Electronica Dance Music Programming Secrets

Book Description
Welcome to the second edition of Electronica Dance Music Programming Secrets. In the first edition we explored the main styles that constitute Electronica and showed how to produce your own examples. This second edition brings us up-to-date with the latest emergent styles in Electronica, from Trance and Dreamhouse to Big Beat and Nu Skool Electro. One of the best kept secrets of Electronica is the way in which a few, very basic, breakbeats, basslines and melody lines are manipulated via sequencer and synthesiser programmining to produce magical effects, and we'll explore more of the these secrets in this expanded and revised edition.

Another of the London dance scene's best kept secrets is Newtronic, an expert band of programmers beavering away producing beats and basslines which are sold as building block kits. Many professional Electronica musicians use Newtronic's building blocks and I am proud to collaborate with them on this second edition to bring their secrets to you.

The power of sequencing lies in its empowerment of the individual to produce professional quality music from a modest home set-up. Musical tricks and secrets, previously the preserve of professionals with huge budgets and the time necessary to learn them, become easily understood through a sequencer's graphic displays, paving a much smoother path from musical novice to explorer and innovator. Who hasn't played around on a friend's guitar or keyboard and heard something in their untutored ramblings that sounded great but which they lacked the skill to replicate? With a sequencer your moment of musical genius can be captured, isolated from the dross surrounding it and replicated to form the basis of a new groove.

Beyond the simple process of recording and replaying, sequencers offer a wealth of music processing options that allow you to take your original idea and experiment or generate harmony parts which in the past would have required a studio full of expensive session musicians and years of learning music theory. This opens new avenues of musical exploration and is the driving force behind the continuing development of Electronica. No longer does a composer have to patiently explain to a bass player or drummer just the feel he has in mind and await their understanding of his concept before they can hear their own musical idea - now you can try out the juxtaposition of patterns you had in mind and adjust the results yourself until the required feel is obtained. Once achieved it is there to be replayed perfectly at any time, not just when the musicians are in the right mood. Using the power of computers to capture those precious moments of inspiration leads to faster working and a freedom to experiment which was previously only enjoyed by the classical or jazz musician with years of training and practice behind him.

Electronica Dance Music Programming Secrets is organised so you can simply dip into those areas of Electronica which you are most interested in. There are stylistic links and similarities between the various styles and I hope this book will lead you to explore those links and thus evolve your own, original, style. Along the way, sequencers' music processing features are introduced in context, where they make the most sense. Too often instruction manuals assume you have a degree in computer science and the musical knowledge of a classical musician, introducing powerful features out of context, bewildering novice and expert alike.

Introducing features from sequencer tricks through to sample manipulation and sound effects as they are required will help you unravel many of the mysteries surrounding Electronica music-making. This will free you to create the music we all hear in our head but which most of us have been unable to realise until now. Ultimately the magic that is music depends on that indefinable something that makes a chord sequence or riff transcendental and it would be foolish to say that simply reading this book will make a Derrick May or Goldie of you. What I hope it will do is allow you to discover the magic that is making music and uncover the hidden musician that beats in everyone's breast.

Nothing in this book about the different styles of Electronica is true of course. The very act of creating electronic music denies the existence of formulas. Take the patterns for Garage drums and make a Jungle track with them, try writing a Trip Hop bassline in a Techno style or mash together patterns from all the different styles. Above all else, remember, there are no rules, anything is possible.

Synopsis
This second edition text covers the new styles of dance music since the first was published, namely, Big Beat and Speed Garage. It takes the reader through the example MIDI files provided covering drumbeats, basslines and melodic motifs. The means of getting the right sounds is described.

From the Back Cover
The bestselling all-in-one user's guide to composing sophisticated electronica and dance music in all the leading contemporary styles: House, Garage, Trance, Techno, Big Beat, Drum 'n' Bass and much more.

Fully updated to cover the latest stylistic developments, Electronica Dance Music Programming Secrets 2nd Edition provides a tour of all the essentials of MIDI sequencing, digital audio, sound production and advanced General MIDI programming. With the help of the complete set of musical templates and digital sound files supplied on the CD, the book offers readers all the knowledge and raw material they need to produce their own professional quality dance music.

IN THE BOOK:
All the Basics ~ Programming House & Garage ~ Programming Trance & Techno ~ Programming Big Beat ~ Drum'n'Bass ~ Programming Trip Hop ~ Audio Programming ~ GM, GS, XG ~ The Mixing Desk, EQ & Effects ~ Getting Your Work Published ~ Sequencing & the Internet ~ Computer Basics ~ Program Change Tables ~ GM Sound Sets ~ Control Change Events ~ Synchronisation ~ Other Computer Music Software

ON THE CD:
Newtronic's MIDI files - a professional set of musical templates covering all the major styles in electronic dance music. Newtronic's Audio files - a professional set of sound files (two and four bar loops) for readers to produce their own tracks quickly and easily.

About the Author
Roger Brown is a freelance music programmer and former columnist for The Mix and Future Music magazines.

Martin Griese is the founder of Newtronic, leading developer and supplier of quality tools for music programmers.