HOW TO MAKE

ELECTRONIC DANCE
MUSIC

A "Beginners" Guide

COLIN WARN
 Table of Contents
Why I Created This
What Hardware You'll Need to Start
Choosing a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)
Learn Your DAW:
Music Theory:
Synthesizers:
Building a Sample Collection:
Plugins:
Mixing:
The Fastest Way to Improve - Examine and Emulate Your
Favorite Tracks:
The Second Fastest Way to Improve: Posting Your Tracks and
Getting Feedback:
Final Words:
Frequently Asked Questions:
Training Guide:
 Why I Created This
Hello from Seattle!

Colin Warn here, and at the time of writing this book I am an 18

year-old American kid who is chasing his dreams one small
step at a time with the hope that I can inspire others to chase
theirs. Right now my full-time passion is DJing and producing,
a passion that I'm developing in order to bring people as much
joy and value as humanly possible.

This book was made to help out my fellow aspiring producers

figure out how one begins producing Electronic Dance Music
(EDM). My intention in this book is to point new EDM
producers in the right direction, whether it be in the context of
hardware requirements, skill-sets needed to produce
professional-grade music, etc. Throughout this book, my
intention is to not only to save you time and money, but to give
you some peace of mind knowing that you're headed in the right
direction.

This helpful guide is not the only way to learn how to make
music as there are just as many paths in one's journey of
learning how to produce as there are people. However, I
thought I would write up a little article consisting of my insights
on the subject in the hopes that it will help the beginner start
moving in the right direction. I am not a perfect teacher on the
matter and I am open to the possibility that some of my
advice/insights may be arguable by other professionals and
music producers. If you do happen to find something wrong or
something you feel is missing in this eBook, feel free to email
me at [email protected] and I'd be happy to discuss it with
you.

That being said, I hope the information found and helpful tips in
this little eBook will of some use to you the reader.

So without further ado, I hope you enjoy the book!

 What Hardware You'll Need to Start
For the beginner, the best and cheapest way to start out is with
just a plain old computer. There are still currently producers
who've made tracks with only analog gear, but the beginner
starting out it is HIGHLY suggested you learn the fundamentals
on a computer before having to worry about the intrinsically
expensive nature of analog gear, wiring limitations, etc.

So, which computer is best suited for production? Virtually,

any fairly new computer will do. If you have a 3-4 year old PC
or a brand new Mac, then you have a perfectly fit computer for
making music. I even have producer friends whose computers
are 6-7 years old! No matter how old your machine is, it should
still be able to run music.

Once you have the computer, you need an accurate listening

environment. Most professional producers have jaw-dropping
studio setups and state-of-the-art soundproofing, but as a new
producer you can start out much simpler and cheaper with a set
of high-quality headphones. The key, though, to getting
professional results as close to studio-level as possible is to
learn your headphones inside and out. When shopping for
headphones, it may be tempting to go for your favorite bass-
heavy brands such as Beats or V-Modas. Resist the urge.
Instead, you'll want to look for those which have a “flat-
frequency

response”. You want to get as accurate a representation of your

music as possible, so headphones with boosted frequencies like
Beats or V-Modas will only hinder your ability to hear an
unbiased version of your track. Some recommended
headphones to look out for are the Beyerdynamic DT 770
PRO's ($150-200), Sennheiser HD-280 PRO's ($99) or Sony
MDR7506's ($90).

Now that you have your computer and headphones, what

program do you need to start making music? There are many
different options of Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs), so
we'll cover this in the next chapter. For now you'll want to bear
in mind your computer's operating system (Mac vs. PC vs.
Linux), as some of these programs are exclusive to certain
operating systems.

