KVR Audio

noko · Post by **noko** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 6:54 am

I've always wanted to get into making electronic music. I've been playing the guitar for about 3 years now and I know a bit about music theory. I picked up a midi keyboard and got Reason for my daw. Really the type of music I'd like to make is similar to Giraffage. Here are some links https://soundcloud.com/marshmallow-gun/ ... fage-remix (I really like this remix), here's his soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/giraffage . I really don't know where to start. I tried looking up some things on youtube but I'm just finding stuff that's like "how to make a top edm song" and that's not what I want. I'm currently 16, I've been messing with music since I was 13 on acoustic and electric guitars, I was also in band before and played multiple band instruments. I messed around before with Audacity to record and add effects with my guitars but I've never really messed with any DAWs. So where should I start?

DJ Warmonger · Post by **DJ Warmonger** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 12:47 pm

First of all, find out what style is that - because I have no idea TBH. Then just dissasemble the track into single pieces and try to recreate them.

Also, try to find more advanced guidelines by professionals who relaly know stuff. There are lots of them in the internet as well as in the books. KVR is pretty good place to start. just figure out what you are looking for.

sbj · Post by **sbj** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 1:10 pm

When I listen to the track - Giraffage - I think that if you start
subscribing to Computer Music Magazine you could really
benefit from their articles.
I have been a subscriber for many years and it was a great
help when I started out.

Another forum where you can learn a lot beside here on KVR is a forum
called IDMf: http://www.idmforums.com/

And as DJ Warmonger said: Just search the web until you find
what you need.
And the more specific you search - the better.

Cheers

GHOST19 · Post by **GHOST19** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 1:16 pm

First learn the main tools you have in your DAW (synth, sampler, EQ, compressor, pitch corrector, phaser etc.) and how they work in general, see how they seem to be used in the songs you like.
You seem more into remixes so find some songs to remix, enter remix contests and go from there. If it doesn't sound good at first that's perfectly normal, you will improve over time

noko · Post by **noko** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 2:17 pm

Alright thanks guys! When I'm learning my DAW, should I just do it hands on or should I be watching vids? I looked up giraffage on rateyourmusic and they're saying he's trap/chillwave/glitch pop. So I guess that's around the style I wanna be in.

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 2:27 pm

That first song I'd grab some drum samples, look for epiano keyboard presets , learn about sidechain compression, get a good reverb, use heavy compression for the louder drums, a filter/eq for the vocals.

noko · Post by **noko** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 2:36 pm

Does reason come with any of that? Can you give me some links where I can find this stuff?

Tricky-Loops · Post by **Tricky-Loops** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 2:38 pm

noko wrote:...they're saying he's trap/chillwave/glitch pop...

Strap/illwave and bitch pop, that's exactly what Tricky-Loops invented...

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 2:49 pm

noko wrote:Does reason come with any of that? Can you give me some links where I can find this stuff?

It should, and yes:

Free tutorials on many of the basics:
http://www.musicradar.com/us/computermu ... dfs-246054

Sidechain Compression:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep08/a ... h_0908.htm

Also google "CM Trance Masterclass pdf" I can't seem to find the old page but they still host the PDFs for free. Simple tutorial working through lots of the basics in Reason.

el-bo (formerly ebow) · Sun Oct 19, 2014 3:45 pm

start by widening your listening circumference. this artist you aspire to seems to have managed to spread one tune out to his entire catalogue (or at least every one i clicked on

)

noko · Post by **noko** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 4:10 pm

I don't know what you mean, how do I do that?

el-bo (formerly ebow) · Sun Oct 19, 2014 4:21 pm

noko wrote:I don't know what you mean, how do I do that?

what i mean is that you listen to a much broader selection of artists, and even those outside of the genre you are interested in creating. in this way, you can start to take your influences from a much wider selection. think of it like cooking; each dish you learn to prepare, will bring different cooking techniques, different flavours, and different spices. eventually you will learn to use these spices, techniques and flavours to create your own signature dishes

noko · Post by **noko** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 4:44 pm

Ah I listen to a lot of genres of music. I usually spend a lot of time on soundcloud just listening to a lot of songs that are posted. Here's another song that I really would like to compare too. https://soundcloud.com/gioni/calvin-har ... e-download

fese · Post by **fese** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 5:13 pm

Noko, you start making music in a age where there is practically every information you need available somewhere on the net. The problem is just finding the right stuff.
Before you start googling I would advise you to try the old divide and conquer method:
Because software today is so damn flexible and powerful, it might seem overwhelming at first, so you have to break it down to little steps and have simple goals that you can easily achieve without getting frustrated. For example, instead of saying "I want to make music like that guy or that one", say "this week in want to learn how to make sounds with syntheziser X in reason", next week it is creating drums beats with the drum machine. Focus on smaller targets. Concentrate on one thing at a time. Then as you advance, make simple songs, e.g. only four tracks with just beats, bass, guitar and synth. Limit yourself, don't get lost in the endless possibilities.

Of course you need to learn the basics of your DAW at first. If you know no one personally that can assist you there, a video tutorial might be a good idea. Or just search for "reason tutorial" or "reason basics" on YouTube. There's tons of stuff out there. There are also paid courses at several online schools, this might be helpful to get some feedback by instructors from time to time, but I cannot tell which are good.

Last advice from the old guy: be patient. Learning to create music takes time. Don't be frustrated when things don't work out exactly how you want at first. The artists you mentioned have probably done this for a long time and they are still learning today.

noko · Post by **noko** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 5:32 pm

Alright thanks man, I'll just limit myself and start learning small things. I'm going to watch some reason tutorials on youtube so I can get a feel of where everything is at, and I'm going to look at all those pdfs arkmabat linked me and I'll start messing around in reason. Thanks guys.

I'm completely new to making any type of electronic music, how do I start?