Intro to EDM 101
[music synth drum Notes from taking David Shimel’s EDM Production Class at Fractal University…
Yes, I am temporarily renouncing my former disdain for DAWs to learn Ableton Live.
Lesson 1: Beats
Homework:
- Review: Video: 4 Ways to make Drum Beats in Ableton (Beginner Tutorial)
- There’s another way to add MIDI tracks: Hold down keys (or on keyboard) and press right arrow to add. (Saw this in a video somewhere, and it is conveneint)
- Make an account on SoundCloud.
- Pick a few (EDM) songs and recreate their drum beats.
- Did some practice tutorials on DnB construction
Lesson 2: Bass and Song Structure
Some technology– Ableton audio effects:
- Compressor: Sidechaining
- Utility: Drop out on the kick (while still keeping the sidechaining alive). history of sidechaining
- Install: Vital VST soft-synth. You’ll need to enable Apple and VST plugs in your Ableton settings to use it as a MIDI instrument.
-
Autofilter (high pass/low pass): simulates analog filters of various kinds
-
Using the Vital VST as a sub bass. Sine F0/F1 is a common choice. Rolling bassline of 16th notes with fast decay. Up octaves or fifths on some alternating notes to create variety. Use sidechaining on the kicks to avoid interference of the kick and the bass.
-
Sturcutre around 16-32 measure drops: 16-32: High Energy part
- Review: Video: Drum Loops to Drops Think about a mood or verbal cues for sound selection (“tennis court” leans towards bouncing ball patterns)
Homework
- Make a 32-bar drop with drums and bass in any style you want using the techniques demonstrated in class:
- Output: Raga to a Hip Hop Beet (after Lalit)
- Inspired by Charanjit Singh, Lalit, from 10 Ragas to a Disco Beat
- Find some video clips from social media, movies/TV, your camera roll, etc. where someone is talking. We’ll use these as the basis for a remix in our next session
Ideas for samples:
- India has never had a better friend than me
- But when his drinking and lusting and his hunger for power became known to more and more people, the demands to do something about this outrageous man became louder and lounder (2:37)
- We need Greenland for national security purposes
- I do not regard the first man in space as a weaking of the free world, but I do regard the total mobilization of men and things for the communist block as a great danger to us.
MIDI Routing
Resources
-
VocalRemover.org: AI tools for removing vocals, splitting tracks into music/bass/drums, BPM finder,
-
Ishkur’s guide to electronic music – opinionated and hilarious, but a good way to track down genres and subgenre examples
-
The Only drum design tutorial you’ll ever need
- Kick: Sinewave with downward frequency and downward amplitude envelope functions. Maybe put a low-pass filter at 20 Hz. (But we kind )
Recording samples: (Mac OSX)
- Install Blackhole audio
- Follow instructions for recording audio in Ableton
New music I discovered (and liked) during the process
-
Charanjit Singh, Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat the spiritual forefather to acid house music. Love it.
-
13th Ward Social Club, e.g., Aprismo (2025).
-
Actress: Ascending neat use of compressor sidechaining; the melody is sidechained to a kick that is not audibly played. Four on the floor, hold the drums!
-
Carbon Based Lifeforms satisfies my appeal for space music.
Gear videos
- Short History of the 303 in 12 tracks…love the breakdown of basslines.