For those of you who like to have some sort of physical piano to
interact with, there are a plethora of “midi keyboards” on the
market that will allow you to plug in and interact directly with
your DAW. Many of these keyboards are optimized for certain
DAWs, so for best results you may want to do some research
for which keyboards work well with your workstation. Some of
the best all-around keyboards I've seen are the Akai MPK's
($100-$400 depending on your specs) and M-Audio Oxygens
(same price range). I'd highly suggest getting these keyboards
on Craigslist or eBay as you'll find some great deals on these
midis.
 Choosing a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)
As stated before, many DAW's are operating-system exclusive.
There are some pretty advanced DAWs, so for the starting
producer I've selected the DAWs with the highest user-base and
a relatively low learning curve. In addition to each DAW, I’ve
added in notes about their price-range, operating system, online
tutorials, and other helpful details.
 Ableton Live

Compatible Operating Systems:

PC and Mac.
Learning Curve:
Moderately Easy.
Price:
$99 (Intro), $359 (Standard), $599 (Suite), free demo for 30
days.
Producers Who Use Ableton Live:
Daft Punk, Armin Van Buuren, Dust Brothers.

Info:

Ableton Live is one of the most, if not the most, used DAW on
this list. A favorite for people who want to perform their
electronic music to crowds live without going down the
traditional DJing route.

Good Tutorial Websites for Ableton Beginners:

Sadowick Production

Introduction To Ableton Live Coursera Course

Buy Ableton Here
Apple Logic Pro
Compatible Operating Systems:
Mac only.
Learning Curve:
Moderate.
Price:
$199 (full version).
Producers Who Use Logic Pro:
Depeche Mode, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand.

Info:

Revamped by Apple, Logic Pro will come very intuitively to

previous GarageBand users. With a great iPad controller app,
Logic Pro would be best for people who are quite used to and
comfortable using Apple products.

Good Tutorial Websites for Logic Beginners:

SFLogicNinja
MusicTechHelpGuy
soundsLogical
Buy Logic Here
 Image-Line FL Studio
Compatible Operating Systems:
PC only (MAC version announced for 2015).
Learning Curve:
Easy.
Price:
$99 (Fruity Edition), $199 (Producer Edition), $299 (Signature
Edition), $910.70 (FL Studio + all plugins bundle), free demo
with saving and exporting disabled.
Producers Who Use FL Studio:
Deadmau5, Madeon, Martin Garrix, Avicii.

Info:

Great starter DAW, very easy to learn. My personal suggestion

for beginners. Lifetime free updates.

Good Tutorial Websites for FL Studio Beginners:

Warbeats
Beats4Beets
SeamlessR
Beat School
Buy FL Studio Here (10% Affiliate Discount)
 Bitwig Studio

Compatible Operating Systems:

PC, Mac and Linux.
Learning Curve:
Moderate.
Price:
$299 (Full Version), free demo with saving and exporting
disabled.
Producers Who Use Bitwig:
Still a fairly new product, so no big producers supporting it yet.
That being said, Deadmau5 has been seeing experimenting with
it.

Info:

Created by formed Ableton Live developers. The main perk of

Bitwig: Linux support. Outside of that, Bitwig has all the other
general functionalities you'd expect of a DAW.

Good Tutorial Websites for Bitwig Beginners:

SadowickProduction Bitwig Tutorials

Brian Bollman
Buy Bitwig Here
 Learn Your DAW:
Once you choose a DAW to create your masterpieces in, the
best thing you can do right now to improve your producer
abilities is to learn the layout and functions of your program
from top to bottom. Since there are so many programs that I'm
not personally familiar with, here is a list of helpful tutorials
that will give you a nice overview of your program. Some of
these tutorial playlists are hours upon hours in length, so if you
can't take it all in one sitting, set yourself a goal of watching 3-4
videos a day.

Be sure to supplement watching these tutorials with some

hands-on experimentation on your end. The latter, in my
opinion, is the best way to learn.

