Ask HN: How to get started in electronic music

I've been interested in learning how to make electronic music (e.g. Geometry dash, Undertale, Daft Punk, C418), but there doesn't seem to be any real documentation or tutorials on how to start.

To summarize my question: a.) What are the first 3 steps (or more) to learn to compose music? b.) Any links, resources etc. to share?

Thanks for your time and interest.

16 points | by A_Random_Nerd 1 day ago

16 comments

  • speedgoose 1 day ago
    I have been very pleased with the book "The secrets of dance music production" that has a very high ratio of knowledge and tips per page. It is pretty nerdy but is still starting from the basics.
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    • savorypiano 16 hours ago
      Is this book still the best book given that it's 10 years old?
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      • vurudlxtyt 2 hours ago
        Honestly the fundamentals, and the tools for that matter, haven’t really changed. Just the trend of popular genre and composition.
  • vunderba 1 day ago
    You say electronic music, but you didn’t really specify whether you have any background in music at all. Can you sing and/or play an instrument? Can you read sheet or have familiarity with music theory? Do you already make little simple melodies? If you’re starting completely from scratch, it’s going to be tougher.

    You can, of course, grab a horizontal tracker or a DAW like FL Studio and just start scattering notes down. Set a key signature, throw some notes in, and curate until you have some kind of a four-bar loop that sounds good, then build on that.

    Electronic music tends to be more pattern‑based, which is why some people prefer using programs like Ableton or FL Studio for that kind of workflow.

    Side note but you can watch endless videos that teach you how to use a DAW (quantize, set up your mixer, do sidechaining, bla bla) but I don't think I've seen a tutorial that genuinely teach you how to come up with melodies. I, and most of my friends who are musicians, usu. come up with melodies while playing on our respective instruments, and the occasional dream.

    That's why I recommend learning an instrument, or at least getting a MIDI keyboard so you can "plink" in a way that rewards discovery.

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    • nprateem 6 hours ago
      Building blocks by https://audiblegenius.com/ is excellent, as is DMP (see my other comment).
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      • vunderba 4 hours ago
        Nice! I'll have to check out building blocks, since Syntorial (which they also make) is fantastic for teaching you how to almost intuitively get a feel for manipulating ADSR, envelopes, oscillators, etc. to approximate a given sound.
  • ofalkaed 1 day ago
    If you are a programmer then one of the synthesis and composition DSLs would probably be your easiest entry, CSound and SuperCollider are a good place to start, Csound has better non-realtime capabilities, SuperCollider has better realtime, realtime meaning live performance; they overlap a great deal and neither falls completely into realtime or not. PureData is a good option for the less accomplished programmer but still comfortable with programming. There are a great many other DSLs but these three have been around the longest and are well established so a very good place to get started. The Computer Music Tutorial is a great book and the best geberal reference for these languages going over all the techniques in a generic way applicable to most of these DSLs.

    For the non-programmer who does not want to get into programming, something g like LMMS is a good place to start, gives you everything you need and a simple interface that can be quickly learned.

    Or just do like we all used to do, buy a synth and dive in.

  • ZYZ64738 1 day ago
    try to mimik one of your fav. tracks. maybe first try to reproduce part of the drum pattern with any daw. then you could try to do the same with the baseline, the melody, effects... just playing around. no need to match the exact sound designs.

    use simple (caustic3) or cheap software at first (reaper) you later will know what exactly your needs will be. this are just some starting points. i am at your same situation: i have almost no clue about music theory nor i do play a real instrument but i do have a simple midi keyboard just to have a tactile direct access.

    one a while i look for YT-advice.

    Especially for caustic3 there is a good YT series explaining the basic machines used for electronic music.

    caustic3: https://singlecellsoftware.com/caustic3.html

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcM7HcMAhmhaLNX80o4FFRA

    reaper: https://www.reaper.fm/

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq297H7Ca98HlB5mVFHGSsQ

  • saluki 1 day ago
    I started DJ'ing last year I'd almost start there with a FLX4 just to get in to the music more.

    I just started with Ableton recently working on remixing tracks I like. Actually working on a remix of Ella Langley's Be Her just because I thought it was a cool genre bending remix.

    After you do some remixes creating your own from scratch will be easier.

    Mimicing songs and artists you like is a good recommendation, you can also cut up and remix parts of songs you like.

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    • thorin 1 day ago
      I used to use Soundtrackers a lot on Amiga in the 90s. I'm also pretty ok with using Reaper as a DAW playing all the instruments. I would have no idea how to get into remixing though. How would you suggest starting that? Do you tend to start with isolated tracks or just the whole mp3 and take sections and move around and add parts>
  • ideaforge_00 1 day ago
    Most beginners quit because they try to make masterpieces immediately. Recreate a 30 sec loop from Geometry Dash or Undertale first, that alone teaches rythm, melody, structure, and sound design.
  • ultrablue 1 day ago
    You may want to investigate DAWs first. They're the bread and butter of electronic musicians. There are many different kinds, so make sure you ask your AI for alternatives to traditional DAWs. For example live-coding music is a thing.
  • brudgers 1 day ago
    A 303 and a drum machine.
  • andsoitis 1 day ago
    Do you play any musical instrument?
  • bigyabai 1 day ago
    Ableton, the company behind Live, has two awesome interactive tutorials for learning basic compositions and synthesis:

    Learning Music: https://learningmusic.ableton.com/

    Learning Synths: https://learningsynths.ableton.com/

  • nprateem 6 hours ago
    Syntorial is good for learning synth programming.

    Lots of video courses fail to actually teach you the fundamentals. I wasn't super impressed with sonic academy for this reason. It was basically "watch me do stuff". Groove3 was ok but tbh most dance production teachers on there seemed meh.

    The absolute king is dancemusicproduction.com [1]. The guy who teaches has literally written the manual on dance music production (Snoman). He says he's been a ghost producer for Guetta and worked on Kylie Minogue, etc.

    By all accounts if you want to learn from an actual pro who can actually teach all the fundamentals, it's this guy. Was so pleased when I finally found it.

    [1] https://www.dancemusicproduction.com/oldpg/

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