before you go and make it rain in music stores.
Thomann is one of the best stores to buy music gear in the market.
Check out Plugin boutique for buying VST instruments.
At Splice you can buy Sample Packs & Loops, you can also rent to own VST plugins.
Since each producer will have multiple needs, I can’t mention to you what you need. I can only suggest you start with a laptop and a mouse. Once you realize if music production is for you, you need to ask yourself this question:
How Serious You Are About Starting Electronic Music Production?
The initial question is significant because it causes you to view your goals and cravings in the electronic music industry. At Underground Talent, our mission is to guide you toward your goals by putting value in our underground sector and helping people enter it the right and healthy way.
I thought about you guys the ones that only got into music production and can’t hold yourselves and want to upgrade your home studio. If it doesn’t damage your financial balance and you’re considering seriously transforming music production into a… I was ready to say job, but I don’t like to describe my passion as a job – I will speak into an excited and successful music career. If that’s the case you are reading this article, you need to start planning and putting resources into gear to help kick off your music producer journey.
Every music producer has different needs related to hardware. In case you’re a techno producer, it would be great for you to get into analog synthesizers and drum machines.
If you want to become Ableton live performer, you’ll likely need a solution like Ableton push.
In case you want only to produce digitally, it’ll be a smart thought to put resources into a legitimate MIDI controller to help you with your workflow while diving deeper into music production.
Try not to spend $500 on a controller if you’ve never played on in your life before. Spend your money wisely, realize what you really need, and put resources into more expensive hardware once you are ready for this upgrade. Get yourself in the flight simulation first, you get the point!
Photo By Clay Banks
Budgeting
You have to begin learning about the gear first, once you decide what to buy, create a list and calculate the overall costs. Prepare everything, and resolve how to best go through your gear expenses.
Underground Talent is currently planning to expand and deliver more helpful content for our readers and upcoming electronic music producers. If you like to become a part of our community and have a voice, let us know if you want to learn more about creating a budgeting plan for your home studio by messaging us on our Facebook page.
Do you remember when you were a kid, standing in front of your favorite game store, willing to spend all your piggy bank money on a better gaming console? Do be that guy! 🙂
Be patient and stick to the plan. Find out what gear your beloved artists are using and learn about them. You can watch tutorials, How-To, read reviews, it might sound silly to you now, but you can even download and read the manuals.
Photo By Grooveland Designs
Theory Before Practice When Starting Electronic Music Production
There are many ways if you really want to expand your knowledge. A great website to research what other producers are using is Equipboard.
Learn the different purposes of using them and how or what to combine to achieve a specific sound or style. Once you learn how to work effectively with your gear, you’ll be able to use them in your unique way.
Analogue Kitchen has some excellent series on how to play analog, I will link to his Youtube channel, I am sure you will learn a lot from him.
You promised yourself you will do it seriously, so invest some tough time and your efforts will be awarded in the long run. But that’s not the case, It should be fun and a joyful path toward creating your own piece of art.
To help you save some time, I will attach to this post research on what gear you should look into as a beginner electronic music producer.
So ideally you have somewhat of a thought of what YOU need to begin creating electronic music. In this part, I will list stuff and items that I suggest only for somebody with an arranged spending plan.
You may not really need everything from the list, so I mentioned what is necessary and in which stage to get them. Of the things I plan (monitors, sound interfaces), however, I’m trying to help beginners who are after more.
Photo By Joshua Woroniecki
Best Computers For Starting Electronic Music Production
I thought you might not have at all or own an old & underperforming computer. I want to talk about what criteria to consider while choosing your laptop or workstation for music production.
In music technology, the most important is power. Power!? Yes, power. We are making “electronic” music, right? Think of it as the juice of life for your computer. Invest a fair amount of money in your power supply.
A 500W still does the job, but at some overloaded point experiencing some power issues, like not reading all the USB slots at the same time. I suggest you get a 700W. Believe me, issues like that are really annoying while you are in the production phase.
The second important thing you need to pay attention to while buying or building your own music production computer is the CPU processor. You need a strong CPU to run all software and plugins smoothly without overtiring the system.
An I5 processor could still do the job, but I suggest you look on i7 and over. I recommend Apple’s MacBooks with the new M1 CPU processor for all the mac lovers out there. Do your research, and I promise you that it will blow your mind this new technology.
The next thing is RAM. To be honest, 4 GB of RAM would do the job, but I am really advising you a minimum of 8GB. Some plugins can be really heavy on overloaded projects.
Photo By LSD For Society
The Best DAW for Beginners
Any DAW could work for music production. There is no right or wrong in 2021 when it comes witch software to choose. But to help you understand and be able to make your own decision which one to pick. I am recommending this software only out of my experience after 17 years of heavily using them. Maybe what I learned can really help you.
You will hear many different things around about, which is the best DAW. Sometimes even arrogant behaviors from people trying to prove something by convincing you that the software they use is better. Do not fall into it.
Important is to understand music technology and pick your DAW-based on your needs. I am using FL Studio since I started. I really mastered music production utilizing this interface. My workflow is high-speed, and I enjoy the environment while using it.
But!
I do not use the plugins that are coming with the software. I created my own carefully selected arsenal of VST. There is some other thing I had negative experiences with FL studio and it’s not the DAW by itself.
Most techno, house, and in general underground electronic music artists are working with Ableton. So when it comes to collaboration and sharing project files with others, if you chose to be an FL Studio user, you will be a kind of an outsider. That doesn’t mean collaboration cannot happen, but it makes the process slower.
Image by Pexels.com
The Best Audio Interfaces (aka Sound Cards) For Starting Electronic Music Production
When I first started, sound cards were expensive, and as a young music producer enthusiast, it was almost impossible to get one, or you needed to save some money.
Today, the market is broad, and there are excellent options to choose from at affordable prices. Get the audio interface when you are ready to buy studio monitors because this is where you will plug them.
Photo By Soundtrap
The Best Studio Monitors When Starting Electronic Music Production
Most beginners are getting a bit emotional here, isn’t it? Do not choose a monitor based on design or how big it looks. You need really to think about the environment you are going to place them.
If you have a small room, there is no point to buy an 8-inch studio monitor, because you will not have acoustically treated your room for sound purposes.
It’s best to choose a nearfield monitor designed for small rooms. Do your research and get familiar with brands. If you are in a big city like London, like we are, then you can rent out a music production studio from time to time and try out different monitors.
In the end, whatever you choose, you have to train your ear on the monitors’ performance and responses. Simply, you need to get used to them.
Photo By Neonbrand
Midi Keyboard & Controllers
There are so many choices out there for midi controllers, that feel like gambling if you start picking this one, or that one, and from a selection of $80 value, you end up buying a $500 that you realize sooner or later is useless. At least comparing the price you paid.
A midi allows you to control specific actions when mapped with your DAW. Be smart and choose wisely. If your budget is tight, it’s better to put more money to better monitor instead of a better midi controller.
I hope this article really helped you, at least with understanding the basics of getting into electronic music production. This year we are going to focus on this subject and give you more valuable content in depth. Find us on Facebook and get in touch if you have any ideas about the content you would like to learn.
#TogetherWeAreStronger
And always remember…
Have Fun. Be Creative.