Ableton Live Ultimate Course (Sadowick)

FL Studio Basic Tutorials (SeamlessR)
Logic Pro for Beginners - Free Tutorials (soundsLogical)
Bitwig Studio & Music Production Course (Brian Bollman)
 Music Theory:
If there's one thing you should have a solid foundation on when
starting out on your journey to become a great EDM producer,
hands down it should be music theory. No matter what genre
you produce in, a good understanding of music theory and its
ideas will not only help make your songs more memorable, but
will increase your work-flow and allow you to be more
intentional in your melody creation process. Even if you're a
terrible sound designer such as myself, if you can gradually
learn to create melodic ideas that are catchy and have a
legitimate theoretical structure behind them, your music will
start to sound a million times better, even when the mixing isn’t
your best.

Here are some resources to help you get started:

Music Theory: The TLDR Version (eBook)

NFX's Theory Tutorials (Warbeats) (Video)
musictheory.net (Website)
 Synthesizers:
A synthesizer is the electronic instrument which can create any
sound your little heard desires... with the right knowledge.
These things are super complicated when you first open them
up, so don't feel ashamed in being extremely overwhelmed
upon your first interaction with them. Every single producer
has gone through this exact stage, so just be glad you get to do
it on a computer and not some old 1980s analog gear.

Choosing a Synthesizer:

My best piece of advice to you in terms of using synthesizers is

to find one or two you like, and then mastering them. Each of
them has their own unique sounds which come exclusive to
their program, so a good way to start “developing your sound”
is to dedicate yourself to just one or two synthesizers.

Here are some recommendations for synthesizers to help you

get started, along with their system compatibility, price range,
and other helpful notes:
 Sylenth1

Compatible Operating Systems:

Mac and PC.
Learning Curve:
Moderately Easy.
Price:
$169

Info:

Great lead sounds, really nice filters and FXs. Great presets, and
lots of them. One of the easier synthesizers to learn, in my
opinion. Has some of the best online support around. Great for
making “trancey” super saws, bright leads, and much more.

Get Sylenth1 Here

 Massive

Compatible Operating Systems:

Mac and PC.
Learning Curve:
Moderately Hard.
Price:
$199

Info:

Best for making dubstep/growly/grindy sounds. You can

automate pretty much any knob and slider in this program,
which makes it a bit more of a challenging synthesizer to learn.
That being said, if you can learn it, you'll have knowledge one
of the most powerful synthesizers available to the EDM
producer.

Get Massive Here

 Synth1

Compatible Operating Systems:

Mac and PC.
Learning Curve:
Moderately Hard.
Price:
Free

Info:

Easily the best free synthesizer on the market. The interface

isn't quite as dazzling or clean as any of the other synths you
might pay for, but boy will it get the job done.

Get Synth1 Here

 Sonic Academy's ANA

Compatible Operating Systems:

Mac and PC.
Learning Curve:
Moderate.
Price:
$60

Info:

A great, cheaper alternative to Sylenth1. A bit of a different

timbre and much more CPU intensive, but if you're looking to
save $100 then ANA would be a great one to check out.

Get Sonic Academy's ANA Here

TAL-NoiseMaker
Compatible Operating Systems:
Mac and PC.
Learning Curve:
Moderately Hard.
Price:
Free
Info:

A very nice free synthesizer for those beginning EDM

producers who want a much cleaner-looking interface. It's not
quite as powerful as its

alternative Synth1, but it'll get the job done when you need it to.

Get TAL-NoiseMaker Here

For a list of more recommended and free synths, check out this
blog post by musicradar. For a list of the best paid synths,
check out this blog post by them as well.

Learning Synthesis:

Once you've found your one true synth, how do you go about
learning the theories behind synthesis? There are many, many
resources out there, but here are some I would suggest you
checking out:

Syntorial

$129

Easily the best way to learn synthesis, hands down. It's a bit of
a high price-tag, but I can guarantee you it'll save you months,
if not YEARS trying to figure out how to make the sounds you
want in addition to recreating your favorite sounds. Syntorial is
well worth the $129 dollars, and I would highly encourage you
to at least check it out to see if you like it.

Get Syntorial Here

Emory University's Introduction to Digital Sound Design
Coursera Course

Free

A great five-week course giving a nice overview of synthesis,

how our ears hear sound, and much, much more. This course
goes over more of the conceptual side of synthesis, so if you'd
like to have a basic knowledge of what your synths are doing,
definitely sign up for this class when there's an open session.

