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How to Become an Electronic Music Artist

One of the advantages of pursuing a passion for electric music is that you can compose, record, mix and distribute your work using just a computer with an Internet connection. There are no guarantees that you will achieve huge commercial success, but electronic music does offer rare artistic freedoms that other genres don’t. For example, by recording with a software sequencer, you can edit your music to remove mistakes. Once you have completed the recording, you can mix the sounds so that they so sound coherent before uploading the finished song for your friends and fans to hear.

Things You'll Need

  • Computer with Internet connection
  • Digital audio workstation software
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Instructions

    • 1

      Launch your preferred digital audio workstation -- for example Fruity Loops, GarageBand or Logic.

    • 2

      Open a blank session from the file menu.

    • 3
      Digital audio workstations let you use your computer like a recording studio.

      Name the session.

    • 4

      Open an MIDI channel. MIDI is a universal interface that lets you control and record sampled and synthesized sounds. The method for opening new channels varies according to which program you use, but you typically do it from the “File” menu.

    • 5

      Open a step sequencer. Typically, this is located in the “Instruments” menu. A step sequencer is a grid interface that enables you to compose music visually. The horizontal axis represents time, measured in beats and bars. The vertical axis represents pitch. Step sequencers vary in complexity and sophistication, but typical digital audio workstations have a least one native sequencer. For example, in Logic, the step sequencer is called “Ultrabeat.”

    • 6

      Assign a drum sound to the step sequencer. Open the “Instruments” or “Sounds” menu and pick a drum sound that appeals to you -- for example, “808 Kit.”

    • 7

      Program a beat. To plot a note on the grid, click in the square. For example, to create a four-to-the-floor beat, which is characteristic of electronic music, click in every square on the “Kick drum” row of the grid, then plot the remaining beats around that foundation.

    • 8

      Assign a synthesizer sound. Electronic music is characterized by synth sounds. Pick one that you like from the instruments menu and plot a melody using the grid interface.

    • 9

      Open the “Mixer” tab in your workstation. The method for doing so varies, but you typically click where it says “Mixer.”

    • 10

      Adjust the “Gain” slider for each recorded track so that all instruments are suitably audible.

    • 11

      Click “Save,” then “Export” and select “Export As Wav.” This is a loss-less file format, and so is suitable for uploading.

    • 12

      Visit a music-sharing website, such as www.Soundcloud.com or www.Bandcamp.com, and sign up for a free account. In Sound Cloud, click “Sign up” and enter your email address. Then click “Upload and share” to upload your recording. In Bandcamp, click the “Sign up now” tab on the left. Once you have entered your email address and selected a password, click “Upload” and browse for the recorded song. You can now point new fans to your electronic music online.

Recording Music

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