Sign Up For the Class Here

A word to the wise - be sure to supplement your video-training

with some actual tinkering around time! Though there are
many resources out there which will help you learn the sounds,
the best way to start developing your own unique sounds it is to
just delve in and mess around with some presets. Start
tweaking a knob here, pushing a button there!
 Building a Sample Collection:
Now that you have a DAW you're getting comfortable with, a
synthesizer you can't wait to play with, some groundwork being
laid in your music theory knowledge and some nice headphones
to listen to your beautiful tracks on, what else do you need?
Unless you’re expecting to make ambient music, you'll need
some percussion elements to give your track a nice groove to
get all your friends fist-pumping. But how and where do you
get these percussion elements?

For starters, many DAWs come with some complimentary

sample packs already installed with some decent kicks, claps,
Pryda snares and the like. But what if you don't like the sounds
they've given you, or what if you're looking for sounds with a
different feel?

To be honest, there are so many sample packs out there for so

many genres that I could write an entirely new eBook on just
those resources. Your best bet, if you’re looking for certain
sounds, is to put in a good search and take a look around for
some dubstep packs. However, one tip I'd give to help you
speed-up the process is to find a producer forum and submit a
sample pack inquiry with a couple tracks that have percussion
samples you like in them. I'm sure there'll be five or six people
that give you some helpful suggestions within a day (if you
need a good website to throw your questions to, I'd try hitting
up the edmproduction sub-reddit). Your sample collection will
always be growing, so don't freak out if you don't have all the
sounds you want right away.
Some pack ideas to help you get started:

-Any packs from Vengeance Samples (roughly $80 per pack)

-Deficio Essentials Vol. 1 (free)

-Must-Have Free Sample Packs (Reddit Post) (take a guess)

 Plugins:
Plugins. Plugins allow you to do everything from changing the
quality of the track to making your piano sound like an electric
guitar. If you don't want an EDM producer to shut up, ask him
or her what their top five plugins are and you'll instantly regret
you asked the question once they start talking. Think of plugins
like tools in your dad's garage. Each one has a specific purpose,
from manipulating a piece of wood, to pounding in a nail, etc.
Plugins can do everything from auto-tuning your friends “pitch-
perfect” vocals to making your song sound like it's being played
in a concert hall.

All DAW's come pre-equipped with some starter plugins. If

you're using one of the workstations in the “choosing a DAW”
chapter, then you'll have everything you basically needed to
start manipulating your track.

A tip for new producers: You'll be tempted to start downloading

what's called “third-party plugins” when you're first starting
out. They can either be your best friend, or your hard-drive's
worst nightmare. Many third-party plugins are quite powerful
and can achieve very specific results, but if you're literally
opening FL Studio or Ableton for the first time then you're
going to have a hard enough time trying to learn your DAW.
Don’t make matter's worse by downloading some complicated
third-party plugin that your favorite producer suggested on a
Future Music interview. Believe me, when you're first starting
out, if you download a crap-ton of these third-party plugins
you're not only going to be extremely confused by most of
them, you'll also quickly be down to 10 GB of hard-drive space
before you know it.

To reiterate, don't download third-party plugins just yet. Your

DAW has plenty to choose from that will get the job done, so
first learn your DAW and those plugins before overloading your
brain and your computer memory with other doodads. I'm not
saying DON'T get any third-party plugins; I have about three-
dozen I use myself. All I'm saying is to give yourself 3-4
months to get comfortable with your DAW and its built-in
functions before you start looking externally for plugins to
achieve different results. Trust me - you'll not only save
yourself time and a few headaches, but your computer's storage
space will thank you later.
 Mixing:
If you thought learning your workstation was a headache
enough for you, then you're going to LOVE learning about the
mixing. The required knowledge to master this side of creating
music is so technical and never-ending that there thousands of
“Audio Engineers” who make a living just doing this. For the
EDM-producing beginner, my one word of advice is: don't
worry about learning this all at once. It must've taken me an
entire year to get comfortable with all the tools I had at my
disposal, and even then I'm still learning something new every
day, whether it’s a plugin I use, a different technique, etc.

That being said, for as seemingly infinite as this field seems,

there are still some good resources to help you get started:

Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio (Mike Senior)

$39.95

A GREAT resource for producers starting out. I personally

wouldn't worry about the soundproofing advice listed in the
front for the first year or so, as you're not going to be able to
hear the difference between speakers in a sound-proofed room
versus a good set of headphones. The rest of the book,
however, is a good primer on tools producers use, from
Equalizers to Compressors and many more.

The Art of Mixing (David Gibson)

Free
If you're more of a visual/auditory learner, David's video is a
great primer. It's a very old video straight from the 80s, so
you'll have to just gut through some of the instructor's
“marijuana-harikrishna” bull-honky, but if you can get past
those parts you'll be miles ahead of many other beginner-
producers.

iZotope Mixing Guide Principles

Free

Another great resource, this time in a free .pdf form, created by

one of the top plugin companies in the world. It’s a great
alternative and/or supplement to Mike Senior's “Mixing Secrets
for the Small Studio” book.
 The Fastest Way to Improve -
Examine and Emulate Your Favorite Tracks:
You know the quickest way to become a skilled Electronic
Dance Music producer? Finding the current style of music you
want to create, examining it to figure out what makes it “click,”
and then emulating your music after that music. Many great
music producers have done this, from Madeon's emulation of
Justice and Daft Punk, to Avicii's emulation of Swedish House
Mafia (Sebastian Ingrosso, Steve Angello, Axwell) and Eric
Prydz. Undoubtedly, you have your own musical influences you
look up to and aspire to be like, so why not listen to their tracks,
figure out how their tracks come together, and then fuse your
discoveries into your own unique sound?

I know some of you are shaking your heads, saying: “Well, I

want to create something totally revolutionary and I don't want
anyone's sound influencing mine.” More power to you, but
you're still going to be influenced by other sounds whether you
like it or not, so you might as well examine how those sounds
are produced and THEN decide whether to take it or leave it.
Breaking down and re-creating your favorite music is an
excellent practice and development exercise; it also will help
you get past those instances when you feel at a loss of your own
creativity. This way, you’ll be putting your new skills and
equipment to work in trying to rebuild some of the best music
in EDM, and add in your own twist once you get comfortable.

Hopefully having convinced you of the merits of examining

your favorite tracks, how should you go about examining a
track? What should you look for?
There's a great video series that discusses exactly how to do
this, but here's a quick little step-by-step process for those of
you who want the abbreviated version:

1. Pick a track.
 2. Grab a piece of paper and draws the lines as
follows (ignore the text).

3. Every 8 bars, write down the sounds you hear in

the boxes above (if you don't know what a bar is,
watch this video).

4. Write down the reverb/fx/other details you hear

every 16 bars in the boxes below.

5. Grab another piece of paper and repeat the process

until you've covered all the bars for your chosen song.

6. Once you've covered all the bars, staple all of the

pieces of paper together and you're done!

Congrats, you've examined a track! The benefits to this

exercise are not only about training your ear to be able to pick
out individual sounds, but if you ever find your track lacking
something and you aren’t sure exactly what that “something” is,
refer back to one or two of your track examination sheets to see
if you can find the answer there.

If you're wondering what sounds you should listen for, here are
some ideas to help you get started:

-Percussion Elements:

Is there a hi-hat in these 8 bars? Is the kick here? What

elements do you hear in this loop going on in the background?

-Lead:
Is the lead panned to the right or is it sitting directly in the
center? Do you hear a piano layered on top of a synth?

-Transition Effects:

What subtle effects do you hear in the background that help the
song transfer from one section to the next? White noise
sweeps? A sine-wave rise?

-Atmosphere:

What do you hear in the background? Are there some subtle

pads layered that “fill out” the track?

-Vocals:

Where are the vocals sitting? When do they come in? When do
they go out? Is there a chorus that comes in at certain parts?

-Effects/Reverb/Etc:

Is there a phaser on the leads? Is there reverb in this section?

Are they making a sound brighter and brighter by opening up
some sort of filter?
 The Second Fastest Way to Improve:
Posting Your Tracks and Getting Feedback:
Getting Feedback

You’ve spent hours and hours on your creation, and now,

instead of sounding like a masterpiece, it just begins to sound
worse and worse the more you work on it. By the time you're
almost done with it, you've grown so sick of it that you decide
to rush a few steps just to get it done. You don't know what
sounds good or bad anymore.

If you've had an experience like this (and believe me, EVERY

producer does), this is the part where you need another set of
ears to bring in some objective feedback to your track. Even if
you think your track is the greatest, cleanest in the world,
another opinion will always come back to humble you by
pointing the areas in which is flawed. As hard as it is to accept
that you're not perfect, you need someone keep you moving in
the right direction with some quality feedback.

Where do you look for feedback? My first tip for you is to

NOT go to your family and relatives. As well-meaning as they
are, 99% of the time they'll tell you what you want to hear and
not what you NEED to hear. Or, they simply don’t know how to
describe what sounds good and what doesn’t. You need to find
a music pal or a fellow producer (whom you know is better and
more experienced than you) to give you quality feedback and
something to strive for.

That being said, take all the feedback you get online with a
grain of salt. A good policy for filtering out good advice from
bad is to take a listen to your criticizer’s tracks. If they know
what they're talking about, the quality of their tracks will echo
that. If their tracks don't, then don’t waste your energy stressing
over their advice, and don’t take anything personally.

Also, don't be afraid to have your tracks get rejected! I've had
critiques come back to me that have literally made me cry
myself to sleep, but I just got back on my feet and continued to
produce. The producers who succeed in the long run are the
ones who've pushed through many of their tracks being
rejected, only to come out victorious in the end. History has
many examples of this, so just stay persistent, learn from your
mistakes, and you'll continue to improve.

Some websites for you to post your tracks for feedback (be sure
to leave feedback on some other people's tracks before posting
your own, and be genuine!):

Laidback Luke Forums

Electron Dance Music Production Reddit

Future Producers Forum

A Word to Beginners on Submitting Music to Labels

As tempting as it may be to submit your first three tracks to

your favorite labels, don't. Believe me, the very fact that you
think, with three months of production experience, your tracks
are enough to compete with productions whose creators have
been making music for 3+ years is absolute madness. Trust me
on this one, but to save yourself and the label owner some
unnecessary hassle, please don't start sending out your tracks to
record labels until you're getting consistently good feedback
from your forum members and music fans. You wouldn't try
asking a girl to marry you after dating her for two months,
would you? Just as such, you must take your time in pitching
your tracks to a label. It takes time to become great at your
craft, plus there’s a lot more to it besides your music being
good in order to get the label’s attention (check out the FAQ's
for more insight on submitting music to labels).
 Final Words:
Congrats on getting through the entirety of this eBook! The
very fact that you took the time to go through this book is
evidence enough that you are serious in becoming the best
EDM Producer you can be.

For those of you who are just starting off: as much of a

commitment as it is to learn all of these fundamentals, if you
can push yourself to learn them then you'll be making music
you and your friends and listeners all over the world will love.
To streamline the process, I've included a little suggested
training guide below that'll help you get the results you want
producing EDM. I've also included a

FAQ page to cover some of the broader questions I see pop up

on the internet all the time. That being said, if you have any
questions for me that aren’t covered in this eBook, feel free to
email them to me at [email protected]. Depending on the
inbox-load it may take me a bit to answer them, so if you'd like
them to be answered quicker then I'd suggest posting them on
the EDMProduction sub-Reddit.

I hope this eBook has given you solid, foundational insight on

the knowledge and tools you need to become an EDM
Producer. If you really like this book, I'd really appreciate it if
you could give it a review so that others who are interested in
learning about this topic might see this as a valuable resource.

Thank you so much for supporting me through this book, and

just remember that the only way to become a great EDM
producer is to make a lot of mistakes, learn from those
mistakes, and just keep on persisting no matter what anyone
tells you.

Best of wishes on your musical journey!

-Colin

aka DJ Veaux

Find out more about me:

Website
Soundcloud
Facebook
YouTube
Patreon
Twitter
Mixcloud
 Frequently Asked Questions:
Which Digital Audio Workstation is the best?

Think of DAW's like different kitchens: They all have the

same basic tools, but each of them has its own unique
advantages and differences. Maybe one kitchen has huge
selection of chef’s knives whereas another has a water dispenser
with a special type of filter. All of these “kitchens” can do the
same basic things (cook food, clean dishes, etc.), it's just that
each one of them has some unique perks that the others don't.
Each DAW can record audio, manipulate audio, and do the very
basic things one would need a DAW to do, it's just that some of
them have different plugins/methods doing these things.

How do I finish more tracks?

Read and watch YouTube videos from Mike Monday. I

can’t find any better answer to this question than from him.

How long does it take to become a superstar producer?

Each person's journey is unique in its own. However, I'd

say that from all the producer bios I've read, for most of them it
took an average of 5-8 years to hit the “big leagues”. Some,
like 3LAU, took about 2 years to gain the status he has today,
but he is more of the exception than the rule. As long as you
put in the daily hard work, do some quality networking, have a
solid marketing plan behind you and you believe in yourself no
matter the odds, history has shown that you will likely succeed.
It's patience that separates the best from the beginner.

What labels should I submit my music to?

 Like I echoed in the “Getting Feedback and Posting Your
Tracks” section, you should wait until you're getting
consistently positive feedback from the various forums you're a
part of, with little corrections.

Also, determine WHAT you want to get from a label that

releasing it yourself wouldn’t get. If all you want to do is get a
release on iTunes to show off to your friends, you can do that
independently through a service called CDBaby. The
advantages that labels bring to the table are their budget, a fan-
base and their network connections, and if you're aiming for a
smaller label to get started, chances are they'll have none of
these.

If you are at the stage where you're consistently making

tracks that are receiving good feedback, where do you look for
the best labels?

My best piece of advice is to find an artist's music that

closely resembles yours and figure out which label(s) he/she
released it under. Once you've figured out two or three, start
sending your tracks to them as you release them. Read this
article before you send them, however, as it'll give you some
very good insights as to how get your track noticed by the
record labels. If you've done your research correctly,
consistently sending them your tracks and implementing the
advice given in the article, your music is on the right track to
get signed.
 Training Guide:
This is not the only way to become a successful music
producer and by no means am I suggesting it is necessarily
suitable for you. However, this is the guide I've used to get the
results I want, so feel free to tweak and edit it to your liking.

● Make a track once a week to keep producing

content and to consistently test my mixing skills.

● Recreate three sounds a week to improve my sound

design skills.

● Examine a track once a month to figure out how the

best producers make their music.

● Write one melody a day to keep my innate talent to

write great melodies strong.

● Spend at least 5 minutes a day reading the latest

EDMProduction posts on Reddit to consistently learn
something new every day.

● Give feedback to at least three tracks a week to

keep my critical ear strong and to help out other new
producers.

No matter how you adjust your training regimen, be sure to

include at least one drill to improve yourself in each of these
areas:

● Mixing skills
 ● Sound design

● Music theory

● Track examination

● Giving back to others

Miscellaneous Helpful Links:

Links or knowledge that have benefited your production

(EDMProduction Reddit)

Interview with the Producer behind The Cataracs (the group

behind the hit “Like a G6”)

JacksonGlass's ‘A list the best advice I can give new dance

music producers’

Special Thanks To:

Darby (Editor)

Proofreading/Editing Work For $5